F355 GTB Manual - Pre air bag v air bag

[Mo*]

I've finally made the decision to enter the dream world of having a 355 in the garage. I'm interested to establish the differences of the pre air bag models (apart from the obvious!) versus the air bags with the Motronic engine? Does it affect the value of the car? Is either engine better than the other, or cheaper to maintain? Can anyone give me any pointers?

A few people have told me to look out for a clunky 2nd gear, is this normal, or is it ultimately a slow gearbox breakdown?

Cheers

[tony h]

only the very early ['94 and some '95] 355s have the pre air bagged steering wheel, these cars will also have the bosch 2.7 engine mngment too. early cars are good for few bhp more than the bosch 5.2 cars and are easier to decat because of less stringent emission tests.
loads of info here www.the355.com also use the search fucntion which will reveal loads of previous threads

Edited by tony h on Sunday 25th November 21:17

[madras]

wont affect the value currently, same engine, same to maintain. original has dual air flow rather than single

[carubo360]

I purchased a 1998 car after taking some advice from some owners at the FOC. Apparently the earlier non a/bag cars also had switchable ABS which was prone to playing up and a problem with the rear butresses cracking - some people advised that the butress problem was never actually resolved so I ended up buying a spider just to be on the safe side.

[tony h]

carubo360 said:

I purchased a 1998 car after taking some advice from some owners at the FOC. Apparently the earlier non a/bag cars also had switchable ABS which was prone to playing up and a problem with the rear butresses cracking - some people advised that the butress problem was never actually resolved so I ended up buying a spider just to be on the safe side.

no buttress issues true but pray to the lord your hood rams never pack up

[carubo360]

Yes that is true, buying a Spider opens up a whole new bunch of considerations.

Mo if you are thinking of a spider please consider that there is a separate ecu for the hood control (mine packed up) and also in order for the hood to operate the electric seats and windows need to be working. I had faulty wiring on the nearside window and couldn't get the hood down as a result!