996 Radio buttons flaking

[bnewport]

I noticed today that the buttons on my radio which are normally black are flaking. The buttons appear to be an off white plastic with a black plastic skin on top. The skin has broken about the edge of the buttons and is now peeling back.

This seems to have just happened very quickly, and I'm wondering if the low temperatures (-10F to 10F) are the culprit when my car is parked outside the office. Anyone know if the buttons can be replaced?

I have a 99C4 with a front 6 CD changer.

[Tool Pants]

I have not heard of this one in years - since the 220 radio came out in 1999. This used to be a warranty replacement for many 996 and Boxster owners. I suggest you try Becker unless someone has a better idea. Jeff

[andes]

This happened to mine and i had the radio replaced under the Porsche 4/50K warranty.

[bigmds]

I have a 99C4 with a front 6 CD changer.

I have same problem

[JimB]

This happened to my 99 in the first 6 months. Porsche replaced it with a new Becker which has been fine. Since I converted my car to a race car it is laying around the shop somewhere. I'll make you a heck of a deal if you are interested.

[Loren]

Folks there is a TSB out there stating that this is a known problem. A good dealer will replace your radio (with one that doesn't have peeling buttons) regardless of your warranty. BTW... either way your replacement radio could be a reconditioned one or new one depending on stock.

[rattles]

This is my first post, hope I've done it correctly.

I had the same problems with my 99/996, the dealer relaced the knobs only, radio was out for two weeks. The new knobs are made from a softer compound, last weekend I noticed that these are starting to break down as well. They are not splitting but are sticky. Cant be removed.

Becker have replacements. They say their own version of the CDR220 does not have this problem so they dont have spares for theirs, only the Porsche design knob.

Great forum, should be required reading at Porsche Germany.

[Wusthof]

One option is to take a penknife around the edge of the buttons to take off the flakes. Basically, you are taking off the plastic outer layer around the knob. By doing this it makes the problem less noticeable. Works quite well actually. I am not sure about the redesigned softer buttons.