My DIYs and not so-much DIYs

[milen]

Hey all.

Here's some of my little DIY jobs and notes for fellow Porsche owners:

Front hood strut

Price: $12.95 from FCP Euro parts (http://www.fcpeuro.com/products/porsche-hood-strut-cayenne-uro-parts-95551135900)

Was really annoyed by my hood strut giving way, always had to get a stick or something hold the hood. Shop'n'shipped it in a few days along with some other parts, and was amazed how easy it is to replace.

A quick snap-on, less than 30 seconds, just make sure someone is holding the hood, or you've got it secured with a stick.

It's a clip-in assembly, so no bolts or torx, nothing to disassemble.

Particle/Cabin filter

Price: $6.11 (yes, you read this right, from FCP Euro http://www.fcpeuro.com/products/audi-porsche-volkswagen-cabin-air-filter-q7-cayenne-touareg-042-2086)

In our dusty environment this thing gets pretty dusty fast, suggest changing it every years, or two years tops. Given the price and effort involved, it's a no-brainer. Just remove the plastic cover under the glovebox, instructions are in the maintenance manual I posted in the other thread. 5-10 minutes if you're taking it easy, a straight-forward DIY.

Air filter

Price: $17.11 each (you will need two on a Cayenne S/Turbo, on offer fromn FCP Euro parts http://www.fcpeuro.com/products/audi-porsche-air-filter-q7-cayenne-95511013100)

Was pretty happy with Mahle, they seem to be making some pretty reasonable stuff, I'm also buying some other Mahle stuff, so stay put for more feedback, but so far so good!

Remember that you need two filters for the 4.5L engine, one for each cylinder set. Make sure the engine is cool, because lots of plastic bits get quite brittle when hot. Again, the instructions are in the PDF I uploaded in the other thread, but it isn't as straight-forward as the previous two jobs, this one requires a bit more time and patience. The plastic engine cover needs to come off, along with some pipes. If you're really patient, and doing it for the first time, it should take about 15-20 minutes.

Headlight bulbs

My left headlight xenon bulb turned purple and started blinking, going out a short while after that. Ordered replacement bulbs - Sylvania (Price: $154.71 for both bulbs from AutoPartsWarehouse, there's always a discount coupon, just search in Google, you would typically get 15% or so), 4150K, you've got to change both, otherwise it would look weird with two different bulb colors I'll let you know how it goes once I receive and install them.

I've also ordered oil filters for my next oil change, but that's not really a DIY.

Since my rear hatch window won't stay up, as well as the trunk lid, I have ordered support struts for it (again FCP Euro, $8.97 each, from http://www.fcpeuro.com/products/porsche-hatch-window-strut-rear-cayenne-uro-parts-95551252800), and support struts for the trunk. Haven't had the time on putting those, but have seen the YouTube how-to video and have ordered some trim removal tools as well.

As you can see, nothing fancy so far.

I'll update this thread with the new stuff as it happens

[milen]

Oh yeah, heard that the low beam bulbs are AED 750 each at the st... dealer. EACH!

I bought a set of 2 for $150. Easily 50% less, the ones I bought are brighter for the same current rating and wattage, so I should be better off all the way.

[milen]

An updated on the HID bulbs: as I said previously, one of my low-beam/high-beam xenon lights burned out. Bought replacement bulbs (see above), had a few minutes today, so quickly went down and installed one to see how it would look like. Looked very good!

An easy DIY, takes less than 10 minutes (took me 5 minutes to find gloves and put'em on).

All explained very well in the manual (page 295 on my Cayenne Turbo driver's manual), with pictures, etc.

A piece of advice: do not touch the HID lightbulb glass. If you absolutely must do it, wear cotton gloves.

I couldn't find cotton, used rubber ones, but didn't touch the glass.

Always switch off the ignition and take the key out.

When buying bulbs, I recommend staying with the same or similar wattage (35W for the Cayenne), apparently my replacement bulb was the same brand (Sylvania OSRAM Xenarc), but the color was a little bit different - the new bulbs were whiter, while the older ones were more towards the blue-white. That's why you've got to replace both, or you'll end up looking like me today

The price - way lower than the dealership, about $150 for both, not sure about how do they sell aftermarket around town.