BIRD Armrest Cupholder for New 911 996

Porsche 911 - 996 Storage Armrest with Cupholder Option 1999-2004

The Porsche 911 - 996 Storage Armrest was introduced at the beginning of the water-cooled 911 era in 1999 and continued through the 2004 model year. (The 2005+ 997 Armrest is under development-call.) Our Armrest is a "collar" or spacer which is installed between the factory storage compartment lid and the console below, raising the lid 2 ½" to become a comfortable armrest for driver and passenger.

Installation entails: 1) removing the lid; 2) attaching it to the Armrest which has a new stainless steel hinge and new lock; and, 3) attaching the Armrest to the console. The Armrest is laser-cut steel, padded and upholstered in leather to match the seats and lid. No cutting, drilling, or special tools are required. Installation requires at least an hour and average or higher mechanical aptitude. At least half our customers install the Armrest themselves, otherwise Porsche dealers and high-end mobile electronics retailers are fully qualified to install. The lockable storage compartment size is approximately doubled to accommodate cell phones, iPods, PDAs, CD's and other valuables.

Tech note: the factory plastic hinge for the lid breaks easily, requiring replacement of the entire center console. Installation of our Armrest with its unbreakable stainless steel hinge is a permanent cure for this costly problem.

Cupholder Option

Cupholder & Removable Landing Pad

The Cupholder Option has a pair of adjustable stainless steel fingers which surround the Cup and hold it securely even in panic stops. It accommodates containers ranging from a quart down to a can in size. The Cupholder is attached inside the front of the compartment when not in use and hinges up, out and forward for use. It is positioned to the right of the center line to clear the shifter without intruding into the passenger's space. The bottom of the cup rests directly over the factory lock either on the console itself or on the rubber-topped "landing pad" included in the installation kit. The lid remains closed and a comfortable armrest when the Cupholder is being used. It works and will not break.

Color Matching and Selection

Getting the color of an Armrest right the first time to match a customer's interior is essential to our success and we have done this satisfactorily many thousands of times over the past fifteen years. Porsche offers less than a dozen standard colors which change only every several years. So knowing the correct model and year is essential. There is almost no similarity of colors within a particular make's model year. When a customer tells us his or her interior is black or blue or red, we know. The 996 has two shades of grey and two browns. The charts below should help clarify the color question. If color is uncertain, the vehicle purchase documents or window sticker has the name of the color or, provide us with the vehicle identification number (VIN) and we will get the name of the correct color from Porsche.

Standard colors which we carry for the Porsche 996 are: Black; Boxster Red; Metropol Blue; and,

Graphite Grey

Space Grey

Savannah Beige

Natural Brown

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New colors are added continually so call for the latest additions. (203) 834-1119.

The following quotes about the Boxster Storage Armrest apply equally to the 996 since they share the same center console and the BIRD products are functionally the same for both..

The Chief Designer of a major car manufacturer retired recently and wrote to BIRD Automotive: "I have just completed installation of your Storage Armrest in my Boxster S. The results are fantastic and fit in with the overall design of the interior extremely well. The quality of your product is outstanding! I was very impressed with the inside finish of the armrest insert. This is an area that a high volume manufacturer would have made the entire part out of` plastic with an obvious trade off of inside quality. ...you mentioned the advantages of the leather wrapped vs. painted (offered only in the Boxster) exterior. I agree whole heartedly (about the leather version). The look is great and really works with the Boxster's leather."

A Major US Car Magazine wrote about their12 month test: "The Boxster suffered from flimsy (factory original) cup holders that snapped onto the side air vents on the dash. Only pop cans fit in them....the holders broke loose. Messy, messy....We addressed the problem by installing a combination center console armrest and cup-holder unit made by BIRD Automotive. The instructions were easy to follow, so installation took about an hour...The new armrest and cup holder looked great and worked well, but there was one drawback: the cost....Quality craftsmanship doesn't come cheap." We say: Thank you gentlemen. Exactly right. We couldn't have said it better.