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That brings up a good point. One thing I never liked about the 996 interior is the blackness of the instrument cluster gauge dial bezels. That blackness worked perfectly on the 993 and earlier dashboards, because there was nothing modern about those interiors, but it didn't work (in my opinion) in the 996 where the rest of the interior is modern. I don't think the factory offered aluminum gauge trim as an option, but they can be bought aftermarket. They are inexpensive and go a long way towards making the gauge cluster fit better with the rest of the modern 996 interior.
X71 Alu-look instrument faces was a factory option. I have it on my car.
X71 Alu-look instrument faces was a factory option. I have it on my car.
Originally Posted by Optionman1
Me too, X71 Aluminum Instrument Dials on 03 4s
Sorry, I was referring to aluminum trim rings around the outside of the gauges -- I should have posted a picture. I don't think there was a factory option for trim rings, but could be wrong.
My car actually had the "matching interior gauge color" option, which I think was something like an $1100 option, but I hated the color and they bubbled, a lot. I think the Alu-look ones are solid dials, but the interior-matching color dials are just stickers that replace the black face (those gauge dial stickers are definitely a quality issue! (especially for what they charge for it)). I wanted to put the dial faces back to black, and there are no aftermarket dials in black (and Porsche doesn't sell OEM black dial faces as a separate part), so I had actually buy another gauge cluster and then transfer the black faces to mine. It was a very painful process, but worth it to me in the end.
The gauge surround was also Savannah Beige and the PO had a dealer replace the leather dash pod (it has full leather option) with vinyl (presumably the original leather one was damaged), so I put leather pod back in with contrasting gray gauge surround (instead of beige). I also added the aluminum trim rings around the dials. The wraparound trim piece under the gauges and steering wheel surround are vinyl ,even with full leather option, and the vinyl color darkened over time to no longer match the leather color, so I replaced those surrounds also (using non-colorfast vinyl on those pieces with the full leather option is another example of a quality issue to me). The leather hazard button had LED's for a hidden K40 radar detector, so I replaced it with new leather surround while I was in there. Originally it was a "sea of beige" with bubbled beige gauges, and the end result was a more contrasting look.
Some people might prefer the look the original "all beige" look before my changes, and others might like the more contrasting look after the changes. That's why I think the 996 interior can look good to anyone as long as you have the options that match your individual preferences.
It’s a very basic interior much like the generations that proceeded it. I have always enjoyed its simplicity. Porsche interiors became too luxurious for my taste after the 996. To me Porsche interiors were always just utilitarian and basic which was part of the appeal.
I’ve never been a fan of the aluminum trim rings on the 996, but that looks AMAZING. Must be the darker gauge surround.
Thanks. There are two different styles of trim rings. The "wider" ones like I have are probably most common. They usually come painted aluminum color (or sometimes red depending where you buy them). I prefer raw brushed aluminum over the look of painted aluminum color, so I bought red rings, stripped off the paint (with paint remover) and then sanded them with decreasing grit and polished them to get raw polished brushed aluminum. That may be why mine look different from others you've seen. If you can find them in raw brushed aluminum, definitely do that because it took a bit of work to strip and polish, but I couldn't find them in raw aluminum so I had to take fairly drastic action .
Yes it grew on me! I LOVED it when I Before interior mods After
bought a new one in 2001 and it kept growing on me I still love the interior and enjoy every minute I spend in it!
I honestly wasn't in love with it when I was early shopping these cars. Now I am a huge fan. I personally think a GT3 console delete makes a massive difference in a good way.
It's kind of like the outside. So ugly it's beautiful.
Thank you. The boot is an alcantara one with silver stitching from Black Forrest Industries and shift **** is a RaceSeng Circuit 100. Kind of reminded me of the more modern/current Porsche shift ***** and feels much better in hand than stock.
10-23-2020 | 04:39 PM
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