LJPete

The brown wires if I recall where the negative. Look on the other row and you will find a pin that doesn't line up with one in the seat. I moved that one and everything worked afterwards. Hope this helps,

No. Unfortunately, there is no link as you will know if your seat doesn't work when you first try it out after installation. If that happens the power wire is just in the wrong pin position in your harness. All you have to do is remove the pin and move it to the location where the power wire is on the seat side of the harness. There is a special tool that makes this very easy. Don't forget to remove the pin lock (a small plastic retainer that prevents the pins from backing out) before you try to remove the pin. What year is your car? What year car did the seats come from?

It should be plug and play. Depending on the year of the seats and your model year, you may have to move a pin or two to a different hole in your harness. No, the Memory function will not work after you swap seats if the (if there is no memory module under he sport seat. I lost mine when I swapped sport seats in to my MY 99 from an 04 GT3. There is a DIY on this sight that is very helpful.

My first 996 had the 3rd radiator and it would reach more or less the same temp as my 996 with 2 radiators (maybe slightly higher). With that said, it would cool much quicker once I started rolling or when the fans kicked in. It was kind of nerve racking at first seeing the temp needle move to the middle of the 0 in 180 and then the fans would kick in and the needle would head back to vertical quite quickly. With that said, my 996 with the 3rd radiator, the 2 main radiators where pretty dirty and where in need of a cleaning so temps might have been a bit better if they where cleaner. My bone stock 996 now, rarely gets the needle up to the middle part of the zero in the 180 degree marking on the gauge. I suspect that this is due to the clean radiators it has when I bought it.

I did this mod last spring. Easy mod. All 996 wheels are interchangeable. If I recall, there is a DIY on this site that details the procedure. Follow it and you won't have a problem. My only other words of advice are be careful with the clock spring tabs that slide into the wheel as they are pretty delicate and make sure you unplug all the ground straps to the wheel. I mistakenly pulled on of the crimp connectors off. Had to fix that which delayed me 10 more minutes. All in all, it should only take 30 mins to an hour depending on how slow or fast your work. Hope this helps,

Wow, That's a really nice looking box. I think that would do the trick. Why did you select a single sub over a dual 8 inch setup? What is the advantage? I have been looking for a sub solution and this maybe right up my alley, Thanks in advance,

Bmohr, I'm sorry to hear about your situation but I thought I'd chime in and let you know that you have some decent options as of late as you are not just stuck with getting a factory re-man motor. Jake Raby's group and L & N engineering have been working together to put together a promising solution to all of the M96's short comings. I would suggest you contact them to discuss options. They also have options for putting in larger displacement motors so this maybe a hidden positive as you could end up with more power from your car. Also, Roock does engine swaps and conversions so if you have a 3.4L you have some options there as well. There is a guy local to the DC area that worked with them and had a positive experience with them. He's on this board and did chronicle his experience. His name escapes me but if you run a search you'll probably find him. IIRC it's Paul996? Hope this provides a foundation to getting your car back on the road, Pete

The GT3 motor is different than the standard 996 motor and doesn't have dry sump or external reservoir (GT3 has a derivative of the 964 block where we have m96). Follow the DIY at the beginning of this thread and you should be fine.

Congrats on the 3.6. Keep us updated on your swap progress and any issues you encounter. Are you using Rook or some other service to do the swap and programming?

I just did an oil change and noticed some of that stuff in my oil fill tube. Not bad but a bit. Odd thing is when I drive my 996, I drive it for 30 mins +. I did note that it's only recently that this stuff shown up, didn't happen in the summer months with the same driving patterns. I'm wondering if I should be concerned?

I have a Fabspeed and it does make some very light droning at low RPMs (under load) but it's gone by 2600 RPM. By my standards it's one of the most livable exhausts. As the exhaust is braking in the drone is getting less and less but that could be me getting more used to it.

Performed my first oil change on my MY99. Everything went well with no issues. Just wanted to thank you Loren for this fantastic resource.

