DME Replace
 

Hi there, I am looking at purchasing a 97 porsche boxster S, beautiful car, I am not paying a whole lot for it, but I found out what is wrong with it is the previous previous owner supposidly left the top down and flooded it, so this other guy buys it, expecting to fix it up, and realizes that someone has robbed the DME off of it, and to get a new one from porsche is like $6000, plus another anti theft computer to match them up. He says from what he knows this is the only thing wrong with it.
Looks like a clean car, and none of the wires have corrosion. What do you guys think?
Can I find a DME off another porsche very easily, or would I be looking at buying another complete engine with the DME for it?
How much would I be looking at for a DME, or another engine with its own DME?
For some reason it has a DME somebody tried to get to work from a 996 or a 911.
Thanks for any help.

I have to tell you, I’m pretty sure it’s impossible for that car to be a Boxster S and be a 1997 model. The S model was released for the 2000 model year, so anything prior was simply a Boxster. I don’t know if maybe the person who owned it previously made some changes to it and threw in the guts of an S model (which would be pretty neat, really), but I’m figuring not.

As for the DME, from what I’ve read on here from some of the more knowledgeable folks, it seems 97 model year vehicles had a DME that could not be reprogrammed like those in the following years…if the engine in this car is indeed the engine it came with, I don’t know if that means that you’ll need a DME specifically for a 97, or if you can get one from any 986 or even a 996 and have it programmed accordingly.

See what else you can find out about the car...like if there is indeed a 2.5 liter flat-six in back. :) Hopefully someone else with more knowledge on the DME matter can come in here and help you out.

I looked in the parts catalog
has to be a 97 DME for a MY 97 (model year)
98 - 00 have a different number

And yes that would be cool if u stumbled across
an S motor in a 97
then again that would be a different DME

Chris

So its not an S, ok, it was probably a Typo, but I am definately looking at a DME that is 1997 model specific, or an entire new engine with DME, how much am I looking at for either? Used of course haha, Im just a concrete finisher, not made of money.

The '97 DME is a weird situation. Unlike the 98-99 5.2.2 DME, it is not reprogrammable, as Porsche didn't record any immobilizer or programming codes for these cars. Thus if either the immob. or the dme need replacement on a '97 car, they must both be replaced.

That said, the DME can be replaced with any other 5.2.2 DME from a '98-99 986 or 996 and simply reprogrammed with the correct maps if necessary (ie you buy a 996 5.2.2 DME instead of a Boxster one). Your best bet would probably be to obtain a matching pair from a wrecker as the price of the 5.2.2 DME new from Porsche has gone through the roof. If you buy a used DME separately the codes can be obtained to reprogram it to a non matching immob. (ie if you buy a new immob from Porsche) based upon the VIN number but obtaining the codes can range from easy to impossible depending on the situation.



-Todd

Perfect. Thanks for all the information. Now the guy before me got Porsche to put in a new Immobilizer, and also a new Key. So I have a line on a DME from a 1998 Porsche, would I be able to match it up to that brand new immobilizer that they put in? Or do they have to be part of a set from the 98, because I imagine they replaced it with a 1997 immobilizer, but if its brand new, it should be able to be programmed I think, or no.
I just don't want to buy another computer and find out it won't work. The98 is also an automatic, and mine is a standard.
Anyways thanks for all the help so far, hopefully I can be cruising in this thing by summertime.

So Im playing around inside the porsche, and the key turns, everything turns on, all the lights in the cluster are lit up, the top can go up and down, the windows go up and down, horn, lights, everything works, except it won't click on the starter, now like I said porsche said it was the DME, that it is from a 996 and it won't work, but I figured that nothing at all would work if its the wrong computer in there, like doors would lock, windows wouldn't work, etc. What do you guys think? Should I just said the hell with it and buy a set off of ebay of the immobilizer, key, and dme from a 98? Thanks.

sounds like a correctly functioning immobilizer to me, it will not allow you to engage the starter and leave with the vehicle which means its working

too bad I'm not further into my swap, I have a '97 DME 2hours east but will need it for a while longer