Silver_TT

Great job, looks much better

I doubt you will find anyone outside of the dealer with a PIWIS. While I have seen a few that have it, it's too cost prohibitive for most independent shops (something like ~$10K/month). When you need access to a PIWIS you usually just need to bite the bullet and go to the dealer.

What kind of problems did they have? Don't want to speculate but if they changed the ATF and subsequently had issues it's either pure coincidence or possibly they didn't use OE ATF or used aftermarket filter/gasket/parts. There's really no reason changing the ATF should cause any problems at all if you use OE parts. Los of issues with using aftermarket fluids.... I had a 996TT gearbox that was damaged from the former owner, a spoiled little brat, using aftermarket and lying about it taking it out of the "dealer only serviced" records. Don't know what kind of transmission your BMW has but maybe at 55K miles it's not ready to be serviced yet by the book. My Audi Q5 2.0T is 75K for example per the manufacturer. Since changing the ATF and filter both with OE parts a year ago I have had zero issues. I sleep better at night since I saw the filter that came out and it didn't look perfect. I'm planning on keeping this car forever though, so if I have to pay extra to take care of it I don't spend even a second thinking twice about it. That's also probably why my cars never have problems though.

I change the ATF and filter every 75K miles for my ZF 8HP transmission. It is one of the best automatic transmissions I have ever driven by far, it feels like a true double clutch, the technology is absolutely outstanding...... but you have to take care of it. A certified Porsche tech told you that? Makes me think even less of them than I already did....... One thing people tend to get confused on is sometimes these will be billed as "lifetime ATF" or don't show-up on a service schedule. But that is only because the auto manufacturer like Porsche is talking about the lifetime of the warranty they will be on the hook for. After the warranty is up with them they really don't care what happens. When you contact the manufacturer directly, ZF in my case, a well known German auto giant, they will tell you to change it every 75K miles. I believe the manufacturer of the transmission since they made it. Also a lot of people are cheap and don't change the filter, which I find to be very short sighted. They complain it's too expensive but it's a small fraction of the cost of a new or used replacement transmission. Many German made transmissions by the likes of Getrag, ZF, etc are known for being outstanding quality if you take care of them properly. Also one last bit of advice having been burned: I would only use OE ATF.

And you did clean that indeed, looks like a new engine, great job. I just cleaned my engine two weeks ago and it looks great but doesn't look anywhere near as good as that lump does. I used rubber gloves and no-scratch pads too.....but I did not get anywhere near that level of clean, wow. Always makes me happy to see a car brought back to life like this.....I'll never understand how someone let their car get to that state in the first place. I would only run water (the purest I could find) in my coolant system in a pinch, like if I had a coolant loss on the side of a highway and only had water but no coolant. As soon as I got home I would flush and refill. Suspension and other wear items should be a walk in the park at this point.......clearly you've put in some hard work. Great thread, thanks for sharing.

The cost the dealer quoted is very expensive but that's what is expected from a stealer. Not taking new customers is a bit weird but being booked out a couple of weeks or so is pretty normal. My indy and I have a great relationship and he might be able to sneak me in for an emergency...... but when I schedule work with him it's usually 2-3 weeks out. Good shops are busy. This is usually fine as I try to kill my problems before they get too bad so usually nothing is so urgent it can't wait a couple of weeks. Gives me enough time to order the parts from Sunset, have them shipped, and organize everything to make sure nothing was missed. Once you establish a good relationship with someone you might find it easier to schedule things with them.

He's not misinforming people. His statements are corroborated by industry and academic research. If you are interested Lake Speed, Charles Navarro, and Jake Raby have done a lot of publishing on this topic. Not all oils are equal just because they are on an approved list and in fact if you look at virgin oil analysis they vary widely in their composition. Oil companies have to pay to be listed and the process isn't as objective, or "formal" as you put it, as you might think. Viscosity is just one of many variables. I started studying this about a year ago when I discovered my timing chain was severely "stretched" and I can tell you that I have come to the same conclusion independently. Anyway, for all the people with knowledge about cars on the internet John has probably exhibited the least self promotion of anyone I have ever seen (he owned a shop but I couldn't even tell you what the name was because he never mentioned it to drum up any business). So that comment is not valid if not laughable. If you've been around long enough what's special about JPF is he's not just another mechanic that thinks he knows better. He only did the mechanic thing as a late act in his career; he was a suit and tie organic chemist who happened to be good at working on Porsches. If you've been around here long enough you have probably seen that every person that tried to take him deep on something came up dry.....every time. His reasoning is always sound and adds up no matter how far you drill and tribology is no different. If you keep reading and have a scientific mind (ie. you're not the type of person that enters a conversation with their mind already made up) I'm confident you will change your view. If you ever saw what goes on at the top of every Fortune 500 company I can promise you they are driven by bean counting and marketing. To think otherwise is either naïve or maybe you have never worked for one of these companies. Happy Memorial Day weekend

