Boxster 987 3.2 - what's the craic?
Discussion
Summer is on the way so I fancy a convertible to keep my 997.1 3.6 company. There's lots of choice in a budget under £10k so today I went to view a MY06 120k miler 3.2 Boxster S. What did I think of the car?
- Manometer readings of 3.7 inches of water - was not good.
- The engine was ticking, which was puzzling as the 3.2's are meant to be immune from scoring. It could be injectors.
- DME over rev readings showed 58 ignitions in band 3 and one in band 4 - all recent, so perhaps that explains the engine ticking.
- The clamshell wouldn't close with the roof down, it was fine with the roof up.
- A/C not cold although the condenser was kicking in.
Is there a sweet spot in the range? 986, 987.2 2.9, 3.4?
- Manometer readings of 3.7 inches of water - was not good.
- The engine was ticking, which was puzzling as the 3.2's are meant to be immune from scoring. It could be injectors.
- DME over rev readings showed 58 ignitions in band 3 and one in band 4 - all recent, so perhaps that explains the engine ticking.
- The clamshell wouldn't close with the roof down, it was fine with the roof up.
- A/C not cold although the condenser was kicking in.
Is there a sweet spot in the range? 986, 987.2 2.9, 3.4?
Sweet spot is the 987 3.2.
The clamshell doesn’t always fully close roof down - mine has 3 or 4mm off fully down with the roof open, but appears normal.
Engine wise - recent over-revs, especially on a high miler indicates you should run away now!
Personally, the sweet spot for me is the early 987 3.2 (I have one). The early car has the smaller, weaker IMS bearing. This means that the IMS bearing can be upgraded to the LN Ceramic bearing by removing the flywheel and changing the bearing. Later 3.2s have the larger, strong IMS bearing, which can fail although this is rarer than failure of the earlier type….. but you can’t upgrade this bearing or replace it without splitting the crankcase, effectively a full rebuild.
So I bought an early car, had the LN bearing fitted, and have been driving happily on that for more than 10 years. Will have the bearing replaced next time I have to replace the clutch.
Ticking can be injectors, or a lazy lifter. Mine will tick if I do a series of movements without warming up the engine. E.G. take it off the drive to park 50m away, bring it back for the night, repeat next day…. This will give me a tick until next time I warm it up properly. Similarly, leaving it in the garage for a few weeks often results in a ticking for the first few miles. Always goes away when the oil warms up - so lifter related.
Oh, and tax is much lower on the earlier cars too!
The clamshell doesn’t always fully close roof down - mine has 3 or 4mm off fully down with the roof open, but appears normal.
Engine wise - recent over-revs, especially on a high miler indicates you should run away now!
Personally, the sweet spot for me is the early 987 3.2 (I have one). The early car has the smaller, weaker IMS bearing. This means that the IMS bearing can be upgraded to the LN Ceramic bearing by removing the flywheel and changing the bearing. Later 3.2s have the larger, strong IMS bearing, which can fail although this is rarer than failure of the earlier type….. but you can’t upgrade this bearing or replace it without splitting the crankcase, effectively a full rebuild.
So I bought an early car, had the LN bearing fitted, and have been driving happily on that for more than 10 years. Will have the bearing replaced next time I have to replace the clutch.
Ticking can be injectors, or a lazy lifter. Mine will tick if I do a series of movements without warming up the engine. E.G. take it off the drive to park 50m away, bring it back for the night, repeat next day…. This will give me a tick until next time I warm it up properly. Similarly, leaving it in the garage for a few weeks often results in a ticking for the first few miles. Always goes away when the oil warms up - so lifter related.
Oh, and tax is much lower on the earlier cars too!
Edited by Magnum 475 on Monday 28th April 21:02
986/7 3.2 are prone to cracked heads and snapped chains to some degree, though nothing like the level of a 987.1 3.4 with the 3.4 M97 and bore risk. IMS would not be a worry on a late car with the big bearing.
The 987 3.2 is a fabulous car. But if you have a 997.1, it's arguably a bit too similar to what you already have. They're essentially mid and rear-engined version of the same car on a shared platform. Front half of the cars are virtually identical. So, things like steering, pedal feel, cabin vibe etc all extremely similar. Just slightly different chassis balance and a bit more grunt in the 997. Ditto a 987.2 2.9, really.
