Pontiac Bonneville

intense01

I'm still around. Just got my new Thrasher cold air kit. I have decided to follow dmckeown's lead in the area of induction. Not sure when I'll have time to do the installation.

Still driving about 5,000 miles a month. Only have about two more months at this pace, and then I can get serious under the hood...

whogault

Selling my 94' Se to my 15 year old when he turns 16 in April, so after much searching and test driving, bought a 2000 SSEi a few weeks ago. The 94 was really no problem for over 100,000 miles ( except 3 alts and two batteries!) The SSEi is very nice, got it loaded with everything. Smaller than the 94 inside. Not as comfortable. I am 6'3 and my older son is 6'4. The car is fast. Just goit the 3.5" pully in the mail, and will order the 1" rear bar this week. What else makes a real difference? Has anyone noticed that with the moonroof cracked up in the back, that it pulls cold air from all four door handle fittings? On a cold night, trying to defrost the windows, this was a cold shocker! Also, the bose system while nice, has really muddy, sucky bass. And what is with that hanging piece of trim in the trunk? TACKY! for a 35,000 car.

snickle

My wife being pregnant is what got me the Bonnie in the first place. It replaced a 95 camaro.

snickle

My Casper FPR showed up. I also bought the pontiac logo nut for the engine cover. The autotrans has not showed up yet.

I'll have to find some time to install the FPR.

snickle

Now that you hav a 10k on the coils and wires, how about a review?

smfran

Welcome whogault! I also thought the hanging trunk trim was a joke; so did the service manager at the dealership. He was nice enough to tack it up with some sheet metal screws. What is also crappy about a vehicle in this price range, as well as unacceptable for any new car, is the rattles and vibrations; especially from the door panel area.
What makes a difference is the replacement K+N air filter. It doesn't necessarily add so much horse power, but adds to the "feel" of acceleration and pays for itself after aprox. 50,000 miles.
Good luck with your new Bonnie! What color is it?

smfran

Hey snickle, how's the new addition? I hope everything is going well for you! We all know you are a performance car enthusiast like the rest of us, but, what about the new mom? Maybe a Sienna? My wife loves hers.

h101

Am I missing something? What trim piece are we talking about?

ezrapon

I had a nice Rockford Fosgate /JBL after market sytem in my last car. Everyone raves about the Bose system in these cars, but I think they are horrible.... something worthy of a Sunfire at best. Even Cardinal games sound bad. I've tried to replace, enhance or update the system... even add a cd changer... nothing will work with this screwed up 1 ohm system... we are stuck with the Bose (BOGUS) sound system... we need good tunes to drown out the rattles.

smfran

Hi h! Is your lake frozen yet - Done any ice fishing?!?!:)
The hanging plastic trim is up inside the trunk below each speaker. I'm not sure why it is even there. It doesn't seem to serve any purpose.

snickle

My what has a 2000 Mazda 626 ES. She like sit just fine, and at 180 hp and moves along ok.

smfran

From the looks of your post you aren't getting much sleep!

whogault

Well, I am not sure of the official pontiac name for it, but it is light gold metallic. As far as the 1 ohm bose system is concerned....there is hope! While it would be imprudent to remove the delco head as it is a main part of the the serial buss electronic system of the car, we can change the speakers, or the amp, or both, and add an after-market cd changer if you really want one in the trunk. The amp is located between the rear seat and the trunk on a crossmember on the drivers side. A company whose name escapes me for the moment ( I have the address, phone # and website at my office) makes modules which allow us to replace the amp with GOOD after amrket amps and speakers. They were designed specifically for this purpose. I spoke to the owner of the company, and it is the real thing, audiophile level fix. More news on this later. Just got my Joshua tree wood dash stuff...but I am afraid to put it on myself...does anyone find the heat/ac/defrost stuff a little hard to figure out? It seems pretty difficult to ghet fresh air through the vents with making three or four adjustments....anyone try the moonroof/cold air from the door pull opening trick yet? What fun!

whogault

I drove MANY cars for extended periods before going back to the SSEi to purchase...the 300M while very nice, did not have as much "stuff" and the Bonni, and had less front leg room ( width- knee to knee), felt claustrophobic( lower rear roof line with a smaller rear window at a steeper angle), and did not seem as fast, nor handle as well. Rear passenger space is much better than the Bonni, however. I thought it would be a good buy at 25K. Drove an STS, and while it felt much more substantial, and 300 ponies was very nice, it had WAY less front leg room. And was just shy of 50K. I thought $30,600 @ 0% for 60 months was a great package for my fully loaded Bonni. Now, when I get done with the 3.5 pully, kn air filter, and 1" rear bar, I will like it even more. Then it's on to the Bose " sound system".

hardesty

Hi All! I am not a Bonnie owner, but I do have a 2001 Olds Aurora 4.0 (V8). I believe that we have the same trim in the trunk (though your trunk is larger). It is there for a reason, the plastic straps and foam pads protect cargo from damage by the springs (torsion bars) that raise the deck lid. They allow you to fully load the trunk without concern for cargo damage by the springs when the trunk is closed. I know that they look odd in an empty trunk, but they are well thought out, and serve a real purpose. I am an avid reader of this thread, as many of the "tricks" being used here will be of use to me.

