Also worth considering, IMO, is the DOF (direct oil feed) for Porsche IMS bearings developed by TuneRS Motorsports and also sold, with various replacement bearings, by pedrosgarage:
TechnoFix DOF
TuneRS Motorsports | PORSCHE PERFORMANCE, PARTS, REPAIR, RESTORATION AND MOTORSPORTS FACILITY
Makes perfect sense to me and, for the later, larger single-row IMS bearing equipeed 987's, a great way to get lubrication to a bearing that cannot be replaced without tearing down the engine. The price ($799.99 plus shipping) seems quite fair, as does the price and the choices available for upgraded replacement bearings for the earlier engines.
Although I have decided to wait until I need to replace the clutch on my dual-row bearing engine, this is the route I plan to take.
Brad
P.S. Yes I know, some will complain that there has not been extensive testing over a number of years and a huge number of miles to 'prove' the efficacy of this system. Frankly, I believe that this is unrealistic as:
1. There are a great many cars (in fact the vast majority) with their original IMS bearings and no failures. Not surprisingly, it took Porsche a number of years themselves to discover the problem with their sealed single-row bearings. How many yeears and how many miles of testing would be required in order to satisfy the doubters?
2. Direct oil feed to bearings is hardly new technology - in fact it is the norm. Where Porsche failed was in using a 'sealed' bearing containing grease in a high heat, relatively high load situation. From various tear-downs, it seems that if (or according to some, when) the seal fails, in some cases the oil washes out the grease leaving only a small amount of rancid oil/grease insufficient to lubricate the bearing. In other cases, it seems that if enough splash oil is able to get through the failed seal, the bearing can last indefinitely. Many who have removed their original bearings have found that while the seal had failed, there seemed to be a fair amount of oil in the bearing and no signs of play, scoring or other significant wear.
3. The upshot of this is that with adequate lubrication (and pressure feed is clearly better than splash in various driving conditions), there is no reason to believe that the bearing should not last as long (or longer) than any other engine component. Put in a new bearing (the OEM SKF has proven adequate in the majority of cars, even without pressure lubrication), or an upgraded ceramic (again, no real side by side testing, but ceramic is clearly stronger than steel), install direct oil feed and whatever problems your car develops, logic and experience dictate that the IMS bearing should not be one of them.
Boxster S
ROBIN
2001 Boxster Sport Classic
Hybrid Mode
