3.4 Boxster or not - Page 2 - Porsche General - PistonHeads UK

I have had a 996 for approximately 14 years which this year had a serious engine problem . I was having it sorted but have an offer for it as it stands and if it goes ahead I’m happy to accept and walk away. I have look around for my next convertible. I don’t want a 997 ( as I don’t want one because of the reputation for engine bore score etc). I had just about decide on. Mercedes SL400 ( one for sale from dealer John Holland in Sheffield) but I was just looking on autotrader and looked at a Porsche Boxster 3.4 . My questions are 1., are they any good? 2.Do they suffer from any inherent problems? . 3.Is it a good move to go to a Boxster?. I know it’s a personal choice but I have looked at that many cars on line this week that I have confused myself . Last night I was certain it would be a Mercedes but today not as sure. I’m now 62 and now have to think of comfort as well as performance . Thanks

Interesting, I actually have a friend who was in similar predicament, loved his 996 but eventually it failed and he sold as was. He has moved to a boxter and absolutely loves it. Wishes he done it years ago. My advice would be go and drive a few. See if you think you could live with it. Think you'll be pleasantly surprised

The answer entirely depends on which generation you are talking about. 987 first generation has the bore score problems. I think the Cayman 3.4 was slightly worse but Boxster still had the problem. The 3.4 more so. Second generation solved the problem.

Something like this would be nice...apart from the plate. https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202306058...

I owned both a 996.2 Carrera 2 and a 987.1 3.4 - both many years ago. I preferred driving the boxster.

M A C said: I have had a 996 for approximately 14 years which this year had a serious engine problem . I was having it sorted but have an offer for it as it stands and if it goes ahead I’m happy to accept and walk away. I have look around for my next convertible. I don’t want a 997 ( as I don’t want one because of the reputation for engine bore score etc). I had just about decide on. Mercedes SL400 ( one for sale from dealer John Holland in Sheffield) but I was just looking on autotrader and looked at a Porsche Boxster 3.4 . My questions are 1., are they any good? 2.Do they suffer from any inherent problems? . 3.Is it a good move to go to a Boxster?. I know it’s a personal choice but I have looked at that many cars on line this week that I have confused myself . Last night I was certain it would be a Mercedes but today not as sure. I’m now 62 and now have to think of comfort as well as performance . Thanks The 3.4 engine in the 987 Cayman up to late 2007, is the variant of the M96 most likely to suffer from bore score. I’ve no idea why this is the case, but it just seems to be so. The 2.7 and 2.9 engines at around the same age (2.9 only available for short time around 2010) are far more reliable, and would be my choice.

I've 3 911's and a 981 Cayman S. My favourite was the 981. Don't get hung up on it not being a 911, Boxsters are great to drive. A 987 gen 2 3.4 would be your safest bet if you can do it.

On a slightly different note, the SL400 is a lovely car to waft around in. However, (depending on how you drive) you might always wished you'd gone SL 500 instead.

IREvans said: The 3.4 engine in the 987 Cayman up to late 2007, is the variant of the M96 most likely to suffer from bore score. I’ve no idea why this is the case, but it just seems to be so. . It’s because many more gen 1 Cayman’s were built with the 3.4 engine than Boxsters.

Starting to read the the Gen 2 3.4's are not immune to bore score either!!! Got a 93k PDK 2011 Boxster and starting to worry about 5 figure repair jobs although very little has gone wrong in 60k miles. Need to stop watching daft YouTube videos about the dreaded tick

dbroughton said: Starting to read the the Gen 2 3.4's are not immune to bore score either!!! What what?? Sez who? Links, please. I know there can be issues with very early 9A1 engines from 2008, but that's it AFAIK.

Had my 981 3.4 boxster for a few years now. I can say yes. For A and B road blasting it's just about perfect on the amount of HP to have fun, sound great, go like stink without worrying too much about your license.

RichTT said: Had my 981 3.4 boxster for a few years now. I can say yes. For A and B road blasting it's just about perfect on the amount of HP to have fun, sound great, go like stink without worrying too much about your license. I agree with your sum up with the car, but some might disagree about the worrying thing, taken last month

I tried various 997s before settling instead on a 981 Boxster S. Yes, I wish it had more power and shorter gearing (I have a manual) but it's a really great car for blasting around in the mountains. I've actually had two - the second has the PTV LSD and it makes all the difference when blasting round switchback bends. I think if you can do without the back seats in a 911, a Boxster or Cayman is a better drive. Biggest problem with the 981 is the numb steering. It isn't terrible, but both the 987 that came before it and the 982 (718) that came after have better steering feel. Neither is more precise though! My ultimate car would be a GTS 4.0 as it has more power and better steering feel, but sadly the song of the six is muffled by the filters. If you have the money and don't care about noise, that's your best bet!

