Aluminium bits for the interior

[Guest]

I want to lift the interior of my 996 Cab from its standard black leather/metallic grey appearance. I have persuaded wife that ali bits from mail order dealers would be good i.e. artic silver centre console, ali heater control surround and side vents.

Does anyone have any experience of fitting these ? Is it a DIY job or should I be talking to the nice chaps at my local OPC?

 

[Helen Goff]

we looked into doing this on our boxster.we spoke to simon of essential styling and Brian Goff from Jasmin. but once we saw the prices we decided we would live with the black leather interior. silly money. also not as easy as you would think to fit your self,unless you have the right tools,you could end up damaging other bit' s of dashboard or trim which could prove very expensive.
i was also worried about ending up with rattles and squeeks.!!

 

[Grant]

Be carefull on this one, as Helen says. In honesty I am not a big fan of the silver effect
add on' s . Unless they are " proper" aluminium items they tend to look rather " plasticy" & make the cabin look cheap. For me the best add ons are Porsches own aluminium gear lever & handbrake combination, they really lift the cabin on their own & have a " quality" look. But they aren' t cheap. I had the handbrake alone added to a previous 996 & that cost around £500 fitted, but it was worth it for me, since then I have specified the upgrade when getting a new car.
My advice is make sure that you actually see any alloy items in the flesh before you buy them, the way they look vary' s a lot, go to the clubs meet at the end of August, look at different cars with the items fitted & then negotiate with the stalls. Best of luck.

 

[Guest]

The various bits are very easy to fit yourself. I have no mechanical experience and in the 4 months I have owned my 996, I have changed:
Rear central console
H Brake and gear lever
Door handles and bin lids
tacho surround
Cd autochanger
The aluminium you refer to is actually fatory painted arctic silver which looks very nice in moderation. My car is boxster red and has arctic silver tacho surround, ignition and hazard surroud+ashtray surround.
It looks very tasteful. There is little chance you will damage dash etc if you are careful and I certainly have no squeeks!! Porsche charge silly money for OEM parts and fitting. Dont go down that route. Try some of the internet suppliers-I dont know if I am allowed to give details here. E-mail me for people I used.