According to the trip computer I get 23.7 mixed city/highway. Pure highway I can get 28-29.

I'll try to help out a bit. 1) for the most part the 996 is a very reliable car. That being said, the engines do have some weak spots and there is potential for issues. Those issues are the rear mains seal leaking, which is not a big deal, just have it replaced when you get your clutch changed. On the deeper end of the scale the IMS (Intermediate Main shaft) can fail which results in a catastrophic failure of the motor and finally, on the earlier MK I cars they have some cylinder wall issues that can fail. The occurrences of these issues is a closely guarded secret by Porsche AG and no one really knows how often these things pop up. Don't be deterred from a car with a motor replacement as these cars tend to have new motors from Porsche with the latest update parts in them. I wouldn't walk away from a car with an original motor but having a fresh one is a nice plus in my book. For the most part, it seems that engine failure is a minority of the cars but it does happen so you may want to educate yourself to what your alternatives if it happens. Thankfully, there are now new options for sourcing rebuilt (arguably stronger) motors than ordering a replacement from Porsche but this information is just hitting the forums now. There is much anecdotal information that says a car that's driven tends to have less issues. 2) Working on the 996 is not any more difficult than another car. The only caveat is that much of the motor is not assessable by the rear deck lid but from the underside of the car. 3) Differences in the C4 and C2 aside from the obvious 4wd is the weight difference between the 2 cars and balance. The C4 is a bit heavier and will push more at the limit. The C2 feels lighter and more nimble and is easier to drive with the throttle. 3b) X51 adds a new intake manifold, heads, headers (IIRC) and upgraded oiling system. It's rather an expensive option but I can't speak to the value of it as I've never driven a car with X51. The standard 996 motor offers quite a bit of power already. 3c) You can add on some bolt-ons that will provide an increased performance but will it equal the X51? Probably not but the X51 was around a 10k option IIRC. I'm more in a position to recommend learning how to drive the 996 as it is a challenging car where the BMW is a very forgiving car. The 996 requires finesse and sensitivity to drive it effectively. Your money is better spend in driving schools if you want to go fast. The MK I engines seem to respond better to bolt-ons but you can add more performance (straight-line) with an intake, plenum and exhaust. That will make your car a bit more punchy and slightly quicker. Again, is it worth the money? debatable. I'd go for suspension and schools before adding other items. 3d) The X51 is pretty much maxed and I haven't read of anyone extracting more NA power out of them but I could be wrong on this. Of course there are supercharger options for both motors but those are quite pricey as well. At that point, you might as well go for the turbo. For background information, I picked a 99 996 MK I even with the higher risk associated with the 3.4 because of the following reasons. MK I Aero kits to me are the best looking of the 996 narrow body (subjective), they tend to be the lightest cars of the bunch and finally, they were offered with a LSD and defeat able traction control vs the PSM that was offered on later cars. These cannot be turned off and will try to fix you if you in the most in opportune times (when you are trying to rotate the car). LSD was only offered in the 99 and the 04 40th anniversary edition cars. I came from an E36 BMW and have driven virtually all generations of the 3 series including M3's in autocross so I have a penchant/passion for BMWs as well. The 911 is a whole different ball game entirely in terms of experience and driving dynamics of a rear engine car. Hope this helps, Pete

I thought I'd post a quick follow up. I found a solution to the seat wiring issue by confirm hot wires and borrowing a re-pinning kit from a friend who works at a local dealership. We where able to pull the pin out without damaging the pins and re-insert them in the correct open hole in the plug. Everything works fine now.

