My 996 gets a facelift! (Oo)

I purchased my 2003 996 Cabriolet just over a year ago, and ever since that time I've wanted to upgrade the bumper to the Turbo ( C4S & 40th AE) style bumper. Why? Because I thought it really complemented the car's design so much better than the base bumpers. Maybe it's because of the larger shape of the bumper or maybe how the lines of the side grilles complement the unique shape headlight enclosures? I'm not completely sure, but in my opinion, it's looks a heck of a lot better than the other base bumper. I want to give a big shout out thanks to all the 996 forum members that helped me with part numbers and such. I couldn't have done this without that valuable information. It seems like a straight forward process, but without the right parts, even the side skirts would not mount properly and you could end of damaging the car or the expensive upgrades you're trying to install. As a guesstimate, if you were to purchase everything brand new (including a professional paint job) for this project, you'd probably be looking at almost $5,000. The TT bumper alone sells for $1,700 (unpainted) and that doesn't include the grilles, headlight trim, mounting hardware, and the lip spoiler. The OEM lip spoiler (Part Number: 9965053550001C) costs $425.00. The OEM side skirts can be purchased for just under $800.00, but you'll need to have them painted as well. You can see where this is going, right? Here's a simple break down of the bumper configuration: That being said, I did the job using used parts for less than $1500. Yep, that's right! But I'll be upfront, it took me that better part of a year looking for a deal. Most of the people that are selling the used TT style bumpers want around $700 and they're usually damaged and don't include the grilles. I found a nice guy in Florida that sold me everything (except the mounting hardware) for $400. Here's the picture before he shipped it to me: Here are the side skirts that I purchased from a dismantler in California: Fortunately, the side skirts did not need repainting, but I needed to order the screws (99907323109) and the U clamp mounts (99950764009). You need about 18 U clamps and it's a good idea to purchase extra screws for backup, I ordered 24. They're only .83 cents each. And thanks to Alpine, I purchased some much needed 3M auto double sided tape to attached the skirts along the rocker panel. The installation is pretty straight forward. Clean the rocker panel of wax and other grime, and then install the ends first, then the lower U clamps, peel the tape back, press the trim against the car, and then tighten down the U-clamp screws under the car. Here is a finished picture: Now to begin with the bumper... I first lifted the front of the car and removed the front tires. Then I began to remove the original bumper. You begin at the side marker lights and work downward and then under the car and finish on the other side. The last screws are hidden under the frunk latch. These are the *last* to remove and the *first* to attach. Here's a great video that explains how to remove the bumper: Porsche 996 986 bumper removal - YouTube Once the bumper was removed, the next step was to clean the radiators while the bumper was removed. They were nasty, but not as bad as I've seen on YouTube and Rennlist: Not shown in the image... I separated each radiator from the AC condenser to clean the front and back. By design, the TT and C4S have different duct work and air splitters. (The TT has a middle radiator.) But for my purposes (to save $$), I decided to use the original air splitter and duct work. BTW, after testing it, the car stayed at perfect temperature, but you know and I know, if I call Porsche, they'll say you need the C4S air box/splitter ($475) and C4S duct work (another $200-$300 each) and NOT reuse the Carrera's air ducts. But that's almost $1000 for silly plastic!!! No thank you. Here's the duct work reinstalled with the center air splitter. Not shown in the picture, but the aluminum "bumper reinforcement" piece was reinstalled. Now, to install the new bumper... I had it professionally resprayed to match at the cost of $300. Since the OEM C4S air box was not installed, I had to make my own lower mount, but all the other mounts are the same as the original bumper. Here is the finished product: Since the bumper is a little different, I had to make some fine tuned adjustments (in addition to the lower underbody mounts) to fit it properly so that the gaps looked even, but other than that, it went on pretty easy. Finished... Yay!!! Here's a comparison!

Good job. I did the same to my 996 (well soon to be ex-996) and it makes a HUGE difference! But in my case I got a little paranoid and bought all the duct work etc and as I already have the third radiator it all worked out.

Big improvement. Painting the front splitter? Seems to have some wear on it.

