owners in HK

Selling mine off Fresh major engine out service with all valve and header problem sorted if you are interested!!

Yes you should always do a compression test, mine had lifter problems which did not show on compression test but was rectified.

 

A pic of it
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Welcome to the forum. Have you tried the official dealership?

Is there any reason you prefer the 355? Are you specifically looking at a certain example and can you share a link so others can chime in with their suggestions?

 

Nothing wrong with getting Italian Motors to do the PPI. They won't be worst then any Indy!

 

Maybe my connection with the dealer is not as good as the others on here, so I will say what I know.

I have a good relationship with one of the sales, and I did ask him about PPI last time before I got my car. He said IMSS don't really offer such service anymore, and when it did, it cost close to HK$10k.

Independence is the main issue for such service from them he explained. Since they are the only official dealer, most cars have service records at the dealer. They have concerns that the sellers would hold them responsible (make a fuss) for any problems they find during PPIs (i.e. seller asking why the problems were not identified during the last visit?).

I cannot verify how true the above is, but I am just telling it as I was told. You can always walk into Shatin or ALC and ask I supposed.

 

Good luck with your search. The 355 is definitely a beautiful car today and is a good size for the city.

Keep us posted with your results!

 

Forgot to mention that my car was a private sale. So there should be less of a conflict of interest issue in regards to a PPI.

 

Italian motors inspected my 550 before I bought it. The main reason to get them to do it is that there is a very good chance they imported it when it was new and have a history of it they can share.

 

355 is a great choice for hk. completely agree with you on the best size for hk. i found my 458 spider very big in comparison and not nearly as much fun on the roads that i typically drive.

i have a 355 spider and use it quite a lot. i would much prefer dealing with official agent than an independent shop for ppi and service afterwards. autoitalia did a lot of work on my 355 spider and i am very happy with the outcome. the car is like new now and has been absolutely troublefree.

i will share one story as to why i am of the view above. my 355 spider had mot handled for a few years before i bought it at an independent shop. when i had autoitalia do mot after i bought car, it failed. the airbag light was not going on because an independent shop had disconnected it. reason is that airbag ecu had failed and this is a 15k repair so much more cost effective to disconnect light and get mot at a friendly place that is not rigorous. for me i want the airbag to work! my life is worth more than 15k to me.

you will also find that 355 has many sensors and the dreaded cel will be a reality unless everything is really well sorted. the independent shops simply lack the testers and trained personnel. you might be lucky with them or not. i would much rather deal with autoitalia.

i feel that exhaust note is one of best features of 355, i hate the cracked manifolds, heat is an issue in the engine bay, heat shield rattle is an irritation. so i went for ceramic coated fabspeed headers that massively reduce heat in engine bay, do not crack, improve performance and no more heat shields to rattle. i also went for fabspeed cats that are legal for mot, run much cooler and have less back pressure. my car had ms racing muffler which i really like - great exhaust note and no resonance or booming.

i also went for fabspeed ecu, better air filters, silicon intake and carbon fibre airbox covers. much better performance. ecu, better air flow plus less heat soak makes a big difference when coupled with much improved exhaust.

interestingly the emissions are much better than stock. current technology for cats is so much better than almost 20 years ago. this is my 4th 355 so i know what i wanted out of the car.

 

Did Auto Italia install the aftermarket parts for you?

I would like to try Hills Engineering balljoints and cambelt tensioner/bearings on my car when my next belt service is due.

 

yes

 

Wow, now THAT's interesting. I once wanted to install a clutch bearing from Hills Engineering for my 360 spider and IMSS refused to do that so I had no choice but to go to SPS for the job. I guess you know them well so it makes a difference.

Moreover, the turnover over the last few years has been pretty high so I'm loosing touch w/ people that I used to know well over there...

 

That's what I have heard from different sources; apparently a lot of the experienced techs left recently.

 

Hi Kevin I went to Hill Engineering in the UK. They have an amazing machine shop and the staff are very helpful. I replaced all the ball joints on my 360 Hamann and the front end feels like new. Very happy with them.The quality is far superior than OEM. They also supply the tool to install them.You can download the complete procedure off the net for the 360/430 ball joint replacement from Ricambi in the states. Regards Gary.

 

I have yet to hear anything negative about the HE ball joints; I will definitely go with them when the time comes. Only irritating thing is the glue thats required for the installation; Ricambi charge a lot for it and it also cannot be shipped by air. I tried to source it locally, but no luck.

 

I bought it back with me from London with the ball joints. It must be available here as the 360/430 ball joints have such a short life span and many of them would have been changed. Otherwise next time you know someone coming to HK from London just get HE to send it to their address and they can bring it with them. The tubes are so small.