2005 Boxster 3.2S
Discussion
Haven't said much about this. I bought it on a whim after selling my previous ones ( I had 2 at the same time ) to put the money into a move back to Newcastle from Southampton. Bit of history......
My previous 2010 Gen2 that I bought from Copart with 12k miles and full history. I bought this thinking I could make 4 grand on it when it was repaired. And I probably could have done. Until my best mate chimed in wanting to buy it. He could afford to give me £500 less than it stood me. b
ks! Oh well, we're still friends and he still has the car 3 years later and loves it, so what the hell.
I don't have any pics of the other one. It was a 2005, very dark blue metallic, black hood, blue interior, 55k miles, and the highest spec 987.1 I've ever come across before or since. I only owned it for 6 weeks! Never mind, I made a grand on it, moved house, and 6 months later I was idly browsing Boxanet for the first time since coming north.
Oh, what's this? Local ( ish ), great colour, history and spec, sensible miles. What's not to like! Looked through the history of posting on the forum by the owner and he seemed like the kind of guy I'd be comfortable buying from. Plus I got taken to see it in my mate's new Tesla, win win!
It's a 2005 3.2S in Cobalt with blue hood and interior, Bose, steering wheel controls, xenons, heated extended leather, 19'' Lobster claws, 73k miles and in lovely nick. Did the deal, picked it up the next week and got used to fretting about the horrors of internet IMS disasters and cracked heads. Then calmed down a bit and decided to go with the more encouraging stories of how they like to be used regularly and driven hard. I used it a lot initially, up and down to Southampton and runs out to get the hang of driving it.
So, what's it doing now? Sadly, partly because of work and partly because of lockdown, its been sitting here for a year.......
It went for a service last year and came back from the Indy I use with the advice that it would soon require discs and pads, which is where I"m at with it now. I sourced a full set of Brembos for a very sensible price from ECP. I chose these partly because they were one of the manufacturers Porsche used as OE and I like the fact that the surfaces on the discs you can see are very nicely finished. I set about the rears first.
Well, here's the first problem.....my Torx wouldn't touch these. I ended up borrowing one with a bigger drive to get a bigger bar on. They made some bloody horrible noises, but thankfully none snapped or stripped. Advice varies about refitting and whether to copaslip or not, but there are no rotational forces on these bolts, and I'm not going through that again, so copaslip it is!
Due to the genius of Porsche engineering, you have to get these small steel bolts that haven't been moved or greased for ever and a day, out of an alloy hub, with all the potential for breakages that come with it. Again, the two rears did come out without incident, and these, and the bolts that hold the sensor connectors were replaced with stainless copaslipped allen bolts.
Ah, sorry, no pic, I think it may end up at the bottom of the post, bugger!
In spite of the fact they can barely be seen, I had the backing plates vapour blasted, refinished them in silver and refitted them, along with the new discs after a good scrub with brake cleaner and then the pads. Seemed a shame not to give everything else a scrub while I was in there.....took a while to do both sides, but happy with that.
I had the wheels refurbished at the end of lockdown, and sourced new colour crested centre caps.
I started on the front brakes today, and they've already become a headache....I'd already loosened all of the calipers when I'd borrowed the Torx, but having managed the rears, and despite my best efforts ( soaked in WD40, shocking it with a hammer, trying to tighten it slightly first ) the bolt holding the brake line to the hub snapped flush. You can see what remains of it just to the left of the hole for the upper caliper bolt.
Doesn't look much, but it's going to be a pain. It's at an awkward angle to be sure that when I drill it out I'm actually following the path of the bolt, and I suspect what will happen is that I'll end up with a stud in there held with some kind of industrial strength adhesive with a nut to hold the bracket. I've still got to get the other one out yet......
Never mind, I took my mind off it by painting the backing plates and being horrified at the state of the inner faces of the old front discs. Very common on Porsches this....
