nmlss2006

A question if I may: there's a gentleman on Ebay selling a PST2 'reinstalled on a KTS500, the only difference is it's green instead of grey, loaded with the last version of the software (V24)'. Should I trust this?

Thank you sir for the reply! I had a more interesting experience with the PCM CDs - I had a perfect plastic case for them, which was delighfully empty. So I ended up purchasing a set from the dealer who did the PPI - except he sold me the 08/2004 set. He's seen the light now that I made him aware of the TSB on the 09/08 and is crossshipping a replacement, but I found the whole experience rather surreal - not to mention significantly exciting when I was looking for a gas station in west TX based on 2004 data. You really can drive quite a lot of miles after the range goes '---'. As to a flash... I talked to Kevin@UMW, who is an extraordinarily bad influence. I have this stage 2B feeling, we'll see where that leads. Thanks for the indication on pricing: I ordered everything (including the design key heads) from Sunset and I'll have to persuade the dealer here to cut the keys and program the car. I hope they won't be too upset because I didn't get the parts from them.

I see: would there be other symptoms? Another ... feature of the car which *to me* is not normal is ... well, a significant amount of rattling noise under low throttle application below 2000 RPM. My mechanic says 'the engine is lugging'. The sound is more like a lightweight flywheel rattle... and it doesn't happen in the 03. I shall. As to whether it's the only oil approved, I do not know, but if an engine has run on mobil1 for 46kmi, I am not going to change it. So that should be replaced. I read about it - the thing is, I have never seen a US PCM with the phone buttons. Do you know if, in a fit of lunacy, I could just swap them? Pardon me for being miraculously dense tonight: basically, I want to judge how quickly the RPMs drop when I lift the pedal, correct? Ah, this is interesting: the car with the PSS9 has a *more comfortable* ride than stock, on top of improving handling? [bTW - thanks for all the replies! Your post on the leather was also very helpful]

This is not about 'knowing about oil'. This is about 'dealing with market realities': Porsche can't tell you, obviously, to go buy oil in Canada or Europe. And Porsche *most certainly* isn't interested in maximising duration of their cars any more: I have had proof of this enough times that it's not even worth discussing. They're better than others, but the evolution of required maintenance on the cars - not to mention my various discussions with various service departments around the world - paints a pretty clear picture. With that said, I agree with you that the 0W is an excellent thing and will do very good things for engines. However, in a turbo - which has a fairly different oil temperature profile from a GT3 - the 40 weight when warm may be insufficient.

I thought I had seen one - maybe it was in the RoW? I know at least three cars - including my other one - that have it from the time of ordering.

Yes... I realise that. Oh well, I'll just change it and we'll see. It appears that the salve was replaced. I'll perform the test you suggested, though I am not entirely clear on it. Precisely that which you mentioned: the BT-1500 or BT-2000 to be connected to the Dension Gateway. Now I guess the decision becomes, 'how many parts do I have to replace to get BT to work'? Yes, street. Yokos it is. Yes, street: I would be ... surprised if the stock RoW were harsher than the PSS9, which are considered *rather firmer than stock* in Europe. Having both cars, I would say that the RoW suspension is lower but not necessarily firmer. Then again, however, the road surface quality makes direct comparisons difficult.

You're right, I apologise. 06/04 build, manual, stock for now. Last service .. well, WAS the Porsche 30kmi at 28,xxx in Apr 07, but the 45kmi is being performed as I type, at Forest Hill here in NJ. See, this is precisely the point: both Kevin and I don't like anything but the 5W50. However, Porsche is OK with the 0W40. Then again... what could they have done, if the 5W50 isn't for sale any more? I think that's what I'll do. Excellent idea on the oil filter cutting, I'll pass that along. See that is the point: I have never met a European car that eats *this little oil* and I'm familiar with quite a few. As a bonus, since I got the car, I got <oil lamp> signal failure a couple times in the BC and the oil pressure gauge has occasionally dropped to zero. It's being looked at, it feels electrical.

