Do I have Bose?

[kirk1176]

Hi All,

New to the forum and the world of 911's so please bear with me. Recently purchased a 996 40th Anniversary edition which I'm very happy with overall. Noticed a day or so after taking delivery that there was no sound coming from the door mounted speakers. I was under the impression that the car was fitted with the Bose system, it has an Amp and 6-CD Changer in the front plus the door speakers have Bose logos on them.

Problem is, I have been doing some checking and something doesn't make sense. From reading the options list, Bose is 680 and the 'Hi-Fi' sound system is 490, neither are listed on the label under the bonnet (could be a retrofit). Somebody suggested that if it has Bose then there will be two bass ports behind the rear seats, which there aren't. :(

There are two options in my list which are covered in any docs I have seen, 665 and 670.

I purchased the car from a Porsche dealer in the UK and the sales guy has assured me that Bose is installed - I'm rapidly beginning to believe that it may not be.

Can anybody help point me at anything I can check to verify the presence of Bose or not?

996 is UK RHD edition and was registered in Jan 2004.

Edited September 12, 2006 by kirk1176

[Loren]

BOSE High End Sound package was an option (680) on the MY04 40th Anniversary car. It included a 100 watt amp and 11 speakers.

Sorry, it does not sound like you have it unless it was installed after production. I think your amp part number would be 996.645.332.05 if you have the BOSE High End Sound package.

Option 665 and 670 are PCM2 (navigation) with radio.

[kirk1176]

BOSE High End Sound package was an option (680) on the MY04 40th Anniversary car. It included a 100 watt amp and 11 speakers.

Sorry, it does not sound like you have it unless it was installed after production. I think your amp part number would be 996.645.332.05 if you have the BOSE High End Sound package.

Option 665 and 670 are PCM2 (navigation) with radio.

Thanks. Yeah, spoke to the dealer this afternoon and it is a little confusing. I have an Amp in the front next to the CD changer and the door speaker covers have Bose written on them. From speaking to other folks, it sounds like I don't have Bose but I'm not actually sure what I do have.

Even the dealer is confused as he assumed that it had Bose. It may be that I have the mid-tier sound package, or maybe somebody added a 3rd party amp - nobody is really sure. Gonna try and look at the amp later and see if it does have a Porsche part code on it.

I checked the options installed and I have option 440 which seems to be radio+4 speakers - based on this I assume that I must have the basic package?

[kirk1176]

Ok. Took the amp of the bracket today and it is a Porsche part. It's a Becker BE 6600 DSP-Amplifier with part code 996.645.331.03. Anybody know what this means as far as the overall sound system is concerned?

[Loren]

996.645.331.03 is the amp for M490. I believe that is the Harman amp sound package.

[kirk1176]

996.645.331.03 is the amp for M490. I believe that is the Harman amp sound package.

Ok, thanks. This is kinda what I suspected. It must have been a retro-fit, or maybe part of the UK LUX pack which the car is fitted with. Glad I have got to the bottom of this. Still doesn't explain why I have Bose speaker grills on my door speakers but at least I know there is definately a problem.

[pmjt]

Even the dealer is confused as he assumed that it had Bose.

My first post so sorry if I'm stating the obvious :) The OPC's (Porsche Dealers) have access to Porsche Cars GB's own vehicle record system - if you go into the parts department with your chassis number they can print off the original build record of the vehicle, entered when the car arrived in the UK.

If the option is not listed on the chassis record - it was added by someone after delivery.

HTH

P

[percymon]

And if they sold the car to you as having Bose, and it hasn't then you want a discount on the purchase price, to the tune of about £500 !

MB dealers sell the Bose badges for £1,15 each !

[kirk1176]

Hey folks,

Thanks for the comments. I have checked the factory sticker under the bonnet and there is no code under there with any reference to an updated sound system. However, since this is the 40th anniversary edition, it did come with the UK LUX pack - but I can't find what that actually includes.

percy, you're right. Although I'm not sure if the OPC actually had Bose listed on their advert on the web, both the sales guy and I thought it had Bose since the door speakers had Bose grills - not just stick-on logos - so they must have been installed at some point.

Anyhow, going to get it checked on Saturday since either way, if I have the Sound Package, which is looks like have, then I still only have some of the speakers working.

Besides this minor niggle, it's a gorgeous piece of engineering :thumbup:

[lrapoport]

Before you ever look at the option decal, look at the speaker grill and behing the rear seats. If you don't see the Bose emblems on the speaker grills and the deck behind the rear seat isn't flat all the way to the back window, you don't have Bose. The subwoofer for the Bose is behind the rear seats. When you fold them down, you should see the port on each side for sub. The mouldings around the ports also have "Bose" labelled on them.

[kirk1176]

Before you ever look at the option decal, look at the speaker grill and behing the rear seats. If you don't see the Bose emblems on the speaker grills and the deck behind the rear seat isn't flat all the way to the back window, you don't have Bose. The subwoofer for the Bose is behind the rear seats. When you fold them down, you should see the port on each side for sub. The mouldings around the ports also have "Bose" labelled on them.

Yeah, checked all that out. Been to the OPC today and they tell me that I have the 'Basic' sound package installed ie. 4-Speakers. At some point somebody has tried to install the Bose speakers in the door as these are Porsche/Bose units but they aren't compatable with the Becker amp which drives the Basic package so haven't even been connected.

Spoke to the dealer and basically told them I expect and upgrade to the High-Performance sound package as I think that's the only system that can be retro-fitted to the 996 - Pretty sure Bose is a factory-fit option only. Either way, they have sold me something that doesn't have the specifcation that I was told it had, so I think I have a good case for a free upgrade.

Incidentaly, the basic 4-speaker system is terrible - how the hell do Porsche get away with installing such a bad system in a £60k+ car??? I mean, you turn the Bass up in PCM and it makes no difference what-so-ever!

Thanks for all the comments, think I finally got to the bottom of it.

[rountreed]

They get away with what you call a terrible system because most people buy the car for the way it handles and like to listen to the engine and exhaust. Outside that buy an aftermarket, they are less expensive and if installed correctly sound better. Best of luck on the upgrade!

Edited September 19, 2006 by rountreed

[kirk1176]

They get away with what you call a terrible system because most people buy the car for the way it handles and like to listen to the engine and exhaust. Outside that buy an aftermarket, they are less expensive and if installed correctly sound better. Best of luck on the upgrade!

Don't disagree with that but it still amazes me that my £20,000 Subaru Impreza had a far superior sound system to a £50,000 Porsche. Irrespective of the performance/handling/engine note, it doesn't take much to drop in a couple of extra speakers and add a decent amplifier, I mean, you turn up the Bass and Treble in PCM and it makes *no* difference to the sound - how poor is that????