That's where I'm at now....wish me luck for tomorrows guff of drilling out the breakage.......
Yep, here it is, this is the pic I mentioned earlier..........
My previous 2010 Gen2 that I bought from Copart with 12k miles and full history. I bought this thinking I could make 4 grand on it when it was repaired. And I probably could have done. Until my best mate chimed in wanting to buy it. He could afford to give me £500 less than it stood me. b
ks! Oh well, we're still friends and he still has the car 3 years later and loves it, so what the hell.I don't have any pics of the other one. It was a 2005, very dark blue metallic, black hood, blue interior, 55k miles, and the highest spec 987.1 I've ever come across before or since. I only owned it for 6 weeks! Never mind, I made a grand on it, moved house, and 6 months later I was idly browsing Boxanet for the first time since coming north.
Oh, what's this? Local ( ish ), great colour, history and spec, sensible miles. What's not to like! Looked through the history of posting on the forum by the owner and he seemed like the kind of guy I'd be comfortable buying from. Plus I got taken to see it in my mate's new Tesla, win win!
It's a 2005 3.2S in Cobalt with blue hood and interior, Bose, steering wheel controls, xenons, heated extended leather, 19'' Lobster claws, 73k miles and in lovely nick. Did the deal, picked it up the next week and got used to fretting about the horrors of internet IMS disasters and cracked heads. Then calmed down a bit and decided to go with the more encouraging stories of how they like to be used regularly and driven hard. I used it a lot initially, up and down to Southampton and runs out to get the hang of driving it.
So, what's it doing now? Sadly, partly because of work and partly because of lockdown, its been sitting here for a year.......
It went for a service last year and came back from the Indy I use with the advice that it would soon require discs and pads, which is where I"m at with it now. I sourced a full set of Brembos for a very sensible price from ECP. I chose these partly because they were one of the manufacturers Porsche used as OE and I like the fact that the surfaces on the discs you can see are very nicely finished. I set about the rears first.
Well, here's the first problem.....my Torx wouldn't touch these. I ended up borrowing one with a bigger drive to get a bigger bar on. They made some bloody horrible noises, but thankfully none snapped or stripped. Advice varies about refitting and whether to copaslip or not, but there are no rotational forces on these bolts, and I'm not going through that again, so copaslip it is!
Due to the genius of Porsche engineering, you have to get these small steel bolts that haven't been moved or greased for ever and a day, out of an alloy hub, with all the potential for breakages that come with it. Again, the two rears did come out without incident, and these, and the bolts that hold the sensor connectors were replaced with stainless copaslipped allen bolts.
Ah, sorry, no pic, I think it may end up at the bottom of the post, bugger!
In spite of the fact they can barely be seen, I had the backing plates vapour blasted, refinished them in silver and refitted them, along with the new discs after a good scrub with brake cleaner and then the pads. Seemed a shame not to give everything else a scrub while I was in there.....took a while to do both sides, but happy with that.
I had the wheels refurbished at the end of lockdown, and sourced new colour crested centre caps.
I started on the front brakes today, and they've already become a headache....I'd already loosened all of the calipers when I'd borrowed the Torx, but having managed the rears, and despite my best efforts ( soaked in WD40, shocking it with a hammer, trying to tighten it slightly first ) the bolt holding the brake line to the hub snapped flush. You can see what remains of it just to the left of the hole for the upper caliper bolt.
Doesn't look much, but it's going to be a pain. It's at an awkward angle to be sure that when I drill it out I'm actually following the path of the bolt, and I suspect what will happen is that I'll end up with a stud in there held with some kind of industrial strength adhesive with a nut to hold the bracket. I've still got to get the other one out yet......
Never mind, I took my mind off it by painting the backing plates and being horrified at the state of the inner faces of the old front discs. Very common on Porsches this....
That's where I'm at now....wish me luck for tomorrows guff of drilling out the breakage.......
