Well, it happened. IMS failure
 

My excellent condition 2003 Boxster has metal shavings all over the oil filter. 85k 2.7, i haven't bore scoped yet but I'm sure it's toast. Engine still cranks but no start. Multiple engine codes thrown. Car is in really good shape, everything works top in great shape. Paint shiny and interior shows minimal wear. There were no check engine lights on, car was running good. I have owned it for 3 years and put about 4,000 mi on it, but I've changed the oil three times in that time. I always looked at the oil filter like the forums said. Never had any pesky check engine lights except for an airbag code which I figured out. I have a foxwell scanner. I bought the car for for $5,500, which I thought wasn't bad. At the time the only thing wrong with it was it needed new tires and the convertible top wasn't working because of broken plastic gears which I replaced with brass ones. I love the car and really enjoy driving it so I'm probably going to go ahead and put a new engine in. I'm fairly mechanically inclined so it doesn't overwhelm me but I am wondering if I should spend the extra money to go ahead and try to get an S engine or just get a replacement used 2.7? What do you guys think I know I'm not going to ever recoup my money out of it but yada yada I might as well fix it. Thank you

Sorry to hear that! It’s every Boxster owners nightmare scenario.

I would look in to it a bit more. The IMS bearing issue is well known but it might be something else. Metal debris means a full tear down but it might be salvageable.

If it isn’t a 3.2 engine would be a definite upgrade.

I would go S version,.why not, But I think you would need the ECU aswell,,Sorry to hear of the issue, my 2.7 has 103 K on runs well,.But I think it was changed at 78 K Good Luck !

What kind of metal shavings? Magnet test? Color?

It has gold dust and the oil filter housing and some good silver chunks and shavings in the oil filter itself. I have not done the magnet test when I pulled the oil and looked at it I kind of got depressed and haven't looked at the car in a couple of weeks. So now I'm just contemplating what my next step is.

Gold dust you mention could mean that the rod bearing has gone. If you check the debris from oil filter with magnet and the debris do not attach to magnet, it is most likely the rod bearing that gave up.

Do not start/turn the engine. IMS could result in a damaged block (as with my 997). If I were you, I would have the engine rebuild. Save engines!!

When I bought my 2000S it had a blown engine and copper particles in the oil pan. It was a rod bearing, although I think a crank bearing would give the same colored particles. I got a decent used engine locally for about $3800 US. I very much doubt that it is the IMSB. Because I had an engine availableI I ran a 2.7 engine in the S for several months while buying and doing the maintenance on the replacement 3.2. No change was necessary for the ECU, a later 3 chain engine might be different.
My story is here:
https://986forum.com/forums/boxster-general-discussions/82558-bought-2000-boxster-s-project.html

YOLO and go for a used 3.6! 🤘

There are few people who will complain about changing a car's oil TOO often, but for a car (not a boat), 4000 miles, especially on a boxster, is fine on the oil even for 3 years, was there a reason you changed it so often? There are theories about overchanging your oil, not common anymore, but did you suspect a problem before? Did you mention if the car was an auto or stick? How high do you typically rev the engine to before changing gears? If you lookup on the common causes of the IMS failure, its commonly from a dried out oil seal, fixed by people driving it like its suppose to.