Can't believe we own a Porsche Boxster!

[Chuck W.]

What a great car for a great price. Get the maintenance caught up (sounds like you're doing that) and drive it. They are so much fun. Enjoy.

[DWBOX2000]

Replaced mine at 50k. Pristine. Wish I had my 1800 back.

[jcslocum]

An oil change is the most basic of maintenance and should be learned. It's very easy to do on the Box and can be made easier with the install of a spin on filter kit. I don't have one on mine tho, because I like to inspect the filter. Get some ramps, a big oil drain pan and a few wrenches and a box of nitrile gloves.. The first oil change savings will pay for you tools in savings!! And remember, tools are your friends.

$11 at Amazon. I use this on my truck mainly because it's too big for the lift. Take it to the recycle center and pour it in the tank.



Oil filter tool $12



Rhino Ramps $60.

[DWBOX2000]

I didn't know they made ramps low enough. You just made my life much easier. Can you drive up on to those or just back into?
Thank you.

[jcslocum]

I think you can just back onto them to do oil. If they are too high, you can put a 2x6 in front of it to get the back end up a bit.

[Chuck W.]

Originally Posted by jcslocum

..... install of a spin on filter kit. I don't have one on mine tho, because I like to inspect the filter.

Buy one of these at Harbor Freight. It's called an exhaust pipe cutter. Works great for cutting open oil filters. I think it was around $12.

[YellowS2000]

Originally Posted by BhamBox

I was quoted over 3k from the Indy Porsche shops in my area. They each said it was an overblown problem and they would not get it done if it was their car. One shop said they only saw 4 IMS failures in six years and never in a Tip.

I know this is not going to be a popular decision, but I've decided not to replace the IMS. If the failure rate is 8-10%, I like my odds. Would you gamble 10k to win 3k if you had a 90% chance of winning?

I'm going to change the oil every 3k, use a magnetic oil plug, tear the oil filter to check for metal shavings and cross my fingers.

This is exactly what I'm going to do too. I have a 96k mileage 2000 S, It cost £5000 so there is no way I'm spending £1300 to get the bearing done. If it writes the engine off Ill sell it to a porsche breaker for £1000 and not loose a seconds sleep at night.

[BhamBox]

Originally Posted by MWS

LOL....glad to see my little rant is still making the rounds. So what have I learned: 1:drive car. 2:drive car. 3:drive car.

A quick insight for a new owner on the IMS; we don't need to seque into yet another IMS discussion, just wanted to add my opinion for a new owner...here goes: At some point you are going to wish you that never heard ANYTHING about IMS failures; the more you look into the issue, the more you will think "today is the day my car might die horribly". If you never knew about the issue, you might have many years of happy driving, which at some point (MAYBE) you would have a catastrophic failure, at which point you would scream "Why didn't I know about this!". Not to sound morbid, but it's akin to "if you COULD know the time and manner of your own death, would you WANT to know?" The IMS bearing is not quite that bad, but you do have several factors against you... 1-it's a known failure point. 2-single row bearings fail more than dual row. 3-there is no way to inspect current bearing. 4-by the time you know something is wrong, the damage is likely done. 5-there is a better solution than the Porsche part. The really irritating thing is that even a better bearing can fail (albeit less), and even if it was invincible, some other part COULD fail leaving you with pretty yard art. Point is, you have a decision to make.

For me, I finally did mine, and ya know what? My old bearing looked brand new. The strangest part of this story is... in retrospect, if I somehow knew before removal my old bearing would be prefect upon extraction, I still would have done the upgrade. Just one less thing to check off the old (literally) mental freak out list.

In summary, do the maintenance, consider upgrades, drive, drive, drive and smile...a lot.

My original plan was to not get the IMS done because of the $3000plus quotes that I got from the 2 independent shops in my area. I only paid $10k, so that's 30% of the car's cost. Since my decision, it has been on my mind, "is this the day the IMS is going to destroy the car we love!"

So, I called the dealership to see how much they would charge to replace the IMS with the Single Row Pro LN Bearing. They said I would need to supply the part and tools. This is my cost:

IMS Single Row Pro: $588
Faultless Tool kit: 354
Basic tool kit: 316
Labor: 1068
RMS: part and labor 93

I was surprised that a dealerships cost was better than an independent shop. If I can sell the tools for $500 then my final cost would be $1919. I got a great deal on my new car and what I know about the IMS and RMS issues I would have paid an extra 2k if these items were replaced before I bought the car. I have an appointment next Tuesday to get it done.

[particlewave]

You guys took someone that was really excited about his newly acquired car and made him lose sleep over a non-issue.
Shame, shame!

[Giller]

Originally Posted by particlewave

You guys took someone that was really excited about his newly acquired car and made him lose sleep over a non-issue.
Shame, shame!

I agree. While I wouldn't say it's a 'non-issue', I certainly would never replace the IMS on a Porsche. Value for money spent just isn't there. In the two years I've been on this forum I think I've heard of 3 IMS failures causing issues.....whereas I've heard dozens of stories of people replacing them only to discover the bearing they replaced was fine.
Oh wait, they are never fine - they always were dry or no oil or too much oil and on the verge of failing....

Sheesh.

[jdlmodelt]

Originally Posted by jcslocum

An oil change is the most basic of maintenance and should be learned. It's very easy to do on the Box and can be made easier with the install of a spin on filter kit. I don't have one on mine tho, because I like to inspect the filter. Get some ramps, a big oil drain pan and a few wrenches and a box of nitrile gloves.. The first oil change savings will pay for you tools in savings!! And remember, tools are your friends.

$11 at Amazon. I use this on my truck mainly because it's too big for the lift. Take it to the recycle center and pour it in the tank.



Oil filter tool $12



Rhino Ramps $60.

I have the Rhino ramps and the oil filter tool and those two tools alone go a long way with this car. WELCOME! how cool!. Pics? Lucky wife!

[BYprodriver]

Originally Posted by BhamBox

Thank you for your recommendations! I'm kind of leaning towards Momentum even though it is a little further from Trussville. I watched a YouTube video on how to do a Boxster oil change and it was a lot easier than I thought. I was anticipating it to be harder based on the cost of the oil change from Momentum and Eurasian. I will check out PCA/Barber.

I use to live in Roebuck Plaza.

[bglz42]

Great car! Enjoy and do not worry!

[FoxRvrBox]

1. Drive it.
2. Drive it some more.
3. Find another excuse to put it on the road.
4. Keep driving it. There is nothing else like it.
5. Still need a picture ....

[BhamBox]

We added a Pioneer App4 Stereo, and just picked up from the Porsche Dealerships after replacing the IMS and RMS. The old IMS had a little play when you move the center bolt. I'm not sure if that is normal. At least I don't have to worry about it anymore. Can anyone tell me if I have the Litronic Lights from the pictures I posted. Also, I would like to upgrade the seats from 2way to 8way. Does the 8way work with the 2way connectors?



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