Porsche Boxster IMS retrofit - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Tmar04 · 02-03-2019, 11:56 AM

Just a heads up re: Porsche IMS bearing retrofit. I have 1999 Porsche Boxster and wanted to do bearing upgrade so made a few inquiries in Charlotte NC area. I received quotes 2500-3000 for ceramic hybrid bearing from LN Engineering plus RMS included. Then I came across GMP Performance in Charlotte. They quoted 1650 for IMS ceramic bearing to include RMS . They did a bang up job for me and also had AOS installed while there. This company has been in business since 1975 and certainly are well qualified. Super nice clean shop and friendly staff. Google them and call Michael in Porsche service. They work on all German autos. Save some $$

mikefocke · 02-03-2019, 12:58 PM

And was the savings in the kit used (parts) or in the labor? I'm curious as the 40+% difference in price leads to a questioning of how one was different from another. As there are several LN kits, could that be part of the explanation? The plain bearing versus a ceramic dual row?

Tmar04 · 02-03-2019, 03:38 PM

Biggest savings was labor charge. 861.00 labor, 699.00 for hybrid ceramic dual row bearing,( I saw box from LN Engineering) plus 31.00 rear main. I’m satisfied. Naturally, my OEM bearing in good shape, but I didn’t know that for sure. 82 k miles on vehicle. Now I don’t worry about putting Porsche on long trip. Nothing in this for me.

356Guy · 02-03-2019, 03:57 PM

Are you sure those other quotes didn't include a clutch?

Tmar04 · 02-03-2019, 04:16 PM

Quote from GMP was 1650 plus/ minus few dollars for misc bolts, etc. if I wanted OEM clutch, 2350.00. Clutch and flywheel were ok, so I decided to go with just bearing upgrade. I am old enough to know not to take first quote on a deal. I talked to several Porsche repair facility before deciding. They charged me 699.00 for ceramic dual row bearing. My veh is 1999 so OEM was dual row.

Beelzy · 02-04-2019, 07:59 AM

Whoa! That's a great price for the labor. My local Indy wanted $800 labor just for a water
pump install. Needless to say I did that job myself.

mikefocke · 02-04-2019, 02:04 PM

So you have a sticker on the drivers door saying it was a LN. That is reassuring. It may be that they had the tools and knew how to make the install quicker than the competition. The competition price almost sound like they were going to do a TIP equipped install.