2000 saab 9-5 2.3 estate - The grim sleeper

[Toastedpickles]

So after much debate with myself, I decided I'll throw up my other project, which is also the daily car, a 2000 saab 9-5 2.3 estate, I've had two of them so far, the first was british racing green, and I bloody loved that car, it was in a sorry state when i bought it and armed with only a halfords tool set, a breaker bar, and friends who'd never seen a saab before I slowly but surely got it right 




This was it the day i bought it, the bonnet wouldn't even stay up so i used a bit of stick  

Anyone who knows saabs will know of the sludge issues these had, so armed with my trusty halfords set, i got to work on it 




I also picked up a few goodies in the shape of alloys and other things 



Dropping the sump was a long and confusing process, I had feck all mechanical knowledge at the time so it was literally nut by nut and working out in all weathers, as you can see 




Eventually the sump came out on valentines day at 2 in the morning, I needed the car for that morning so it was a last minute thing 

Eventually I learned the ins and outs of saabs and what they were capable of, so I thought, right lets do it! for the most part the car was relatively trouble free and was a great work horse until one day 




Signs the head was on the way out Totally devastated as i put a shocking amount of parts in to it and this is how it repaid me, Had a bit of a moan about it on another forum and one of the nicest things ever happened, this was around christmas time  and it seemed there was something in the air 



And just like that, I had a brand new saab, So as a thank you I said i would transform it into a complete and utter sleeper, his face beamed up, and this is where the fun starts 

[Toastedpickles]

Upon collecting the car, i was actually expecting a total heap of a thing, how wrong was i! I set about changing over my insurance and so on and fell in love with the car











it's essentially the green one, but with all the bits I was after so i decided to use this one



So I sold the green one and went a bit mad buying parts, fun parts as i like to call them




One high flow turbo pipe  

Complete with the intercooler piping, usually goes for £400 I got it for £100 

New hirsch grille, mesh inserts for the win 



All of this was well and good bar one thing, the clutch was hanging on by a thread, so we tackled that, when we pulled the box off, the slave cylinder was in pieces 



So while we were in there, we done front and rear crankseals, dropped the sump, changed the idler pulleys and belt, new clutch, slave cylinder, drop links 



We polybushed the subframe too, most of the old bushings came out with out any bother 




However, one or two needed some gentle persuasion.......with a consaw 




Threw it all back together and called it a job well done, the car was a lot more stiffer due to the whole front being polybushed, and it was a joy to drive

Fast forward a month later

 

Heading back from the city and the gearbox locks up at 110kph, makes bits of itself and leaves me carless for two months sad sad times! 

While I sourced a new box, i plodded around in my 900, which was eh...fun to say the least 

Then I picked this up for 150 quid, deeelighted! usually goes for 4/800 and 0 shaft play, i struck jackpot that day I kept holding out until I found one local, and a rtip to the scrappers to get bits for my 900 proved just that  








On the same day I pulled a genuine carbon fiber dash facia out of the same car the turbo was out of, usual price 60/150 euro, all mine for 20, i done very well! 




Out with the old and in with the new! 




Picked up the turbo kit off ebay for 150 all in, and was met with a lovely customs bill too   



Arranged a date to fit said turbo and got stuck in as you can tell, I'm a very serious worker  




So this is it as it stands, pushing out a happy 240bhp and looks like a grandad should be plodding along in it the local "boyyyyz" are totally unsuspecting of it which makes it even more fun to drive, next on the cards is a remap, which should see it up to about 280bhp, I won't be pushing past 300 for a while as they like to blow rods and wreck engines at that power, so this will do me for now! 

Also if you're wondering why the cheesy thread title, one of the guys in the garage asked how much it was putting out, told him and his reply "fcuk me lads, its the grim sleeper!"  and its stuck now! 

[Toastedpickles]

I got a can of plastidip, so i done this, i think it completely transforms the car 

Black grille - evil!

[grenade]

Determination and pride in ownership. Awesome stuff.

[3point141]

As a life-long Volvo estate owner, I totally "get" cars like these. Invisible when you want to be, but when you get serious...

[Toastedpickles]

Exactly It's bloody hilarious watching peoples faces drop in shock when you take off from the lights, and you laugh hysterically down the road at them, or is that just me?

[Killbill]

Epic car the 9-5 2.3 aero the performance is truly outstanding.
Ive a 2007 9-5 Aero estate, remapped by you know who to 300bhp ,as you said it can surprise a lot of top end cars.
Mine being a later model ,does not have the sludge issue, but they are a total pain in the especially if you doing it on your drive .

[keithyboy]

We seem to have a bit of a grim sleeper collective on the go. With the sump cleared out, a little bit of care should see that last pretty much forever.