It appears that there is a new map update for the US as well, for those of us with PCM2 and the 3.0 software? Could anyone confirm this?

Here I come again with several questions. I do not know what the board specific etiquette is: should I have subdivided these into separate posts? If so, feel free to tell me and I will rectify my behaviour. Onto the questions: - Oil: It is my understanding that MY04 US turbos came from the factory with the (evil) 0W40 and should, per Porsche factory spec, keep being filled with 0W40. My mechanic agrees. RoW cars still take 5W50 and I am *really not comfortable* with a 40-weight oil in a turbo configuration. Kevin at UMW agrees with me and recommends 5W50. What is the board recommendation? I brought back up from the past a post relative to a source of 5W50 which turned out to be NLA... advice would be helpful. - Oil, rev II: I noticed MY04 US cars don't have an annual maintenance any more(thanks for providing the checklists - my service manual is stuck toghether so badly that I can't read anything from there), effectively increasing the oil change intervals to minor maintenance, that is, 2 yrs/15kmi. Again, I am *really not comfortable* with having the same oil in the car for 24k km, as much as I don't share the 'oil should be changed every 3kmi' opinion that is a lot more prevalent in the US. Am I just being paranoid, again? I'd like to keep this car going for a lot of miles - I don't tend to replace my cars, I tend to keep them and add others in time. - Oil, rev III: I started off at 42,320 miles in San Diego with two lit segments in the oil check. I added a quart, it went up to six lit segments. All well and good. I am now at 46,1xx. I have four segments lit therefore the engine burned 2 segments - 500g - of oil in 3800 miles. That comes out to 81g every 1000km, or 810g per 10k km. This is so much less (about 8-10 times less, to be precise) than my Euro coupe that I have to ask... is it normal? The european car will devour oil if driven slowly - and sure enough, the tips of the exhaust will darken etc. This one does not. - Other fluids: do I follow the factory guidelines or do I replace transmission fluid earlier, given that four years have passed? Also, do the pentosin for the clutch/steering and the coolant need replacing before, say, ten years? - Clutch: the clutch seemed fine when I got the car. Now the engagement is decidedly brusque and it seems to be happening very close to the top of the pedal motion. Is this a sign that the clutch is about to leave this world? If so, given the intention of putting an UMW stage 2B kit in the car, what replacement options do I have? Lightweight single mass flywheel? Dual mass with GT3 clutch? Pros? Cons? - PCM: I have a 'voice' button in my PCM. The online manual here doesn't mention a 'voice' button and unfortunately the original manual is not available, though I did order replacements. Does this mean that my PCM is phone-enabled and therefore will accept the bluetooth module that Eric has? This would be (very) good news. Does this also mean that I have to order a different PCM manual, to be accurate? (Yes, I am anal, thank you for asking). - Tyres: the dealership where I bought the car refinished the rims (on the car, getting paint on the calipers... yes they should be shot) and put new tyres on the car. Lovely Pilot Sport Rib AKA MXX3. These were very mediocre tyres in 1995, especially in the wet. My Euro car has Yoko Advan Sport tyres on it and I'm very happy with them, save for a tendency to drone and for decidedly suboptimal duration. What is the consensus stateside? PS2? Yoko? RE050A PP? What I would like most is a clean, progressive breakaway at the limit and good wet behaviour. The Yokos provide both. So do the RE050A PP, on a (very) different car... the PS2 is said to be a grippier tyre, with worse wet performance though. Again, opinions? - Suspension: Is the RoW kit from carnewal the best way to go? Will sunset have the same parts for less money? I will not believe for a moment that importing parts from europe is a cost effective way to go, even with EURUSD at 1,349. - Top: my top has three issues, one is wear on the outside, the second is that the glue on the flap of the interior liner on the C-pillar on the driver side has come off. I assume this can be reglued without particular issue, right? I also assume that a competent shop can replace the outer shell - which can be ordered for a SURPRISINGLY SMALL amount of money from Porsche - and reuse the interior. Am I correct? Finally - a nice bird visited the 'static' pieces of cloth that cover the rollover protection and the crap has stayed there for too long. There now is a stain which isn't going anywhere. Since I was going to change to the grey top anyways, does anyone have the part #s handy - or can point me to a place where I can get them? Bonus question: some people in europe actually *remove* the whole mechanism before putting the hard top on for the winter, to avoid having the top stay folded for several months (here, from November to march, at the very least). Is it feasible? Is it advisable? Bonus question II: when the top latches and unlatches there is a very noticeable SNAP noise. Is it supposed to be there? Can it be mitigated? It's a bit unnerving. - Leather parts: I discovered that the A pillars and the part to which the sunvisors attach are leather on my car - and from the order guide, they seem to be leather by default. I am performing an E70 retrofit and in the spirit of overkill which always seems to permeate my decisions, I was wondering if the door mirror finishers and the dome lamp surround can also be ordered in leather. I recall seeing the option somewhere but it doesn't seem to be there in the MY04 cab order guide. Can someone confirm/deny and if possible provide part #s? - Bonus leather part question: Are all hard tops alike? I.e. can I go purchase any 996 top with a black interior or were there different (vinyl / leather) options? - Short shift kits: again carenewal mentions that the factory SSK retrofit requires 'destroying rubber bushings' and provides a kit with a whole new carrier, identical to what the factory would've provided if the option had been ordered to begin with, per their wording. Is this the case? Can this be ordered from Sunset? Thanks for reading up to here :)