If it makes you feel better it's not just in the water down there. People are like that here too. I could give you a million examples but it seems to have gotten worse in the current environment where they are all very busy so there is less incentive to care and retain business I suppose. I'm in the middle of having my bathroom redone and my wife is an architect so we have "inside information". You still have to watch people like a hawk and understand every single little aspect and decision of the job, just like working on a car. Else you're leaving it up to someone else and most people aren't going to treat it like their own.... And based on the things I have read about most people and what they are going to do to their cars, I am completely horrified

Could depend on the type of tire, where the damage to the tire is, etc. I actually just had a nail go into the tire of my Audi Q5 2.0T TFSI last week or so and it's in the outer edge so not repairable. I opted to replace all 4 tires to not have any mismatching and for safety since my wife and kids mostly drive the car. Would hate to have something bad happen, God forbid, because I wanted to save a few hundred bucks. Try to invest some time in finding a good indy. My method is I have a good indy but provide OE parts and fluids to him which I mostly buy from Sunset by VIN (even my indy who has 25+ years on VW/Porsche/Audi doesn't have access to dealer tools). This leaves very little room for error and I tee up the job for him by dividing the parts up into each job making it very easy with no room for error. I'm just trying to make it easy for him, which should help me out too. I also leave him very brief notes of anything specific since it could be another guy doing the actual work, not the owner I talked to. I also learn about the job in detail so I can talk to him about it and make sure I understand the approach and what will be done. I spent a lot of time learning the engine so I can do this without wasting his time... on one hand I'm kind of anal... on the other hand he's told me he appreciates it.

not all dealers are the same..... i have even seen the same dealer change considerably over time (mostly due to new management, makes sense). another dealer in your area might give you a different response. My personal opinion is there's not too much I need a dealer for. Recalls, an ECU update or something like that. Otherwise I'm only using them to do like $50 tire patches since they are 5 mins from my house. For everything else a good indy with OE parts will be approximately half the dealer price. You should definitely invest in trying to find a good indy.

So things changed and it's all online now but you just need to create an account and have them apply the discount terms to your account. Seems you need to get the "right person" to do this... the first person told me the same thing you got from Luke.. but then more recently they told me it was no problem to modify my account for the same discount I have always gotten (dates back to Renn Tech) when I asked them about this and pointed out I have bought tens of thousands of dollars of equipment from them over 20 years. They were super nice about it just like they always have been, he said they are just going through some bumps having to do everything online, they have a ton of volume, and had some personnel turn over. Still a great place to buy parts. Anyway, just stick with it as far as getting the discount terms applied and once they adjust your account you are good to go forever......

Seems like things might have changed. Just called to order a coolant tank reservoir for my Audi and they told me the tax laws changed, everything must go through the website, and that's the pricing. So this may be the end of the Renn Tech discount. Not the end of the world, the pricing wasn't all that much different...........

Yes they are very friendly and helpful. That is something very hard to find today but especially in this industry. So when you find a good gig like Sunset offering OE products for rock bottom prices with a friendly attitude and good customer service, you stick with the winning team....... strong work

Maybe Luke is new. Not the end of the world on wiper blades, he’s right the website is already cheap compared to a dealer for the exact same parts but the renn tech discount is about, I dunno, 3% under what the website shows … don’t sweat it this time on $30 wipers but definitely ask again next time you place an order

Yes. They do offer a Renntech discount (just another way this website has saved me a fortune) -- you will need to call probably to get that added the first time only. They also sell Audi parts too in case you have one of those. They are awesome, very friendly and full access to dealer network of information so giving them your VIN they will have you locked-in to the latest OE parts that are guaranteed to match your car. You should ask them about shipping pricing while you're at it. They always only charge me actual-ish shipping rates and they are a volume shipper so they get very good rates. I ordered a few thousand dollars of hardware from them last summer including heavy parts like brake rotors.... I wouldn't be able to go to the UPS or FexEx website and get a better rate than they gave me. I think they shipped it all for like $150 and it was so heavy the UPS driver, who I am friendly with, had to bring it up on a dolly and was like "dood, what in the heck do you have in these boxes? a bunch of bricks?" haha

Your call, but I like having wipers that work well and the OE are good. I would use the Sunset website and place your order there. They are always super busy when you try to call, and they are on the west coast so don't try to call too early. The only time I call is if I need something overnighted and want to be sure it ships ASAP (very rare).... or if I have a specific question that the website can't answer -- which is also pretty rare Genuine OEM Porsche Parts | sunsetporscheparts.com | Sunset Porsche Parts WWW.SUNSETPORSCHEPARTS.COM Find genuine OEM Porsche Parts direct from sunsetporscheparts.com at unbeatable prices. Also find Porsche Drivers Selection gear and accessories. Shop Securely Now.

