After 4 weeks of porsche ownership.

I love it. No doubt about it. My 7er now feels like an SUV. Wow. I do miss some of the luxuries of bmw: keyless access (997s should have it, can't be that much more weight), ventilated seats (drove 7er during the day when it was really hot just for the seats), ability to play MP3s on a CD (CDR23 can't get new firmware to understand MP3? lame) and biggest of them all: bluetooth with a phone cradle (but i am cooking up some DIY nokia cradle for the rear storage area) speaking of MP3... when i first got the car, i spent first few days checking out various audio upgrades, talking to reus audio, etc. but as i drove it more and more, i noticed that i tend to listen to exhaust and not the audio. i turn the volume down as i drive and turn the volume up either on the highway (cruising) or when stopped in traffic. because of that i decided against an audio upgrade. i really want iPod, but if porsche comes out with one soon, i'll be all set. picked up my ROW M30 today. also ordered aspheric passenger mirror today. Picking up garage door opener and spoiler switch on friday for weekend wiring projects. The car is slowly coming together. I am reserving a lot of upgrade for the winter though when it will just chill in the garage mostly. and lastly i want to thank each and everyone of you for advice and support that a newbie like me gets on this forum!!! the maturity level is way different from most BMW forums.

I just realized I did not give feedback about how I enjoy this car. I have no complaints. I also noticed that I tend to listen to the sound of the car instead of music. I'm usually listening for a good time to shift. If I do have the radio on, its usually Howard Stern, CNBC or Bloomburg. The first mod I will do is the PSS9 kit. Right after thats corner balanced and aligned, I will put on some 19" 3 piece wheels.

jkb, You live in the SF Bay Area and you plan on having the car mostly sit in the garage during the winter? Get ready for some grief from folks in less temperate climes. We're not LA, but you can definitely drive a cab year-round in the Bay Area. Crank the heat and the heated seats and you can go top-down just about any time its not raining. The soft-top does great in the rain, too.

If you want Audio upgradeswith ipod integration there are LOTS of options....I alos spote to reus and decided to do my own upgrade and its ALMOST complete...just waiting for the subwoofer to come in and then the I'll add the 2nd amp for it. but this is what I did...Focal 165 V3E 2 way seperate system, the mids and tweets in the dash, woofer in the door, all fit in the stock locataions. So it looks stock. Audison LRX 300.4 amp to drive the new fornts and the rears....Head unit is the Kenwood DDX7015(now the 7017) which I have Sirius (XM is also available), Navigation, iPod control, Touchscreen, plays MP3 cd;'s AND MP3 DVD's thats cool 5gb of MP3's on one disc! And it plays DVD movies as well as has connections for game systems and rear view cameras...a bit much for a Porsche...but it there... very intuitive and very capable. Now I REALLY enjoy driving my car and listening to music in GREAT quality...

i hear 19" wheels will cause major badness on a 996 - offset car geometry, etc.

dude, i need an excuse to keep my 7er around. so as i said - it gets really freaking cold here during the winter

very nice. but my car has MOST. so i think this upgrade is out of the question - no? i hear you need some major skills if you replace the stock head unit since it will trigger MOST bus errors.

you don't know cold

i was born in ukraine. believe me, i do i used to ski to school what i was little

What badness exactly? - I'm running 19" 997 Carrera S rims and have yet to experience the badness.... Please give details of what you've heard Chris.

Hey Jan.. You have the mod decease..hahaha Congrats!! My X74 is being installed at Sharkwerks.. i will get it tomorrow Newport...Is that the techart steering wheel I want it..

19" is fine with 997. but they are not fine with 996. i was told "it offsets car geometry" by alex @ sharkwerks and i was told similar things by others.

... up hill, both ways, right?

no hills. pretty flat where i grew up: http://lerdorf.com/ymap?q=Fastiv . . .

Looks like a place where there could have been some gulags!

Lets get back to this offsetting car geometry... I am also running the 997s wheels. The car feels much better, more planted in turns with the extra inch of rubber in the rear. Now I am not taking it racing, are you talking about on the track its not as balanced?

So a 19" rim, with the same width and offset as an 18" rim causes a difference in geometry, just because it's 19"? I don't see it They may be referreing to the fact the the Carrera S rim has a different offset at the front by 7mm. Now that could make a difference, but in practice I find it drives just fine. If I wanted, I could add a shim/spacer and bump it out to the same as 996 spec, which cohare may have done? Other than that I'm mystified Anyone got any other thoughts? Chris.

I havent added the spacer yet because I have not seen a need for it either... Other than the offest difference I would have to agree I dont see how it could matter.

Don't 19" wheels add a bunch of unsprung weight? With the roads in Los Angeles, 19" wheels would be ruined in about three hours.

Weight is the same as 18" I believe - no extra unsprung weight I've driven in LA, and so far no issues. Having said that I do avoid the pot holes! Chris.

Not possible, but they're probably only ounces heavier. You must have stock suspension then.

This is true! I think with lowered suspension, you'd be in for a hard daily drive! With std suspension, it's nice and firm, without being uncomfortable. Chris.

It's not so much that it's a hard drive, but you can definitely feel the wheels being abused. It really pisses me off how bad the streets are here. If I had known they were this bad I wouldn't have purchased my car.

I am not sure about LA streets but I live in downtown Baltimore and the streets even feel $!tty in my 04 Maxima I know how you guys feel. No problems with the 19's yet ..knock on wood..

19s...... the only way to go on the 911.

Awh, come on! Ounces? I'm sure there are some very ugly lightweight forged 19" rims that are lighter than the stock 18's.