berty987

You could always record a Cd of no sound ? Why not turn off the PCM before you turn off the ignition, then the PCM stays off when you start the car. Sorry, I cannot understand why you want the PCM on all the time , do you need to use the nav and phone a lot ?

Having seen how prone the vents are to stone chips , i think i would be inclined to get an local auto repair shop to paint them for me at a cheaper cost than 289 dollars or whatever.

Walt, If you are familiar with the handling characteristics of a mid engined car , particularly the boxster , then driving with the psm off on track will make for a lively drive. If you are new to boxster handling , i'd advise against turning off the psm as the car will lose the back end very quickly with lift off oversteer , or if you take a turn at too high speed. I found that putting the rear tyre pressures up to near on 45 psi , the michelins actually perform better and its much more difficult to lose the rear. The fronts and the understeer are however another issue , and agree the michelin PS2 road tyres wear the shoulders at an alarming rate. Personally I found reducing the steering lock in understeer situations rather than backing off the throttle allowed the car to remain balanced without going into oversteer with psm off. Guess everyone has their own style of driving , and I'd assume fitting adjustable linkages from a gt3 may be the best way to alter the heavy understeer thats built into the boxster design , though I've read that the slick tyres make a dramatic difference. Try the slicks first , then look for the thread on rennteam for the cayman with GT3 adjustable linkages.

The 997 font is a Porsche copyright , so only original gauge faces will be the perfect match. There are companies that offer replacement gauge faces such as REAP automotive, but you will have to accept the earlier 996 font. Changing the faces is not recommended for DIY , since the cluster is quite fragile and incorrect placement of the face may result in a speedo error.

I drove my 987S with Mickh PS2's back from Germany in light snow a few years back. If you are on a main road where the snow is melting then you will be ok as long as you dont plan to overtake and get onto the ridge of snow in the middle. Off main road in car parks etc, traction is a lot worse particularly on gradients. If you must drive the car in all weathers , its better to get an all year or winter tyre fitted. the PS2's are a summer tyre only.

Hi. Having done a driver airfield training day on stock michelins , I would advise getting some track tyres rather than scrubbing those expensive road tyres. A full set of track tyres for 18" wheels are going to cost about the same as replacing just the rear tyres on your car. I found that the edges of the tyres get the most wear , the road tyres are just not designed to take that kind of hammering as they get too hot and cannot cope with the excessive shoulder wear. The only way i found to reduce the shoulder wear was to take the tyre pressures up to close to 40 psi. There are plenty on the forum that will tell you to keep the stock road tyre pressure, but I would disagree , as I even found the levels of grip went up rather than down with more pressure. I was advised to get part worn michelin cup tyres from a supplier of the race series , these are still more than capable for a track session and the best cost option.

Note Scrawf has a 987 Boxster not a 997 with the different Bose configuration. I still maintain bit torrent is a risky business especially if you own a 997 , which seem more prone to Bose amp issues than the 987 during update.

Not all porsche owners are enthusiasts and join these forums. As a result there could be a number of cars fixed under warranty that have not been reported. It will take a few years before cars not under warranty and in the higher mileage range start to fall into the hands of those on the forum. This is probably the reason for revisions to the design with so little public awareness of the problem. Certainly the 996 and 986 issues are now becoming more documented. I've personally seen a 30k mile 997 in a Porsche agent having the engine replaced for intermediate shaft/ bearing failure , so its not speculation that these engines can fail. I am curious though , as to what the revisons of intermediate shaft and cover entailed , and from what model year (chassis number) the current design is fitted. Certainly the PET catalogue only lists 2 designs of intermediate shaft for the 997 , the latest design having no suggested chassis number or date of inception.

There is a write up on installing navigation on the caymanclub.net forum. Apart from the navigation DVD drive, bracket, MOST cable, GPS antennae and cable and PCM unit itself , you also need a navigation MAP DVD (about 800 USD on its own). Fitting involves removing the lower dash trim , installing the MOST cable through the bulkhead, fitting the PCM , the DVD drive and bracket and then splicing into existing wiring for the power. After the hardwiring and equipment has been installed the PCM needs to be set up / configured for your car using the PWIS tester. i'd think this was at least a good 5-6 hours work for someone that knew their way around a porsche and had done this before.

