Porsche Boxster 2.7 | Shed of the Week

They said the VW Phaeton would never appear in Shed of the Week, but it did, just last week. They probably said the same about the Porsche Boxster, and yet by Jiminy here it is. And it’s not just any old 2.5 either, but a 2003 vintage 2.7. Better yet, not only is it under Shed’s £2k price maximum, it’s well under it at £1,750. 

This can’t be right, can it? The MOT history must have more ink on it than a Hollywood prenup, surely? Nope. Last May’s test uncovered no faults. The mileage then, that must be stratospheric? Wrong again: it’s 98,000, equivalent to an annual average of under 4,700. Has it had a smash? Not from Shed’s vantage point. Any ‘category’ damage would almost always appear somewhere in an ad to avoid time wasting, and there’s no such mention here. From the pics at least it all looks Stuttgart-straight with no dodgy panel gaps.

What, then? OK, there is a catch, but maybe it’s not as nasty as you might think. We’ll get to that in a minute. First, let’s enjoy the moment. For the 2003 model year (as here) the Bosxter’s M96 2.7 flat-six which three years earlier had been upsized to 2.7 from the original 2.5 was upgraded again with VarioCam variable-valve timing to produce 225hp at 6,300rpm. Torque was unchanged at 192lb ft at 4,750rpm. The Boxster S had a six-speed manual gearbox but the one in our base 2.7 will be a 5-speeder. That’s no biggie: it was still good for a 6.8-second 0-60mph time. On the chassis side, the ’03 Boxster inherited the springs and dampers from the ’02 Boxster S and its ragtop received a glass rear window. This particular car has nice 19-inch wheels.

It’s all smelling great so far but now might be the time to hold your nose a bit. Like the Phaeton, the 2.7 Boxster has many ways to crash and burn your wallet. The bearing for the intermediate shaft that was used to drive the camshafts on Boxsters between 2000 and 2008 was a weak point that somewhat inexplicably continued to be a weakness on early examples of the ‘new and improved’ M97 engine from 2005. It’s said that eight per cent of Porsche’s single-row IMS bearings (and one per cent of the later dual-rows) failed, leading to a class action lawsuit in the US. 

When the IMS did go it generally took the whole engine with it, but these M96s were actually great engines when they were up to spec, and most of them were. The ones that weren’t understandably generated a lot of shouting from owners who weren’t expecting mechanical mayhem from a firm that was rightly famed for its engineering excellence.

Today you’ll have no bother finding specialists who will happily upgrade the IMS bearing before it goes, but they’ll probably advise you to have the clutch replaced while they’re in there. Expect to pay £1,500 for both jobs, or £750 for the clutch on its own, in the hope that the dual mass flywheel will be OK to soldier on for a while longer. 

Not that any of that is an issue here. Nor, as far as we’re aware, is the notoriously leaky M96 rear main seal. There was a cryptic advisory for ‘rear oil leak, but not excessive diff’ on our shed’s MOT report in May ‘22 but it wasn’t on there a year later, hopefully reflecting the degree of ownership care that you’d expect from the service book’s 15 stamps. 

The issue here is overheating. The M96 did have a separate reputation for cylinder liner cracking and block porosity, either or both of which would lead to head gasket failure and overheating, but the fact that this car has got as far as it has, plus its service history, makes Shed think it could be something much less sinister, like a thermostat that’s failed in the closed position preventing coolant flow. It’s £50 or so for a new ’stat, and fitting it is an easy four-bolt DIY job if you don’t mind getting under the car, removing an engine cover and draining the coolant. You might want to check the radiator fans for correct functionality and the water pump for seepage while you’re at it.  

Even if you managed to blow £2,500 on fettling it you’d still be well ahead of the game with similar mileage 2.7 Boxsters going for well over £5,000 – and you might get it sorted for a tenth of that outlay, or even less. Nab it quick before Shed does. Spring’s just around the corner.