Thank you to everyone for taking time to reply and it’s nice to get a few different view points.
There are 2 options I can find online - both require me bringing the car to England ( which adds to the cost massively) but I’ll ring a couple of places here in Ireland & see what they offer. Their websites say they are Porche Specialists but no mention of IMS upgrade by any of them.
https://www.kenplantautotech.ie/
https://www.specialistcarsireland.ie/
Optimum Performance & Handling | Porsche Independent Specialists
Porsche Car Sales, Prestige Car Sales, North Dublin
In England I see
IMS Bearing Replacement | Revolution Porsche of Yorkshire
and
https://rpmtechnik.co.uk/servicing/ims-bearing-upgrade/
I think the first one, Revolution, is the upgrade that most would recommend?
I would usually be happy enough to drive on if it was something that could fail, and would then require a repair. But there is no repairing here - full new engine, which may as well mean a new car.
But it’s not the rate of failure, which in all honesty I think is blown out of proportion due to the nature of how the internet works ( I mean if every Porsche owner that never upgraded & never had a problem came online it might give a different perspective) BUT the consequences of a failed bearing are not in dispute and it’s one thing everyone can agree on.
I am surprised that when looking around in the aftermarket car sales websites that there aren’t more Porches for sale as “parts only” or “needs new engine” - I mean if this was a major issue you would expect to see plenty of cars that had the failing, are not worth fixing & so go on sale for their other valuable parts.
And of the 30+ running and good condition cars I viewed only 2 said they had the IMS done. 2!! If others had it done it would surely be a selling point. So u have to reasonably presume they haven’t had it done and all these years later they are still running fine. And so many comments from ones that have had it done & their original bearing was pristine - so while LN etc will say how many units they have sold, that doesn’t mean that all those thousands of units were actually needed.
But, I keep coming back to the consequences of a failure & the lack of forewarning.
I am torn, but my gut is telling me to get it done. I will eventually take it to France & maybe later Italy for a weeks driving holiday with my wife and that would not be a good place for something like this to go wrong.
I’ll try and negotiate a bit more discount on the car to get me over the line, and I guess if I ever do come to reselling it, it would be a selling point in its favour.
I’ve had cars in the past that have required expensive enough repairs, I remember a Toyota Aristo with a stupid oil leak that ended up running into €800, but I wasn’t about to get rid of car over €800.
I guess if I had the Boxster for a year & something needed doing at a cost of €800 or a €1000 I wouldn’t give it to much thought, just get it done. Not going to give up the car for something like that, unless it was expense like that on an ongoing basis - but what I’m reading is they are pretty reliable & not crazy expensive to keep running.
So if the IMS failure was not engine ending, but still €1000 to repair if it broke, would I buy the car & drive on in the knowledge that it might fail & cost me €1000+ to fix? Yes, yes I would.
So why not spend the money upfront as a preventative step? If I would be willing to spend that money to have it repaired, why not be willing to spend it to stop it from happening in the first place.
It’s a bit like the flu jab or other jabs before u go to exotic places on holiday - pay €100 now to prevent yourself getting ill on holiday & spending hundreds on medical bills & time off work in recovery OR spend €100 now and avoid it in the first place.
It’s effectively an insurance policy. All the years paying insurance on health & car & house & I have never once made a claim. And u know what would happen the first time I didn’t insure something? Bang!!
So all in all I will most likely get it done if the sale goes ahead.
Just need to figure out if I can get it done in Ireland or need to go to UK.
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