IMS Upgrade - Should I have it done

[eightsandaces]

How's this for the professor: Common enough to cause the Porsche factory to support a replacement program as well as IMS replacement specialists as a sub business but not common enough for a consumer recall class action lawsuit.

Seems like every Porsche engine I have owned was spinning some power robbing Jimmything you wish it wasn't, last time it was the anti vibration counter balancer.

[mts]

Originally Posted by Jim Miller

Wow, just about ready to buy a 1999 Boxster. Appears to be a really clean car with 30K miles. I have been reading these IMS bearing failure and I'm getting this uneasy feeling.

What is the frequency of this occurring? Should I have the bearing upgraded?
What is the consensus here? :dance:

Don't know that you'll get a consensus here, but I would seriously consider having it done. It's a nice insurance policy against a really expensive failure. No way to know the % of the cars that have had one fail, but it's pretty easy to see that its a high enough percentage for it to be a very legitimate concern.

Another issue is with a car that old a failure could lead to a repair that could be equal to or greater than what you paid for the car. That's a tough pill to swallow.

FWIW, mine failed earlier this year. The various alternatives once that happens are expensive and could cause (as it did in my case) a significant period without the car.

[yelojkt]

An IMS bearing upgrade will be the first thing I do after I buy mine. Unless I am lucky enough to find one already done.

[ppbon]

... a man's prostate.
Give it enough time and it will develop cancer.

Even on engines that are driven very hard, with time they will fail.
Just like jake Raby, I've seen that "normal" daily drivers tend to fail sooner than later, but even engines with many, many track miles fail.
Mine was caught in time with 196,000 miles on it (22,000 were track miles).
When I pulled it the bearing was very worn and wobbly and would have failed in a few thousand more miles.

My recommendation to anyone how's worried is ... just do it.
You're purchasing peace of mind.
Once you retrofit, go have fun again.

Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

[JTP]

Originally Posted by ppbon

The IMS Bearing in a Boxster is like ...
... a man's prostate.

So getting a retrofit is like getting a prostate check: unpleasant, uncomfortable, but a necessary procedure when you're over 50.
If you don't get it addressed, a doctor's fist is going to be in there removing the cancer which is propably what a blown motor is going to feel like.
Pedro, thanks for the ANALogy!

[mikefocke]

produced an IMS design for the Boxster that isn't know to fail. They continued to use an inner seal which fails and a bearing which is not the best. The combination continued to fail through three iterations as long as the IMS was used. And all Porsche supplied replacement parts will use the same known to fail IMS design.

I'm not saying all will fail this year, but a certain small percentage will. And next year the same. Etc. Until the percentage of engines with failures starts to accumulate to a noticeable number.

Good luck Sok

[SoK]

You answered me before I posted lol.. It seems like the retrofit is only a temporary fix from what I'm reading. I thought I read it's good practice to replace that every 5 or so years, just as it would be standard practice to replace the OEM IMS bearing.

My stock bearing is going on 10 years (though I obviously don't know it's condition). If we're being quoted to replace the retrofit around 5 or 6, what's the difference (aside from cost and supporting a community sponsor) in going through Porsche for this particular bit of maintenance, especially when they back it up for 2 years/24k miles?

Thanks again

Originally Posted by mikefocke

produced an IMS design for the Boxster that isn't know to fail. They continued to use an inner seal which fails and a bearing which is not the best. The combination continued to fail through three iterations as long as the IMS was used. And all Porsche supplied replacement parts will use the same known to fail IMS design.

I'm not saying all will fail this year, but a certain small percentage will. And next year the same. Etc. Until the percentage of engines with failures starts to accumulate to a noticeable number.

Good luck Sok

[Steve Tinker]

Jim, regarding your clutch, replacing it when the IMS / RMS is exposed really makes economic sense. The clutch plates may well be only 50% worn, but that's only one part of the clutch assembly - you still have to think about the release bearing wear and fingers breaking. If you change it out now, there is also a very good chance that your flywheel is still servicable too - which saves another $1,000 in replacement costs
Only a month ago I had the LN bearing and new RMS replaced with a new clutch kit. The clutch was original with 47,000 miles on it and the linings were +/- 50% worn. But the release bearing was shot - loose and rattly.
The new clutch action is far superior in feel and takeup - and the best thing is that I don't have to worry about any of it for the next 50,000 miles