LunarOne said: My ultimate car would be a GTS 4.0 as it has more power and better steering feel, but sadly the song of the six is muffled by the filters. If you have the money and don't care about noise, that's your best bet! Mine too but to spend twice as much to get less (song as you call it) seems a bit pointless to me. That said I would love to know where people manage to cane cars with 315+ bhp on public roads without driving like complete tools.

981Boxess said: Mine too but to spend twice as much to get less (song as you call it) seems a bit pointless to me. That said I would love to know where people manage to cane cars with 315+ bhp on public roads without driving like complete tools. Empty Scottish highlands early mornings during the week of off season is my usual go to. And spirited driving doesn't always mean 100 mph+

RichTT said: 981Boxess said: Mine too but to spend twice as much to get less (song as you call it) seems a bit pointless to me. That said I would love to know where people manage to cane cars with 315+ bhp on public roads without driving like complete tools. Empty Scottish highlands early mornings during the week of off season is my usual go to. And spirited driving doesn't always mean 100 mph+ Lets face it cars have got too fast for the roads we have and sportscars are generally disliked in most countries today with the possible exception of Germany and Italy.

Fink-Nottle said: dbroughton said: Starting to read the the Gen 2 3.4's are not immune to bore score either!!! What what?? Sez who? Links, please. I know there can be issues with very early 9A1 engines from 2008, but that's it AFAIK. I will dig it out but it was across forums on various sites (here, Porsche GB, Rennlist etc).. I am pretty certain Barry from Hartech was one of the posters at some point. Old mans memory but I recall the chat being about poor fuel spray patterns from the oldest DFI cars causing temp differentials in the bore and lubricant wash Not sure how big an issue it is but immunity from bore score is apparently not guaranteed on Get 2 cars. As I said, I am pretty heavily invested in my 2011 Boxster S and would love to believe the my 93K engine is bullet proof but I may being naive

dbroughton said: Starting to read the the Gen 2 3.4's are not immune to bore score either!!! Got a 93k PDK 2011 Boxster and starting to worry about 5 figure repair jobs although very little has gone wrong in 60k miles. Need to stop watching daft YouTube videos about the dreaded tick All the M96/97 engines are susceptible because they are open deck castings for the cooling . Mezgler and from 09 onwards are trad close deck block castings .Indeed the 9A1 as they designated it has beefier oil pumps as well . Conclusion avoid ALL pre 09 flat six Porsches unless it’s a Mezgler = turbo + GT 2/3 s . Appreciate I won’t be mr popular simplifying this .

Fiammetta said: All the M96/97 engines are susceptible because they are open deck castings for the cooling . Mezgler and from 09 onwards are trad close deck block castings .Indeed the 9A1 as they designated it has beefier oil pumps as well . Conclusion avoid ALL pre 09 flat six Porsches unless it’s a Mezgler = turbo + GT 2/3 s . Appreciate I won’t be mr popular simplifying this . You certainly have simplified it! So if considering a pre 09 flat six Porsche it must be a turbo or gt2/3? So that’s where I went wrong-I should have bought a GT3 hahaha Your qualifications are??? I’m not suggesting your are mr popular or not popular, but that’s a hell of a sweeping statement based on your considerable experience? I’d go one step further and say avoid all Porsches eh? I actually bought a gen 1 cayman S, i Really wish I’d seen your advice and bought a GT3 instead! In all seriousness I went into it with my eyes wide open,knew the risks and rolled the dice because I really wanted one.-65,000 miles,doesn’t use any oil or smoke at all.it could very well go pop tomorrow, but was almost the cost of an engine rebuild cheaper than an equivalent gen2-so if the time comes I’ll make that decision. I do as much work on my car as I can -not a difficult car to work on at all. Lots of people are very happy with their “pre 09” flat six Porsche Edited by and31 on Saturday 10th June 23:18

Fiammetta said: All the M96/97 engines are susceptible because they are open deck castings for the cooling . Mezgler and from 09 onwards are trad close deck block castings .Indeed the 9A1 as they designated it has beefier oil pumps as well . Conclusion avoid ALL pre 09 flat six Porsches unless it’s a Mezgler = turbo + GT 2/3 s . Appreciate I won’t be mr popular simplifying this . Quite a few 3.4 987.2 and 997.2s getting scoring now, more so in the States and certain EU countries. Probably where the fuel is not as good? So, like said above, don't buy any of them if you're that worried.

deutsche.diagnostics said: Quite a few 3.4 987.2 and 997.2s getting scoring now, more so in the States and certain EU countries. Probably where the fuel is not as good? So, like said above, don't buy any of them if you're that worried. So don’t buy any gen2’s either? So the same gen2 3.4 engine is fitted in the 981 S-so that’s a no go too? Really??? Could you link to any of the gen2 scoring please? I don’t have a dog in the fight ,I’m just genuinely interested Edited by and31 on Saturday 10th June 23:40

I’ve tried not to bite but some proper bulls t being spouted on this thread-“don’t buy a pre 09 Porsche flat six unless a turbo or gt3,” Then another poster saying gen 2’s are now being noted for bore scoring too so don’t buy them either ! Ahahahaha. I really don’t care what people do or don’t buy ultimately,but why are you both spouting this nonsense?