I'd lean 986 3.2 for a bit of variation / texture in your shoes. They are lovely cars. But get one on 17s, they are brittle and have less feel on 18s.
Incidentally, I once had a 987.1 3.2 that ticked a bit. Afraid I dumped it through a large trade organisation who didn't care about the highlighted tick for a bit of a loss and it re-emerged for sale six months later with a rebuild. Unclear what the fault was.
That 3.2 didn't tick until warm. A little ticking from cold that disappears fairly quickly would be less of a worry, I think. Ticking that isn't there at cold start but emerges when the car is warm would have me run not walk.
The 987 3.2 is a fabulous car. But if you have a 997.1, it's arguably a bit too similar to what you already have. They're essentially mid and rear-engined version of the same car on a shared platform. Front half of the cars are virtually identical. So, things like steering, pedal feel, cabin vibe etc all extremely similar. Just slightly different chassis balance and a bit more grunt in the 997. Ditto a 987.2 2.9, really.
I'd lean 986 3.2 for a bit of variation / texture in your shoes. They are lovely cars. But get one on 17s, they are brittle and have less feel on 18s.
Incidentally, I once had a 987.1 3.2 that ticked a bit. Afraid I dumped it through a large trade organisation who didn't care about the highlighted tick for a bit of a loss and it re-emerged for sale six months later with a rebuild. Unclear what the fault was.
That 3.2 didn't tick until warm. A little ticking from cold that disappears fairly quickly would be less of a worry, I think. Ticking that isn't there at cold start but emerges when the car is warm would have me run not walk.
f6box said:
986/7 3.2 are prone to cracked heads and snapped chains to some degree, though nothing like the level of a 987.1 3.4 with the 3.4 M97 and bore risk. IMS would not be a worry on a late car with the big bearing.
The 987 3.2 is a fabulous car. But if you have a 997.1, it's arguably a bit too similar to what you already have. They're essentially mid and rear-engined version of the same car on a shared platform. Front half of the cars are virtually identical. So, things like steering, pedal feel, cabin vibe etc all extremely similar. Just slightly different chassis balance and a bit more grunt in the 997. Ditto a 987.2 2.9, really.
I'd lean 986 3.2 for a bit of variation / texture in your shoes. They are lovely cars. But get one on 17s, they are brittle and have less feel on 18s.
Incidentally, I once had a 987.1 3.2 that ticked a bit. Afraid I dumped it through a large trade organisation who didn't care about the highlighted tick for a bit of a loss and it re-emerged for sale six months later with a rebuild. Unclear what the fault was.
That 3.2 didn't tick until warm. A little ticking from cold that disappears fairly quickly would be less of a worry, I think. Ticking that isn't there at cold start but emerges when the car is warm would have me run not walk.
Thanks. This one ticked when hot. Add the manometer readings and over rev report and I started to get a bit nervous. The brake discs had a lip on the rears and all of the wheels were scuffed. The 987 3.2 is a fabulous car. But if you have a 997.1, it's arguably a bit too similar to what you already have. They're essentially mid and rear-engined version of the same car on a shared platform. Front half of the cars are virtually identical. So, things like steering, pedal feel, cabin vibe etc all extremely similar. Just slightly different chassis balance and a bit more grunt in the 997. Ditto a 987.2 2.9, really.
I'd lean 986 3.2 for a bit of variation / texture in your shoes. They are lovely cars. But get one on 17s, they are brittle and have less feel on 18s.
Incidentally, I once had a 987.1 3.2 that ticked a bit. Afraid I dumped it through a large trade organisation who didn't care about the highlighted tick for a bit of a loss and it re-emerged for sale six months later with a rebuild. Unclear what the fault was.
That 3.2 didn't tick until warm. A little ticking from cold that disappears fairly quickly would be less of a worry, I think. Ticking that isn't there at cold start but emerges when the car is warm would have me run not walk.
I forgot to add that the rear bumper was a totally different shade to the rest of the car. It wasn’t even close.
I’ll keep looking.
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