Personalizing my Porsche 991.1

By peterm95018, 25 October, 2025

Introduction

After clearing a lingering airbag fault on my 2013 Porsche 991.1 Carrera S, I decided it was time to explore what the ThinkDiag+ tool could really do. 

My goal: customize how the car behaves and bring a few hidden factory options to life—Sport Plus, Porsche Sport Exhaust (PSE), full-time cluster lighting, and TPMS settings for my track tires.

This project turned into a deep dive into coding, diagnostics, and a little bit of trim repair along the way. Here are my notes to help me track and log my work.

Getting Set Up

To get started, I ordered:

  • ThinkDiag+ diagnostic and coding tool
  • Refurbished Samsung tablet (cracked screen, $60) for running ThinkDiag+
  • Replacement console buttons from Suncoast Porsche

Early lessons learned:

  • The carbon-fiber OBD cover blocks the connector—remove it each time.
  • I managed to unhinge the OBD trim cover (small repair pending).
  • Always plug in a trickle charger before coding to maintain voltage stability.

Once the device was active and talking to the car, I ran my first health check. Some issues were familiar—like the driver’s thorax airbag fault—but I also saw an “AC Front Left Mixing Flap Motor Stalled” code. After sitting for a few weeks, the small fan under the cabin filter had stuck. A quick manual spin cleared that error. A seat belt buckle replacement project is coming that should address the airbag error.

Cluster Lights Always On

I selected an easy and non-invasive project to get warmed up with. Project #12 from the ThinkDiag library adds full-time backlighting to the gauge cluster. Two quick coding changes keep the backlights illuminated even in Auto headlight mode. The needles still respond to headlight activation, preserving a stock feel.

Updating the Console Layout

Because my console is over ten years old and my plan was to add / move buttons, I decided to buy a console replacement that came with all the buttons. Here are the before and after shots.

console before
console after

First, I replaced the center console to make space for new button assignments. The second phase is to program the buttons we've just added and moved.

Left Column

  1. Sport
  2. Sport Plus
  3. PASM
  4. Traction Control
  5. Blank

Right Column

  1. Blank
  2. Porsche Sport Exhaust (PSE)
  3. Auto Start/Stop
  4. Blank
  5. Blank

Programming the Buttons with ThinkDiag+

Auto Start/Stop (Button 3 Right)

  1. Launch ThinkDiag+ → All Systems Diagnostic → Porsche → VIN Scan
  2. Backup existing coding
  3. Navigate: Air Conditioning → Code/Brush Hiding → BKE Field Assignment
  4. Assign Button 3 Right = Auto Start/Stop
  5. Tap Write Code

Result: Success. After warming the engine to 190°F and turning off A/C, the yellow/green ASS indicators worked exactly as intended.

Porsche Sport Exhaust (Button 2 Right)

  1. Backup all coding
  2. Air Conditioning → Code/Brush Hiding → Hidden/Modified → BKE Field Assignment
  3. Set Button 2 Right = Sport Exhaust
  4. DME → Code/Brush Hiding → Coding Byte 1 → enable Solenoid Valve for Exhaust Flaps = YES
  5. Write Code

Result: Initial failure (no light or sound change). After re-running the flap-control step, the button illuminated and the exhaust note changed—success.

Left Column (Sport Plus, PASM, Traction Control)

The left column was re-coded using:

  • Button 4: Traction Control
  • Button 3: PASM
  • Button 2: Sport Plus

Results:

  • Traction Control toggled after a long press (~1 sec).
  • PASM toggled normally.
  • Sport Plus required enabling a hidden toggle. Searching for “Plus” revealed an extra coding flag. Once enabled, the Sport Plus button lit and activated correctly.

Results

I’ve never had Sports Plus. When this option is toggled the throttle response is improved and shift points change to redline. It's the perfect setup for AutoX. The car used to feel like it would take 2-3 seconds to get to top RPM as the computer moved through the gears. It feels faster now in Sports Plus. In addition, I can really hear the exhaust note.

The Sport Exhaust doesn't change performance in this project; it simply drops the engine note and makes it deeper and more noticeable. For my purposes, I get a better input from the exhaust sound with this modification. If its constant, I'm not accelerating.

Future Enhancements

  • Enable Performance/Torque Menu in cluster (PDF item #25)
  • Experiment with Launch Control enablement (PDF item #73)
  • Enable a TPMS setting for my track tires.

Media in Progress

  • Console button 

  • ThinkDiag+ coding walk-through

  • Cold-start demo showing PSE valves opening/closing 

  • Side-by-side sound comparison: Sport vs Sport Plus vs PSE

 

Reference Links