[mkruiten]

I bought a 991, Carrera S, MY2012, with a PCM 3, in the Middle East and brought it back to Europe.
I want to upload European maps instead of the current Arab peninsula maps.
According to the dealer I have to change out the whole PCM unit, at a cost of some 5,000 USD, in order to get European maps!!! Apparently you can not upload European maps on a PCM that was originally sold in the Arab world. due the PCM been programmed with Arab script? Changing the maps from US or Asia to European for example would have been no problem so I was told.
I find this very hard to believe / understand. Surely this is just a case of uploading different software/firmware?

Can anyone help?

 

[Fr640]

Hi
I have been told the same story yesterday, since I plan to bring my carrera 4 from Abu Dhabi to france when I relocate. I started checking the forums. Nothing clear so far about the reason.

I was also told that the PCM 4 was not possible to install but I am not sure this point was verified by the dealer: at least, this PCM 4 has a few nice features like car play.

alternatively, does someone have an idea of an aftermarket 991 compatible?

 

[Fr640]

News:
someone managed to get upgraded his Middle East PCM with European maps on a 2009 997. This seem to have been done by a Porsche Center in Mulhouse, France, in contradiction to what Porsche France was saying (you need to change your PCM)
More news to come, I will post the link la

 

[mkruiten]

News:
someone managed to get upgraded his Middle East PCM with European maps on a 2009 997. This seem to have been done by a Porsche Center in Mulhouse, France, in contradiction to what Porsche France was saying (you need to change your PCM)
More news to come, I will post the link la

That sounds hopeful! I would be very grateful to get the address. Would also be a good road trip! If it al works out I owe you a good bottle. Looking forward to your news. Cheers

 

[Fr640]

Hi
I talked to the guy in Porsche Mulhouse over the phone and he confirmed he did the job successfully without any trick. He had just to insist several times to get the CDs uploaded into the PCM!
The 997 owner paid 400 euros (CDs + man hours)
Good deal!

 

[Expat911]

I recently imported a 997.2 Turbo from Abu Dhabi to the UK and was also told by Porsche UK that in order to update the Maps to European would require the whole PCM unit to be replaced. I spend some time in Spain and decided to try the local Porsche dealer in Murcia. They were able to install the European Maps successfully. The technical mentioned that he had to obtain a code from Stuttgart to allow the upgrade to complete but this seemed to be straightforward and the update works well. The cost was around 300 Euros.

 

[JBE]

I bought a new Cayenne with a PCM 3.1 from Porsche Middle East in KSA and brought it back to Europe. Same problem as mentioned. Dealers tell that Eurpean maps cannot be uploaded because of Arabic version of the PCM. A hardware issue. Bull **** of course, confirmed by the manufacturor of the PCM, Beckers. On my 'Arabic' PCM, you will not find anything in Arabic. It is not in the language option menu! But you can choose all European languages, Japanese and a few others are available. So it has nothing to do with Arabic characters.
After contacting Porsche A.G., the local distributor and several dealers in different countries, the final story is that all the software in the PCM is protected. To upgrade no problem, the dealer can do that. To change, the distributor has to request a special 'release code' from Porsche A.G. That code gives access to a hidden menu in which other options can be choosen than the original loaded software. This is how it works for imported Porsches from USA. Easy to get European maps.
After 6 months trying on different levels in the Porsche organisation, they finally agreed to allow me that release code for 'this special case'. Initially, the local dealer refused to do the job because of stories within Porsche that such an upgrade could harm the PCM. The distributor had to put pressure to get it done. When they tried, the release code did not give access to that hidden menu and they could only upgrade the existing Middle East maps.
The non-official story is now that the little piece of software, that give access to the hidden option menu, has never been written by Porsche for the Middle East software. German efficiency to ignore the support for only a few cases per year? Discourage parallel trading from Middle East?
Unbelievable that Porsche A.G. gives that release code for this 'special case', knowing that it doesn't work! And still, they send the bill for the non-installed European maps!!!!
Instead of making that software available, their solution is selling you new PCM for around €5000.

I have tried to check the stories I see in forums about dealers who could do the job, but never found a guy that confirmed it was done with his PCM. I would be very interested to hear the story of such a lucky guy.

 

[novel]

Hi,

Can someone share his experience? I have the same problem with mine Panamera (PCM 3.1) from Qatar. I will be glad if someone share his experience. The car is in Germany.