What It's Like Owning A 20 Year Old SAAB | 2 Year Owner's Review

[@samirsylvester1098]

Love hate relationship with a 2001 9-5 aero, when I got it she was a beauty. Really hard to gets part darn expensive down In Cape Town South African. Would love to keep her forever but I'm thinking her time has come to pass. Just the best car ever.

[@bbehzadi413]

Love my 9-5! I don’t think I could ever part with it

[@MassiveTrackHunter]

"Owning a wierd, quirky Swedish car that is known to be a pain in the but to maintain." and loving every minute of it. XD XD

[@BWTECH0521]

Absolutely!!!! Can't stop loving these things 😊😊😊

[@curtholmes16]

What a great video..i thoroughly enjoyed. I guess you could call me one of the old schoolers. Owned Saabs since 87.. You really nailed most of it..lovely cars, 9-5 aero seats are amazing, really need to do the work yourself. The community is amazing help with problems, most are common, and have been seen before. Love the work you have put into your Saab..we bond with these cars. I have driven one of my Saabs from Maine to the last 3 Saab Conventions. Albany N.Y. , Sturgis S.D., and Chicago I.L., please make it to one of the next ones, you will be hooked. Thanksagain for your video.

[@BWTECH0521]

Thank you sir! Wow since 87! That is before I was born 😁 (sorry). You guys are the heart of the saab community, and very much appreciated! I really do hope to go to an SOC soon.

[@curtholmes16]

Look forward to seeing you..

[@fearnoproject2047]

After owning an.... 89 SPG 05 Arc Vert(my first one, looooooooved it) 05 Linear 9-3 SS 05 Combi 2.0T (2) 06 Aero combi 9-3's 09 Sport Vert 08 Aero 9-3 SS 88 9000T 01 Viggen Vert Yes, even with some headaches of maintenance and parts, TOTALLY worth it. Getting to know the group of Saab fans out there is icing on the cake.

[@BWTECH0521]

Wow that's a lot of saabs mate! I thought 5 was a lot hahahaha

[@fearnoproject2047]

@@BWTECH0521 They just keep showing up on my doorstep, cheap and needing help, although the 05 Arc vert was perfect from the start, hooked me from day1, got daily'd year round for 4-5yrs, eventually got new engine chains, and kept me smiling til it was sold at 208k, still purring.

[@bbehzadi413]

Love my 9-5 the Saab community is awesome! The tuning potential is great and they have something special about them! I’ll add there’s amazing Saab specialists here on the east coast!

[@BWTECH0521]

East coast is definitely the place to be for saab owners! Yes, the community is awesome!

[@robinforrest7680]

Fully agree with you mate. I picked up a 2004 Aero wagon in the UK in summer 2022. 187000m for £1150. Did a Maptun stage 1 remap to 265hp and E85 ethanol (which is half the price of regular in France). I drove it home to France 1000miles with no issues. Since then all that’s gone wrong has been a window regulator (classic €5 eBay fix) and the heater resistor which cost €100 and was a total pain to replace. An absolute joy to own and drive and as you say incredibly comfortable and rapid.

[@BWTECH0521]

That's awesome, these have so much value and potential. It takes very little to make them quick!

[@simon_illyan]

Did you make any changes to let it work on E85?

[@robinforrest7680]

@@simon_illyan No it’s already set up for E85 in terms of hardware because there was also a Biopower E85 version produced for the European market back in the day. So fuel pump lines etc are all OK. All it needed was the Maptun stage one E85 remap. It’ll now run either on regular or ethanol or a mix. I’ve been using 100% E85 for over a year

[@davevq]

The 9-5 began development in 1992 and was officially released in 1997. The engine is derived from Triumph in the 1970s and Saab added the 2nd cam in the late 70s. These engines really did not change at all through the years. They are sooooo simple, there isn't a whole lot to them. And we have since "cracked"/Eprom dumped all the computers in the car, we have ways to change the programming of any module in the car (SID, TWICE, DICE, ECU, etc.) Its fun. You can put 06+ gauges in if you really wanted to. BTW didn't you put in a short throw shifter?

[@BWTECH0521]

Really great and cool info as always Dave! Yes I did, I forgot to include it haha

[@tylernail2146]

Talking about power mods, Genuine Saab is in Missouri and has a large turbo Viggen build and offers some nice upgrades for Saabs and Abbott Racing from the UK has some other bits, Hirsch was Saabs high spec similar to a Mercedes AMG but most hirsch items are only in Europe until the later 9-3 and NG9-5. Would love to talk more saab and show you part of my collection! One of the best car brands I believe 🎉

[@BWTECH0521]

Great information Tyler! GS, Maptun and Hisrch are for sure the big and important names. Thanks for adding that!! I recognize your name from the FG Groups. I've seen your Glacier blue 9-5, looks good man :)

[@simon_illyan]

Hi. I have the same 2004 Ark. And I got a stage 2 from the same source following your video. It was 8.7 liters for 100 km before, and it's about 10.1 now. I'm thinking of changing it back to the stock for the winter. I have some uncommon problems, though. First, it's a headlight that probably loses the wire connection and does not work in the right position (it works in the off position only and doesn't switch to the high bean unless you hold it). The second is the windshield wipers that work only in the middle and high speed. Nevertheless, I love Saab, and the best feeling I got for it was when I returned from 2 weeks overseas and drove it once again. It's a joy to drive it.