One AuROARa guy ("2K1 OLDS" CA plate)...

whogault

Well, that trim would not have to be so well thought out if GM had used the kind of "no intrusion" hinges found in some cars costing $10,000 less. And on a brand-new body design, no less. I believe you can buy an accord for $20,000 that uses modern trunk hinges.

smfran

Your car is probably Light Bronzemist Metallic.
I agree, the "well thought out trunk trim" is a joke. I can't see where it protects cargo from anything. This is basically the same trunk hinge design that my '94 and '97 Bonnies had; old fashioned and poorly designed.

whogault

Has anyone tried the HID headlight retrofit ofered by Xenonshop.com? They are VERY pricy...$620 samolians for the pair, but I think I can't do without that very cool, ultra-blue bright light! Between the stoneage trunk-hinges, the dual cup-holder that only can hold one small cup, and the trunk release button now hidden in the usless hard to reach glove box ( might just be able to fit one glove in there!), i need better headlights!

phildo75

Has anyone experienced water leaking from the trunk lid after it has rained. It appears that the water collects in the rear lights and after raising the trunk it runs out the sides of the lights and goes into the trunk?

I also agree on the base of the Bose. Can we add a subwoofer? Putting in the K&N air filter today and its cold. Let you all know about the performance change I see.

Whogault, mine is also lt bronzemist with the chrome wheels . Real sharp.

smfran

You've now mentioned just about every negative about the car that has been posted before. What do you think about the useless headrests? Some of us have purchased pillows from AAA Marketplace for our wives (front passenger). However, this is my fifth Bonneville and many others at this Town Hall are repeat Bonneville owners. Bonneville also has the highest repeat ownership percentage of any model car. There must be reasons. Some of my reasons are as follows:
1)Styling-most stylish large sedan on the market.
2)GM "feel"-Despite the rattles, I like the solidness.
3)Value-You get what you pay for; you're not paying extra for the name plate.

There are more positives for me, such as power achieved with the SSEi supercharger, which outway the negatives we've all noted, but what I've mentioned are the main points.
I hope that auto manufacturers view these Town Halls in an effort to improve their product. It's amazing to me how easy and inexpensive it would be for them to make changes if they would only pay attention to current owners experiences.

whogault

You might have mis-understood my grumblings. My first Bonnie is still with us and a 94' with 106000 miles on it. One of the best, most reliable vehicles I have owned. ( My 85' Audi 5000 Turbo being my favorite) I love all the things about my 00' that you all do. As long as it remains reliable, I will stick behind it! And I expect that it will. Does the Bonnie represent the best value in what we look for? Well, for me it did. Thats why I signed the papers. I

phildo75

I put in the replacement filter and haven't noticed much change. Does the computer need to catch up?

snickle

You will notice the most improvement at WOT, the rest of the time it is not particular visible, but an autotap would show some changes. You might try discopnnecting the battery for an hour or two. Always a good idea after a mod.

snickle

Sleep, what is that?

skyhawk3

I have been reading all posts with great interest. Bought my wife a 2001 SLE light bronze mist. Have 2k miles on it. I only drive it to the Cape (from RI)on weekends to see the grandkids.She uses for errands the rest of the time. We have found it to be well made no rattles, leaks, etc. We are both pleased with the performance and handling. When the GM questionaire came I said access to the glove box was a joke and the cup holders suck for a car that cost that much. I also mentioned the shutter that occurs when coasting down a grade and when I try to accelerate and the speed is about 45 mph the car hesitates and when it finally decides to respond the car shudders as the transmissions downshifts. I received a call at home from GM to discuss my comments and that they have opened a ticket with the dealer on my last comment. In 94 I passed an 88 Bonnie to my son. It just turned 200k. He won't part with the car.

h101

Thanks for the response on the trunk flaps... I never noticed them. Suppose I don't hear the rattles either and that is why I don't have any complaints about my SSEi?

Seriously, with 9,000 miles on it there are no rattles or buzzes and the car has never been back to the shop except for oil changes and a nail in a tire. I am running Mobil 1 and changing oil at the 50% mark on the driver information center. Actually I really like this bit of information, I find it much easier to use than remembering mileage and dates for the oil change schedule. Also, should note that the display found the nail in the tire before the tire even looked low.