[Toastedpickles]

Aug 10, 2015 12:12:44 GMT Killbill said:

Epic car the 9-5 2.3 aero the performance is truly outstanding.
Ive a 2007 9-5 Aero estate, remapped by you know who to 300bhp ,as you said it can surprise a lot of top end cars.
Mine being a later model ,does not have the sludge issue, but they are a total pain in the especially if you doing it on your drive .

It's unreal! however mine was actually an se, and just got lucky with the aero kit and turbo, so it's an aero in se guise haha

Ah you know who is who I'm going with also but i don't want to push 300 as the internals will void themselves so it'l be a total rebuild if I'm going that route, and along with a healthy 450bhp to boot  

Sump dropping in a driveway, is a pain alright, especially when you know fcuk all about them! 

[Toastedpickles]

Aug 10, 2015 12:24:13 GMT keithyboy said:

We seem to have a bit of a grim sleeper collective on the go. With the sump cleared out, a little bit of care should see that last pretty much forever.

It seems we do! Happy days! I'm finally not the only one anymore haha, I'll be dropping it again in another 50k so at least if anything does happen at least it wont be sludge 

[igor]

Love the concept. Looks grand-dad spec at first glance and by the time someone takes a second look it's disappearing over the horizon. And totally does not attract the attention of Mr Plod when driven sensibly.

[Toastedpickles]

Aug 11, 2015 1:22:47 GMT igor said:

Love the concept. Looks grand-dad spec at first glance and by the time someone takes a second look it's disappearing over the horizon. And totally does not attract the attention of Mr Plod when driven sensibly.

Exactly, Like I actually get treated very well by the cops, it's great! One day went through a check point and there was a lad in a turbo starlet getting stick off them on the side of the road, i trot through, "Good evening sir, have a good day" 

[Toastedpickles]

Greetings people! been a while! Lets catch up, I finally have a full aero kit  Got a spoiler for 100 quid, gona get it wrapped in the body color 



I was also over in britland for the first time today, nice place ye have, far too many speed cameras though, anyway, i got the ecu mapped too  



420nm and 280bhp fun times ahead haha, my map sensor however has  other ideas and is trying to stop my fun, so that needs replacing, hopefully that stops it anyway!

[madwelshman]

It's good to see more people slowly realising what great cars Saabs are.
I know they'll never appeal to everyone and that's fine by me, but for many, once they've had their first Saab, it doesn't end up being their last.
I love them even though my collection of them are all older models, it doesn't mean I don't like (most of) the later models any the less.

Great to see you lady luck was looking down on you when the 2nd one materialised.
Happy (but occasionally frustrated) Saabing.

[pauly22]

Jan 26, 2016 12:20:22 GMT madwelshman said:

It's good to see more people slowly realising what great cars Saabs are.
I know they'll never appeal to everyone and that's fine by me, but for many, once they've had their first Saab, it doesn't end up being their last.
I love them even though my collection of them are all older models, it doesn't mean I don't like (most of) the later models any the less.

Great to see you lady luck was looking down on you when the 2nd one materialised.
Happy (but occasionally frustrated) Saabing.

I've bought my first saab, 2005 9-3 tid. Purely for work and daily duties. Paid £800 for it and I love it. Will defiantly have another Saab. Just a shame they've gone bust.

[madwelshman]

I agree. I personally feel that GM raped them of any useful technology/ideas etc and then gave them minimum finances to survive on. But that's just my opinion.

[shandylegs]

Seems to be a little love for the 9-5s on here at the moment.

I'd been looking for an estate for a couple of months but kept getting outbid on ebay. Eventually I managed to find a 2006 facelifted aero estate for peanuts. It's not perfect, but it's definitely the best value car I've ever owned (and there have been a few!)

Seems we've been doing similar jobs and I feel your pain iro the subframe bushes - I did mine in situ and it's not something I want to repeat in a hurry!

[Toastedpickles]

There was talk of doing them in situ and we just thought nah screw that! At the minute its not boosting at all sadly

[Phil H]

Sold a 2004 9-5 2.0 Auto Estate about a year ago. Still wish I'd kept it to be honest. Like an idiot, I sold it to get a diesel as 35mpg was getting a bit much doing 30k a year. Days after I sold it (to save money), petrol prices dropped like a relative stone.

The one that got away

[easty86]

I too have fallen foul of loving a turbo 9-5 to the point it has driven me (and the Mrs, and my credit card) right to the edge!

I had a 2000 2.3t SE, bought it cheap, blew the turbo within 50kms, put an Aero turbo on it, that destroyed the clutch, almost decapitated myself replacing that with an Aero one. Fitted a big front mount intercooler from a drift Skyline, then i got it tuned and it flew, for a whole 10kms, then the engine light came on. Numerous sensors, ignition cassettes, a large was of cash on a genuine Walbro and new throttle body, still no good. Was off the road more that it was on, sold it and made it someone else's problem.......yet reading your thread has made me want to buy another one! Damn you!!!!