Yep, here it is, this is the pic I mentioned earlier..........Edited by Heaveho on Tuesday 15th September 01:20
Edited by Heaveho on Thursday 20th October 01:01
Shame to hear that it's been stood for a year, you must be gutted.
I've owned a Boxster for 5 years and recently sold it, and loved every minute of it. This looks lovely!
One thing I'd recommend is to buy the newer bolts from Porsche for your calipers. They don't cost much at all, but they have a torx head rather than an allen key head, and they're a little shorter. The old ones stick out too far and the ends get rusted and strip the threads on the way out, so it's worth replacing them if you're in there now to save this happening in the future.
I've owned a Boxster for 5 years and recently sold it, and loved every minute of it. This looks lovely!
One thing I'd recommend is to buy the newer bolts from Porsche for your calipers. They don't cost much at all, but they have a torx head rather than an allen key head, and they're a little shorter. The old ones stick out too far and the ends get rusted and strip the threads on the way out, so it's worth replacing them if you're in there now to save this happening in the future.
geraintthomas said:
Shame to hear that it's been stood for a year, you must be gutted.
I've owned a Boxster for 5 years and recently sold it, and loved every minute of it. This looks lovely!
One thing I'd recommend is to buy the newer bolts from Porsche for your calipers. They don't cost much at all, but they have a torx head rather than an allen key head, and they're a little shorter. The old ones stick out too far and the ends get rusted and strip the threads on the way out, so it's worth replacing them if you're in there now to save this happening in the future.
Cheers. You won't have made the connection, but it was me that sold you the wheels for yours when I lived in Southampton. I'll have caught you out there with having a different username on here! I've owned a Boxster for 5 years and recently sold it, and loved every minute of it. This looks lovely!
One thing I'd recommend is to buy the newer bolts from Porsche for your calipers. They don't cost much at all, but they have a torx head rather than an allen key head, and they're a little shorter. The old ones stick out too far and the ends get rusted and strip the threads on the way out, so it's worth replacing them if you're in there now to save this happening in the future.
I was sorry to see you sell yours after all you had been through with it, hope the Mazda will fill the gap.
Heaveho said:
Cheers. You won't have made the connection, but it was me that sold you the wheels for yours when I lived in Southampton. I'll have caught you out there with having a different username on here!
I was sorry to see you sell yours after all you had been through with it, hope the Mazda will fill the gap.
Oh bloody hell! Was going to say your username was different. Good to talk to you again!I was sorry to see you sell yours after all you had been through with it, hope the Mazda will fill the gap.
Honestly, the Mazda more than does it. I absolutely love the thing, and it'll be staying with me for some time...
geraintthomas said:
Oh bloody hell! Was going to say your username was different. Good to talk to you again!
Honestly, the Mazda more than does it. I absolutely love the thing, and it'll be staying with me for some time...
Good, I think the hardest thing about selling something you like is actually getting your head around not having it any more. Once you move on, the mindset changes.Honestly, the Mazda more than does it. I absolutely love the thing, and it'll be staying with me for some time...
I just used a helicoil kit for the first time today, job's a good un......well, until I set about the other side, obviously!
Well, ECP does it again. Here are the pads they supplied, insisting that they were right and I was wrong, not for the first time........
Interestingly, they came boxed as Brembo, and have the logo on the back of the pad, but are also stamped with the Textar brand. As I understood it, they were two separate brands, albeit both oem suppliers to Porsche. Clearly I've been misinformed somewhere along the line.
And here are the visibly different ones that came out........
So, given that apart from physically fitting into the caliper, everything else was wrong ( anti rattle shim and brake pad sensors don't fit ) they've gone back. In fact, ECP have done me a favour. I've had a better look at the pads that came out.
Apart from maybe 1mm of wear on them, they're in decent nick. They've worn evenly, there's no cracking and no separation from the backing plates. So, I've refaced them and refitted them, along with new wear sensors. It was clear that the old discs were the source of the judder I was experiencing, so win win. The price of the correct Brembo pads was eyewatering ( more than the discs, ffs ), and would like as not have been a needless expense.
