IMS Solution... Price?
 

Looks like the new IMS solution explained... I wonder how much the kit is to buy?
Anybody got any pricing yet.
Depending on price, I'm still thinking for the average guy the single IMS replacement is probably all the engine will ever need during its lifetime....
H

The IMS Solution - YouTube

IIRC, Jake told us about $1,600 for the kit, purchased from your indy. They are not going retail this time around.

2 answers.
1. The IMS Solution is presently only available at Flat Six Innovations (Jake Raby, the developer's business), so you have to ship him the car, or go there. I looked into it and I believe he said probably not until 2014 for independent installers, if at all (I deleted the email so I can't check). No "Preferred Installers" until they get trained in proper installation.
2. I'm pretty sure he quoted around $3500, including RMS and clutch and flywheel. He said they will only do it with the clutch and flywheel replacement.

I should probably have waited until Jake responded (he will), but I think that's pretty accurate.

Good job with the explanation.

The cost is 3,500.00 all inclusive for my version of the install, only carried out here at Flat 6 until further notice. This includes clutch kit, RMS, pre- inspection, post inspection and dyno. No hidden cost, it even includes oil and other incidental expenses.

We are now booked till May, this morning we were only booked till March ;-)

So far we have jobs on the books from as far away as Washington State, I don't think its possible to get further away and still be in the Continental USA.

Thanks for the explanation
:-)
H

Jake, is it the same cost for a Tip car? If so, what would that include? Coolant/Trans fluid since I don't have a clutch?

Ditto... I have an 04 boxster S special edition tiptronic approaching 40K that I'd be interested in getting done and I am only about 3 hours away from cleceland.

Tip cars are the same cost across the board. The added work associated with dealing with the Tip transaxle equals the cost of clutch components.

Mountainman, we consider 3 hours away to be local... We seldom ever get to deal with cars that close to our facility :-)

This begs the question, if for one reason or another, the IMS Solution is not available to some of us, is the the previous retro-fit IMBS replacement procedure obsolete ?

Its not obsolete and won't be; it just maintains the same ball bearing design and the compromises that go along with it.

The classic IMS Retrofit will continue to be offered, but we are only applying it to the dual row equipped cars as we are not marketing the dual row version of the IMS Solution. I feel when we invent new technology and develop it for our engines that its not fair to our customers unless we globally apply it to every engine that we touch that can utilize it.

Hi Jake, is the retrofit a wear and tear item that needs to be replaced on a set frequency?

What do you recommend for individuals such as myself who live too far away to have you do the IMS Solution, but want to take preemptive measures against IMS failure ? Quite, simply, should I do the IMS retro-fit, or keep my fingers crossed and wait until a qualified installer in my area can do the IMS Solution ?

I think for a stock motor the LN IMS bearing is all that's needed and just replaced with each clutch replacement and/or checked anytime you're in that area. The IMS solution is a great technology, but for the cost it should probably only be an option for jakes high cost high hp motors. I think this because there are other modes of failure that probably have a higher failure probability than the LN IMSB (such as the chain guides).

I could be wrong, and if I am Jake, can you provide some rough numbers as to what the likelihood of any of the other modes of failure are? Are they fairly low?

BTW I'm getting my LN IMSB installed next month.

Thanks for your response, but with all due respect, since my vehicle only has 20k original miles on it, I would hope to find myself in an assisted living community, more than I would the need to replace the IMSB more than once !

That's even more of a reason to get the LN IMSB, you drive so infrequently that the 50k mile maintenance interval on the LN IMSB will be in a long time. My car has 47k miles on it over 10 years. When I first bought it I drove it a lot more, now I hope to get 4-5k miles in p/year. I hope not to worry about it for another 10 years.

Ummn, thats not too far away.. The car can land here in one day for 450 bucks in shipping cost, maybe less if we get it on a truck bringing us more than 2-3 Porsches at once. I have cars here from 19 states at the present as well as two Canadian provinces and an engine from Hong Kong with another inbound from South Africa.

We consider anything on the east coast to be local work.

Other modes of failure do exist, 23 more to be exact. I did originally invent the IMS Solution for my engines where people purchase an engine that is fully updated. Most of these are not "High HP" as they generally make 25-50HP more than stock from displacement increases and efficiency gains. Unfortunately our engines are no longer the most expensive option, since the majority of OEM Porsche crate engines now cost either the same or more money and they come with high core charges.