RFM, Do you know the part numbers of the old and new design ? Looking at the PET catalogue , there is no chassis number or production date for a change in intermediate shaft for the 987 or 997. There is only a new part number listed for the 997 but no reference to date of introduction or chassis number range. Thanks

Does the TOM TOM coverage cover all of the USA or just the West / East / Central parts by region ? To be honest I think the tom tom kit is fine for a daily drive , but looks tatty in a Porsche. My experience with them is they also have somewhat tempremental hardware and the software can crash , requiring the unit to be sent back to the manufacturer. If porsche could provide localised map updates at a more competitive cost , this would be better, but I suspect the economies of scale make it cost effective to offer a wider coverage and fewer disks. Regarding the tom tom free updates , I was not aware these were unlimited for the lifetime of the product , I thought you only got updates free for the first year ? for the application of the Uk i suggest purchasing a used map DVD from E bay. The european map DVD's are updated twice a year, somewhat more frequently than the USA versions i beleive. Again this is only financially possible thanks to the wide coverage the DVD has , otherwise it would be too expensive for porsche to comission. As to the coverage, Europe has more countries in the space of just half of the USA , so for those driving their cars on holiday, its not unreasonable to cross 3 or four borders. Personally i like the idea of having all of europe on one DVD, it saves the hassle of swapping DVD's at borders, and actually works out cheaper than other navigation systems buying each country as a new map. When i go on holiday i typically travel through 7 countries in Europe. I would also add that the Navteq maps used in the Porsche system are superior in detail and more frequently updated than the Teleatlas ones offered in other vehicle OEM systems and used in the TOM TOM product. In fact , its true to say that the Porsche map DVD's are also above the level of detail and coverage than found in the rest of the Navteq range. The Porsche MAP DVD's are comissioned by Porsche and not only include all possible TMC codes , but also the complete coverage available from the navteq map source. By paying for the most comprehensive map data and making the DVD's exclusive to Porsche , there is some justification for the price. In an ideal world it would be nice to buy specific maps at a cheaper price , but i fear if this was offered , the cost of the comprehensive maps would be higher still or maybe even discontinued.

Interesting that the Dealers are screwing up the amps on updating the PCM. I know of at least 3 cars spanning 2004 -2005 manufacture all with BOSE systems that have updated using the update CD's with no issues on the BOSE. Seems those using the bit torrent download or the PWIS in the delaer are experiencing more difficulties , particularly if its a 997. All the cars I know of have been 987 (boxsters) with the exception of 2 997 cars , but I don't think these had BOSE. The 997 BOSE system is different to the 987 even though they use the same base amplifier in many cases. The 997 has an extension to its outputs not used on the 987 as it has more speakers in the 997. My suspicion is that the corrupted bose amps are the result of the update software not being correctly configured for the additional outputs on the 997 units , so the software crashes during the download .

The MAP update seems expensive until you consider the coverage it includes. I think it stands currently at around 22 countries and covers from Ireland to Greece all on the same map DVD. Were you to buy the same coverage as multiple map disks for any other system it would cost you significantly more. Admittedly , some will never travel outside the Uk so may prefer a slimmed down cheaper version, but as long as Porsche supply just one DVD for all of Europe , the volumes keep the costs reasonable. You could try looking on e bay for the May 2007 map disk for a figure of around 100 pounds , widen your search to worldwide to pick up the good deals from Germany.

Best to look at aftermarket tuners like techart and 9ff etc. They offer wheel and tyre packages using tyres up to the size used on the turbo wheels you are looking at. I think the 997 turbo uses 305 rear tyres though.... . The 987 turbo look wheels should be using 265 tyres. You will need to work out the best spacer and understand offsets to confirm that the turbo wheels will fit. Techart have their wheels made with a particular offset then fit spacers to ensure the suspension clears the inside of the wheel and the wheel does not extend beyond the arch. take a look at tyrebibles.com for explanations of wheel offset and diameter and rolling radius compatability.

Just to add to wizard's comments. When i had the Multi function wheel fitted the car , not only the modules and clusters were enabled , but a vehicle handover procedure was also required to configure them all simultaneously. The vehicle handover is basically sucking all the data from the modules of the car in to the PWIS, then they are all configured to match up, then all the data is downloaded back to the modules and the country options set.

This suggests that the PCM that has been fitted is an early generation unit , the software revision being level 1 and the PCM software being the lower range of numbers. The updated PCM software is 05 rather than 04 prefix, and the software level for your age of car should be at least version 3.1 if not 3.3 (rather than 1.0 as you have at the moment). Since your car is a later version , this explains why the system , amplifier and PCM all have warning triangles , as the existing hardware in the car does not match the software in the PCM. The Porsche agent should have checked this after refitting the new unit and updated the PCM to level B to match the navigation and amplifier hardware. They should then have cleared all the fault codes from the system. Certainly it sounds suspect that the PCM you have been supplied is not Mp3 compatable as was your previous unit.

Loren, do you know if the boxster manuals cover the 2005 987 model too ? Thanks

Great write up. Looks like the only option not on the car originally. I see you already have PCM , MFW, and leather clad steering column. Good tips on preliminary work for disconnecting battery and opening windows etc ., I had to learn the hard way when I fitted the MFW wheel to my car.

