Just finished IMS bearing replacement!

[clickman]

Originally Posted by wanna986

If your IMS seal is leaking, it's just the seal that needs replacing, no?

Where have you been hiding? Welcome to the tale of horror otherwise known as the M96 IMS bearing.

The bearing is supposed to be sealed for life; i.e. grease, not oil. If oil is leaking out of it, the seals have failed, the grease has been washed out and bearing is likely failing.

Search IMS and you'll find WAY more on this than you want...

[blackbox]

Leaking is a sign of wear. This is not like tire or shock wear. This is the catastrophic kind of wear that you may not have a chance to repair if it completely quits on you.

My car has about 78K miles on it. If you're anywhere close to that and haven't replaced yours, you should definitely inspect it (hopefully around clutch R&R time).

My dealer replaced my RMS this summer. When I asked about the IMS bearing, the mechanic said " if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Of course a few months later, it started leaking. I don't recommend Moffit Porsche in Shreveport, La. They wouldn't install a Sachs clutch kit that I already bought because it didn't come in a Porsche box. We all know the OEM clutch kits are made by Sachs.

That said, I know they wouldn't replace the IMS bearing with a LNE retrofit kit.