New to Porsche...Cayman advice, hints and tips, please!
Discussion
Afternoon all! I have recently decided to leave the safe bosom of BMW, have sold my 330Ci and am looking at picking up my first Porsche this coming weekend.
The car is a 2006 Cayman S, manual. It has PASM, 19" OEM alloys and full leather seats, other than that it is pretty standard affair - standard stereo (no sat nav or Bose), etc.
I have read the recent PH Buyer's guide and have checked the radiators and rear main seal, all OK. No rattles from the engine and not noticed any excessive smoke, so hopefully the intermediary bearing and bores are all OK too. It also had a fresh MOT this week, and apparently they gave it a thorough check over, all OK - brakes are 40% worn, rear tyres 50% worn, fronts nearly new. Only advisory was surface rust on brake discs, but the car has only done 3,000 miles p.a. for the last 2 years so hopefully a good drive and plenty of braking will scrub that off!
The car drove very well on the test drive, much ebtter than another one I looked at of similar age and mileage. I do have a few questions that hopefully you lot can help me with!
- Do all 987 Cayman's have Xenon headlights as standard?
- What's the best way to get my iPod connected to the car? Does this require a new headunit, as I dislike aftermarket stuff in nice cars!
- How can I get my phone handsfree - does this require an after market kit (e.g. Parrot?) or can you get a bluetooth module to pair a phone to the car?
- Does the sat nav and/or Bose upgrade sound system offer any benefits (i.e. worth sourcing from eBay)?
Thanks all, excited for the weekend now!!
The car is a 2006 Cayman S, manual. It has PASM, 19" OEM alloys and full leather seats, other than that it is pretty standard affair - standard stereo (no sat nav or Bose), etc.
I have read the recent PH Buyer's guide and have checked the radiators and rear main seal, all OK. No rattles from the engine and not noticed any excessive smoke, so hopefully the intermediary bearing and bores are all OK too. It also had a fresh MOT this week, and apparently they gave it a thorough check over, all OK - brakes are 40% worn, rear tyres 50% worn, fronts nearly new. Only advisory was surface rust on brake discs, but the car has only done 3,000 miles p.a. for the last 2 years so hopefully a good drive and plenty of braking will scrub that off!
The car drove very well on the test drive, much ebtter than another one I looked at of similar age and mileage. I do have a few questions that hopefully you lot can help me with!
- Do all 987 Cayman's have Xenon headlights as standard?
- What's the best way to get my iPod connected to the car? Does this require a new headunit, as I dislike aftermarket stuff in nice cars!
- How can I get my phone handsfree - does this require an after market kit (e.g. Parrot?) or can you get a bluetooth module to pair a phone to the car?
- Does the sat nav and/or Bose upgrade sound system offer any benefits (i.e. worth sourcing from eBay)?
Thanks all, excited for the weekend now!!
Am sure someone else may have more complete answers than me.. Good luck with it.
Mike_C said:
I do have a few questions that hopefully you lot can help me with!
- Do all 987 Cayman's have Xenon headlights as standard? No
- What's the best way to get my iPod connected to the car? Does this require a new headunit, as I dislike aftermarket stuff in nice cars! Not sure on this one.
- How can I get my phone handsfree - does this require an after market kit (e.g. Parrot?) or can you get a bluetooth module to pair a phone to the car? Yesm some people go with Parrot.
- Does the sat nav and/or Bose upgrade sound system offer any benefits (i.e. worth sourcing from eBay)? PCM+Bose is always my preference but the satnav will feel dated on an '06 model. I don't think retrofitting an e-bay unit (if you can even find one) will be worth it. If you want these options find a used car with them on as there are plenty about
Thanks all, excited for the weekend now!!
- Do all 987 Cayman's have Xenon headlights as standard? No
- What's the best way to get my iPod connected to the car? Does this require a new headunit, as I dislike aftermarket stuff in nice cars! Not sure on this one.
