IMS Changed
 

I changed mine at 65,000 kms (40,000 miles). Tiptronic so no clutch change to do IMS. Original bearing single row, full of oil but no grease. When cleaned very loose and outer race surface starting to fail (chatter marks, see pic). But SINGLE ROW.
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1500812660.jpg

97 tip 132k blew engine intermix Original ims, swapped used engine again original ims no issue

04 se 78k original ims and no intention of replacing it unless clutch goes first

'99, 118k, not terribly worried. If I had a single row bearing I'd probably do it though.

Sample quantity one anecdotes are interesting but meaningless.

I'm guessing around 30k bearings changed considering all suppliers and all bearing types.

I will just add this, all bearings need to be replaced at some interval, even dual row. There is no such thing as a lifetime bearing doing the heavy lifting of this particular application.

01 S, Rain Forest Green Metallic - 74K miles, 3500 mile trip coming up. All Clutch components will be replaced prior to trip. Regular yearly oil changes using DT-40. Oil Analysis and filter element examinations been great. Nothing to indicate anything breaking down. I am second owner and have no documentation that the IMSB was replaced.

'97 with 77K miles, only 8K miles under my ownership over 15 months. No documented IMSB or clutch work done, no RMS leak. Engine runs smooth and feels strong, so no worries, just biannual oil change and keeping the rev above 3,000 rpm 90% of time and often over 5,000 rpm at every gear shift to keep the bearing lubed and me smiling. if it blows up, I'll have a joy of debating to keep it stock or upgrade to 3.4. I like the way I can floor my 2.5 often without risking me or anybody getting into trouble.

13 years and 58,000 miles on original clutch and IMSB. RMS weeps. Don't worry either but will replace both when clutch goes.

'98 base with original IMS, RMS, and clutch 77,800 miles. Blackstone oil sample check done last oil change showed much lower than average metal in oil. No leaks.

Brave souls. If it does fail and trashes the engine it will be hard to find a replacement. From what I have heard, someone or probably several someones, has been buying up every available engine. porsche no longer offers a core allowance either. For a relatively cheap maintenance item, I just don't understand the thought process and I had three with no failures prior to replacing.


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i have 206 000 km original IMS

Sixty K on the original IMS.

02 base, 88k miles and owned since new. 40+ track days, no IMS

Nothing brave about it. Take care of your car and it will take care of you. Regular oil changes and proper maintenance will keep it singing for years, or you can treat it like a Hyundai beater and watch it fail. My car has 103000 miles on it and done 10000 this year, it gets driven hard and gears don't get changed most of the time until after 4000 rpm. I use it like Porsche intended it to be used and love doing so, i believe that if you get out and actually drive a car it does it the world of good as things stay lubricated and spinning. As Magnus says "get out and drive" and i reckon that the happiest cars are getting exactly that.

As for the scaremongering that seems to happen on this forum about this subject it really needs to calm down as people are more than informed about their choices on this and don't need it ramming down their throat in an almost religious zealot fashion.

The comments below may only apply to an M96 with exactly the same IMS-related tolerances as the hyundai beater cited.Your engine may be different - better or worse.That is the essence of the M96 IMS issue - multiple mechanical variations leading to unpredictable failure. Postmortems can give an explanation of some of the proximate causes of failure.Driving style is cited but only in a few of the contributory factors(e.g. acidity in lubricant).
The IMS research findings on this Forum are that M96 engines vary in critical dimensions and tolerances. The more adverse tolerances your engine has, the sooner the bearing will fail.
Chest-beating comments like 'drive it like you stole it' do not frighten out-of-round IMS tube measurements into obedient concentricity.
The recommendation below may hasten IMSB failure(and other weak components) but according to the recommendation below .the car will die happy. We may be muddling Mechanical Engineering and collective Forum wisdom with Anthropology ?
First, do no harm.
Second, find a competent,honest Indie.
It is all in Search.
Yemv

Blah, blah, blah, about what I expected. I was wondering when the united ims replacement front would show up.

Can we actually get back to the thread in hand and pass on the "omg you better replace it now" comments?

'01S 43K miles. Replaced single row IMS with LN Single Row Pro @ 40K when replacing the leaky RMS. The IMS was sealed and original, full of dirty engine oil and no grease. Peace of mind is wonderful.

If you have a technical comment to add to the collective wisdom at Rennlist or this Forum -we're all eyeballs.Did you understand Mike's comment?
Replacing the IMSB proactively may be futile - see below.
One unique example - I personally did a complete rebuild on an M96 that had had the original (85kmiles) 'still serviceable' single row IMSB.The P.O. replaced it but failed to address a more serious issue. The upgrade hybrid ceramic replacement was irrelevant to the outcome. FOM damaged #5 within less than 500 miles of the replacement IMSB being fitted..So the engine is on it's 3rd IMSB even though no part of the IMS system was ever shown to be defective.
Sometimes the cure is worse than....
Very difficult to make a useful generalization on the IMS problem other than the tolerance issues.Unless you can correlate the symptoms,diagnosis and outcomes you encourage people to gamble.Mileage is but one factor, driving style another but if you read Rennlist and this Forum carefully ,it is obvious there are many other issues.It is not random.And IMSB failure may not be the caused by the bearing .
First, do no harm.Particularly to others.

I've nothing technical to add because there are a lot more people out there putting their spin on what needs doing and when without conclusive reason as to why.

I do know this much, it gets real boring when every other thread on here turns into another ims thread.

Boring???? At this point this topic from this forum has reduced any 986 that has not had an IMSB replaced just about worthless and next to impossible to sell. Next fun topic, How about, how many have replaced your IMSB only to have your car totaled from a thunderstorm?