Interestingly, they came boxed as Brembo, and have the logo on the back of the pad, but are also stamped with the Textar brand. As I understood it, they were two separate brands, albeit both oem suppliers to Porsche. Clearly I've been misinformed somewhere along the line.
And here are the visibly different ones that came out........
So, given that apart from physically fitting into the caliper, everything else was wrong ( anti rattle shim and brake pad sensors don't fit ) they've gone back. In fact, ECP have done me a favour. I've had a better look at the pads that came out.
Apart from maybe 1mm of wear on them, they're in decent nick. They've worn evenly, there's no cracking and no separation from the backing plates. So, I've refaced them and refitted them, along with new wear sensors. It was clear that the old discs were the source of the judder I was experiencing, so win win. The price of the correct Brembo pads was eyewatering ( more than the discs, ffs ), and would like as not have been a needless expense.
On to things that aren't causing me grief! Had these refurbished at the end of lockdown. For the princely sum of £150!
New fake colour crested centre caps ( pointing at the valves obvs! ), shiny valve caps.
Protected with this.......
.....and this.....
No idea why the last ones are sideways, but I'm off to find out........
New fake colour crested centre caps ( pointing at the valves obvs! ), shiny valve caps.
Protected with this.......
.....and this.....
No idea why the last ones are sideways, but I'm off to find out........
My next dilemma is tyres. I'm not a subscriber to the bks that Porsche tyres are anything special, and had no intention of paying the tax for N rated. My go to tyres are Goodyear Asymmetrics.
As it turns out, the prices for these are extremely reasonable compared to the usual Michelin / Pirellis that most seem to favour, and still N rated, like I give a toss about that!
So a £200 saving to get tyres I prefer. Win win.
ks that Porsche tyres are anything special, and had no intention of paying the tax for N rated. My go to tyres are Goodyear Asymmetrics. As it turns out, the prices for these are extremely reasonable compared to the usual Michelin / Pirellis that most seem to favour, and still N rated, like I give a toss about that!
So a £200 saving to get tyres I prefer. Win win.
Haven't done too much with this, not only recently, but generally, as 8k miles in 6 years will testify. I was never sure if I could trust it, both in terms of reliability and whether it would hand me my arse on a twisty road.
I got to the stage where I decided it was either going to be used or sold, and accordingly replaced some vitals such as tyres and brakes, as detailed previously. It's been fine as far as reliability goes, needing routine, albeit expensive maintenance. The biggest single expense other than tyres has been the front coolant crossover pipes, which including a 4 wheel alignment due to the front crossmember needing to be dropped to facilitate the fitment of the pipes, was £500 of a £1000 bill which included a major service at 80k. At the previous service, done at very few miles less than this due to time lapse rather than mies covered, it had required a back box, something I fortunately had a replacement for at home.
The car was subsequently MOT'd without incident, even though I knew it had a split drop link boot ( drop link not rattling and replacement unavailable at short notice, but remarkably cheap at £20 or so ), so of no real concern.
Having experienced the delights of carplay, courtesy of the 2018 Ford Connect I bought last year, I figured the Porsche would benefit from being brought similarly up to date and subsequently sought and had fitted a Pioneer SPH DAB250 head unit. The cost of the unit, sourced and fitted by a mate who works for an emporium specialising in such things, would have been ok had it not been necessary to cost in the fitting kit and interface required to allow the steering wheel controls to continue to function. This in effect doubled the cost.
The Porsche responded to this extravagance in typical Kraut fashion by having a hissy fit and initiating a battery drain, the like of which my trickle charger had not previously encountered. Subsequent investigations proved fruitless for some time, until my mate who had fitted the unit remembered that when cars of this vintage were new, he had often been required to visit the local Porsche dealership to retrofit Trackers prior to the cars being delivered to, or collected by the new owner. On investigation it transpired that my car did indeed have what would have been a dormant ( and faulty ) Tracker fitted. Our conclusion was that it had been reinvigorated by the battery being disconnected / reconnected when the head unit went in. Testing it with a meter when connected showed it to be taking 3 times the usual accepted charge from the battery.
