EVERY Mezger flat 6 engine had an IMS! This includes 996 Turbo, as many have stated here.

I believe that having an "IMS" is a critical part of flat 6 engine design, and it is NOT a bad thing. The Mezger engine uses plain bearings that are oil fed, (just like my IMS Solution does) rather than any sort of deep groove ball bearing.

I am building a 996TT engine right now, and the thrust control surfaces of the IMS were shot after 42,000 miles. It also had 6 bent rods, so it lived a hard life, with a ton of boost. This wear can also be found with other Mezger engines, as the 4.1 engine I just finished (based from an M64.02) had the same layshaft wear.

Mezger based turbo engines are robust, BUT when they break, the bill starts thousands of dollars higher than any M96/ M97 engine. Parts for these engines have real Porsche prices, and labor rates for everything are higher. As long as one goes into this knowingly, all is well. Too many times, thats not the case.

My prices for building Mezger based engines starts at 35K, and goes straight up.

All that said, having an "IMS" is NOT a bad thing, supporting it with a 12 dollar GM alternator bearing is.

 

Whenever a "looking for a 996" thread is punctuated with the inevitable "Why not just pay the extra $X and get a turbo? Everyone knows those engines are [insert synonym for effing immortal]." comment, the following addendum should be included...

Seeing how much people bitch about putting a $20K engine into a $20K car, I wonder how much they'll complain about putting a $35K engine into their $35K turbo.

 

Well we all know that $35k Turbos (especially the red ones) are just ragged out track garbage anyway so why would you spend a dime on them. And the pristine $40-50k examples are not to be driven so it really doesn't matter if the engine is working or not.


And just why did we need to dredge up a thread from 2010?

 

If it's in an ad, it has to be true.

An excellent and timely reply, bburnrover. I'm sure the OP thanks you immensely.