Just search google for 987.2 bore scoring. There has been a fair bit of discussion out there over the last year or so. I really don't think it is an issue, it seems extremely rare in the UK.

You won’t regret a 981s or GTS, great cars, pretty trouble free. Go look up the 981s chris Harris launch video on the route napoleon, all the encouragement you need. Finding a good one is the trouble! I’ve had 17k trouble free miles in mine since 2020. X73 helps on the steering feel front if that bothers you, but it’s a compromise on comfort.

FAO the “ bore score” deniers . There are 4 vids nailing the subject Baby steps try 1 first and see how you go 😀…..Note the title description of the year range . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7idZe6qAtg

Fiammetta said: FAO the “ bore score” deniers . There are 4 vids nailing the subject Baby steps try 1 first and see how you go ??…..Note the title description of the year range . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7idZe6qAtg No one is denying it- it’s your “avoid all pre ‘09 flat six Porsches except turbos and gt2/3” that’s laughable. Bit of a sweeping statement don’t you agree?

and31 said: I’ve tried not to bite but some proper bulls t being spouted on this thread-“don’t buy a pre 09 Porsche flat six unless a turbo or gt3,” Then another poster saying gen 2’s are now being noted for bore scoring too so don’t buy them either ! Ahahahaha. I really don’t care what people do or don’t buy ultimately,but why are you both spouting this nonsense? I missed this reply. I didn't say don't buy one, I own one. I think the whole IMS thing is nonsensical, especially now many are 20+ years old, even more so with dual row bearings. I think bore score is just something that can happen, but if you are mechanically sympathetic your chance of issues is slim. My mate got his 2006 997 S in early 2020, we went to pick something up in it last year and straight out of his drive he had hit 6500rpm twice by the end of his road. I said he's mad, he will damage his engine, he just laughed. Anyway, sure enough, he has scoring on cylinder 6. While panicking and wondering why it has happened it turns out that the oil was last changed in April 20 when he collected the car, and he has not changed it since, only 18k miles but........, he doesn't seem to get waiting for it to get to temp and hits 6000rpm in 1st nearly every time. I don't think I have ever gone above 5k in first in any of my Porsches. I'm not surprised it is scored. I would happily buy any M96 or M97 as long as no sign of scoring already.

deutsche.diagnostics said: I missed this reply. I didn't say don't buy one, I own one. Fair enough Yes your mate is crazy driving it like that-I just hope the previous owners of mine didn’t do similar lol. I really do think the original 20,000 mile oil change have done these engines no favours whatsoever-that’s crazy mileage for a relatively high revving engine to have its oil changes. For the sake of about 90 quids worth of oil I change mine every year so another 4000 miles.

and31 said: Fair enough Yes your mate is crazy driving it like that-I just hope the previous owners of mine didn’t do similar lol. I really do think the original 20,000 mile oil change have done these engines no favours whatsoever-that’s crazy mileage for a relatively high revving engine to have its oil changes. For the sake of about 90 quids worth of oil I change mine every year so another 4000 miles. I'm the same. My oil was changed the other week and I had only done 2000 miles since last time. I just don't think a chunk of owners get what mechanical sympathy is, and maybe many of them were always under warranty and knew that they were only going to keep them for 2, 3 years at most anyway. I'm always amazed when people leave shows and meets, 95% will take it easy down the road, but you will get a handful that jump in their car, from cold and hoon it down the road, redlining first and second.

and31 said: No one is denying it- it’s your “avoid all pre ‘09 flat six Porsches except turbos and gt2/3” that’s laughable. Bit of a sweeping statement don’t you agree? Not really.Ops asking for advice .It’s simple to follow . Those 987.2 s / 997.2 s after 09 that have bore scoring alleged are from faulty injectors ( wrong fuel ) and or leaky vac lines = ECU enriches the mixture and bore washers the oil layer .The EML will come on so most seek advice .The few that soldier on get into trouble .The 09 upwards are bombproof if you seek help with EML . BTW any borescope through the plug holes is useless as you can’t see the piston skirts .You need to drop the pan and look underneath the pistons at the bottom of the cylinder . Or just simply avoid 98-08 …..why not ?

Fiammetta said: Or just simply avoid 98-08 …..why not ? No idea, who can we ask deutsche.diagnostics said: I didn't say don't buy one, I own one.