gums

My Boxster S either needs a suspension upgrade/refurbish, or to be traded in. Is a strut/shock package worth doing? It's got 116K miles on it. What make is a good value? How about all the bushings and/or anything else? Strictly a street car.

Byprodriver

I am in the middle of restoring my 2000"S" suspension with 102K miles with new OEM parts. This includes anything that moves or has rubber. If you track your car checkout aftermarket race upgrades. For race info check planet9 forum , for street try 986 forum.

David in Talent

When my 2001 Boxster S was new, I replaced the stock suspension with the European M030. I got the European parts $'s and had my local Porsche dealer order and install the sport suspension bits which consisted of new bushings, sway bars, springs and shocks. Back in 2001 this came to $2K. It was the BEST suspension I had ever experienced on a Porsche (and I have owned 5 ), four others being 911's. If you can purchase the EUROPEAN MO30 sports suspension, I would highly recommend it over any other set up. It lowered the car by 20 MM and the stance was perfect and the balance in cornering was superb.

mwood

First question is how do you use the car?

A daily driver that is running around on all seasons with the biggest concern being comfort will indicate a different course of action vs a car that is going to be autocrossed occasionally and runs high performance tires vs a car that is going to be used for autocross/lapping days on r-comps...

I'm new to the Boxster, but past experience tells me that coilover kits like Bilstein PSS9, KW Variant and Koni's equivalent (can't remember the name) typically are good middle of the road solutions, if you want to get a little more aggressive than the ROW M030 (which, as suggested, is also good). In any case, damper quality is critical, once you've addressed the maintenence items, like bushings.

Also, stay away from all the cheap crap out there, like K Sport, Tein, JIC etc...basically, anything that says "30 position adjustable" is going to have issues...poor valving design, crosstalk on adjuster, poor quality control etc.

edit: reread the original post. If the car is just used on the street, I'd probably replace the tie rods, control arms (I believe the ball joints and bushings are not replaceable, so you need new control arms), buy a new set of Bilsteins and call it a day. I haven't looked at prices on the parts needed, but I'd guess you'd be around $2,000?

Macster

What makes you think the suspension needs to be refurbished?

BTW, there was a big write up on rebushing a Boxster. Oh, in a UK published Porsche mag. Afterwards after driving the car at the end of the article the owner was quoted admitting he couldn't really notice any improvement. While the stock bushings looked a bit ragged they were apparently still functioning quite well.

If your car does need suspension work that the stock/OE hardware delivered 116K miles of life suggests you go with OE hardware. You know it will fit without any difficulty.

Should also point out that if it is obvious the car needs this work chances are good the car will be a hard to move car or the price offers will be lower than usual because the car needs this work. Thus if you intend to sell the car you might consider doing the work. You won't get all the money back but the car will be an easier sell.

Last but not least I might point out my 02 Boxster is strictly a street car and now has over twice 116K miles on its stock/orignal suspension and steering hardware. The techs test drive the car once in a while and tell me it doesn't need any suspension/steering work.

What makes you believe your car needs this work?

Sincerely,

Macster.

gums

Well, let's just say it's not riding as well as the 2007 Boxster S that I test drove on Friday! Seriously, it's getting a bit ragged, I'm starting to think of it as a bonafide beater. It still looks ok, but I never intended to keep it this long, I purchased it at 85K intending to gut it, but it just keeps hanging on.
Now, I have a full on race car, so I don't need to get my jollies out in this one. It's just an around town commuter, very nice. Further, I have a lift in my garage, so doing the mods would only be fun, but; I don't know if I want to sink $3-4K in a car that is still old and only worth maybe $6-7K. It's even sprouted a few minor leaks of late.

mwood

^OK, now I know that you are used to playing with cars...I bothered to look at your website. It appears we have a number of interests/experiences in common, although I've never done single make racing, like PCA

Thinking it through, seems your car would have to be really rough to only be worth $6-7k. Even beater Boxster S' are worth $10k, at least out here in the SF bay area. And, given you have the resources (lift, tools, knowledge) to do your own work...and there's so much fun stuff you can easily do with the Boxster suspension...why not give it some love?

So, either buy or piece together a set of coilovers. You don't need to get crazy and spend Koni 28/Penske/Moton type money...but, I haven't played with P-cars enough (yet) to know what is the best bet. I do know enough, after putting my Boxster S on the alignment rack, to suggest that additional caster/camber adjustment is indicated. So, maybe a set of C/C plates? Change out all the control arms, which is around $800, do the tie rods, put it back together and throw on a set of decent tires and you'll have something fun to drive. If you can do all the work and you are careful what you pay for hard parts, I don't think you'll spend more than $2000 before tires.

You'll also have a good base set up for when the 3.8 997S motor goes in...

gums

Good advice, but I'm seeing the PSS9 coilover kit alone for $2K. And in the end, it's still an old car. It looks pretty good, but it's starting to seem like a bit of a beater to me, I've never owned a car with that kind of mileage.
So.....don't know what to do.
Just for kicks, here's a shot:

harryrcb

Suncoast Porsche has the ROW M030's suspension set for around 1k worth every penny and will be as tight as the 07 unless your balljoints and bushings are gone as well. It will also lower your car by about an inch.

Macster

Maybe you're too sensitive. I switch between an 02 Boxster with 258K miles and an 03 Turbo with 97K miles and the Boxster doesn't feel that it rides/drives any worse than the Turbo. Sure there are differences in feel the Boxster being a bit softer of a ride than the Turbo: 17" wheels/tires vs. 18" wheels/tires; and I'm sure there are some suspension differences: the Turbo is a bit more stiffly sprung and the engine's out back vs. right behind the 2 cabin seat backs.

About all I notice is the Boxster is way down on power when I first get in to it, but as I spend more time it ain't so bad.

In your car's case it is just an around town commuter which is what I mainly use my Boxster for -- no more 5K mile road trips in it -- but it does this around town and work commute (30 miles one way) very well. It is believe it or not a nicer car to use for this than the Turbo, which is a bit more of handfull around town and going in and out of drives (low nose, oh is it low...).

Unless my Boxster starts to wander or the struts leak or the alignment won't stay aligned I'm not touching the suspension.

I could not replace the Boxster with anything as good -- in spite of its miles it is a heck of a car still -- for what the car is worth on the used car market and I know the car know its condition and it is in good condition and I'll keep it serviced and in good working order but if the engine blows up, well, we'll see what I do then.

Maybe you ought to consider taking the same approach? An around town commuter car doesn't have to be the sharpest knife in the drawer, just sharp enough, and I bet as is the case with my car your car is still plenty sharp.

Sincerely,

Macster.

gums

yeah, you might be right. The motor is fine, as far as I can tell. For $1K I'd do the suspension, I'll look into that. Thanks guys, big help, but keep it coming!

gums

Well, I called Suncoast because they don't show anything on their website and guess what?
M030 discontinued! They don't have anymore.
Open to new ideas, other sources.

Bob Rouleau

Frank try www.carnewal.com

Gert is a great guy to do business with and he knows his stuff.

gums

Thanks, Bob, but they're in Belgium!

Mark Dreyer

Too bad I just sold my PSS9 suspension (needing rebuild) for $450 last week.