The head unit in question....
The outcome of all this effort is that I've used the car, if not daily, at least much more often than previously, and it's been massively rewarding. I took it to the borders in the rain on roads I know well, and where I thought I'd have been asking for trouble on the old Michelins it previously wore, it was a revelation on new rubber. I wasn't especially looking forward to going given the weather, but I had a riot, and really enjoyed it.
On the spur of the moment last week, instead of travelling with my other half in her car, I took it on holiday to Lincolnshire and found myself within 15 miles of this place...
Oh, FFS!!!
Total result, given that there was a track day on the next day. Sadly it wasn't to be, the cost for the day was an acceptable £170, but the cost to insure the car for the day was half what I pay as a premium for the year, so that was that.
I consoled myself with being given a passenger ride in this by the very generous and capable owner.....
The badge on the wing is the bhp the car is running!
Lincolnshire was an absolute revelation, as was the Porsche. I've never been anywhere in the UK where the roads are so well surfaced, so quiet, open and well sighted, and I came away from the few days I spent there absolutely delighted that I'd given the Boxster a stay of execution. It's completely turned my head and for what it's worth in terms of value I don't see how I could replace it. It didn't put a foot wrong despite me driving in a manner that hasn't been the norm for quite some time.
I'll add that I have no idea why the pics are the in orientation they are and equally have no idea how to rectify the situation. If anyone else does and can fix it, please do!
I got to the stage where I decided it was either going to be used or sold, and accordingly replaced some vitals such as tyres and brakes, as detailed previously. It's been fine as far as reliability goes, needing routine, albeit expensive maintenance. The biggest single expense other than tyres has been the front coolant crossover pipes, which including a 4 wheel alignment due to the front crossmember needing to be dropped to facilitate the fitment of the pipes, was £500 of a £1000 bill which included a major service at 80k. At the previous service, done at very few miles less than this due to time lapse rather than mies covered, it had required a back box, something I fortunately had a replacement for at home.
The car was subsequently MOT'd without incident, even though I knew it had a split drop link boot ( drop link not rattling and replacement unavailable at short notice, but remarkably cheap at £20 or so ), so of no real concern.
Having experienced the delights of carplay, courtesy of the 2018 Ford Connect I bought last year, I figured the Porsche would benefit from being brought similarly up to date and subsequently sought and had fitted a Pioneer SPH DAB250 head unit. The cost of the unit, sourced and fitted by a mate who works for an emporium specialising in such things, would have been ok had it not been necessary to cost in the fitting kit and interface required to allow the steering wheel controls to continue to function. This in effect doubled the cost.
The Porsche responded to this extravagance in typical Kraut fashion by having a hissy fit and initiating a battery drain, the like of which my trickle charger had not previously encountered. Subsequent investigations proved fruitless for some time, until my mate who had fitted the unit remembered that when cars of this vintage were new, he had often been required to visit the local Porsche dealership to retrofit Trackers prior to the cars being delivered to, or collected by the new owner. On investigation it transpired that my car did indeed have what would have been a dormant ( and faulty ) Tracker fitted. Our conclusion was that it had been reinvigorated by the battery being disconnected / reconnected when the head unit went in. Testing it with a meter when connected showed it to be taking 3 times the usual accepted charge from the battery.
The head unit in question....
The outcome of all this effort is that I've used the car, if not daily, at least much more often than previously, and it's been massively rewarding. I took it to the borders in the rain on roads I know well, and where I thought I'd have been asking for trouble on the old Michelins it previously wore, it was a revelation on new rubber. I wasn't especially looking forward to going given the weather, but I had a riot, and really enjoyed it.
