If you tend not to perform maintenance on your own car, headlight replacement may seem like a daunting task, particularly on an extremely valuable luxury car like the Porsche Boxster. However, installing either a bulb or an entire headlight assembly is actually a very simple task that will only take a few minutes, and the only tool you'll need is already inside the car.
Consult your owner's manual to find the exact sizes and types of bulbs required for your model year of Porsche Boxster. Be aware that each headlight contains three bulbs, but that all bulbs on each car are identical. By turning on the headlights and cycling through each lamp setting, you can determine how many bulbs are burned out.
Open the trunk and loosen the large screw covering the spare-tire compartment.
Remove the cover from the compartment and retrieve the tool kit from behind the spare. Inside the toolkit, find the collapsible hex socket wrench.
Look inside the trunk at the side wall next to the headlight bulb you want to replace. You will see a small plastic nut. Remove this nut by hand and pull down the carpeting on the side wall.
Find the round rubber cover behind the carpeting. It is shaped like a top hat. Remove this by hand.
Slide the hex wrench onto the bolt beneath the rubber cover and slowly turn it counter-clockwise until you hear or see the headlight assembly pop out of place just slightly.
Slide the entire headlight assembly out and away from the car.
Unclasp and remove one or both of the oblong panels on the back of the headlight assembly. The low- and high-beam bulbs are located behind the larger one, and the fog-lamp bulb is located behind the smaller one.
Identify the burned-out bulb and unplug the cable connected to its socket.
Flip back the metal retaining clip on the burned-out bulb, then pull the bulb straight out to remove it.
Put on a pair of gloves and then insert the new bulb, holding it by the socket. The reason you should wear gloves and avoid touching the bulb is that headlights are very sensitive, and the oils from your skin can cause the bulbs to burn out prematurely.
Secure the metal retaining clip.
Plug the cable back into the socket.
Replace the oblong panel on the back of the assembly. To reinstall the entire assembly, proceed to the next section.
Perform Steps 2 through 5 of the above section.
Slide the headlight assembly into the opening as far as it will go. Look carefully around all the edges as you do this, because the headlight assembly has three tabs that slide into three corresponding tracks on the fender frame. The assembly will go in most of the way, but not all the way.
Slide the hex wrench onto the bolt on the side wall of the trunk. Slowly turn the bolt clockwise until you hear a click and see the headlight assembly snap snugly into place.
Put the hex wrench back inside the tool kit behind the spare tire.
Replace the black rubber cover on the headlight assembly's retaining bolt on the side wall of the trunk.
Fold the trunk carpet lining back into place against the side wall and tighten down the plastic retaining nut by hand.