- How can I get my phone handsfree - does this require an after market kit (e.g. Parrot?) or can you get a bluetooth module to pair a phone to the car? Yesm some people go with Parrot.
- Does the sat nav and/or Bose upgrade sound system offer any benefits (i.e. worth sourcing from eBay)? PCM+Bose is always my preference but the satnav will feel dated on an '06 model. I don't think retrofitting an e-bay unit (if you can even find one) will be worth it. If you want these options find a used car with them on as there are plenty about
Thanks all, excited for the weekend now!!
Actually, a few other things that might help here.
You asked about the xenons, presumably because they didn't make mention in them in the ad for the car? So best to assume it doesn't have them. Perhaps 40-60% come specced with this so normally it will say bi-xenons in the ad if it has them.
On the brake discs, scrubbing through driving may not be enough. This caught me out on my first Boxster and it doesn't suprise me that the car you are looking at has this problem given low mileage. See if someone you trust can tell if hard braking will solve as you suggest, otherwise skimming, otherwise factor £500 a pair to sort them. If it has an advisory I can tell you that the performance will not be as good as it should be.
On the IMS - you say no smoke etc so probably OK. Just to confirm, the two things are not related. Unfortunately, with the IMS there is no way of being sure. You could ask if it has the upgrade etc but you'll hear loads about how this is not a complete guarantee etc. Really the options are, live with the risk (I was really glad I never came on this forum when I had a car with the IMS!) or look for a warranty that will cover. Vast majority of cars do not get a failure but some do and really that's as much as anyone can safely say.
Hope that helps more. I went Porsche-BMW-Porsche. Porsche is better
You asked about the xenons, presumably because they didn't make mention in them in the ad for the car? So best to assume it doesn't have them. Perhaps 40-60% come specced with this so normally it will say bi-xenons in the ad if it has them.
On the brake discs, scrubbing through driving may not be enough. This caught me out on my first Boxster and it doesn't suprise me that the car you are looking at has this problem given low mileage. See if someone you trust can tell if hard braking will solve as you suggest, otherwise skimming, otherwise factor £500 a pair to sort them. If it has an advisory I can tell you that the performance will not be as good as it should be.
On the IMS - you say no smoke etc so probably OK. Just to confirm, the two things are not related. Unfortunately, with the IMS there is no way of being sure. You could ask if it has the upgrade etc but you'll hear loads about how this is not a complete guarantee etc. Really the options are, live with the risk (I was really glad I never came on this forum when I had a car with the IMS!) or look for a warranty that will cover. Vast majority of cars do not get a failure but some do and really that's as much as anyone can safely say.
Hope that helps more. I went Porsche-BMW-Porsche. Porsche is better
Welcome to Cayman ownership. Get some photos up as soon as..
In answer to two of your questions:
The Cayman comes with zenon dip beam as standard but double zenon is an option.
Its not worth upgrading to the sat nav or the Bose as both are pretty average.
On the subject of brakes, Porsche discs are amoung the worst for rusting, particularly on the rear faces. Drying them after washing helps but even doing that mine needed replacing due to rust at just over 3 years old, and that was driving the car on a daily basis.
In answer to two of your questions:
The Cayman comes with zenon dip beam as standard but double zenon is an option.
Its not worth upgrading to the sat nav or the Bose as both are pretty average.
On the subject of brakes, Porsche discs are amoung the worst for rusting, particularly on the rear faces. Drying them after washing helps but even doing that mine needed replacing due to rust at just over 3 years old, and that was driving the car on a daily basis.
Edited by Trev450 on Tuesday 10th September 14:57
Trev - didn't think Xenon was standard at all on 987.1 cars (like the OP's)?
Agree on the Bose thing though - especially if you want to connect an iPod - burn the whole original install and get a new aftermarket system that actually works put in.
ETA: Similar story on the brakes - I find they need to be given really good use to stop them rusting - they benefit from being REALLY used at least once a week, so use that as an excuse to really thrash it. If, when you park up, you couldn't fry an egg on your brakes, you've not been going hard enough - go back out and try again.
