2005 Saab 9-5 Aero SportWagon - Nocturne Blue

[nordwulf]

I found this 9-5 through cars.com and was offered by a Ford dealer in Virgina. '05 9-5 wagons with good miles, color combination and options are getting more difficult to find these days. It's always a bit of gamble to buy a car far away from home but this one was in very good shape.

Options in addition to the Aero trim:

- Automatic transmission
- Navigation
- Visibility package (SPA, Xenon lights and auto dimming mirrors)
- Sport Tech package (two-tone interior and CF dash)

The only thing it doesn't have is the ventilated seats but those weren't available with the Sport Tech package. I have seen the two-tone interior in gray/black but never in beige/black. Truly a fully loaded and unique 9-5.

I mostly prefer light-colored cars but blue is one of my favorite colors. And it goes great with the beige interior color.

MSRP was about $48K and I paid $13,500 + tax for this 4-year old Saab 9-5 with about 68K miles.

Purchase date: 02/19/2010



















Modifications:

Wheels - 5-spoke Double Wing

Diameter: 17"
Width: 7.5"
ET: 49
Bolt pattern: 5 x 110

Part number: 32025564

These wheels were for sale by an ex-Saab owner in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for $250. They were offered together with a good set of tires. Shipping would have been about the same cost as driving there and pick them up myself. Roadtrip! They seem to be pretty rare and I haven't seen many other Saabs with these wheels.





Bilstein HD Shocks (Rear)

Part Number: 24-027083

Shock absorbers are Made in Germany.

Forum thread with more information: http://saabworld.net/showthread.php?t=1681





Scosche FM-MOD02 FM Modulator

There aren't many choices for media player input in the <=2005 Saab 9-5 with factory audio. An FM modulator with direct connection to the antenna-in is a decent and inexpensive solution but don't expect high quality audio.

It seems the modular output changes frequency slightly at times making for a distorted output in sound. However, this also could be caused by less-than-perfect MP3 files as well.

My car has the factory navigation so a tape adapter isn't a solution either. I think audio quality of the tape adapter and this FM modulator is about the same. $50 is a reasonable price though and a good solution to hook up an external media player.