My 911 C2 Coupe!

Hi all, Bored before NYE really kicks off so thought I might do a thread on my recently purchased (Oct '19) 996! I've found this forum to be a great help and hopefully people can learn something from my ownership experience. Quick car history: I've had a 205 GTI to which I fitted a 2.0 16V engine, 309 running gear, 306 brakes: Kept for about 7 years but once this got too noisy and uncomfortable I switched to a BMW E36 M3 Evo, which was a great car. Fitted Bilstein suspension, quick steering rack, rebuilt the whole back end, kept for about 5 years before I got the itch to change: Then bought a e46 M3 which I didn't like as much as the e36. Fitted Bilstein suspension, Porsche brakes, short shift. Definitely better in almost every metric, but just not as raw and fun - and I couldn't get on with the e-throttle! Cheeky plug - this is currently for sale on Collecting Cars: https://collectingcars.com/for-sale/2002-bmw-e46-m3/ I'd been in the market for a early 3.4 996 manual 2WD coupe for some time (isn't everyone) when this beauty popped up relatively close... While only 59K miles it definitely needs some work to make it 100% - clearly the previous owner was a service it once a year type and so parts that degrade over time haven't been fixed, so the gear shift was sloppy, squeaks from the suspension, mismatched tyres, but the engine sounded and felt strong and the bodywork and underside is in really excellent condition without a spot of rust anywhere! I can happily fix mechanical bits but I hate doing bodywork, no fun in fixing that (for me at least!) - I'm fairly convinced it's been garaged all it's life there's so little rust on it. How it looked during the viewing: And returning home after the purchase (yes that is a big grin): Spec was almost perfect for me: No sunroof, grey leather sports seats, and 10-speaker (ie. not fibre-optic) stereo and not much else. Only really missing a lsd but I have plans for that... As a compulsive tinkerer I got stuck straight in with a shortshift (crucial cup of tea in shot): Fixing the leaking water pump (went for Meyle having had very good experiences with the brand in my BMW's). Fitted 964RS engine mounts at the same time, which made a big difference: Also fitted a new Sony head unit with bluetooth which I've been really impressed with. Connects to my phone without me touching it and means I can run Spotify very easily without having to even glance at my phone. And I love the dashboard without any massive LCD/LED screens on it. Plus a good bit lighter than the heavy old tape lump in their as standard. As an xmas treat to myself got some 18" wheels - currently running 997 tyre sizes, will change the rears to the correct 265/36 R18's, but probably keep the front 235's as they're N rated michelins in good order. I'm normally a fan of smaller wheels (I loved the 18's on my e46 M3) But I really think the 996 needs the bigger wheels to fill the arches: There is no rubbing on the 997 spec 285/40 18's but I'm keen to get them changed. Could do with a 5mm or 10mm spacer on the front too. As another cheeky xmas present got some second hand dansk boxes with a cracked flexi which I got welded up for very cheap. This proved rather louder than anticipated but I've grown to really like them. Quiet on the motorway at 80 and a good few KGs lighter than the standard boxes too! Also got round to adjusting the throttle cable to take up the huge amounts of slack and allow me to open the throttle above 70%. I diagnosed this through one of those bluetooth OBD-II readers which allows you to view engine sensor readings through your phone, a highly recommended bit of kit and only cost a few quid. And went for some pointless drives: Future plans involve improving the abysmal headlights, fitting some new coffin arms and rod ends, and rebuilding and swapping in a gearbox which has a bit of a whine above 50mph or so - something I missed on the test drive! Still a great opportunity to fit an LSD and tackle an increasingly well known 996 weak point. Also going to remove the rear wiper and CD changer - these will be carefully stored away with the tape deck for the next owner. I'll also change the springs and dampers eventually but they feel pretty good given they've only got 60K on them. Then just drive it loads and loads!

Lovely car :thumb:

A great start to an excellent thread. :thumb: :welcome: to 911 ownership. ps. I had a 206 GTi ........... in 1987 .......... and, if I hadn't gone the 996 route, I'd have bought an E46 M3 in 2009.

Great opening thread and cracking looking, very pure 996 C2 :grin: Enjoy :thumbs:

Looks good. Always good to hit the ground running and sort what you can. Can you give anymore info on the obd code reader?

Nice, but pointless drives? I don't think they exist when your taking a Porsche out for a run! 😁👍🏻

By the look of the pics, I suspect both you and your Porsche will benefit from your relationship Shalmaneser... :thumb:

Thanks for the kind words all. OBDii reader looks like this: Generally available for only a few quid and very useful to have. Looking forward to keeping the thread updated!

I had a couple of 1.6's - first on in red in about 1999 and the second in Miami Blue in about 2007. Fab cars - by far the best of the hot hatches of that era for me. As for the E46 M3 - I'm glad someone else doesn't 'get them' too; I was eternally disappointed in the test drive I had of one. Went with cash, came home with cash. The one and only time I've done that when the car was as described. It just did nothing for me :dont know:

It's an interesting one the e46 M3. The engine (S54B32) is great but after the cable throttle in the E36 M3 Evo (S50B32) the response just wasn't the same, especially coming off the throttle where I felt there was some lag. I also preferred the very tuneful exhaust note of the S50 engine over that of the S54, which had a fun rasp but was a bit one dimensional. Chassis wise the e36 and e46 are effectively identical under the skin but the e46 is a much more mature feeling car, and I couldn't get it to turn in as well as the e36, which with a quicker steering rack and upgraded shocks and springs (and bushes etc etc) worked really nicely. Maybe the lighter weight made a difference. Certainly the whole experience was more insulated. Definitely a better cruiser though. Also I hated having traction control. This may just be me but in the e36 if you were at a quiet junction or roundabout you could give the accelerator a little cheeky squeeze and enjoy half a second of opposite lock in a controlled and safe manner. In the e46 having to press the naughty button kind of took the fun away from that - like engaging fun mode then turning it off immediately afterwards. Also the obvious issue of feeling like a total prat if you turned off the electronic nanny and then binned it - not a problem in the e36 as it was always just you, your right foot and the steering wheel! Also very much with you on the 205 gti. Mine was wonderful! I drive past one every now and again on my way to work, always tempted to pop a note under the windscreen wiper to ask if I could buy it! This has turned into a bit of an essay but what else are you supposed to do on your first day back after the holidays?

I ran an E36 Evo for a year or so which I had done some work on, VANOS, suspension, gearbox bushes, etc. It was a lot of fun and felt very connected. Amazing to think that BMW were pushing 100hp/l when it took Porsche another 10 years or so. Before that I had an E46 M3 convertible which I loved the engine on, and the noise, but the extra weight over the standard one and the wobbly chassis wasn't great. Now running an E46 M3 CSL which is an absolute hoot to drive, has great steering, razor like throttle response and sounds good through tunnels. 360hp from 3.2l is still a good figure for an NA car, even now it is coming up to 17 years old. The BMWs do seem to suffer from poor traction compared to the Porsche though. MC

I do wonder if the electronic throttle might work better with the SMG... heresy I know. Congrats on the CSL, quite a machine I'm sure!

NIce thread! OP - what stereo did you go with ?

Went for a Sony DSX-A410BT. Only complaint is that the lighting is red which is a bit different from the orange dashboard but it's a fairly minor difference really. Functionally it works very well and is discrete - no silly flashing lights! I didn't realise the device in the front luggage compartment was an amp initially and just thought it was the CD player so got the wrong adaptor which caused much confusion. The speakers in the door should have given the game away!

Looks a good unit. I have an amp in the front and wondered what cabling/adapters are required to fit please?