Boxster key - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

i've just purchased a new key for my 2002 Boxster. Do I have to have it programmed at a dealer or is there another way to do it? Does anybody else have problems with their Boxster speedo reading way too high? My speedo is about 6klms fast at 60 and 12 klms fast at 120klms - so its 10% out always

A dealer will have to program the car to recognise the key. The key has a small "pill" in the head (actually called an RFID) that the car looks for before allowing the car to start. There are no other options. This is a dealer job. My car read about 3 to 4 mph high at 70 mph.

You obviously didn't buy your key from a dealer. Hope you have the little card with the codes on it or your out of luck, and probably out of money. How did you check your speedo? GPS?

The speedos are supposed to run high by about the amount you mention. Porsche calls it a 'safety margin'. For the early cars, you can get actual speed through the climate control display.

How do you do that? My 2002 S runs about 5 MPH high, checked with road side radar that tells you how fast your going.

Sorry...only works on '97-'00 cars. But for others, you can access the the diagnostics by holding the recirc and Air ↑ buttons for about 5 sec. Now you're in the diagnostic mode. The + - buttons allow you to scroll through the 36 different codes. The center button switches the display (left) from the code # and the actual value. To exit diagnostic mode, press Auto. 0c - ERL 1c - Oil temp 2c - Cabin temp as measured from the sensor mounted at the side of the dash. 3c - Outside temp - from AC air inlet 4c - Outside temp from ambient temp sensor on front grill (continuous) 5c - Outside temp feed from OBC display (5 sec. sampling and hold when stationary) 6c - Coolant temp 7c - Footwell discharge temp 8c - Sun sensor 9c - Sun sensor 10c - Cabin fan speed 11c - Cabin fan voltage 12c - Temp mix flap - 1=Cold, 100 = Hot 13c - Temp mix flap position 14c - Central flap cmmnd. 15c - Central flap position 16c - Footwell/defrost flap cmmnd. 17c - footwell/defrost position 18c - Recirc valve cmmnd - 1=Off, 100 = On 19c - Recirc valve position 20c - Vehicle speed in KPH, 1 sec. sampling, actual speed - no safety margin 21c - Engine RPM (hundreds) - 1 sec. sampling 22c - ?? 23c - ?? 24c - Display panel illum. voltage 25c - ?? 26c - ?? 27c - ?? 28c - Fan speed 29c - ?? 30c - Engine run time in sec. (255 max.) 31c - timing counter 32c - Display test 33c - Sftwr. ver. 34c - ?? 35c - Outside temp from inlet sensor post filter 36c - Temp. This unit is built by audi and the codes marked ?? have to do with different applications.

This just allows us to look right? No chance of screwing anything up or making changes? That is too cool.

Yep... just a look-see. With Audis, it's hooked up to the ECU and is used as it's display. Apparently the codes are similar so it functions with the Bosch Motronic as well.

ok this might be very armature of me but what is the recirc button. Is it the one with the arrows going in circles?

recirculation of cabin air, usually used when the AC is on for maximum cold.

"Does anybody else have problems with their Boxster speedo reading way too high? My speedo is about 6klms fast at 60 and 12 klms fast at 120klms - so its 10% out always." Mine used to be more out, but depnds on what has been going on with wheels and tires. When I had the original 17" wheels on the car, as I recall, their was a fair deviation in the speedo reading and the actual speed. These days with 18" aftermarket wheels and PS2 tires, it is very close within 1mph based on the gps unit in the car. Ed

GPS is Ok for a quick check of speed, but I prefer to use the highway mile markers and a stop watch... 3600 divided by the time for your speed. I have seen to much variation between the GPS and the stop watch for speed. Not that I don't trust a GPS for position, I love the 8 foot accuracy in bad weather, fog, 3 foot chop and a narrow cut. Beats the hell out of the Lorain.

In one of the post someone said "It only works in 97 (boxster)" Whar is it that you were talking about? It seem to be in the context of setting the speedo to the actual speed rather than the factory margin.

I feel the same way, my GPS is great for navigation. It's a hell of allot better than my wife also.

You don't set anything. The climate control unit is capable of being put into a diagnostiv mode on the '97-'00 cars and can provide some additional info., most insignificant stuff, but one of these is actual speed (in kph), not containing the Porsche 'safety margin'. -

I never tried your wife for navigation. My ex-wife had too much static.... that's why she's an X.