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Thank you! And yes, I agree... I think it makes a big difference in the look. I don't hate the base style bumpers, I just always likes the TT style bumper. It really works. There are a lot of aftermarket style bumpers that look similar, but I wanted to keep it OEM because of concerns with fitment and such. You 996 cab came with the center radiator or are you talking about the condensers that are mounted behind the side radiators? Are you going to be getting another Porsche? You have a beautiful Cab and of course, I noticed the upgraded front end when you originally posted it to Rennlist. I really love the tan leather too! Anyway, I wish you all the best in your sell... I hope you get another 996, but if you don't, still visit us and let us know how things are going. Cheers!

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I assume you're talking about the lip spoiler, right? I seriously thought about painting it to match the car! It does have some road scars, and so I lightly sanded down the bottom, but didn't touch the front for fear of screwing up the look. I really like the look of your car's bumper! I may buy me another lip spoiler and have it painted to match and keep the original one black.

looks great, the C4 / Turbo bumper is a great improvement no grilles installed while the the bumper was off ? I used one of those eBay spoilers while mine was apart are you running spacers here?, if so what size ?

Nice job! I think it makes the car look more planted.

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Yea, I thought about your car when I was putting the OEM grilles on the bumper. Those additions grilles behind the OEM seems like a great idea to minimize crap getting stuck in the radiator... and I really like the look. I would probably paint mine black, but still I remember your car and the added grille you installed. Great work. Maybe I'll do it in the near future. It's really not that hard to remove the bumper. :-)

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No spacers. Stock OEM BBS wheels.

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Thanks Bill! Yea, it does make the car look closer to the ground doesn't it? Good observation. I didn't see that until now. I guess I was focusing on the bumper. hahaha

Great look to your car. What did you do with the original bumper?

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Thanks man! I put it in the basement. I'll either hold onto it for the next owner or resell it to make some of my money back on this upgrade. The belly has some road scars, but overall it's in great shape for the age. The original owner babied the car. I've been more than thrilled to own it so far.

Nice job! Looks fantastic!

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Yes, spoiler/splitter. I sanded and painted all the lowers and it really made the car look more aggressive. Since the one you have is already scuffed I figured it wouldn't hurt to paint to match the silver rockers.

same feeling of ownership here. I was contemplating how to remove/repair the stone chips on the front bumper. I guess one way is to replace the whole bumper. Have you experienced any cooling benefit with the larger openings?

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If the bumper is not seriously damaged, then I'd recommend a professional repaint, because if you purchase a used painted bumper on eBay, you'll more than likely get a bumper that's in the same condition and will need to be repainted. My original bumper is still in good condition and personally, unless you're OCD, you'd have a bumper that's factory paint matched and ready to mount. But finding used one on eBay or elsewhere that is not damaged, is hard to find. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to paint the new TT bumper because it was arctic silver, but it had a lot of stone chips on the paint and so I decided to do it right and have it resprayed. It only cost about $300. And that's with a well-known custom body shop in my area. I wouldn't recommend a Maaco job on Porsche bumpers. ha! Regarding cooling... since I decided to use the original duct fictures that is designed to fit the smaller opening of the original bumper, the temps stay about the same as they did before ... that is, around 180 F. I'm not completely sure a larger opening is going to make a radical change in temps, but could help a little, IMHO. Fortunately, my car has never had a problem with overheating and I'm in the south where we've seen temperatures hit way above 100F the last two months.

NO serious damage to the car anywhere. Just annoying rock chips. I am not really looking to change my bumper but I do like what you did with yours. Here in NC it gets hot too and I maintain the same 180 or so degrees. Interesting that the enlarged openings and the associated additional air flow over the rads doesn't provide even a slight cooling benefit.

Nicely done.

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Thanks KC! I appreciate it!

Did you have some real jack stands under there too? No way I would trust a couple of old cement blocks.

I'd call it a style change not an upgrade, and I dig both the looks. It looked good before, and looks good after.

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hahaha... yea, the cinder blocks were used as backup to my jack stands. I'm not that redneck!

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Good perspective! I guess for me to go from a base bumper to TT/C4S bumper as well as adding GT3 style side skirts, it was an upgrade for me.

Speaking of facelifts... Porsche 996 - YouTube

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OK. Because I was going to suggest adding a couple boards.

