Hello everyone and thanks for looking at my thread. I just wanted to post this and tell a little about my journey with my 911. I have owned a few Porsches in the past and they have always appealed to me. First I owned a 99 Carrera in 2001, sold it in 03 for an 01 Carrera Cab. I decided the convertible wasn't for me. Later I bought an NSX......sold it and bought a Cayman S. I, for some reason, felt that the 987 and 997 lost a bit of the driver connection that I found in the 99 996 and the NSX.

Anyways, about 5 months ago, I ran across a 2003 996 Carrera 4S on Copart (insurance auction). It was black on black and was a theft recovery with no apparent damage other than it was missing a few things. The instrument cluster was missing the gauge faces so that looked bad, the radio, and the air box was missing. It was for sale by an insurance company and not another dealer, so I wasn't scared to bid on it. I believe Farmers insurance had it listed for sale. I bid several times and ended up winning her. After about 1k in shipping costs, I got her to me here in Mississippi.

Upon arrival, I found that it was missing a bit more than expected. It was missing all the speakers, the air box, the MAFS, and the spare along with the above mentioned. The oil pan had a scuff on it too. I immediately got on the phone and began ordering parts. Here's what I ordered:

Oil Pan w/ new baffle and new screws
Oem thermostat
Oem coolant
Mobile 1 oil
Oem filter
Oem Spark plug set
997 coil pack set
Oem Serpentine belt
Oem MAFS
Fab Speed maxflo carbon fiber air intake
FVD 100 cell cats and headers
All new exhaust bolts and clamps
FVD SSK
DB carbon interior upgrades
New oem front lip
Alpine S920HD nav unit
Alpine 2 channel amp

Most of this was preventative maintenance but just wanted to make sure everything was perfect. I know about the IMS and RMS nightmares so I wanted all of this done and then I plan on doing those two things along with the clutch soon.

When I started on the audio, I decided I wanted something different. My close friend who does all of my install work, helped me decide. We found a 2007 LS460 that was salvaged and bought all of the Mark Levinson equipment. We retrofitted the speakers into the factory locations. This is by far the best sounding car audio system I have ever heard.

I added the gauge faces and secured the connections and found that she has 52k miles. No leaks, no hesitations, no smoke, and no metal shavings in my oil pan. I changed the oil immediately, drove it for 1k miles and took the pan off again to make sure there was no shavings or issues. I serviced it again just to safe. I am running the headers and cats with oem mufflers. I'm looking for the controllable factory sport exhaust for my next purchase.

After successfully installing everything, I am really astounded at how good this car is. I love the AWD and it actually has plenty of power. I have probably spent more on her than what she's worth but I do enjoy driving her. Of course, the theft will always show up on auto check and carfax. It does show no previous accidents though.....thanks for reading.

 

I was looking at that car on Copart. Nice to see that it wasn't a total mess. Congrats on the pick up!

 

Awesome man! I have the same exact car except mine is a 04... enjoy!

 

Thank you sir.

Yes, its always a gamble when buying one sight unseen, but she really turned out to be a good one. I've been daily driving her and havent had a single issue after I got everything the way I want it.

 

Wow looking good. Glad you saved this one

 

Here are several pictures of the Mark Levinson audio install.....the components were super easy

 

Looking good, like too see you saved it. Take some pictures of the Alpine head unit when you get a chance

 

I hope I'm no out of line for asking, but how much did you pay for the car?

 

Thanks for the compliment. I took some pictures just now of the unit. Sorry theyre not very good. I just took a few with my cell because I dont have a camera close right now.

 

I see youre in North California. Did you know the car? If so, PM me.

 

That head unit looks awesome, very nice work !! Thank you for posting.

 

Thanks very much. Charles, my friend and technician, installed it for me at my shop. I dont do electronics I found the install kit on eBay.....it is a quality kit that wasnt cheap. It did the job very nicely. The only thing I think I wouldve done different, if I designed the kit, is to put the "Porsche" on the bottom of the bezel instead of the top. Thats just me though.

 

 

Isn't the Mark Levinson amp and/or speakers equalized specifically to the LS460 cars interior?

 

Yes that's why I had to use an alpine amp.

The head unit has an excellent EQ built in.