Rare 3.4L X51 - Owners Thread

[JamesB912]

Hi all. I posted about this 996 when I first got it, but thought I'd start an official owners thread as there is a lot of work I'm doing to the car that might be of interest to others. This is my 5th 996.1, it took a lot of hard work to secure it, but I absolutely love it. My Instagram is @ninedetails which accurately describes how OCD I am about the details. So the car...

- A February 1999 non sunroof, manual C2 with 3.4L X51 Powerkit
- Factory Bucket Seats (XSE & XSF) with Rear Seat Delete (XSN)

The build sheet says 'XSE + XSF = MUSTEREINBAU!!!' With 3 exclamation marks, and translates as 'Sample Installation!!!'. I am trying to find out if that means it is the first water cooled 911 to ever be fitted with buckets from factory.

The X51 is a really rare option for the 3.4. You see a fair number of 3.6 X51 packs including the 40 Jahre as standard, but very few 3.4 X51. Full detailed write up about the X51 by @GT4 can be found here: http://www.911uk.com/viewtopic.php?t=60293&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Full Options:
C16 - UK Car
030 - Sports Suspension
XAD - Rear Bumper Fins
XD9 - Wheels Painted in body colour
XME - Centre console punted body colour
XSE - Bucket Seat, Left
XSF - Bucket Seat, Right
XSN - Omission of rear seats
X51 - Powerkit
X89 - Centre Caps painted body colour
041 - Internal production code
413 - 18" Turbo Twist
436 - 3 spoke steering wheel
09991 - Exclusive options added (on production line)
09981 - Special Wishes Programme (off production line)

Dealer Fit Options:
Full Aero Kit XAA
Tequipment Cage
Switchable Exhaust (which I believe may have been fitted much later when this option came available for the Gen 2. It was fitted sometime between 1999-2005)

GT3 Demo Car:
It is understood this car was one of a few 996's spec'd by the dealer late '98/early '99 to emulate the upcoming GT3 as best they could using factory options; hence the combination of the more powerful/louder X51 with the GT3 Aerokit looks. These cars acted as demo cars to secure pre orders for the GT3, and as soon as the dealers got their hands on a real GT3, these cars got sold off. There are believed to be about half a dozen U.K. examples, and each is quite different depending on the individual dealers choices, but they are all nicely spec'd cars.

GT3 dials, kickplates, handbrake and rear badge some believe were added at dealer to enhance the GT3 'authenticity', but I expect an owner with deep pockets added them between 1999-2005. I will be reverting to factory 'Carrera' badging.

Video link to car sound

https://vimeo.com/794881009

 

[JamesB912]

Photos...

 

[JamesB912]

So the first job was to remove those 6x9 MDF boxes on the rear shelf. They were strapped down to the carpeted foam and when removing them I got more than just the weight saving of the speakers, as I discovered 5kg of nuts hidden underneath the carpet. The foam insulation had also been totally chewed through. I had to remove all the side trims to see the extent of the damaged foam. It was all on the passenger side and thankfully all the wiring was in tact and the foam replaceable.

 

[JamesB912]

My next job was to remove the fire extinguisher from that odd position, and may reposition on the floor or strapped to the cage. Again it was installed prior to Paragon Porsche selling the car in 2006 with it in, but it wasn't factory or dealer installed, as I was about to find out...

...when I went to remove it, I discovered some 'ingenious' previous owner used a desktop PC case under the carpet to act as a support brace to keep the extinguisher sitting upright and not falling over; due to its weight the carpet along wouldn't hold it upright. See photos of the PC case I removed from under the carpet, that had been shaped to the rear seats! Yet another weight saving

The carpet has mounting holes in now, so I've bought a new rear section that I'll be installing soon.

 

[Alex]

opcorn:

 

[JamesB912]

To balance out the unexpected and less rewarding jobs, I decided to tackle one of my priority jobs on any 996, and that's the gear change.

Interestingly a previous owner paid over £500 for the official porsche short shift kit, which had a receipt in the history file. However they only work by adding them to the plastic bushed stock shifters (you can't use them with a metal bushed shifter). I found the short shift kit added to the stock 996 shifter terrible; just as bad as any worn stock 996 shifter, although possibly made slightly harder by the short throw. Anyway, it needed to go.