Agree on the Bose thing though - especially if you want to connect an iPod - burn the whole original install and get a new aftermarket system that actually works put in.
ETA: Similar story on the brakes - I find they need to be given really good use to stop them rusting - they benefit from being REALLY used at least once a week, so use that as an excuse to really thrash it. If, when you park up, you couldn't fry an egg on your brakes, you've not been going hard enough - go back out and try again.
Thanks for the advice guys
On the stereo front, I thought that might be the case. The Harmon Kardon system on my BMW was excellent, but I understand the Bose system isn't as good as it could/should be. I will upgrade the headunit I think, get a proper iPod connection installed and bluetooth for the phone all in one hit. Done.
I did notice the brake discs looked a little rusty, to me it just looked like surface rust and apparently the guy who MOT'd it said he just needed to brake hard and more often to scrub it off. If that doesn't do it i'll look at getting them skimmed I guess? To be fair, they seemed to work fine on the test drive.
As for Xenon's, it doesn't mention them in the advert so guess it doesn't have them. Are the standard headlights pretty good? Again, the BMW's Xenon's were amazing.
I forgot, apparently it has rear parking sensors so need to check they work OK when I go back at the weekend!
One more question - how many keys should they have? Is it just two, or is there a valet key or similar as well?
Cheers!
On the stereo front, I thought that might be the case. The Harmon Kardon system on my BMW was excellent, but I understand the Bose system isn't as good as it could/should be. I will upgrade the headunit I think, get a proper iPod connection installed and bluetooth for the phone all in one hit. Done.
I did notice the brake discs looked a little rusty, to me it just looked like surface rust and apparently the guy who MOT'd it said he just needed to brake hard and more often to scrub it off. If that doesn't do it i'll look at getting them skimmed I guess? To be fair, they seemed to work fine on the test drive.
As for Xenon's, it doesn't mention them in the advert so guess it doesn't have them. Are the standard headlights pretty good? Again, the BMW's Xenon's were amazing.
I forgot, apparently it has rear parking sensors so need to check they work OK when I go back at the weekend!
One more question - how many keys should they have? Is it just two, or is there a valet key or similar as well?
Cheers!
There should be a third valet key, it's really just a plastic blade key designed as an emergency backup.
Pretty sure Xenon's were not standard, mine has the bi-Xenon option, there is also an 'additional hi-beam' halogen bulb ( along with a shutter on the Xenon bulb to change it from hi to low ).
You can get a Dension or MoBridge product which interfaces with the head unit to allow Bluetooth / MP3, I'm not sure if it works with the standard HU or just with the PCM, check out the Dension website.
I've been meaning to get one but haven't got round to it yet, also fairly expensive at £350+ for the add-on.
Pretty sure Xenon's were not standard, mine has the bi-Xenon option, there is also an 'additional hi-beam' halogen bulb ( along with a shutter on the Xenon bulb to change it from hi to low ).
You can get a Dension or MoBridge product which interfaces with the head unit to allow Bluetooth / MP3, I'm not sure if it works with the standard HU or just with the PCM, check out the Dension website.
I've been meaning to get one but haven't got round to it yet, also fairly expensive at £350+ for the add-on.
Mike_C said:
Thanks for the advice guys
As for Xenon's, it doesn't mention them in the advert so guess it doesn't have them. Are the standard headlights pretty good?
Cheers!
I find them fine tbh, so long as you keep them clean - a thin layer of grime reduces their effectiveness a fair bit. You could also fit brighter bulbs if you're not happy with the standard ones.As for Xenon's, it doesn't mention them in the advert so guess it doesn't have them. Are the standard headlights pretty good?
Cheers!
You will be able to tell if you have Xenons by whether or not you have the headlight washers - they are only fitted on cars with Xenons.
Bi Xenons make a huge difference to the lighting, definitely worth having if you do a lot of driving at night.
