Sorry if it's a dumb question as I'm a Porsche newb, but how much are we talking to fix such an issue if IMS goes out? The parts guy at the dealership just laughed when I asked...(although I don't ever plan to use the dealer)

The lesson I learned is the bearing can fail with no warning signs. Although, I change my oil every 5K and I was due for an oil change.

The indie that's doing the work said the last IMS repair they did was about $6K. They're tallying the parts required for mine as of today and don't have an estimate yet.

Thanks! It sounds like I'm going to have to make my cash reserve for repairs a bit bigger that $2500 (which I've already used this month). I am very glad I paid cash for this car and didn't buy a much newer model with a decent sized note. I don't know if my wife would go for both a note and a large repair slush fund!

Here is to your bill being smaller! I heard over $10k from someone else, but I don't know if they used the dealership or not.

I sure hate this happened to you. I do hope some for the guys who haven't yet upgraded the IMS will heed the lesson here. Whatever the cost for the fix where you are, it's way cheaper than a failure. I had 2 m96 cars before my current one and got lucky, plus I did change the oil every 5k miles, still just lucky with a 97 I sold with over 100k miles and a 2000 996 with 80k and no major failures.

I knew my luck would have to run out eventually, plus when i heard about the performance upgrade from jake I just couldn't pass it up. The 3300 someone quoted in this thread earlier sounds high, but well worth the cost if for no other reason than piece of mind. No one but maybe Porsche knows what % of these engines fail, but whatver the number it is fairly predictable given the shortcuts they took with the engines compared to all f the engines that came prior to these water pumpers.

I'm sorry this happened to you especially given you're just outside the 10 year limit. My car is also outside the 10 year window and for that reason, I am sending a letter to the court that objects to the settlement. I hope others send similar letters.

My view is that owners have a reasonable expectation that these engines will last for more than 200,000 miles without experiencing a catastrophic IMS engine failure. And because I believe that Porsche sold knowingly sold these cars with a IMS design defect, I argue that the court should only approve a settlement based only on actual mileage, i.e., without a time limit. Pick a number somewhere north of 150,000 miles and I'm OK.

Just a shame. We own marquee sports cars and keep having failures like this. This one is close to home and at my Indi for repair. Makes you simply want to sell and get out. Porsche should be required to fix of replace all failures of their wonderful engineering feat.

Wow Foydawg, your story is the same as mine except my car was built in 04.
I bought my 04 S in Texas Nov 2010, 23000m miles.
Car ran great right up until the moment it died.
Nov 06, 2012 driving down the I95 in Maine bound for warmer pastures in North Caroline, we pulled off at Augusta to grab a coffee. When I stopped at the end of the Interstate ramp the car engine stopped with no warning, I restarted the engine and then "The Death Rattle" (44,000 miles). It sounds like nuts and bolts in a clothes drier! I drove the car 500 ft to the gas station, shut it down and called a tow truck.

I had the engine rebuilt and now I just have to install the fuel injectors before putting it back into the car.

If you don't want the challenge of a Project you have two options (1) after talking to Porsche N.A. take the Porsche refurbished deal, you'll get 2 yr warranty. (2) take your car to some one like Jake Raby or others on this forum who knows Boxsters.

Got a call from the shop today. Approx. $6,800 to repair the damage including a new 05/06 era intermediate shaft among other things. Should be back in action next week.

??

why put the part that broke, back in the car? since they're in there upgrade to the LN or jake's new one... my 2-cents anyway. your car, can do what you think is right.

also, the 05/06-era IMS bearing doesn't make sense since the whole thing was redesigned for the 06 model year making the bearing non-servicable.

i'd call them back and ask for clarification on that one.

As I understand it, Porsche does not sell the shaft without the bearing. Yes, he could remove the new bearing and replace it with a ceramic one (or go all out with the' solution', or the direct oil conversion sold at Pelican), but I guess it depends how long he intends to keep the car. Afterall, he got 50,000 miles and 10 years out of the original bearing.

Brad

The old shaft is trashed and a used shaft isn't available at the moment. The new shafts come with the 05/06 non-servicable bearing. According to him, those cars aren't the problematic ones. It sounds like your suggesting it might be better to find a used shaft and use an LN bearing since it could be replaced long-term?

all m96/m97 engines have the IMS bearing, and that is the problem. porsche removed the IMS for the 2009 MY.

it is possible to replace the bearing in the larger shaft with an LN bearing, but requires removing the shaft from the car (your current situation).

if it's already there i'd replace it. though LN recommends replacing every 4 yrs/50k miles. meaning you'll have to disassemble again if you go with the larger one from porsche.

it all depends on if you want to roll the dice again. there are people on the forum who have had multiple failures, and those who have had no failures.

let me ask, since you have a TIP, what's your driving style? hard? easy? somewhere in between? do you let the car get near the reline, or just let the transmission do the shifting?

Thanks for keeping us posted. I've got to get my 03 done on the IMS asap.

Unless I'm on a freeway I drive it in manual mode for the fun of it and to to keep it from lugging around like it would in auto. I avoid 4,000+ until it's warmed up and I run it hard every day ot two under the theory oil sloshing around will lube the IMSB (and for the fun of it). I don't baby it, but don't thrash it either. I've never tracked it.

Soooo Foydawg, if you've had an IMS failure that stalled the car and you need to replace the IMS and bearing what about other parts of the engine? were there any other parts that failed? Was there metal in the filter or sump or fillings in an oil sample? Does the crank and bearings look good?

Got it back today after writing a $7,000 check. The parts highlights were: new IMS w/bearing, oil cooler, engine gasket set, cylinder head bolt, timing chain, elective water pump and AOS with a host of small parts.