On the spur of the moment last week, instead of travelling with my other half in her car, I took it on holiday to Lincolnshire and found myself within 15 miles of this place...
Oh, FFS!!!
Total result, given that there was a track day on the next day. Sadly it wasn't to be, the cost for the day was an acceptable £170, but the cost to insure the car for the day was half what I pay as a premium for the year, so that was that.
I consoled myself with being given a passenger ride in this by the very generous and capable owner.....
The badge on the wing is the bhp the car is running!
Lincolnshire was an absolute revelation, as was the Porsche. I've never been anywhere in the UK where the roads are so well surfaced, so quiet, open and well sighted, and I came away from the few days I spent there absolutely delighted that I'd given the Boxster a stay of execution. It's completely turned my head and for what it's worth in terms of value I don't see how I could replace it. It didn't put a foot wrong despite me driving in a manner that hasn't been the norm for quite some time.
I'll add that I have no idea why the pics are the in orientation they are and equally have no idea how to rectify the situation. If anyone else does and can fix it, please do!
Edited by Heaveho on Thursday 20th October 01:10
[url]
|https://forums-
images.pistonheads.com/180832/202408057843185[/url]
This has sat since August last year, when I took it on holiday to the coast near Bamburgh Castle to celebrate a friend from Southampton's birthday. I've been continually unwell for ages, and have had to let everything fend for itself for a while since then.
We had a nice time in it, and it was a memorable holiday. Shortly afterwards, said friend passed away prematurely and unexpectedly at the appallingly young age of 44.
I decided this month to prep it for use as I've started to get better. Then discovered that somehow I'd managed to turn the Optimate trickle charger off some time ago. On plugging the charger back in, it became apparent that the battery wasn't going to take a charge, and I was left looking at this for the last 4 days......
bks. But I learnt something today that probably many others on here could have told me if I'd thought to ask. I hooked up the jump leads from the Lexus ( without starting it ) to the dead Porsche battery and reattached the Optimate to the Porsche. This tricks the Optimate into charging what it now sees as a battery with some charge in it, which it won't do on a completely flat battery. This is still ongoing as I only found out about this today, but it's now charging as it should, and I'm hopeful I've saved a fortune on a new battery.
This is the current state of play after about 6 hours.......
[url]
|https://forums-
images.pistonheads.com/180832/202408057839705[/url]
It'll need MOTing and taxing. It does very few miles a year, so I can't imagine it has reason to fail an MOT, but stranger things have happened. I'm looking forward to having access to it again.
images.pistonheads.com/180832/202408057843185[/url]
This has sat since August last year, when I took it on holiday to the coast near Bamburgh Castle to celebrate a friend from Southampton's birthday. I've been continually unwell for ages, and have had to let everything fend for itself for a while since then.
We had a nice time in it, and it was a memorable holiday. Shortly afterwards, said friend passed away prematurely and unexpectedly at the appallingly young age of 44.
I decided this month to prep it for use as I've started to get better. Then discovered that somehow I'd managed to turn the Optimate trickle charger off some time ago. On plugging the charger back in, it became apparent that the battery wasn't going to take a charge, and I was left looking at this for the last 4 days......
b
ks. But I learnt something today that probably many others on here could have told me if I'd thought to ask. I hooked up the jump leads from the Lexus ( without starting it ) to the dead Porsche battery and reattached the Optimate to the Porsche. This tricks the Optimate into charging what it now sees as a battery with some charge in it, which it won't do on a completely flat battery. This is still ongoing as I only found out about this today, but it's now charging as it should, and I'm hopeful I've saved a fortune on a new battery.This is the current state of play after about 6 hours.......
[url]
images.pistonheads.com/180832/202408057839705[/url]
It'll need MOTing and taxing. It does very few miles a year, so I can't imagine it has reason to fail an MOT, but stranger things have happened. I'm looking forward to having access to it again.
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