Go Hamann with Champion RS-98's !!!

Don't forget my backside !

Common wisdom on this board for new owners is do the IMS .. its cheap insurance.

I had a IMS scare about a month ago when my water pump went and I thought it was IMS, but after fixing the water pump, it made me really think about getting the fix done.

Here's my take on that ... this is mostly personal opinion with some math .. so make your own conclusion.

First, some estimated cost.

Cost of the IMS upgrade ( parts + labor ) ~= $1500 if done at my local shop.

Cost of a newly used engine installed ( parts + labor ) ~= $9000 based on ebay prices.

Cost of a new reman 3.6 engine installed with warranty ( parts + labor ) = $16500 ( from Roock )

Second, I assume that IMS fail in 1 out of 10 cars ( correct me if I'm wrong but I remember reading somewhere that this was Flat6's ratio ). This gives you a 10% chance of failure.

Third, I assume that there are no fortune tellers among us and no one knows exactly when their IMS will give out. If you just know for sure you're one of the unlucky ones, then by all mean, get your IMS done.

...

To make 'insurance' worth buying .. it has to give me better odds of saving $ than if I didn't buy it. In another word, a $1500 insurance for a part that has a 10% failure rate only starts to make sense if the cost to fix when the part fails is over $15000. In this case, it is not. If your IMS goes, restoring your car to "as good as before" with a used engine cost $9000. That's gives you about a 1 / 6 ratio of IMS upgrade cost to potential saving in case of engine failure .. about 16%.

In another word, you're pre-paying 16% of the repair cost to guard against a 10% chance of failure.

So for me .. mathematically .. it only makes sense to do IMS upgrade when you can reduce the labor cost. Such as when you're already doing something in that area already so you can save on labor .. like changing clutch.

Doing IMS upgrade for the sake of IMS upgrade is not the best way to spend your money.

Looks sooo badass Danger! Love yellow more than my red! All blk wheels also look soo mean! But I just hate at night seems like nothing is there. But hmm....Looking at my budget seems like ill be spending close to $4k with parts,labor,paint,shipping etc. My budget was about $3k. Now I have to rethink of what I wnat the most and leave some things out for now at least. I have a mod money budget to stick to lol..always have to leave extra for mechanical stuff.

I can get you this locally for $600. Would blend in your red & blk tones or not far anyway. Not entirely sure if it is made all of CF however... could be half CF/fiber. If it is 100% CF then that's a rocking deal. Fancy a cool humppy?

http://img02.taobaocdn.com/imgextra/...!170737419.jpg

Speed humps look good but locally for you or me? Lol..I decided to go with the Techart front bumper with a set of TK skirts from betterbodiesmotorsport..$1300 with a FREE set of skirts,can't beat that deal! So my boxster s front bumper and aero kit skirts will be for sale for about $300 or so and ill throw in the stock S muffler. Good for people with a non S boxster! For now ill pass on the humps bein that its not soo practical like others mentioned. Ill post pics towards end of month when car is finished. Also going to paint my 18s all black with blk porsche caps,add spacers for front and rear. Also ordering the rear bumper diffusers and painting bumperettes red to match car. Should be nice!

Sounds like a great project in the making . Now, the next step, and perhaps the most important one, is to find the right shop that has extensive experience working with fiberglass body kits . Getting the proper fit and finish with these kinds of parts can be extremely challenging to say the least .

Yes already have a shop in Staten Island,NY that does GREATT work..Mobile-Addictions a custom shop for these goodies...all work done from bmw,audi,lambo,ferrari,porsche,maybach,bentley etc etc! Soo im in good hands and have taken my other car's there previously. :dance:

Can't wait to see the final results, even if it isn't yellow ! :D

Ahahaha...eventually I want it pearl orange(lambo color) but thats with Zeintop etc etc! In the works for later later future lol :D

I think those IMS failure rates will be going higher very soon. The more the older Boxsters are driven the more miles they rack up under 2nd and 3rd owners and problematic IMS bearings start to "shake out".

In other words they didn't fail earlier simply because some owner just didn't drive the car much. They sell it to another guy for $15K or whatever and an IMS bearing that was NOT properly lubricated/maintained is now doing a lot more work then when it just sat in the garage 6 1/2 days a week. Add 20K miles of daily use and little by little that bearing strats to wither. Kabooms left and right.

You have to be crazy not to change the bearing if you don't know how often the car was driven, when the oil was changed or at least have the last few oil filters to examine for cracked pepper size seal fragments.