Excellent - that way I won't have any surprises. No, I do not trust anyone :). I am located in Medford, NJ - due east of Philadelphia. I was actually going to make Forest Hill in Montclair - http://www.foresthillexoticperformance.com/ - my Porsche-go-to person and I think they have a PIWIS tester. I will, however, gladly accept suggestions. I understand BTW that the actual key blanks will also have to be cut, by the dealer - I bought everything from Sunset, I hope whoever has to do the dealer work won't be too upset that I didn't buy things from them... I cleared things with Ron Brown at Forest Hill, he seems to be remarkably accomodating, I don't know if an actual dealer will be the same. I've been.. underwhelmed by the local choices. Just did so!

Thank you folks for the replies! I understand I might as well give up on the euro remote, that's fine. As to the rest: - Loren, I actually only have the one key and I'd be happier if the other transponders (the ones that are, supposedly, lost) were DELETED and replaced by the new ones - is this possible? - Also, I assume that I will have to go to the local dealer to get key copies made... or can sunset help me with that as well? Going to the page to become a contributing member. Thanks folks. EDIT: do I just contribute via the 'donate' link or is there a different procedure?

Well folks, after a cross country trip and some miscommunication with Black Hill in San Diego, I am now the proud owner of a 2004 TT convertible (as well as a 2003 TT coupe - but that is back in europe). Silver on black, missing a hard top but I'm working on that part (does anyone have one for sale?), 46kmi after the cross-country trip. The car was PPIed at Pioneer Center Porsche in San Diego and it was PPIed again by Ron Brown at Forest Hill here in NJ. Both gave it a clean bill of health, so I am inclined to think there are no surprises in store! I now have two problems: the car was given to me with one key and with a lovely, complete set of manuals... which had been waterlogged some time ago and therefore are completely and utterly unserviceable (think 'solid block of paper with no chance of separating the pages'). Here come my questions, therefore: 1) Can I just go to the dealership and order a new set of manuals? Will they be able to provide me with a new service manual with the correct VIN/sticker in it? I can even give them the old one back if necessary. 2) Again, can I just go to the dealership and ask for extra keys? I'd like to have the full set of three. 3) Can I ask for the 'euro' remote with the cabriolet top button? Will it work on US cars? I know that the simplest answer to these is 'ask the dealer'. The problem is, the dealer - the local one, here in NJ/PA - is giving me the usual 'well, you haven't bought the car here' runaround, so I'd like to have some information before going to have a polite but firm discussion directly in the service department. Thanks!

