How many have NOT changed IMS bearing on their 1997-2000 Boxster?

[Joshnich]

Although not in the years specified in the OPs question, I just had the IMSB replaced with a LNE retrofit bearing. I recently bought my Boxster, a 2004 special edition S that had only 19K miles on it. My intent is to keep the car for some time so for piece of mind it was worth it to me. The crappy thing is that I bought the car used at a Porsche dealer and they had replaced the clutch after the car was traded in. They did not replace the RMS or the IMSB and both proved to be leaking. To be fair, the car was a garage queen and had not been driven much at all so it is possible that the leaking started after the clutch replacement. I put a few thousand miles on it since the clutch was replaced and have been driving it more than likely a lot harder than the previous owner - who bought the car for his wife who, based on it needing a new clutch at 19K, must have learned to drive in it!

In my past I owned a 1995 BMW 540i, which some of you may know had problems with their engines. They were originally built with a Nikasil cylinder lining which reacted to high sulfur in gasoline that was common is some states. The result was total engine failure, not as dramatic as a failed IMSB but certainly not something that you wanted to deal with. There was no fix for this malady other than replacing the entire engine block with an updated one made with Alusil (i think that's right). The point is there really wasn't a cost effective fix. It was all hope and wish. At least with the the IMS on the Boxster there is a fix that is already bringing me piece of mind.