The metal is non ferrous ie aluminium based. That begs the question is there an issue with the pistons / bores or another part in the engine .? I believe the cam tensioning guides are plastic , these are also a common failure from what I've read, could this be the material you have in your sump ?

Do you have some pics of the metal pieces?

Years/Miles on IMSR ?
 

5 failures out of 3000 with how many years/miles on them? If most have under 2 years and under 10k miles, I'd like to know how many OEM failures we had with such low hours/miles... Might be an even lower percentage?

Given all the talk of how driving habits and oil change intervals effects OEM IMS, I'd also suspect there MUST be a difference between manual and auto trannys and between 2.5 and 3.2 L engines, and would LOVE to hear some statistics on that.

It is great to read all the information on these forums about IMSR and IMSG, but I just keep coming back to the basic fact that we have pretty much only hearsay on percentages of various vehicles OEM failures.

Given that, my plan is to go with IMSG in hopes it might give me warning for any number of possible engine issues, and maybe do IMSR when there is more data of LN replacement failure rates over time and when I have to replace a clutch or fix that tiny oil drip from the RMS (about 1 drip every 2 months)...

Cheers,

Bruce (2000 Boxster S 6MT, 22k miles)

Most of the handful of LN units that had issues were not installed properly; to my knowledge, only one suffered a true failure...........

The LN kit was first available March of 2009. When last I checked, 4,000+ had been sold but that was several months ago.

Thanks for the info guys, meet the same problem here, how can i get the original ball bearings?

Unless you have a 2005 or later, you cannot get the OEM unit as Porsche will only sell you their "final solution" large bearing assembly, complete with a new shaft (required) for a bit north of $1K. Then you get to take your entire engine apart to install it.

Long before I would even think about using another steel bearing, I would opt for the highly successful LN ceramic unit; anything else is purely false economy............

I'd urge anyone with a prior IMS issue to wander over to renntech into the 996 forum and then do a search for "settlement". Porsche has agreed to a legal settlement with a class of folks who own or have owned 2000-2004.5 Boxsters and you'll need to read up on what documentation you'll have to provide to achieve compensation.

This, ironically, doesn't help those who did a LN or Pelican or Casper update, only those who had a failure and processed it through dealerships.

No earlier or later Boxsters aren't covered.