Before I purchased the car I have now (it came with the IMS Solution nicely wrapped in a Stage II engine) I spoke with a Certified Installer whom I have known for years, long before he became a CI, about another low mileage 996 I was looking at. He told me that he would not guarantee that he would install the Solution in this car until he had a chance to inspect it and make sure it was a good candidate. And that it would take him around 30 days before he even had time to do that. And then another 45 days or so before he had a slot to do the work, and to expect him to have the car for about a week. You are doing the right thing in shipping the car the 350 miles and having it done properly. Good luck with the purchase.

 

I hear the quote "I am finally getting my dream car" all the time. Unfortunately, people only call us when they have a problem, and too often that dream became a nightmare. For some, its a few days, or weeks after purchase, and in those cases, most of the time the person was taken advantage of, and someone knew the engine was failing, or had failed and was patched up, only to fail again. This is happening all the time.

Driving the 350 miles to the Certified Installer is the wise decision. Trust that any facility that loses their Certification has this occur for a well- substantiated reason. I have kicked two shops out of the program since it started, but there's zero tolerance for bad judgment, or mistakes to be made, so #3 is just around the corner. I lead this program with a lead fist, reinforced with titanium.

The low mileage cars fool people the worst. They think that low mileage is the key, when in actuality the low mileage car simply wasn't driven enough to fail in some cases.

Just last week we saw a 1999 996 with 12K miles. It was purchased at a premium by a buyer that said "This has been my dream since I was a kid, I have always wanted to own a Porsche 911". Finally at the age of 52 he was able to fulfill that dream.

3 weeks later he finds a bubble of coolant under the car, and dripping from the tail pipe. He then started the car and tried to drive it. The classic 1999 cylinder failure had struck, and later that day the engine would " D chunk" and seize on a piece of the broken cylinder, stopping him in his tracks, and finding him making a call to us. This failure should have happened under warranty, and been repaired like the thousands of others that were driven, and did fail under warranty. This car was 19 years old, with 12,000 miles, and it suffered a failure that it should have suffered 19 years ago. Now, he paid a premium for the car, and he is in line for our engine. While he did have the "best failure" possible, with very little trauma to the rest of the engine, its still costing him 9 months without the car, and 20K to reconstruct... So, when people brag to me about low mileage, I just shake my head and say "I'll take the one with 80-100K on the odometer instead".

Make a wise decision and it sounds like you are having the PPI done with great detail. That said, have them pull the sump plate and check the back side of the cylinders first for scoring, while the pistons are at TDC. Testing at BDC through the spark plug holes shows you about 2/3 of the picture. Going from both directions is what I do, and two of the cylinders are very difficult to reach from inside the sump.

Don't be fooled by that low mileage car. Treat it with great discretion.
Jake Raby

 

I was on a waiting list for a open slot more than 9 months out. I would ask periodically, but got turned down. Then finally, got a message in the summer to deliver the car for pre-qualificiation. It was approved and the Solution was installed. The only regret I have is not requesting to have a dyno done before and after the IMS Solution install. It feels like it has much more power. The shop told me the car will experience a noticeable performance increase because the IMS Solution produces LESS friction over OEM IMS bearings.

 

^^^Hmmm...Nutty Professor indeed! I think you've drunk the Kool-Aide That shop should be ashamed of themselves! The IMS/IMSB produces no power of it's own. If you're original bearing was dragging enough to reduce power (enough to feel it) it would have self destructed long before you had a chance to replace it. Also, your engine never would have been pre-qualified, as it would have been full of metal from said bearing. While it may feel like your engine has more power, rest assured it does not. More likely it's a result of your wallet being lighter, and you not being afraid to step on the gas pedal a little harder now that you've got The Solution!

 

The shop did warn me that noone would believe it.

 

I bought a low mileage 2003 C4 cab 10400 miles. Before I bought it I had it trailered to Upstate imports in Balwinsville NY to a certified installer. I couldn't get it into him for a month for the PPI and pre-certification. I paid the seller $500 to allow me to do this as a condition of purchase. I figured $500 was a good insurance rather than dealing with a nightmare as Jake has said. I previously owned a new 2001 C4 cab and put 60k miles on it in 4 years with never an issue, never heard of the ims in that time. I always did my own oil changes and maintenance, it NEVER saw the dealer or an indy for that matter. We both waited there for 1/2 day so the procedure could be done. I went into the shop several times and the owner showed me the "stuff" on the Porsche computer. Had the sump oil pain off and filer cut open showing me it all. Verified everything. After that, he found a few different things wrong (not engine) and it would cost an extra $1500 to fix those. I went out and offered the seller $1500 less to account for these things. He hemmed and hawed and finally agreed. I paid for the car and he told me after what he learned that day if I did not buy the car he was going to leave it with them to have the solution done. I left the car for 3 weeks till he could get to it and do the job. He showed me the old bearing which was perfect. I wanted it back as a paperweight but he said no he had to send it back to Jake for analysis. I took a train out there when it was done and drove the car home. I have put 3000 permagrin miles on it in 2 months! I put 30-40 miles on a day while my Subaru just sits in the driveway.

 

Well, true enough. (post 19) However, engineering studies have shown that a properly pressure lubricated sleeve bearing has lower radial resistance than the same size/design load ball or roller bearing. Having said that, the work HP of delivering pressure lubrication to another sleeve bearing has a small cost as well. However - in this case we're talking milligrams/meter of torque difference between sleeve, ball, and roller. heheheheee...

A pressure lubricated sleeve bearing is what should have been used in the first place. It was a design flaw which has dogged Porsche for almost 20 years now, and will go down in history as one of the worst mech engineering decisions ever. The market knows very well that the 911 from 1999 through 2007-ish has 'bearing problems' even if they don't know the IMS specifics. Heck, even my dentist mentioned it when he saw my car, and he's no gear head.

 

Thanks for the lesson Jake!
My 996.2 had The IMS Solution installed by the previous owner.
I read up on the qualification requirements and knew the engine was in great shape just 4 years before I bought it.
Very few miles had been put on it after The Solution was installed.
I was given copies of the pre-qualification pictures and all the paperwork with the car.
My IMS Solution paperwork was signed by someone with the last name Raby.
It's now past the 5 year warranty, whether it transfers or not, but I'm not worried about the IMS failing.

 

I'd like to add to this quote from a post above...

We do not monitor the IMS Solution program, or have anything to do with any aspect of the sales, or warranty. The only thing that we are associated with is choosing, and training Certified Installers, as well as handling tech support for these Certified Installers.

The old bearings go to LN Engineering to be registered, they do not come here.

When it was time for the IMS Solution to hit the market, it was time for us to step away from it. That was 9+ years ago.

 

Jake,
Do you certify shops or do you certify individual technicians?
Also wondering if a small 1-person shop would ever be able to become certified.

 

 

That's good to hear.
I do repair and maintenance work on the side at the moment, but may be "retiring" from my primary (non-automotive) job and working for myself "full time" soon.
(Probably in 2019 or 2020)
Planning to attend the Knowledge Gruppe M96 101 class in 2019.
I'll do the full week long 102 class as well if the schedule works out for me.

 

Sounds good. The M96 classes are being scaled back to just one online, and one hands on class per year for 2019 and beyond. Sigjn up early, when the schedule for 2019 is released in a couple weeks.

l’ve added a ton of other classes, including 996 Turbo, and Mezger aircooled.

 

Steam Mill, it's been an month and haven't heard anything on your search. How did your search and PPI on the "low mileage 996" turn out? Updates?

 

Sweet! If you get certified you will be my choice! I'll be ready for the solution in three years or so, take your time!