Hmmm...bit of a drive from Chicago. I'd really like my local independent to start work on these...he's been building air cooled engines forever and does a lot of work on "modern" cup cars.

Yep, I am one of them. I am always up for a good roadtrip!! Plus, If I am going to drop some serious coin on my car, I want a damn good expereince to go with it. :D

Considering the fact that I have an engine here that was shipped to me from Russia for full internal updates; you guys are local!!

We all welcome friendly visits from out of town customers.

More on topic, we should have the motor out of this S next week, and we'll see how bad it looks. Had a talk with the driver of the transport who delivered the car to us, and apparently the previous owners would not stop complaining to the driver about how pissed off they were at Porsche!

Still pissed at Porsche a year later. At the end (before we sold it on eBay), we asked for a token discount on a crate engine, and they wouldn't even give that.

Just posting now because another forum member sent a question about the window problem the car was having (window out of sync). Is the car back on the road, and did you fix the window problem?

IMS victims please complain to NHTSA
 

My apologies if you’ve seen this posting in other forums. I’m trying to raise awareness of this subject.
I have an 04 Boxster that had confirmed IMS failure last week at 58K miles. Dealer employees, including service managers, have admitted to me that they have a significant number of IMS failures in this engine, and didn’t deny that it should have been a recall. I didn’t know of this defect until it (probably) happened to me, and feel angry that Porsche sold me a car without revealing a fatal design flaw (sealed bearing with seal that fails in normal use, then relying on inadequate lubrication from crankcase oil splash).
When I called Porsche (1-800 Porsche), I was told there was no recall for the IMS defect because “the government orders recalls and they didn’t order a recall” for the IMS issue. Recalls are triggered by complaints to the NHTSA – not very many complaints, no recall. NHTSA complaints and investigations can be researched at their website:

http://www.safercar.gov/Vehicle+Owners

Between MY 2000 and 2005 there were only 6 IMS failures reported with std or S Boxsters. Brief internet searches reveal that the actual failure rate is certainly much higher than these numbers would suggest. Complaints can easily be filed at the NHTSA website. If everyone with IMS failures went to the NHTSA website and filed a complaint, perhaps an investigation and thus a recall might be triggered. I’m not sure if a recall could be ordered for cars this old, but at least the relevant government agency should adequately notified. If the government took action, Porsche would be forced to respond.

Hey Jake,
Curious what the answer was to the Tiptronic/price question? I have a '00 base Tip with 70k and plan on keeping the car for a LONG time (i think it's gonna be a classic :) )

Does having a Tip affect the price of the retrofit at all?

Thanks.

You realized this is a zombie thread? dmatz has been resurecting old threads and posting his NHTSA crusade (they have <cough> 6 IMS recorded complaints including, presumably, his) at the end (plus giving it its own thread). Wish the forum administrators would whack these duplicate posts...

I do. But the question is still valid.

it has been answered several times in several different threads. yes a TIP costs more to do the IMS than a manual because there is more labor involved in getting to the bearing.

expect anywhere from $2500-$5000 depending on the facility you go to.