Briging this back up... there doesn't seem to be any 'Porsche Group' at Vine, so I set up an account for myself. Did I do something wrong? Apparently I did - no 5W50 available. But here http://www.modularfords.com/forums/showthread.php?t=107297 it says that FORD dealerships of all places should have it?

That is correct, I apologise, I had a long day. I will keep the dealers in mind if those are the ones you suggest as reliable - I don't assume a dealership is competent any more after some (very) interesting experiences with some here on the east coast and in europe. I will also call mr. Schatz for a second opinion. Thanks!

Well, AFAIK the Turbo comes with 295/30-18 in the rear - thus 11" wheels work well. As to tyres, I'd recommend the Yoko Advan Sport if you need a tyre that will not mind rain and cold while still performing very well - and very predictably - in the dry. As to the solution to buying new rear tyres every 8000 miles, check rear toe-in and drive more conservatively. Unfortunately there is no real silver bullet, but I was able to make the Yokos last ~25k kms, 15kmi or so, on European roads.

Well! After the indication about the PPI in Malibu, which I will be taking advantage of tomorrow, I would like to know if there is anyone in the Malibu area who is worth consulting for a PPI on an '03 TT coupe. I will then decide which car to get based on the result of the two PPIs. Any indications? Thanks!

Aha! Thank you sir. Now, will they be able to access the Porsche maintenance history of the car or do I need to go to the dealer for that? EDIT: Answered my own question, only TSBs are available in the Porsche system and those are available.

Folks, I am flying over from NJ to San Diego to finalise the purchase of a 2004 turbo convertible - one owner, 43kmi. I would like to know if there's any PPI location that anyone would care to recommend. Thanks!

Well, this is a slightly different situation: European resellers are purchasing cars in the US - the weak dollar makes them all the more attractive - and then taking care of the paperwork to get them 'official' german (DE) papers. I am aware of the ... difficulties for official dealers directly involved. Given the different price points in various areas of the world, it's not hard to imagine why Porsche (and others - BMW and Mercedes, as you mentioned, are the same) takes steps to prevent these cross-country deals - as illegal as it may technically be. With that said, I have to live with local dealers: they consider a German car a suspicious object, never mind a US one. Therefore, I will restrict my search to European cars. Does anyone have any ideas about the retrofits? The seats in particular are a serious issue.

I don't know if this was supposed to go in the 'general' 996 forum. If so, moderators please relocate. It's my first post, please be gentle :). I recently sold my 996 coupe and I'm in the process of acquiring a cabrio. Unfortunately, there aren't that many turbo cabrios around, so one has to compromise on options. Therefore, here come my questions: 1) is it possible *and realistic* to retrofit the tempostat/cruise control on 996 turbos? Specifically, euro (C00, Germany) cabrios MY04? 2) is it possible *and realistic* to retrofit seat heating, same as above? 3) even further, is it possible *and realistic* to go from the sport/shell seats to the regular seats, with memory etc? My back will not allow me to use the sport seats for any extended period of time. 4) It has become fashionable, for obvious reasons, to import 'USA' cars into europe. Assuming that the paperwork has already been taken care of by the seller, what parts need to be changed to make the car equivalent to the Euro one? Lights and bumpers certainly come to mind, I assume that the PCM will have to be changed? What else? I should add: does anyone know what the consequences on the warranty might be, assuming the work was done by a Porsche dealership? The reason I ask here is that I am getting... very conflicting information from different dealers. Furthermore: is the euro 'extended' warranty bumper-to-bumper like the new US CPO one? I know for a fact that it didn't use to be: I paid for TWO PCM swaps out of pocket. Thanks everyone, Luigi F