My "must have" list may differ from others .
Sport chrono , bose, xenon , and at least leather seats (full leather preferred) .

I despise Nav . I would subtract it from my car in an instant .

As for the type of seats .. I like sports adaptives but almost any seat will be ok . Sport seats are light, supple leather comfort seats are heavy . I would not worry too much about either.

Sport shifter is a great option .

Expensive options -
Carbon , deviated stitching , colored dials, aluminum shift , .. none of thse are must haves .. but they can add a personal appeal to the car but it costs money and it will not make the car drive better .

 

Nav is not a must have in my book. Like NorthVan suggested get the S because it comes with most of what you're looking for.

Having has an E46 M3 and 2 993s before my 997 it's better to be in a 911.

 

Nav is a must have, it will give all trafic info and alternatives on your route

 

As I just did exactly this - NAV kit from suncoastporsche plus labor for install at dealer - it totals close to $3K and from my perspective it totally worth it.

Navigation is working perfectly and is way more convenient and faster to use than garmin nuvi. Justifying monetary expense is an another thing, but there is no doubt - embedded PCM function is way better solution than any external device.

If you are patient you can always track Ebay and collect all required parts saving probably up to 50% from original kit cost, if you are OK to go with used parts.

 

What exact option gives that 'personal memory' setup that allows to assign different setup options to each of car keys?
I do not have it and does not seem it can be hacked directly from PCM, but it obviously should sit somewhere.

 

Thanks utkinpol for the info, maybe I should reconsider it. I have seen the parts for $1800 on Ebay at one point. I hear labor is a b!#ch, but I know some savvy shops that might be able to do it for less than a dealer.

 

thanks for the info everyone. Very much appreciated.

From reading the posts I think i am now going to be most concerned with getting the sport seats in conjunction with a S model. I just think they look much better and could save a ton of weight on the car. Let the search begin!.

 

Enjoy your search carbon, and remember to have a DME report run if you buy used. Avoid any car with range 4s, 5s, or 6s!

"Here are the rev ranges where ignitions are recorded for the 997. I don’t know if they are the same or slightly higher for the X51 equipped Carrera S. My rev-limiter kicks in north of 7,500 rpm (approximately 7,550 rpm) and I have recorded range 1 and 2 over-revs without hitting the rev limiter.
Range 1: 7300-7500 RPM
Range 2: 7500-7700 RPM
Range 3: 7700-7900 RPM
Range 4: 7900-8400 RPM
Range 5: 8400-9500 RPM
Range 6: 9500-11000 RPM

"

 

Labor is 4 hours ($500), at least that is what I was charged for. It will have to be done at dealership or at shop that can do PIWIS activation afterwards.
The only difficult part in that install is to get GPS sensor inside and do proper mount of all optical cables. It is probably doable as DIY but you have to know what exactly to do, sort of, what is a bit complicated.

 

ntlgnt1 - thank you very much. Would you mind explaining more what the DME report is and what specifically is involved. I am not familiar with this and I am very interested as I will most likely pick up this car pre-owned. Is this something that is typically checked in a PPI by Porsche dealer or would i have to specifically ask for this report?

Is this saying you can tell wear by where the rev limiter hits?? I'm a little confused on this.

 

Unless you are getting the 997.2, the nav is probably 5 years behind current technology and certainly can be skipped. The lack of touch screen and non-intuitive interface is just lame, not to mention lack of external (ipod) connectivity and bluetooth.

I didn't think I would want full leather, until I saw an actual car without it. The non-leather interior is very different, not like BMW/Mercedes where the fake-leather look similar to real leather package. IMO the leather package makes the interior look much nicer, and is probably one of those must have items.

 

There are lots of threads here discussing this, but in a nutshell all 997's will log the number of ignitions over the rev limiter (7200rpm) during the life of the car. It will also log the total number of engine hours on the car and the last engine hour that the car hit that range. When you get your PPI from a dealer, just ask to run/see the DME report. It will show you the # of times the car was in those ranges. Avoid any car that has a range 4,5, or 6. 1s and 2s are normal, and 3s should be rare but aren't the end of the world. A 6 is an instant void of any warranty.

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...-over-rev.html

 

Ok that makes sense. Thanks I will be sure to look into this.

 

I see you're in Chicago. I don't know anything about this car, but it looks decent and cheap enough that you could either mod it out or just drive the hell out of it:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2005-...=p4506.c0.m245

 

wow thanks for pointing that out....that is a really good price. I told myself no black / dark cars again. I am going after white or red this time.