To answer your question... the lake isn't frozen yet, Mendota is pretty big and deep so it freezes late. This is a great time of year for wildlife viewing 'cuz many ponds and lakes are frozen and we get huge flocks of birds just offshore.

See ya, keep the rubber on those front tires now

dmckeown

HI guys , I have the week off to enjoy the Holiday and hunt deer on my farm (10 miles from home) . Great to see the posts from everybody , old and new . H101 , my lake , Conesus , just south of Rochester NY isn't froze yet , but will be soon if it stays this clod . Phildo , yes I do work at Xerox in Webster NY , small bussiness world isn't it . Snickle , get some sleep , you will need it when they start to puber ! Intense1 , great to hear you are going to open up the front end of the air system , you will like it . Smfran , my wife's parent's just accepted an offer on their house in Poughkeepsie so I think we have to go there for X'mass , they need to be out by JAN ! I will keep you posted , got to meet you guys ! o.k. folks , I've got to clean my revolver and get ready for tommorow , I will make a post on Monday or Tuesday , great to see everyones voice !

eddyv

Greetings all- new bonnie owner here...actually it's my wife's but I drive it more! We love it. We traded in our '98 grand am in for it. Light bronze myst SLE with leather. Couple of questions-

1. Rattles- foam rubber do the trick? rear driver and front passenger door.

2. CD Changer- any aftermarket available or factory only possible install. Don't want the FM modulated type.

3. Basically- any and all mods ya'll have done to make these beauties kick is appreciated. Wife says it kicks enough.. that's why she's not allowed in the garage except to do laundry

Again, new bonnie owner. Rode in a bonnie when I was a teenager. Big 4 door forest green boat that a friends granpa had. It had a huge 455 in it.
Anyway, any and all info greatly appreciated.

Ed

whogault

hello all. Happy Sat after thanksgiving. Just got back from a 400 mile round-trip from my home here in chesapeake, Va. to Raleigh, NC. and back.
Rained the whole way. The Bonnie, with 2000 miles on it was a pleasure, except 10 miles into the trip back, at night, with the wipers on high, I heard a thunk, and the drivers side arm lay limp on it's rest, while the passenger side wiper continued to wipe. BUMMER! Linkage must have snapped or something. Went to the next rest stop and bought a roll of paper towels and a bottle of rain-x. Made it back fine, if not very tired from squinting. Hate when things break on a new car! Oh well, still love her!

smfran

1)Usually the door rattles are from loose clips. Have the dealer check it out.
2)Others will post about the CD changer. I have no experience.
3)The first mod should be a K+N air filter. You may not notice more "kick", but it will pay for itself over time.
I had a '75 Buick Electra Limited with the big 455 in it. There was nothing like it!
Read all previous posts in this town hall and all your info will be provided.

ezrapon

I took my SSEi to best buy to have my system installed from my old car to this one. They said the head unit is tiny, as is the cavity, and it slides into a hard connector... no wires or harness to splice into. They installed the amps, speakers, and subs but they had so much noise and distortion I had them removed. I left the subs in, but they don't sound very good due to the source... the front speakers are the bass source.The door chimes and warning chimes also get amplified and are quite irritating at 500 watts. If you do install an amp, put it on the passenger side... I had mine on the drivers side and it screwed up the compass sender unit.... right next to the cheesy little 6x9. The sub just does not sound like part of the system. It either is not noticable or sounds like the Rapp Master. It does not round out the lower end as I had wanted.

smfran

As you know, it's pouring here today. I paid special attention to whether or not water leaks back into the trunk. I purposely opened the trunk two times with water on it and had no problem. If I had done this with my previous Bonneville the water would have ran into the trunk as you have described. To me it appears that they have improved the design.

whogault

First of all, you must go to a "high-end" audio specialist if you want to make any changes with the Bonnie's sound system. Best Buy or circuit city, et al simply will not have the knowledge or experience to deal with this system. For instance, they should have known before hand that the install you wanted would not work. There is a comapny called SoundGate, which makes componets for audoi dealers to use so they can install after-market components in our car. The have a web site, which I believe is Soundgate.com. I e-mailed them and got a call back from the owner. We discussed what could and could not be done with this car, and then he turned me on to a dealer in my town. Check it out, and don't loose hope yet!!

ezrapon

You may have something here. Your web site has line out converters for factory Bose systems. That maybe the missing link that best buy missed.
I assume best buy and circuit city are hacks. They did rig up my steering wheel controls on my last car. Adding a cd changer, amps, and some component speakers (that I already have) will make the drive MUCH more pleasent. I hate having 1 cd deck in the car. I'll be watching for any stuff you come up with... like getting rid of the chimes in the tweeters.

eddyv

Been reading the posts from the first bonnie town hall and into this one. All the conversions talk about a 3.4 to 3.25 pulley for the s.c.
Thanks for the info and insight. Will keep reading the old posts to get "caught up"
Again thanks.

