roscopervis

Mine usually failed. What I found helped was putting the original cats in the boot. The MOT tester who, when confronted with the fuss of having to replace the cats just to pass the MOT, would find another car to stick the probe up. Not technically right, but suited me fine!

I would love to come out for a drive.

I have one, got it straight after my 350. I have a PASM one on 19's. I really like PASM and wouldn't get one without it personally, but that's just me. I also really like the Sport Chrono pack , mainly for the throttle sharpness it brings. Other than that it's not about the figures, it's about the way all the facets of driving come together really well in the one car. IMS is a very very small risk not worth worrying about I'd say, the bore scoring is at 5-10% but there are things you can do to help minimise risk - get a low temperature thermostat, run the Millers oil that Hartech recommend, don' thrash it from cold or standstill etc. It also doesn't sound as good as the 350 did but that can be fixed with a Carnewal exhaust. I'm really happy with mine. Definitely get an inspection, you'll save the inspection cost in your negotiations I would think.

As ever, Bilt Hamber's product in this sector is excellent - Auto Wash. Seriously underrated. Only bad thing is that it doesn't have much of a smell.

Back to the original question, I was in a similar position a few months ago, originally thought was the 370Z wasn't worth the extra and I should get a M135i coupe. In the end I got a Cayman!

How much is the Zed going to depreciate from now, compared to what you get? Unless you pick wisely, this is a move to lose a lot of money in a car that quite quickly won't feel special enough.

It isn't too bad, certainly for a 10 year old car.

I've already done the subwoofer padding mod and it surprisingly makes it 100% better! Still Bose though so can't get the tones to sound too realistic. I'll be doing the condensers shortly, got them cheap at ECP's in their Halloween sale. Will look into getting some mesh too, thanks for the tip.

https://flic.kr/p/NrsgAm

After much consideration, driving and internal conflict I ended up going for a Porsche Cayman S 987.1 with the 3.4 M97 engine. Yes this is one of the main ones that can get bore scraping so that is something to keep a close eye on, but so far so good. Initially I was looking at E46 and E90/92 M3's, Audi S4's (3.0 supercharged), a Porsche 996 911 and the Cayman. The BMW's are great cars, the E46 is more practical with a bigger fuel tank, the E90 is faster and more expensive to run, but they are both heavy. The same goes for the S4, which can be remapped to 470 bhp quite easily but is not particularly involving. Chris Harris drives both an S4 and a Cayman on roads near me which also helped make my mind up. So it boiled down to the Porsches. They drive quite differently but are very similar in terms of straight line power. The Cayman however is excellent at handling. The 996 911 has challenging and rewarding traits, which may be more rewarding potentially in the long term but the Cayman is spot on immediately. Steering feel, balance, poise and the controls all feel right and I prefer the way they drive. So that was that and I had to find the right one. I ended up with a Basalt Black 2006 (MY2007) Cayman S with lots of spec. Some of it I didn't want, but it was the balance of everything and condition of the car that sold it to me. It has 997 Turbo 19" wheels so it's a good thing it has PASM, Sport Chrono, unfortunately it has BOSE too which isn't very good. It had also just recently been detailed and coated with GTechiq C1 ceramic coating so it should help it look spic and span for a while. I had an inspection done which found no bore scoring and everything in very good condition generally. It does need a new aircon condenser but that was used to negotiate the price down somewhat. I haven't had a chance to take any decent pictures of it yet, so I'll put up what I have.

Car has been bought.

They are nice cars. I ran a Golf GT TDI for 4 years and 100k miles, was still getting up to 73mpg out of it on my daily commute when I sold it. 72mpg seems unreal now compared to the 24mpg im getting out of my current daily. I've put 60k on it, the most I've put on any car. I've squeaked 60 mpg out of it but the average is almost bang on 50mpg. Made the 26 of the Zed and the 27 of the new weekend vehicle much more palatable.

The Bilt Hamber stuff is the best stuff now.

Seat Leon tdi 130. Pretty dull but works well and 50mpg. Means I now have 2 'German' cars!

I agree, the Galaxy S7 Edge is as good as it gets, same internals as the Note 5 too.

That is a nice one. I think they are a decent potential investment - I can't see them going much lower at least and the 993's have gone up a lot in the last year. Has to be more sensible than a M135i???

Hmmm, troublesome engines, but the pull is strong! I'll just keep looking between the 2 cars, find the best ones based on condition and history and then when the best come up, get an inspection done and negotiate from there.

Looking at more and more 3.6 996's as I just can't find the right Cayman. I know that the 3.4 Cayman engine has a major bore scraping issue, how is the 3.6 in the 911 with this issue? I know that the 3.4 Cayman engine's IMS is pretty much sorted. How about on the 996's? All these engines seem to have some major issues!!

I've seen a few cars of interest, but they are all so far away, either in the north west or around the London area. Also, finding cars with the right spec is more difficult than I expected. This might be a long hunt!

So in a quite dramatic turn of events I have sold the Zed back to Ian and am now missing having a nice car already. It all happened rather quickly. For some reason, I'm getting drawn to these Cayman's. So far I know I want a manual 'S' on 18" wheels, non sat nav stereo and sport seats. I also know that the 2005-2007 cars that are in my budget (up to £16k) may be prone to IMS bearing issues. I will be getting an independent assessment done on the car - anyone know who are good to do these? Any other advice, websites/forums to read will be gladly accepted. Also comparisons of how they are compared to a DE Zed will be interestingly read I am also keeping 996's at the back of my mind but I'm guessing they'll be more expensive in terms of maintenance, though I'm willing to listen. Thanks guys.

Bye bye car

Rubbish. Avoid! I've not had one on a Zed, but on a previous car it was a disaster from the start.

Hit it with some fallout remover and see what happens. If it's actual rust, you could get Deox Gel from Bilt Hamber to eat the rust away ready to cover so it doesn't rust again.

G5 is pretty good - it actually performs at a slower speed than G1 initially, but doesn't last as long. As with all things detailing, the key is in the prep - you should really clean your screen before applying any product for maximum effect. That means a good clean, clay, even a razor and polish before applying 2 layers of your chosen product. GTechniq say that applying a layer of G5 over the G1 gives the best of both worlds, the durability and the water beading effect at slower speeds.

They will fit, the earlier 2003 cars only have one knob. This means that the seat doesn't have the same raise/tilt function of the seat base as the newer ones. If you like sitting low in the car, it will make no difference to you.