Prematurely blown engines is not just a Boxster issue. I recently had a pristine 2009 Mini Cooper S with 66k lose compression on one cylinder due to a direct injector being stuck open and washing the cylinder wall clear of oil and scoring the cylinder wall. This happened within 60 seconds of the issue occurring.

I could have decided to plug in a used engine, rebuild the existing one or sell it as a roller. Selling it as a roller was the best financial option so that's the path I went with the car being sold with multiple offers in 2 hours and I moved on with my life. Life is too short to worry about it especially in the case of a sub $10k car that is easily replaced.

BTW - every Porsche in my signature had potentially expensive issues, some of which have occurred.

03 Carrera and 02 Boxster we all know about their weaknesses
944S2 - failed valve springs requiring a top end overhaul, premature water pump failure, timing belt failure - not good on a interference engine
89 Carrera 4 - lack of head gaskets causing leaks, premature failure of the rubber damper on the clutch, complex four drive system prone to expensive failures
78 SC - failing chain tensioners, blown air boxes

Cars aren't perfect, we as enthusiasts are just much more aware especially in the internet age.

Nobrakes, Sorry for your loss.

Everyone else, Replacing the IMS bearing is a good idea as is doing all the other regular maintenance. Replacing the IMSB should never be thought of as making your M96 engine 'bullet proof'. M96 (and any other) engines can fail for a lot of reasons. I don't see anything pointing to IMS failure on this particular engine. Might be, might not be. The '01 engine I tore down was full of metal and seems to have failed (initially) from a broken rod bolt. The original IMS bearing looked good at 124k miles.

I have learned a lot from Tom and agree with his assessment in the post above, except that I don't see failure in most street cars as inevitable as his racing engines.

http://986forum.com/forums/boxster-general-discussions/56600-m96-engine-failure-mode-list.html

A little marketing From Flat6Innovations:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5EOvhl77idA?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Lastly, I would not recommend that anyone rely on a 15+ year old sports car as their only transportation or buy one at all if they have to finance it.

911 Monty..........Bringing up my 1st post brings back memories..........I have no reason to lie. After 2 weeks of ownership I has a very respected independent shop do the LN IMS and a complete 30k service. I then drove the car over 4 years {avg 5k miles a year} without one single problem. It was my weekend fun car and hobby. I only had to change the oil every 5k and change the tires twice.
To everyone..........I never stated the IMS was the cause of the engine grenading. I only mentioned it to let everyone know that it wasn't the original .........A lot of times the damage to the IMS IS SECONDARY. THERE ARE ALOT OF THINGS THAT DESTRUCT IN THESE MOTORS CAUSING DAMAGE TO OTHER COMPONENTS. This is happening more and more to these motors according to a very respected engine builder here in the Atlanta area. I sold the car as is because I don't have the space, time, or patience to rebuilt the motor. I also lost my faith in Porsche...........I loved this car and had over 4 years of fun with it for that I am grateful, things could of been worse and in the road of LIFE this was only a small pothole.......Take Care.

Aren't we up to 28 modes of failure now? Up to 20 years old. Nothing is perfect. Especially an engine designed with a severe shortage of resources.

But boy are they fun.

Hey Nobrakes, great post. Again, I’m really sorry for your loss. This is my 7th Porsche. If my 986 SE engine goes, I’ll sell the roller for whatever I can and move on. No way I’m replacing the motor in the 986. Maybe an Aston Martin, maybe a 993, maybe a Lotus Evora. Who knows. Life’s too short and there are a lot of cars out there to experience.

I thought I'd wanted one of these cars. I've even drove a few. But nevertheless I don't think this car is for me. Porsche used the customer to propel its transition to water cooled cars all the while leaving them in the dust as well as their lustrous history.

So what was the purpose of that ad? It lists all these horrible problems and mentions one solution. Were they trying to scare folks the from water cooled cars? If I saw that, I would have turned off and probably not bought a boxster way before they even got to the IMS.
That seems like air cooled propaganda to me. Maybe The secret order of 911 guys funded this footage to prevent the expansion of water cooled Porsches. Seems like a conspiracy to me. 😄

A 90s Honda Accord is a safer bet if it’s your DD and an engine failure will break the bank or the last straw. It’s a 15-20 year old sports car. I wouldn’t chose a 1956 Indian as my only motorcycle either.

Owning any older sports car out of warranty and driving it is a luxury. You’re taking your chance. Every trip is betting nothing will happen.

And, you bought used. Can you really be sure what all POs did? No. As for the Raby video, he’s a solid engine guy who uses the it can explode at any moment and I’m the only real fix thing to death.

Jake Raby builds the engines Porsche was supposed to built to support their racing heritage...

If you are totally risk averse, a Boxster or any other older high end sports car, is not for you. I have owned mine for three years and she is absolutely one of the best purchases of my life. At almost 19 years old she runs and drives like a brand new car, and looks fantastic. The fun factor and permagrin while driving her more than offsets the purely financial side of ownership. If you are going to play, then you have to pay! If she does blow up, I'm sure that I will briefly question my decision making. But that won't erase the joy of the experience.

Life is meant to be lived. Driving a Boxster certainly makes you feel alive!!

Well said! That's why most of us are here. Sh#t can and does happen. Plan for it. Now would I be devastated in my M96 went ka-boom - yes, I would. But I try to take all steps I can to make sure that won't happen. But remember, as others have said, these cars are 13-20 years old.

In the meantime, it's a nice early winter day here in New England, and as soon as my car is done at the indie (having her annual check-up, and getting braided brake lines installed) I plan on feeling alive later today!

Carpe Boxster!

There is certainly no denying that.

Anything out there can be modified or improved. Porsche is no exception. They should be reaching out to hire him honestly.

Duplicate post

I'll just stick to my 86 air cooled 911 and you can have fun in your ride. I was just stating that reliability is no more with the water cooled 986s. This is a 986 forum and I respect that you enjoy your rides but reading the op's situation makes me not opt for a 986.

I hope you don't stay locked in your house because you read the news once. :rolleyes:

How many miles on your 911?

220,000 miles

Oh so only one 986 engine has blown?
Silly...

For the record I think they're beautiful cars but reading about engines that grenade even after an ims fix is a real bummer, that's all.