I don't think anyone has said anything about "powershifting." We've been talking about "moneyshifting," which is slang for exactly what you describe in your last sentence.

ANYHOW, I just got back from an 11 hour round-trip visit to go see this car. I had to at least test drive the thing, or else I would have been constantly wondering if it was "the one that got away." I estimated that there was about a 50/50 chance I would be driving back in a Porsche. Once I arrived, I looked the car over; it was extremely well-kept, inside and out. The engine looked clean, and the only real issue was two scraped-up wheels. One wasn't horrible, but the other one was definitely substantial. Not so much a deep gouge, but a lighter scraping that extended almost the entire way around the edge of the wheel.

I first let the car idle for about 5-10 minutes. It started immediately and the motor sounded very nice. It idled purrrrfectly and I was pretty impressed at this point. I took it for a nice and long 20 minute test drive, with a mix of city driving and highway driving. The engine felt nice; smooth and powerful, but a bit slower than my current 335xi. The car tracked straight and smooth, and everything felt pretty solid.

Then the first problem arose: I was downshifting from 3rd to 2nd, clutch fully disengaged, perfect heel-toe rev-match, and the tranny made a grinding noise when I attempted to move the shifter into 2nd gear. That did not sit well with me at ALL. I kept driving and then the second, relatively minor issue became apparent: it was slightly difficult to get a smooth shift into 3rd gear. No grinding, but just not smooth engagement like the other gears. I kept on going for a few more miles, then needed to make one last u-turn before ending the the test drive. I was at a red-light which turned green, so I depressed the clutch pedal, shifted into 1st gear, and began to lift the clutch pedal to start moving. The instant the clutch started to engage, the shifter popped out of 1st gear into neutral. Ugh...

Needless to say, I made the five and a half hour trip back home in the same truck I drove up in. I wasn't so much disappointed as I was relieved that the problems had manifested themselves, otherwise I may have made a very bad purchase. I feel as if I absolutely made the right decision here. Oh well, I'm sure there will be plenty more nice cars in the future.

 

Wow, how could a car with that low of miles have a tranny like that? The type 2's are minimal and you'd think you'd see more with that kinda tranny characteristics as it would indicate some thrashing around. Could this be caused by the clutch slave cylinder going out and not rev related?

Glad you checked it out and dodged a bullet. Good luck in your continued search.

 

VIN WP0AB29943S686869

What did the seller have to say, out of curiosity.

 

I'm not sure if they were great actors, or if they really were as "car dumb" as they made themselves out to be, but the dad and the son both had no idea about anything mechanical. They had never seen either of the issues I described (grinding or popping out of gear) and they essentially just played dumb the entire time.

I went on the test drive with the son riding in the passenger seat, and we talked for a bit. From our conversation, I found out that neither he nor his dad were very familiar with manual transmissions; they both are automatic lovers. This lead me to the conclusion that one, or both of these guys, had really abused the tranny on this car.

 

Is your 335xi modded? I say this as I had a 335xi for three years before I got my TT. Mine was stock and it was much slower than my TT in every aspect.

 

Yes, my 335xi is modified.

 

I was really disappointed the first time I drove a 996 turbo compared to my old e92 335. Slow, with a crappy gearbox. Going from the BMW clutch to the Porsche requires a bit or recalibration, and don't expect it to feel as rubbery-smooth. The 996tt syncros will feel "rough" especially on a new trans, and on a low mile car. Use the heartbeat (delay) shifting and you will come to love the 996tt.

It will take a tune and exhaust to walk a full bolt-on 335 but it will be close. Add some turbos and walk out the door and slam it!

Tom

 

I completely agree with you on this. My previous car before the Turbo was a S2000, a car known for its precise and short shifts. My heart sunk the first time I test drove a 996 Turbo. The shift was long, sloppy and vague. Just couldn't believe my dream car could have such a horrible shifter. It was almost a deal breaker until I read about the 997 shifter, which is what I have in my Turbo. Night and day difference! In my opinion, a 997 shifter, flashed ECU and a suspension upgrade are musts for any stock 996 Turbo. Completely transforms the driveability of the car in a very positive way.

 

Related question -- do the diagnostics tell when the over revs occur, or just how many have been accumulated?

 

You can see the cars total hours and also the last time the over rev happen either type 1 or type 2

 

996TT do have a less than stellar gear shift linkage (try driving a pre 964 if you want to really understand the concept of "vague"). A compression test and leak down test on a motor with that few miles
might tell if the motor has a bend value but nothing about stressed rods, bearing etc will show up. Per my previous post, the issue you should most be worried about is the tranny. If the downshift issues bother you, don't buy the car, you'll be second guessing yourself forever. As a side note a bone stock 335 will never be as fast as a bone stock 996X50 in the same condition.

 

A Porsche 997 short shifter does wonders for these autos,I do not know why
Porsche took so long to improve on it...Makes the whole driving experience that much better....As far as the over revs.....If everything else checks out besides that,I would not worry...As stated above ,there are some reasons that it could be over reved with out hurting it.These motors are made/engineered to be driven hard and take alot of abuse.There like a Timex watch,,They can take a licking and keep ticking.......Good Luck

 

Okay, so I have another potential "dream car" ......

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_A...r-rev-6spo.jpg

Obviously the numbers are great. Does that all look legit to you guys? He said I could call the dealership... so I'm pretty confident the numbers are real. I haven't seen one of these printouts before, tho, so I'm just asking for your opinions.

Thanks!