2003 Boxster S - prevent IMS failure?

[Jan67]

Hello,

I'm new to this forum. I've bought myself a 2003 boxster S with 35000 miles. Looks good, drives like dream.

I'm however getting a bit uncomfortable reading a lot of stories about broken engines. Since i bought the car private: no guarantee.

My impression is that the engine block problems occured with 1996- 1999 cars (Boxster 2.5 and 996 3.4). RMS (rear main seal) and IMS (intermediate shaft) issues seem to continue however and it would't be the first '03 with IMS.

The car has a slight leakage from the clutch housing, probably RMS. It wouldn't bother me to continue driving it, maybe the RMS repair could be postponed and done together with the clutch (round 50.000 miles).

Now to the point of my post: maybe the oil doesn't come from the RMS but is coming from the IMS rear seal. I'm getting worried that in that case IMS failure is on its way. So i'm thinking of asking the shop to pull the gearbox. In that process, RMS and IMS rear seals would be changed. Can enything further be done to diminish or prevent IMS failure, i mean fitting a newer version of the IMS or IMS bearing?

Thanks for your opinions
Bye, Jan