I almost always buy my car parts from Sunset but for my wipers last summer I got them on Amazon being sold directly from Bosch. It was cheaper and faster (love them or hate them, it's hard to beat Amazon especially now with the delays with USPS and others). If you go the Amazon route just be careful if it's a 3rd party seller as the sellers can cycle as inventory changes dynamically and it's easy to miss. I guess not a lot of harm could come from non-OE or fake wiper blades compared to other kinds of parts but I tend to avoid uncontrolled supply chains anyway just out of principle.

Pretty crazy, article in Bloomberg terminal this morning about just how bad the chip shortage has gotten. Cases in point: Peugeot is going back to old fashioned analog speedometers for its 308 hatchbacks rather than using a digital version. Nissan is cutting the number of cars with pre-installed nav by about 1/3rd GM said some Chevy Silverado trucks wont come with some fuel economy module which will sacrifice ~1mile/gallon ..... the list goes on. And I doubt it gets better anytime this year. Guess my wife is going to have to wait till next year to get that Tesla model X or Y.......

The headlights look fine to me.... people obsessing over headlights and BS like that are what makes the 996TT still one of the best cars out there, pound-for-pound, dollar-for-dollar

I'm guessing it runs lean at idle? Hopefully you found your vacuum leak, smoke testing it was a good idea. Not immediately clear to me how doing the coolant lines could have caused this since you said it started after the pinning -- maybe coincidence. The 996 GT3 and TT are pretty much bulletproof but the coolant lines are about the only thing that make me nervous. At some of the tracks I raced at they actually won't allow these cars with the coolant lines stock and this flaw left unaddressed -- It can cause a disaster. Texas may be easier but I bought a car from Dallas that was tuned and needed to take it off in the state I brought it back to. You basically cannot get passed emissions until all readiness states are set and this can take 100 miles or more based on my experience with my car. Playing games with the emissions vendors is a losing battle -- many states have outsourced it to a 3rd party vendor and they do thinks like match the checksum of your ECU and if it doesn't match, you're done and you're not passing no matter what your story is. Same thing with the readiness states -- any of those is not "READY" and there's nothing to talk about, you're getting sent home with a FAIL.

Yes and a large part of that is the shortage of MLCCs (multi-layer ceramic capacitors).

COVID has driven up prices on many goods from lumber to used cars. It's a seller's market right now for these cars. This is the strongest used car market I have seen in 20+ years since I've been into racing.. I couldn't re-buy today the low mileage 996TT that I sold 7 years ago when I moved into NYC for anywhere near the same price I sold it for. It's so bad that I wanted to buy a new track car and have the cash to do it but I'm putting my plans on ice -- the used car market is stupid right now. Good time to sell into strength......

Yes, it's a point worth emphasizing (as you did). I am in the process of obtaining a virgin analysis but have seen some other users data points showing Si values that are much lower so I am almost certain this is due to Loctite either naturally or because too much was used. However at least one other person has told me that after doing similar work they saw the Si spike. I agree in subsequent UOA you should see this decrease. After doing the work I "short changed" the oil after ~2K miles, and that oil was used for 5K and then analyzed. Another good friend is a nuclear engineer and said he uses the same product at the plant but they let it cure for several days if not weeks and he said the Si shows up in their analysis. I will see what it looks like in 5 months when I change. SpeeDiagnostix has stated it's not a level that I should be concerned with given the use of the Si-based sealant. I don't want to take over this thread but just want to offer that after using the OE sealant (or any Si based sealant), those who do UOA may see a spike in Si.

How long did you wait for the Loctite 5900 to cure? I just used 5970 on my timing case and saw a Si spike in my UOA. Here is a PDF with tech specs: http://tds.henkel.com/tds5/Studio/ShowPDF/243 NEW-EN?pid=SI 5970&format=MTR&subformat=REAC&language=EN&plant=WERCS Consider the following: LOCTITE® SI 5970™ has been designed specifically for gasketing applications. It withstands on line, low pressure tests carried out before product begins to cure However if you look at the charts it is clear it continues to cure over weeks, rather than hours or even days. 21 days to 100% cure strength for example. Since doing my timing chain 7K miles ago, I short changed the oil 2K later. Then did 5K miles which is what the following UOA is from:

Yes, I recently spent time looking at Blackstone vs SpeeDiagnostix and think the later is the stronger product. Blackstone makes you pay extra to see the TBN (arguably the most important thing you want to see in the analysis) and even then doesn't show the breakdown just gives you a single number. To me this is akin to going to the doctor to get a blood test for a critical illness only to have the doctor tell you that if you want them to properly test your blood then you need to pay an extra fee -- seems like they should be doing it in the first place if they are a good doctor. Anyway, I am actually expecting my oil analysis from SpeeDiagnostix back this week but you can go to their website and see what the report looks like. I think pulling the sump will tell you what you need to know on its own.... but the oil analysis is still something to consider regardless (cheap insurance).