Porsche Boxster 986 Hood/Bonnet Actuator Replacement 

Our '01 also has that sponge half sandwich with a rubber band around it. Stange OEM build technique for sure. Great video, thanks so much!

Great video and went very easily on my 2004 986 S. A number things to help others: The frunk seal does not need to be peeled away. If it is coming off on its own, its glue is giving away. It should not be. You can peel the lip upwards on both sides to get the front cover and the inside liner free without pulling it up. A small screwdriver works fine to turn the releases on the front cover. It is the only tool you need to do the replacement, actually. There are two liner attach points on the right side (as you face the front of the car as in the video). The top one with the flange unscrews. There is a pop mount below that and removing both of those will give you easy access to the actuator. Do note if there is a interior trunk release (my car has one), you cannot peel the liner back entirely on the front but there is enough room to get access to the actuator pass-thru point. The foam and rubber bands around the actuator are factory installed. It is glued into place with the rubber bands closing the ends to protect the motor. Carefully peel it off with most of the glue intact and and you can wrap it around the new actuator. The actuator is a friction fit in the corner below the headlight. The metal piece you need to peel up on the latch assembly to free the cable is SHARP! You will leave blood behind if you are not careful. And it will not close entirely when bent back into place. Make sure the latch is working via the interior release switch, cockpit switch and key fob switch before closing the hood! Thanks for the video! It helped immensely.

Very useful thanks. Mine has just gone, but I managed to get the bonnet (hood) open as it was clicking feebly and it finally let it go. I have an additional problem, in that I also snapped the emergency cable release. I couldn't see that on your car, so maybe it was either a later addition (mine is a 2003) or someone decided not to replace that on yours!

Thanks Ben this is awesome!

after replacing the actuator, has it been 100% reliable in popping open the hood?

I’d really like to have those rims on my 2000 Boxster can you find another set let me know

How have the headlights been holding up? I was looking at getting a set in black. At $1k I want to make sure they last. Do you keep the car outside? Any fogging or moisture on the inside? Any issues with the LEDs burning out? Any yellowing? How long have you had them? Sorry for all the questions. Thanks for the video too.

How do i unhook the emergency latch wire, im trying to unconnect it and it wont release

Thanks!