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Just a data point to add to the mix. I have an 02S with 57K that has been driven aggressively 5 mornings a week (I have a great 10 mile back road commute). Prior to 2010 it was driven 4K per year according to DMV/service records. I bought the car in June of this year (it had ~52.5K on the clock). The more I drove it the more paranoid I became, after all, it's a 10 year old, low milage car with unknown oil service intervals...and the RMS was weeping!
I had the LN bearing and updated RMS installed with a new clutch after 1000 miles of ownership. I was eager to see the old IMSB and gain proof that I'd saved my motor from a defective design. Boy was I disappointed. My old bearing was perfect. No play, no wear, no missing plastic cover. I am still glad I did it, but I think that trying to connect certain engine RPMs or mileage patterns or even oil service intervals to failures is a tenuous exercise at best.
Some just fail, regardless of how old they are, how fast the are spun or how often the fluids are changed. Everything I've seen and read leads me to believe that a 986 engine's fate is somehow sealed at the factory. I believe the design is flawed in general but think that most failures are tied to some "unknown to us" variable in the assembly process. Even if Porsche knew what that variable was, it would be more cost effective for them to simply wait out the failures than recall the whole lot.
Just one man's opinion based on anecdotal evidence and intuition.
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