Hal

I am looking at a 1999 996 with a rebuilt motor that used a Vertex IMS bearing. I knew they made one but also know zero about it. Nor can I find much here using “Search.”

Anyone have experience or thoughts about it? Candidly, I am hesitant unless I can be convinced it is an OK product.

wildbilly32

Do you know who rebuilt the engine?

Hal

One of several yet to be answered questions by the seller.

texcwa

I know that there are several threads on the Cylindrical Bearing oil fed IMS like the Vertex (or the Vertex). Use the search for cylindrical or roller bearing.

wildbilly32

There will be several opinions on this product. I was just wondering...

Dr_Strangelove

Do you know how long ago the engine was rebuilt? Knowing if the bearing has miles on it will be a good indicator how it is performing. The LN bearings all have service intervals, I'm sure the Vertex does as well. There are guys on here running them, they'll chime in hopefully. My mechanic put an LN in.

AWDGuy

They advertise it as a permanent solution, like the IMS solution.

Schnell Gelb

There were some epic Threads on this bearing -some included Jake.It was hilarious. They received suggestions on how to improve their product (Thrust) and oiling( don't punch a hole in the back of the o.p. housing !
They acknowledged none of this but made a few mods w/o saying a word to those who encouraged them to fix it.
The product my be O.K.? But if you eventually upgrade to a different product ,how will you fix the hole in the back of the o.p. ?
The RND or LN Cylindrical roller bearing seems a better product and no butchery of the o.p. required.
BTW LN have some deals on IMSB at the moment.
Does it need Clutch & RMS ?

Hal

Still waiting on more info on the actual rebuild. That could be a deal killer if not done right.

Noz1974

Schnell the hole isn’t in the oil pump, there is a metal cap pressed into the end of the ims shaft like a core plug, it’s that you punch a 1 mm hole in with a special provided punch to allow oil through the back of the ims, the feed is governed by a special groove machined into the oil pump hex drive which allows some oil from the pump to flow down the side of the hex drive , through the punched hole and into the shaft to feed oil into the bearing at the other end, a specially machined washer which sits behind the ims allows oil into the bearing , it then flows through and then runs back to the sump , this also lubricates the flat surfaces on the back of the ims flange, which the sides of the bearing races run against to give the thrust control , it seems to work well and I’ve got 5k on mine now , I know there’s been some argument on this but I don’t believe there is any actual thrust load , it’s more just something to keep the ims shaft aligned with the chain as obviously a roller bearing doesn’t have any way to stop the shaft floating around without this as it doesn’t run in grooves like ball bearings which is how they keep tracking straight without sideways movement , the cylinders of the roller bearing just run on a central shaft and would float side to side and may throw the chain without the measures in place , basically the outer edge of the bearing runs against the ims flange, acting like a plain bearing does if you like with a clearance for oil in between , originally there was just a groove machined in the flange which would catch oil from splash lubrication as this is inside the wet area of the engine lubrication where there is quite a bit of oil flying around but then it was decided to use the forced oil feed method through the shaft , and now the groove is where the pressurised oil now exits to the sump, it is said that the splash lube is good enough and the oil feed was to sure up customer concern over the amount of lubrication the bearing was getting, the LN ims solution wasn’t available when I did my build so I opted for this as I thought it looked a sturdy option , I like the ims solution best now from an engineering point of view but it’s still quite pricey at $1700 !! Compared to the eps option , so fingers crossed it keeps going !!

Hal

So I start pushing the seller of the car for details on the engine rebuild. . . He disappears. No longer responds to emails or texts.

One less car to consider.

jllphan

Been there. Happy hunting.

808Bill

Give us the listing so we can all bombard him with questions about it!