Ed

intense01

This must be some kind of record. I hit 36,000 miles in the 2000 SSEi today with only seven months and one week since I put it on the road.

No complaints yet either...

Best news of all is that the warranty is now defunct. Guess that means I have full license to really go nuts with my mods!

snickle

I am expecting 12s in the 1/4 from you.

intense01

Wouldn't that surprise a few people?

loud_pontiac

maybe with a built 232, supercharged, on the bottle, stripped down body dipped in acid....

maybe you could hit the 12s...

loud_pontiac

or would a 350 fit?

intense01

Aren't we talking about the eight mile here?

snickle

To get a 3600 lbs Bonnie into the twelves, would require about 360 hp at the wheels or 470 at the crank. No sweat. The tranny ought to last for at least five feet.

loud_pontiac

My '92 Bonneville weighs only 3400lbs...so how about a Buick GN engine with 100shot from the bottle? 12s? And what about the Bonneville racer GM built for challenging the land-speed records?

ezrapon

12 seconds and front wheel drive should never appear in the same sentence. Like Cubs and world series. I'd be tickled to death to see low 14's without major modifications. If I need 12's I'll invest my time and money in my old trans am. Blew away one of those Intrepid R/T's today. I think they are at about 253 H.P.... thank you SLP for my 3.4 pulley. SNICKLE...How's the exhaust drone after a few weeks? Did the autotap offer any idea OF hp GAINS... ready to lose the resonator yet? A friend of mine claims the resonator helps reduce the drone!

snickle

I am used to the drone, dont find it oppressive. My wife has had other things on her mind. I my try to remove the resonator and if that is worse, add a different one back in.

eddyv

Anyone have an idea on how to safely remove the door badges? Why would I want to do that, you ask? Well, I like to keep the public guessing what kind of car just blew past them on the I15 down here in SO Cal. They can tell (kind of) by the back end and that it's a Pontiac, but they aren't sure. And the looks my wife says she gets when she parks it at the mall makes her kind of smile to herself. I've seen it done. Just don't know for sure how to do it safely without any paint/body damage.
The etched headlight and stamp on the bumper is enough clues.

Ed

dmckeown

Eddyv , you will need a hot day ( I assume you have those still in So Cal)or warm garage . With car door surface as warm as you can get it , take the hottest hair dryer you can get your hands on ( Auto body shop's have very hot devices similar to hair dryers) . Get the emblem as hot as you can with hair dryer . Use a sturdy knife (thin blade hunting knife) and at the top of emblem start blade in between emblem and the double back foam adhesive ( stay away from door skin with knife ) and push down slightly and pull away from door with blade until you have some of the emblem separated from foam . pull emblem as you apply heat with hair dryer , you may have too work with the knife as you do this . After you have emblem off , heat foam left on door skin with dryer and peel off with fingers or plastic putty knife (careful with those knifes) Then finish with bug and tar remover from auto store . Tip , protect door area around badge with duct tape or thick plastic .
Or take it to a body shop and pay them to do it. Are you running a smaller pulley yet ?

intense01

I'm all for that idea. My email address is AdvGauging@aol.com.

ezrapon

Took my SSEi to the most high end stereo place in St. Louis. My poor Pontiac was dwarfed by the other cars there. I was on the cheap side by about 50 grand. The installers pulled the unit, called their other "gurus" and put the unit back in and said because of the way it is configured it can not possibly be altered or added on to and I am stuck with it as is... not even a fm modulated changer will work. If you find someone who can work on these bogus systems, let me know.

smfran

The very accommodating service manager at my dealer suggested he take my SSEi for the weekend. I kept complaining about the rattles/vibrations (which of course his techs could not duplicate when in for service), so when I started getting a "springy" noise when letting up on the accelerator, he suggested he take it for an extended period of time. He had received a service bulletin about this "springy" noise which seems to come from the console when lifting up quickly on the accelerator when the engine is cold and the ambient temp. is below 40 degrees. He wanted to experience my car and complaints for himself. It seems that the colder it gets the more rattles, etc. I get. I'm also also getting a banging type noise from the front right dashboard/windshield area when I hit bumps (again when the temp. is below 40). I also think he really wanted to have my Bonnie this weekend as he is going shopping for a new Harley Road King on Cape Cod and wanted to cruise with his buddies. Since my wife really wanted to test out a Montana, we made the swap. I hope he'll experience all the noises that I do and be able to eliminate them. Are any of you in the colder climates experiencing this? If the physical integrity of the car can be improved, then the design issues we've all noted can be overlooked.
Intese01 - Don't you have a Montana?