I remember the days when my engine was 15K and the factory engine was 5-7 brand new and we still had more work than we could handle. The people that love these cars spend the money and always have, just like the days when we built 10K buck engines for 914s that weren't worth 3K bucks!

The choice is simple, if you want to keep the car for more than 50K miles, then consider the IMS Solution; if you don't plan on keeping the car that long just stick with the standard retrofit or an IMS Guardian. The only bad decision that an owner of an 01-05 car can make is to do nothing.

It doesn't matter to me which way you go, my job with the IMS Solution is over and no matter how many sell/ do not sell isn't any of my concern since I am only concerned with my engines and retrofits that we carry out here.What matters to me is removing the ball bearing design from every engine that leaves my facility~

With all due respect, I'm a little confused ? Prior to the invention of your IMS Solution, there's was every indication that the IMS retro-fit was the perfect answer to addressing the problem of IMSB failure. Now it sounds like it's become more or less a summary approach to the issue than a finite one. Indeed, the part about needing the IMS Solution if I desired to keep my vehicle beyond 50k miles is a bit perplexing. Again, with all due respect, unless there's a way that I can "miracle" my boxster to your location, after nigh on to 40k in mods (not the least of which involved a major body kit project), there's simply no way that my vehicle is going on a flatbed or trailer to anywhere - fancy transport companies notwithstanding. Having said that, it seems like my only option is to do the retro-fit. However, the overall impression that I've gotten from this thread, is that the effectiveness of the IMS retro-fit has been greatly downplayed by the IMS Solution.

Jake and Charles have never said that the ceramic bearing would last 200k miles. What they have stressed is how much better it is than the original OEM bearing/lube design. That is still what Jake is saying. And they have recommended at least inspecting the ceramic bearing at intervals (up to 50k now from about 30k in the beginning IIRC based on longevity experience acquired over thousands of installations).

Given the labor involved (either your time in the case of the ceramic or Jake's in the case of the Solution), you can either pay twice for the labor at expected longevity intervals for the ceramic or once with the Solution if you run say 70k+ miles.

And if you don't want to drive the car or trailer it to Cleveland GA, then currently you have several remaining choices:
- Do nothing
- Pelican (OEM like) bearing kit
- LN Ceramic kit
- Wait for the Solution to be available from an installer near you
- Fashion your own kit

People have written lots about the IMS Solution and IMSB. Here's a summary from my reading. It should help put the options in perspective. Please correct anything I may have gotten wrong from my review of bulletin board and web information

IMS Retrofit

1. Benefit: Ceramic bearing life much greater than original design; still has multiple wear points.
2. Availability: now
3. Cost of part: about $650
4. Installed cost: $2K to $3K depending if clutch / RMS replaced at same time
5. Installers: independent shops, some dealers, DIY
6. Reliability: High (dual row - no reported failures; single row - handful of reported failures, rate less than 1%)
7. Result of Failure: Major engine damage perhaps catastrophic damage
8. Maintenance: inspect at 50K or during clutch / RMS replacement whichever comes first

IMS Solution

1. Benefit: New design eliminates many wear points in old design reducing the possibility of failure to almost nothing
2. Availability: Unknown (estimates range from Spring 2013 to early 2014)
3. Cost of part: about $1500
4. Installed cost: $2.5K to $3.5K depending if clutch / RMS replaced at same time
5. Installers: Now - Flat 6 Innovations; later independent shops
6. Reliability: Predicted to be very high almost bullet proof
7. Result of Failure: Minor - engine noise
8. Maintenance: none

If you are greatly concerned that the IMSB might fail soon, ypu might want to replace it now with the IMS Retrofit now since the IMS Solution isn't generally available outside of Flat 6 Innovations. In 3 to 7 years, you can decide whether to upgrade to the IMS Solution or stick with the retrofit. If you aren't greatly concerned about a near term failure, but plan to replace the IMSB as a preventive measure, wait until IMS Solution is available. If you just want to get this all behind you now, schedule a IMS Solution job with Flat 6 Innovations.

Given the impending doom that has always been discussed with regard to the oem bearing, as I see it, I have one or two options. I can either cross my fingers and hope for the best or proceed with the IMSB retor-fit. Waiting for the IMS Solution to become available in my area any time soon is not a viable option.