Having bought a couple of 997.2 metal bushed GT3 shifters last year for about £260, Porsche have doubled the price and it worked out at £519 after PCGB discount. Anyway, it's transformed the driving experience as I knew it would. I always think the 997.2 GT3 shifter and RSS engine mounts are two of the best mods for the 996.

 

[Marky911]

Wowzers! When you said nuts I thought you meant metal nuts, not squirrel nuts. :grin:

Good work on this though and it seems like a great find with some interesting options.
Lovely looking car. I look forward to following your progress. :thumb:

 

[JamesB912]

Wowzers! When you said nuts I thought you meant metal nuts, not squirrel nuts. :grin:

Good work on this though and it seems like a great find with some interesting options.
Lovely looking car. I look forward to following your progress. :thumb:

Thanks Mark.

I guess it has a similar look and feel to yours and Adam's old car. Although the engine characteristics of both cars are quite different despite both being 3.4's.

I'll have a lot more content to post and no doubt will be stealing a few ideas from yours/Adam's threads

 

[photek]

Wowzers! When you said nuts I thought you meant metal nuts, not squirrel nuts. :grin:

Good work on this though and it seems like a great find with some interesting options.
Lovely looking car. I look forward to following your progress. :thumb:

:floor:

Same here, that was VERY unexpected!

Short shifter kit and decent engine mounts are the best value for money mods :thumb: (I just installed a 997 gearbox mount, but I've not tested it yet...)

 

[coullstar]

Wowzers! When you said nuts I thought you meant metal nuts, not squirrel nuts. :grin:

Good work on this though and it seems like a great find with some interesting options.
Lovely looking car. I look forward to following your progress. :thumb:

:lol: was thinking exactly the same. When I saw the hole as well I would have pooped my pants.

Cool car.

 

[T8]

Great write up, nice car. :thumbs:

 

[tob_today]

Great thread - thanks for sharing! What a car. But the nuts!? :dont know:

 

[JamesB912]

So having removed the MDF boxed 6x9's I also removed the Genesis amp in the boot. I'm a purist and love the Becker headunits (once the sticky buttons are sorted); they feel very appropriate for the age of car.

However, I decided that I wanted to get the PCCM+ for this car. The main reasons are that the car is a keeper and I also add a lot of miles (circa 500 a month). Having made my mind up, I thought it best to get the PCCM+ sooner rather than later, so I get as much value for money as it's not cheap.

I have to say that whilst a small part of me misses the Beckers simplicity, I love the PCCM+. I would say that I don't use its full features but the small things that just make the drive that bit more pleasurable when I'm commuting, whether a 500 miles drive up between family up north or stuck in London traffic. The features I like are:

- Google maps on a large screen low down, not blocking the view of the road or glaring on the glass at night like my mobile used to in a holder stuck to the glass.

- Really really good and clear handfree calls

- DAB radio (although radio on the Becker was fine)

- Streaming music from the likes of Amazon Music and other apps via the same USB cable charging the phone

- Sounds stupid, but a small 15cm cable charging my phone from the USB port in the central dash, without a 1m long cable hanging from the phone stuck to the glass.

- Responsiveness of the screen and buttons is superb and far superior to any of the double DIN CarPlay units you can just pick up from Halfords.

...erh, not sure there is much else I'm using for the big outlay, but it's enough. When I'm not just bombing around some nice B-roads listening to the sound of the X51 and PSE, this really is a nice addition, and does remove those small frustrations of road trips with a phone stuck the the glass, cables hanging down and limited radio stations.

In summary, some will love it and others I'm sure will think it's a lot of money for what it is, and that's fair. But it was definitely the right choice for me.

 

[drac]

Good find, but like others I was expecting nuts & bolts not squirrel food.

I too spent a long time pondering over the PCCM+, in the end I didn't go that way but fully understand why you did.

 

[corneg1]

I just installed the PCCM+ too - fully agree with your likes regarding this unit. I hid the USB box on the shelf of the unit. Ran a USB cable to the arm rest cubby for music and a phone cable into the shelf under the unit itself.