Have been doing some research on this myself. The 996/ 986 engine was released with a new design of bottom end to the previous 993 units. As part of the new design the intermediate shaft was supported by a revised bearing design and used fewer bearing supports. The intermediate shaft is in the heart of the engine block and transfers drive from the crank to the camshafts. During the life of the 986/996 , there were no fewer than 5 different designs of the intermediate shaft and one revision of the support / housing. On to the 987/997 , which used the same design of intermediate shaft and bearing as the outgoing 986/996 engines. The 986 (boxster ) and 996 (911) engines suffered from intermediate shaft failures and also RMS leaks . The RMS seal is separate from the Intermediate shaft problem and less significant, as it is a visible oil leak from the engine which can be repaired by fitting a new seal, usually done with the clutch. The RMS seal has been redesigned a number of times also , on both the 986/996 and 997/987, the consensus is it is now a rare problem on a few 987/ 997 cars. Since introduction there have been a number of cases of both 987 (boxster) and 997 (911 carerra and carrera S) with failed engines as a result of broken intermediate shafts or collapsed intermediate shaft bearings. Porsche now have a revised intermediate shaft and bearing/ housing for the 997 , though no mention of it being fitted to any specific model year. This suggests that it may be fitted as of late 2007 or 2008 as standard. Personally I beleive there is an issue with the design of either the bearing or shaft leading to a potential for premature failure. Unfortunately there is no way to predict this failure , though some have seen the intermediate shaft cover seal weep, just before bearing collapse. The intermediate shaft cover and RMS are hidden by the transmission bell housing , so can only be seen with the gearbox and flywheel removed. My advice would be to purchase porsche extended warranty on any 3.2, 3.4 , 3.6 or 3.8 Porsche of 987/997, or 996/986 version. The GT3 and turbo use a different design of engine block from an earlier car , so the issues of intermediate shaft are to my knowledge unheard of. The intermediate shaft if prone to failure will fail at around 30 - 45K miles regardless of how the engine has been serviced or driven. There is no confirmation that every car will fail for this problem , but there do seem to be a number of cars reported all with the same issue.

You need to be careful doing this , ideally read the TSB and have an original if not first generation set of disks. Avoid the temptation to download bit torrent , otherwise you could end up with a wrecked unit that not even the dealer can fix. If you are intending to update the unit , you should also be aware you need a map DVD later than 05.2005. If you update and use the earlier map DVD from 10.2004 (originally installed) the PCM can overheat and become damaged. Get the updated map DVD , then PM me for details on the update. If you have a 2007 map DVD , it is possible you will also need a 2005 map as well. There have been cases where the the latest MAPS will not read after update , the update is done in two parts , the first part on the PCM and the second by the MAP DVD on the navigation unit. If you try to advance to the latest map DVD without previous updates from earlier maps there can be issues.

That would suggest that there is no protection for Porsche's expensive audio equipment. I find this very hard to beleive. From what I've seen of the retro fitting instructions of the PCM in TSB's , it suggests that the gateway module needs to be communicated with and that the instrument cluster holds a software key that must be matched to the PCM / CDR for it to function. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that all the security configurations / resetting on the current 997/987 cars , is based on software keys which are provided from Porsche in Germany. These must be requested after a chassis number has been provided by the main agent. Certainly the documentation I've seen makes reference to access codes for certain procedures regarding module replacement and audio.

As far as I'm aware the only people to successfully retro fit a PCM in any car have been those with dealer support , when fitting a new unit sourced from Porsche. The PCM has built in theft security that links the unit with the car via the gateway module. If you fit a PCM from another car into your car , I would expect you need to re activate the PCM using the keypass procedure and the porsche workshop tool. The code for unlocking the PCM and re assigning it to a different vehicle , is obtained by your local agent on request from Porsche , having provided the unit and the vehicle ident numbers to them. The PCM communicates with the Navigation drive via MOST fibre optic, you will also need this to retro fit the pcm , as the car will not have it installed as part of the standard loom.

If you open up the rear cover of the lights you can soon tell. Gas discharge lights (litronics) will have a large silver box in the rear cover of the hadlight housing with some warning signs about high voltage etc. The headlight bulb looks totally different to a standard H4.

The units fitted with the MP3 compatable drive are level B software or above. This function should work straight out of the box. It could be an older generation refurbished unit has been installed instead , which has been upgraded to level B , but does not have MP3 compatability. You should be running version 3.3 software if its a new unit and MP3 capable. I don't think the older units can be upgraded beyond level 3 software , though i'm not absolutely certain on this. Press main and trip buttons to get info on software level.

Follow this link. https://techinfo.porsche.com/techinfo/pdf/e...USA_KATALOG.pdf Look at page 341 for a list of option codes - bose , PCM , navigation , CD etc , then refer to page 312 for the part numbers for the optic cables. Your Porsche agent that will order the part should be able to confirm you have the correct part number.