[@BWTECH0521]

Sweet! Mine has a few quirks to be worked out as well. Even still, that feeling when you sit in it and start driving is an unexplainable feeling!

[@denzellima3079]

Spent 2 weeks in Mexico and came back yesterday. First thing I did was start up my 03 9-5 Aero and hit the freeway. I could've cried 🥹

[@intrepid5684]

Nice work! I love the wrap. I do the same thing. Buy old Saab's and work on them until they're decent runners. I've had everything from a 1967 96 to a 2005 9.3 convertible. My current project is a 1991 SE900 turbo, 2 door, 5 speed hardtop.

[@BWTECH0521]

That's amazing! I hope to have more saabs under my belt like yourself. Also a classic 900 is on my dream saab list!

[@KristianE85]

Awesome work Bruce! Looks great! My 9-5 "hirsch" has nearly 122000 miles now and I have done around 8000 of them since febuary 2020 when I bought it :)

[@BWTECH0521]

Thanks Buddy, always a pleasure seeing your lovely saabs at FB!

[@KristianE85]

☺🙌@@BWTECH0521

[@jasonrock2791]

Awesome review of a brilliant cheap and very upgradable car, live it!❤

[@BWTECH0521]

@jasonrock2791 thank you so much!

[@CarWash811]

I bought 2004 Saab 9-5 wagon 2.0 turbo with stage 1 tune (225 hp, 250 ft-lb). It was 4 months ago in Finland. It was cheap at 750€ (820$) with some issues. I knew it had some issues like not blowing hot air to the passenger side, but for some reason it started working again. I still have valve step motor and crank for it if it completely stops working. After arriving home with it it wouldn't start when warm. Crank position sensor needed to be changed. Ignition coil pack failed soon after and I spent 60€ for used original one. Also all vacuum hoses needed to be changed to be on the safe side. Wagon door step lock motor was issue from the start. Door just didn't open and for now I just disconnected motor and now it works, but I cant get it locked. It's fine now. Total I spent about 300€ to fix those and most of them were problems what I already knew. After those problems I am super happy with the car. It's WAY better than my previous 2001 Nissan Maxima. So quiet, nice ride quality, stable and solid feeling. AND it has only 2 year old new turbo, clutch and gearbox (manual). So happy with the car. 202 000 miles on the clock now.

[@BWTECH0521]

Sounds like you got a killer deal! I agree, it doesn't make much to make these great cars drive amazing!!

[@einpercy825]

Really great video, your modifications upgraded the car a lot. I kinda want a 9-5 but my next car to go alongside my 08 9-3 SportCombi is probably gonna be a 9000 Aero

[@BWTECH0521]

Thanks! I heard great things about the 9000. I want to try one after I try a c900!

[@qwertyuiop32935]

Excellent job :)

[@BWTECH0521]

thanks!

[@giorgio.]

Good video, man. I've also been wrenching on my 2004 9-5 Arc manual, it only has $163,000 km (about 100k miles). Unlike yours, mine is rusting around the rear wheel arches, it's a known problem in the North, I'm in Canada and the winter salt gets everywhere. I'm gonna have to deal with that. Small correction: this car does not have side airbag curtains, unfortunately. They were able to get away with it because the B pillar disperses the impact in the bottom or something like that. It does have side airbags in the seats that come up high enough to protect the front occupants, but nothing for the rear occupants. This is kind of a bummer, I've had older cars that had both the side curtains and seat airbags. Still a very solid car. I love that you never them around and people are not sure what they are looking at. I temporarily debadged mine and got a parking ticket that said "unknown" in the make and model fields 😂

[@BWTECH0521]

Thanks for the kind words Giorgio, and thanks for watching for such a long time, I know you've been here for my entire 9-5 journey! Rust - I believe there are rear quarter panels that they sell? Good point about the airbags, I did not know that thanks!

[@rustyrobinson8027]

Yes buy a Saab

[@BWTECH0521]

Yess

[@DontEatTheAnimals]

Your brushed aluminium dash, thats from an Aero ? I'm in New Zealand and have 4 Saab 95's, 3 are Aero the other an ordinary wagon, 2 are my daily driver cars and the other Aero and the wagon now being parts cars, when and if I need them. Very impressed with your wrapping skills and the choice of colour. I'll check out Powerflex, cheers.

[@coverado]

Hello. This is Cherry from Coverado. Are you interested in working with us to try our seat covers and help us make a video?

[@Jonjs99]

Parts are esy to find and are much cheaper than audi or bmw