Any Cayman experts here?

[Tidybuoy]

My wheels are 19" Boxster Spyder / Cayman R wheels and I have 5mm spacers which push them out a tad.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Tidybuoy

My wheels are 19" Boxster Spyder / Cayman R wheels and I have 5mm spacers which push them out a tad.

Yep, my car came with 5mm spacers under the 19" Sport Designs.

[Crowbob]

Very nice car, Vern!

Sweet!

[TimT]

Gee isn't there a Cayman forum...?


Anyway mine came with 18"Avante Garde wheels.. with stretched rubber..

Also the stock 17" with dry rotted winter contacts as spares

[dewolf]

My son is picking this up today. 06 S with a TPC Turbo kit. Has a water / meth injection kit with electronic controller etc.

[look 171]

I haven't clue what wheel are these? 911S wheels? It came with the car.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by look 171

I haven't clue what wheel are these? 911S wheels? It came with the car.

Yep, that's another style that I like. They are 19", right?

[Jeff Alton]

Buy an 09 or 10 based on your year range.

With a 987.1 you really are not at any risk of an IMSB failure, it is very rare. But you are at risk of bore scoring.

We are on our second 987.1 Cayman S vehicle. Our first was an 06 and we modified it and tracked it after a few years sold it. We still service it at the shop and it is still mint. Our current one is an 08S. We bought it years ago with 22,000 miles on it with scored cylinders (known). We built a 3.8 for it with cams, headers, intake etc. It has a bunch of other chassis/brake mods and it is a very fun and fast car to drive.

We service/repair many Caymans. The only 987.2 motors we have built were for a race team that needed fresh engines every year. That said, I lost count of home many M96/97 motors we have built because of a failure, either cracked liner, scored bore or failed IMSB (the lowest percentage).

Cheers

[stealthn]

Jeff, what are the signs for that and the cost of repair?

[Sunroof]

Great videos on youtube comparing the Boxster and Cayman both of which have the same bones. I am presently looking at both, but opting more toward the Boxster because the Cayman lacks a sunroof, I am getting older and watching the videos the Boxster sounds better then the Cayman.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Sunroof

Great videos on youtube comparing the Boxster and Cayman both of which have the same bones. I am presently looking at both, but opting more toward the Boxster because the Cayman lacks a sunroof, I am getting older and watching the videos the Boxster sounds better then the Cayman.

I would probably have preferred a Cayman, sans sunroof, but I was perfectly happy to get either. For me it was "find the best Coxster that I can afford." For me that ended up being a special edition boxster S that because it was a special edition, had a bunch of great features that are hard to find otherwise and had super low miles and was CPO.

Just like when I got my first 911, I was looking for the right car at the right price, and that just so happened to be a targa.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by A930Rocket

Being frugal, he’s looking for a base model and the 09’s and up are above what he wants to spend.

So, are the 06-08’s out of the question, even if he finds a nice one?

I’m told him to look at E46 M3’s, but he likes the Cayman better

E46 M3s fall into two distinct categories…babied and mint, (expensive), or owned by idiots and beaten half to death, (much more common). All of them have one thing in common, they are overweight and not really sports cars. Other than that, they’re great.

[Deschodt]

Originally Posted by Sunroof

Great videos on youtube comparing the Boxster and Cayman both of which have the same bones. I am presently looking at both, but opting more toward the Boxster because the Cayman lacks a sunroof, I am getting older and watching the videos the Boxster sounds better then the Cayman.

I've had both. Loved both. But if I were to buy another, I'd prefer the boxster because 1) top up it's not much worse noise wise 2) you got the top down option 3) being designed as a cab it's not noticeable more flexible 4) seen from the back, the ratio of hips (fenders) to roof is better on the boxster. The cayman roof joining the hips there make it look small hipped... The boxster's hips look sexier esp. top down... I always wished they gave the cayman more width back there ;-)

[Jeff Alton]

Originally Posted by stealthn

Jeff, what are the signs for that and the cost of repair?

Nice looking car!

The signs are increased oil consumption, soot in the tailpipe, and when it gets bad a ticking noise similar to a stuck lifter. That said, simply pulling plugs and looking at them gives a quick indicator. Further investigation would involve a borescope inspection to look at the cylinder walls. Starts on bank 2 normally.

Cheers

[otto_kretschmer]

Originally Posted by speeder

E46 M3s fall into two distinct categories…babied and mint, (expensive), or owned by idiots and beaten half to death, (much more common). All of them have one thing in common, they are overweight and not really sports cars. Other than that, they’re great.

whats the point of having a high performance car if you just putter around in it?

makes no sense to me but a lot of these cars don't make sense to me

[Deschodt]

Originally Posted by speeder

E46 M3s fall into two distinct categories… All of them have one thing in common, they are overweight and not really sports cars. Other than that, they’re great.

I think we can debate cars without crapping on others... The E46 M3 has a wonder of an engine with individual throttle bodies, easily bumperd to 400 hp and sounding like a screaming banshee... it makes more power than the original cayman S 3.4 with only a 3.2, and its throttle response and sound is out of this world. It's probably slightly less of a sports car than a Cayman S but it's a heck of a nice car for less $. The OP mentioned a base cayman, I'd argue that's hard to call on the sports car front. A base 987 is 245hp for 2965 lbs, vs 333hp for 3415 lbs. So the E46 actually has a much better lbs/hp ratio !!! I'd have a nice one over a base Cayman honestly, it's better built (once you weld the chassis, LOL, see below). The S54 motor was voted best engine of all time somewhere, I get why....The friend I sold my 987S told me several years ago the interior was falling apart and headliner falling on his head. The friend I sold my M3 to earlier said it was still as solid as ever.

For the record E46 M3s suffer from rod bearings, Vanos issues, and need chassis welding on the rear subframe mounts (all done for $2500). Caymans suffer from IMS, bore scoring, oil separators, and the interior melts away (headliner, door panels, radio button, controls). Cooling sucks on both, famously. Horses for courses, hard to compare a 4 seater front engine car to a central engine 2 seater. I've had both an E46 M3 and a Cayman 987S and it would be a close thing for me to choose between the 2 today (I'd pick the bimmer because I had enough of IMS issues, I's pick a 981 over an M3 though). Versus a *BASE* cayman though??? it's not even close, M3 anyday and twice on sunday. To 7400 rpm.

[speeder]

The V-8 E90 M3 is so completely head and shoulders better of a car than the e46 that I would never consider an e46 again. When they were brand new in 2001, (and no one knew about rod bearings or rear subframe mounts self destructing), I thought they were the schit. 20 years later, they are just schit. To me, anyway. YMMV, of course.

[aschen]

I think e92m is better than e46 as well. My dad had both and I extensively drove both. They are both decent cars with fantastic engines. V8 is next level, among the best engine in any car I have ever driven though.

[A930Rocket]

What’s the weight difference between an 05 330 CI and an 03 M3? The M3 has 100 more horsepower, and may be a little more weight.

My 330 feels peppy off the line, but runs out of steam. Owning the M3 for a couple weeks, I’ve not had a chance to test it out, especially at the track. I’d like to test them back to back.

That said, neither one is like my 911/930, that I tracked/drove for 15 years.