Hi Guys, A week ago I started my project day with some success and a bit of a failure. I was able to install my 3 spoke steering wheel that I purchased. I also adjusted my Aero wing to the second level which now looks quite a bit more sporty. Unfortunately, I didn't have as much luck with my sport seat upgrade. Last year I acquired some sport seats from an 04 GT3 which I tried to install in place of my power/heated/memory standard seats in my 99. Thanks to a set of instructions I found on the web, the physical removal and installation of the seats was a breeze but when I tried the seat adjustments I got nothing. I noticed that there was a larger gauge wire in my car's harness that didn't line up to what looked like a power wire in the seat's harness. I wanted to see if anyone knows the difference in the 99 vs the 04 seat wiring pin locations. Also, I wanted to know if anyone knows what kind of tool I need to get to remove the pin and place it in the proper location without damaging the harness plug or cutting and fitting a new wire crimp. I did a search an only found 1 semi related, but it really had to do with an airbag delete for the passenger side. http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?s...+wiring+diagram Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I had to put the old seat back in. Pete

Thanks for the info. I need new mats that won't walk themselves under my pedals. Pete

how big can i go with the doors/dash pods/rear pods without having to do some major work? 5.25" doors? 1" tweeters and 4" drivers for the pods? I believe that is correct. IIRC there is a guy Rod at caraudioinovations.com that can put a slightly larger speaker in the door but don't quote me on that. When I was researching options, I remember coming across some work he had done and I believe he put a slightly larger speaker in the doors. Pete

I have the HI-FI package in my 99. Only came with speakers in the doors. The sound is quite bad but not as bad as my first 996 which only had the 4 inch speakers in the dash and rear-side panels. As I recall, the 99's didn't come with Subs. Only the bose optioned cars did which came later in the 996 series. Pete

After speaking to the shop manager, I'm beginning to feel that I'm being taken for a $pricey$ ride. It's apparent that when I mention to clean the ICV and throttle body he said that it'll idle by itself some of the time then it just dies out. I really don't believe that he's being honest with me. Which shop are you taking it to? There are plenty of good shops for Porsches in the DC area.

That was the tricky part of it which depends on your setup. If my tires where cold I could get the rear out with adding throttle once I lifted and got the rear to step out. Once the tires warmed, it became much more difficult when I loaded the rear with weight and the added grip made the car very difficult to kick the rear out. Keep in mind that you are trying to defeat the innate advantage of having the weight in the rear by prolonging the drift. TTOS is what makes this car tons of fun on an autocross course as if you enter a turn too hot, all you have to do is slightly lift the throttle and let the rear rotate to where you want it, then roll back on throttle to stop the rotation. As for the LSD I believe it's a clutch type that is offered on the 99's. Mine still worked on both my old one and my current one. Here are the regular links to the photo's (going around a dry skidpad) http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n120/LJ...nstruct_018.jpg http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n120/LJ...nstruct_019.jpg Hope this helped, Pete

Can you post your before and after dyno's? After reading both your impressions this is something that is getting more and more intriguing to me. Thanks in advance, Pete

The short answer is yes, you can get a 996 to oversteer but depending on what your used to power on oversteer is harder to get depending on your set up. Because the rear engine weight bias, the car's rear is really planted when accelerating. Many times, if you try to throttle on oversteer, you can get understeer because the wieght comes of the front end and on to the rear. This really is dependent on our suspension set up and aligment setup as the car stock is designed to understeer. If you had camber and sways the car becomes much more neutral. My first 996 with an aggressive alignment, PSS9's with GT3 Sways and control arms was extremely neutral but even I had a tough time getting the rear out on corner exit acceleration. It is possible but tough in the dry. The easiest way to get my old car to tail out was lift mid-corner (trailing throttle oversteer) was just fantastic once you get used to it. I have driven a 996 with LSD and without. You can tell the difference on an autocross as you will light up the inside tire on a car without it. Not nearly as bad as a FR car but it will break loose. On my current 996, which is totally stock it actually will power out oversteer but this is primarily due to the smaller rear tires vs my old one (265 vs 285) and much softer suspension. Some pics of me getting the tail out with TTOS and staying on the gas to drive sideways in my old car at a Street Survival Course last year.

Yes, MK II skirts will fit on a MK 996. I had them on my car. Pete

Thanks Loren, I'm scheduled to see the car today so I'll look for the 220 code under the hood to verify. Pete