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Hi yeah I will definitely miss my 996.. my new Audi S8 is fast and comfy but lacks soul but I do school drop offs and with growing kids and going to dinner with clients etc, the 996 doesn't make sense anymore... I will get another Porsche someday I had the third radiator in the center because I think all 996 C4 Tiptronics have the third radiator. BTW: - make sure that your ballast resistors for your low stage fans are working. I found mine (like most 996's) had burned out and was causing excessive heat issues. https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...placement.html

BTW - regarding the lower lip: make sure to keep the C4S lower lip you've got on there - not the Turbo lip. Fellow PCA guy that I respect told me that the turbo lip is only made to go with the turbo's rear spoiler - and without the fixed rear spoiler of the Turbo, the air flow gets messed up and affects high speed stability.

Thanks for a great write up and good photos B3. What a difference this makes to your cab. Very tempting project for me too now that I've seen it. Hard to believe you did it for $1500 but shows what patience to wait for a good deal can achieve. If I decide to keep mine longer term this will be in the cards. How many hours did this take once you got started?

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Yea, I've seen those 996 to 997 "facelifts", but for the cost of the 997 front bumper, L&R fenders, and Xenon HID lights, LED blinkers, you could easily sell the 996 and use the money to purchase a decent 997.1. Then, you'd have the real deal! Personally, I'd rather keep the 996 a... 996.

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Oh yea, the third is to provide additional cooling that's needed for the automatic transmission. Makes sense.

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Wow! The aerodynamics thing is mind boggling when you think about the stability significance of a slightly different design in the plastic. I actually thought about swapping out to the Turbo style lip spoiler because the one that came with the bumper was scratched up. But I'm glad I waited... thank you for the advice!

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Lawd! That's a train wreck about to happen. I guess you can't fix stupid huh? You'd think the moron would at least move the main welding generator under the truck to provide some level of protection if that thing were to tip over.

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Well, honestly, I was "learning on the job" and so it took a lot longer than normal. Plus, I had to modify the center mounts underneath the car since my Carrera doesn't have the center radiator or C4S "airbox". This modification took quite a bit of time to do it right. Some would just bypass the mounts, but you need those mounts too keep the center of the bumper secure to the car, if not, you'll probably cause it to shake or vibrate at higher speeds. Now that I know how it goes on and off, I probably could remove it and install a new bumper in an hour... maybe even less. But I took my time because I didn't want to damage the paint or any of the mounts. Remember, you're dealing with plastic and it will break. This project took me all day, but I enjoyed it. If I do anything else to the front bumper it will be to install C4S air ducts that will pull more air into the side radiators. The original air ducts are more horizontal in design, but seem to be working ok. However, it concerns since the C4S/TT bumper is designed slightly different and I'm worried some of the air will get trapped above the air ducts.

Wow that looks great! I've not done anything cosmetic with mine but this does look like a worthwhile upgrade!

Thanks Fernando!

Looks great! I have been eyeing bumpers for mine. Same as you, regular bumper is ok, just doesnt add anything to the car. Looking at the gt3 style, but its hard to trust anyone for quality, and not get stuck with a $1k misfit bumper

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Yea, the GT3 type bumper is the best, but comes at a major cost - list price $3236.14 primed (99650598302G2X) or the white lined version (99650598092900) - $5820.39. That doesn't include the GT3 center air inlet/box (which directs the center air upwards through the hood vent) and all the necessary trim. You could be looking at $7000 - $10,000. Ouch! And I completely agree, there are lots of aftermarket bumper, but if you go with a cheap version, you might find it's flimsy and doesn't fit perfectly. Be careful!

moar pics - looks good! nice work on waiting for a deal to come along, been doing the same thing with interior parts

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Yep! You have to patient to snag the big fish! As I mentioned before, I reused the Carrera's duct work and it seems to be cooling the car just fine, but it would be better to match the proper C4S/TT radiator ducts with the TT bumper vents. That would give me maximum air flow over the rads. However, Porsche wants about $500 for the pair and that's just a piece of silly formed plastic. I bet ya it didn't cost them for than $1 to manufacture it. That gives *new* meaning to "Porsche tax". ha! Anyway, I do plan on upgrading the ducts in the future, but I'll be patient and find a better deal. Drove the car last night pretty fast and it never got about 180F. And so, maybe I'm being too OCD about it, huh? hahaha