Any Aussies had an IMS retrofit done? How much?

[Pinarelloman]

I was at yesterdays NSW Porsche club concours and speaking to a company who does the LN Engineering IMS retrofit.

I am worried like alot of people out there, but I am leaning towards having it done for peace of mind. The price including complete new clutch & flywheel, replace IMS & RMS is under $4000.

Just after a price comparison.

Americans also feel free to post your prices.

Thanks.

[Perfectlap]

assuming you have a 986, if you have access to an independent Porsche specialist with a good reputation, the basic job of just swapping the old IMS bearing with the the new LN unit is not very complicated even if you're specialist is doing it for the first time. A couple hours to remove the transmission, a couple of hours to remove the old bearing and swap in the new LN unit, a couple hours to put it all back together and replace the oil.
If your car has high mileage you'd obviously want to take advantage to do some other work like replacing the clutch and servicing the axle boots, putting in a new flywheel if it looks shaky. So you figure 10 hours total if you did all of the above. Maybe 8 if you only did IMS bearing. Over here on this side of the ocean my specialist charges $85 an hour. Basically $800 on labor and another $1,000 in parts and fluids. It was his first time doing this procedure so he had to buy the special tool to easily extract the old bearing. But all in all for a shop familiar with disassembling old 911 engines this job was elementary. Incidentally I had a dual row bearing from the factory that was tip top. I was a little worried because my car had only taken on 9,000 miles in the first 4.5 years, so it sat in the garage a lot but when I took ownership we changed all that. I sorta regret waint as much as 9 months to change the oil but I now do the oil changes at least three times a year no matter the mileage.

[Pinarelloman]

Firstly, sorry I thought my vehicle was in my profile. Now fixed.
Yes it is a 986.
I will be having a full clutch,pressure plate & flywheel replacement in addition to the RMS & IMS.
The company I was talking to are an independent Porsche specialist and they are saying about 15-20hrs labour for the complete job.
I rang them today and priced the clutch parts at $880 for the clutch & pressure plate. Dual mass flywheel $1100 and lastly the IMS bearing is about $800 over here.
So all up parts are about $2780 plus labour. I don't know if I want to attempt this myself for a saving of $1000.
Thanks for your reply.

[Perfectlap]

I had the same done, forgot to mention the RMS swap using the Cayenne unit and they also serviced the rear axles boots which were both torn. My Porsche specialist said the boots is at least a two hour job. I also had the starter (failing) and alternator (failed) replaced total damage was $4,000 at $85 an hour.

[Steve Tinker]

I had my IMS assembly replaced 6 weeks ago by T&D Auto, a Porsche specialist in Brisbane. Although I do all my own servicing, I don't have the expertise or inclination to be able to install the IMS on my own!
The bill came to $A3,750 which included the IMS assembly, a new clutch kit (Sachs), install the latest RMS, a minor service (but I supplied the Shell Helix oil) and a 4 wheel alignment. While they were installing the above, they found that a couple of the spark plug tubes were leaking slightly (which I already knew about and was on my hit list), so I got them to replace all 12 O rings. This is included in the $$ cost above.
As a matter of interest, the IMS assembly they removed was in excellent condition, no bearing loosness and the plastic seals still pliable and intact. I've sent the assembly to Charles Navarro @ LN Engineering for his records & warranty.
The engine / IMS had done 75,000km (47,000 miles) and has never gone past 10,000km (6,000 miles) between oil changes since new - so maybe Jake Raby and Charles Navarro's commitment to 5,000 mile oil changes is correct.
As my sig says - now sleeping easier.......

[Pinarelloman]

Steve,
Many thanks that is exactly the type of information I was looking for.
A couple of questions if I may.
Did your clutch feel Ok before the work & does it feel any different now?
Did they replace the full clutch assy including dual mass flywheel?
How many days was the car off the road?

I am looking at having Bob Whyms Auto do mine. They do alot of work for members of NSW Porsche club.

It looks like Jake won't be needed after all, though it would be good to have him talk at a NSW P club meeting.

Thanks again for the reply & if you are ever in Sydney let me know.

[Steve Tinker]

Dave,
Bob Whyms supplied the LN Eng parts and they gave me the info of who to install here in Qld.
My clutch on inspection was +/- 50% worn @ 75,000km and still felt very good, though it did have a nasty squeak when depressing the clutch. The new clutch action has probably improved by being 25% lighter action. Takeup is the same. The release bearing was very rattly once removed.

A new flywheel was an extra +/- $A1,000-00 which, on inspection, mine didn't need.

The shop could have completed the install in 2 days, but Whyms was waiting on a new shipment of double row bearings from the US, so it took just over a week before I could pick the car up.

Hope this helps - and if Jake does come on over to Oz, there will be more than a few beers waiting for him, just to say thanks for all his help.