Most non Bose owners slag off Bose saying it sounds crap etc. I've got Bose & I think it's pretty good, the only issue I've got with it is the fact I can't connect an iPod to it. I know there are some (expensive) options to fit iPod connectivity but unfortunately my car is under extended OPC warranty so I can't really 'fiddle' with it!
I don't think Bose can be retrofitted as its connected via fibre optic. However, this should make it easier for fitting an aftermarket head unit.
Good luck with the car, I'm sure you'll find it awesome!!
Most non Bose owners slag off Bose saying it sounds crap etc. I've got Bose & I think it's pretty good, the only issue I've got with it is the fact I can't connect an iPod to it. I know there are some (expensive) options to fit iPod connectivity but unfortunately my car is under extended OPC warranty so I can't really 'fiddle' with it!
I don't think Bose can be retrofitted as its connected via fibre optic. However, this should make it easier for fitting an aftermarket head unit.
Good luck with the car, I'm sure you'll find it awesome!!
Cheers guys, I will look into the headlights, if they're not Xenon's then some brighter bulbs might be in order as a couple of times a week I have some very early morning drives!
On the AV front, I think a double din touch screen unit that will allow my iPod to be permanently plugged in and controlled by the h/u is in order, and most seem to have Bluetooth capacility for handsfree phone and music streaming. Might alsdo uprate the speakers if I feel the need, we'll see.
On the PASM front, my car has 19" wheels fitted - would there be any issues fitting 18" wheels instead, e.g. for winter tyres?
On the AV front, I think a double din touch screen unit that will allow my iPod to be permanently plugged in and controlled by the h/u is in order, and most seem to have Bluetooth capacility for handsfree phone and music streaming. Might alsdo uprate the speakers if I feel the need, we'll see.
On the PASM front, my car has 19" wheels fitted - would there be any issues fitting 18" wheels instead, e.g. for winter tyres?
Just picked up my Cayman yesterday (2007, S, fully specced) and have the same questions really.
I don't really want to spend bundles on the audio/phone stuff and from what I can see there aren't many options as it doesn't even have an AUX input? Otherwise a Belkin type thing with bluetooth would have been ok. FM transmitters are all rubbish from what I've read.
I've got the PCM with Bose, any options for circa £200
I don't really want to spend bundles on the audio/phone stuff and from what I can see there aren't many options as it doesn't even have an AUX input? Otherwise a Belkin type thing with bluetooth would have been ok. FM transmitters are all rubbish from what I've read.
I've got the PCM with Bose, any options for circa £200
Trev450 said:
None whatsoever. I myself have PASM on 19's and also run winters on 18's.
The recommended sizes are 235/40/18 front, 255/40/18 rear.
Great, thanks Trev! The recommended sizes are 235/40/18 front, 255/40/18 rear.
How is it on winter tyres in really bad winter conditions, i.e. snow and ice?!jonm01 - you can get some decent FM transmitters looking at the US websites, and Parrot do a visor-mounted standalone handsfree kit. Personally, as 'mine' doesnt Have PCM or Bose, I'm happy to sacrifice the standard headunit and get a built-in option that does it all in one go. Might even link up a reverse camera and a front bumper cam if I'm feeling flash!!
Mike_C said:
Trev450 said:
None whatsoever. I myself have PASM on 19's and also run winters on 18's.
The recommended sizes are 235/40/18 front, 255/40/18 rear.
Great, thanks Trev! The recommended sizes are 235/40/18 front, 255/40/18 rear.
How is it on winter tyres in really bad winter conditions, i.e. snow and ice?!Trev450 said:
The difference between summer and winter tyres is unbelievable. There is so much traction that I rarely see the PSM light unless I get a bit carried away.
Hi Trev, I had Vredstein Wintrac Extreme's on the 330Ci before and that made the world of difference to getting around in winter, but it was still a pretty delicate affair.Will definitely look at getting some for the CS then!
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