Barn996

If IMSB is a major concern of yours for potential failure, yes.

Philip P

eh i figure it was cheap insurance for many different possible failures so whatever ill pay the money and do it.

KrazyK

I agree with groov dude. Just bite the bullet and fix it right. Installing a "warning system" to tell you when the engine is going to blow seems kind of like your just putting off the inevitable. I think thats what the guages are for. Why not just get a magnetic plug and check the filter for particles? And,, what does this "warning system" patched into wiring do to warranty and resale value?

Flat6 Innovations

Basically.. However it gives the driver that can't afford the retrofit right now the sense of security they desire. It also monitors every other ferromagnetic component within the engine.

Can you do that while driving your car? With the IMS Guardian you can.
Conventional drain plugs equipped with magnets are great for catching debris, but with even a 5K mile service interval the person servicing the car is only seeing the drain plug every 5K miles.

The majority of engines with bearing failures degrade severely and progress most from the stage 2-3 portion of the failure which seems to take only about 1,000 miles of use. Unless you pull that drain plug every day 99% of people won't ever benefit from the magnetic drain plug saving their engine. I have only experienced two engines that were saved by magnetic drain plugs, but one saw so much collateral damage already from foreign object debris that it was wasted even though the bearing was retrofitted.

You have not done your homework. NOTHING is patched in! The system uses an OEM Porsche switch, it integrates seamlessly into the factory unaltered dash cluster.

The wiring is not patched together. We devised an add a circuit arrangement that ties the system in to any fuse within the fuse panel so power is provided with no splicing. Remove a fuse and install the circuit adaptor. Replace the fuse that you pulled into the adaptor and the original circuit and the IMSG circuit are both protected. No splicing, no tools and if removed there are no traces that it was ever there.

For resale value: We have already been selling these units to sports car boutiques all over the world as a selling AID to help them sell vehicles because people are afraid of IMSB failure. The IMSG is the quickest and simplest method of adding value to your Porsche with the word being out on IMSB failures.

For warranty:
The system is absolutely non-invasive, the MCD sensor installs just like a drain plug, so engine warrantees are not effected. The wiring is only a matter of a simple connection to the fuse box and jumping one wire (using OEM Porsche spade connectors even!) to enable the factory dimming feature of the LED with the rest of the dash instruments and switches.

Because of this we have yet to read the fine print from any warranty company that states a warranty would be compromised with this added feature. In fact wiring in an amplifier, or Ipod is more invasive than the addition of the IMSG.

My sales staff is in touch with aftermarket warranty companies and at least one of them is willing to offer the holders of their policies a discount of the IMSG is utilized in their vehicle.

The most wise owners couple the IMSG with a bearing retrofit. We installed two systems last week into cars that featured IMSB retrofits because the owners wanted all the protection they could get from any mode of failure that can be monitored.

groovzilla

this is only my opinion but with all the information on the various forums and internet regarding the RMS/IMS failure, i just would not drive a car without these upgrades for $2K.

i can somewhat understand installing a warning system if you have owned your car since new and have been checking your oil sump pan/filter religously however if a car is for sale how does anyone know exactly what state the bearing is in? ......the oil pan and oil filter can be cleaned and replaced by a seller prior to purchase and would be a time bomb waiting to happen.

if $ is an issue for the proper upgrades, i would sit the car in the garage and wait until i had the extra cash saved to do so.

redridge

thats the worse thing you can do to the car.... drive it and enjoy, do the imsr when its time to pull the clutch or other maint when required or when the money comes up. Do not let it sit, drive it hard and change oil often.... the odds are in your favor when it comes to the IMS, Like Jake said... there are other modes of failure.

groovzilla

i don't think a car sitting for a month while one saves his $ will hurt anything do you??...5-6 months maybe start drying out seals like all the east coast cars that sit 5 months thru winter.

Sue Esponte

Huh? Fix it right? Porsche engineered a bearing that was intended to last far longer than 50K miles...which is when LN suggests that you replace their replacement bearing.

The value of the IMSG is that for a few hundred bucks it allows you to continue using your car as Porsche intended without requiring you to (completely) succumb to the fear of IMSB failure. On the off-chance that something DOES go wrong, the IMSG will/should warn you in time for you to replace your bearing. A magnetic plug doesn't give you readings on the fly. It waits until you drain your oil every 5K miles or so...assuming you get that far. If something goes wrong between 0 and 5K miles (or, God forbid you wait longer) then you're screwed. Also, it doesn't tell you what the metallic pieces are from and if you've ever changed oil before you know that there are metallic bits in the oil...especially newer engines.

Is there a flaw in the manufacture of some of the Porsche bearings? No doubt. But, while the risk is catastrophic, the actual failure rate is extremely low and MOST 996es have not had their bearings replaced. In fact, I'd venture a guess that most 996 owners are probably clueless to the problem -- it's the Internet where the fear thrives.

I'm not knocking the LN bearing or anyone who replaced theirs. I get it. Fear of IMSB failure can be an unsettling if not overwhelming thought, especially since the cost of repair is so significant when and if it does happen. I just don't get knocking the value of a warning system that may save owners thousands of dollars on a potentially needless repair!

Finally, the warning system isn't for resale purposes. If you're replacing your IMSB or getting an IMSG for resale then...well...I'm not sure what to tell you. Personally, I care for my car for ME. I'm not worried about the next owner. And, warranty? It's basically a standalone system that doesn't interfere with anything. Assuming your 996 still has a warranty, what's it going to void? Ever hear of Magnuson-Moss? Check it out.

-Eric

thirteeneast

I would fit a Gaurdian in any make or model of Car!. It lets you know that theres METAL EEK! where your oil should be!.

Don't take much thinking about. I have to pay that amount of money every year to the Government for taking care of the roads here! which they don't do so that's what I call a waste of money.

Whether a vehicle had an uprated Bearing or not I would still use it.

Sleep good now too.

jeneric996

I installed the IMSGuardian system and it works well. I do wish the buzzer sound was louder and the red light was brighter. Overall, I think Jake’s system is great and the installation was a simple. No cut or splicing; reminded me of when I installed the Porsche sport exhaust wiring but much simpler. I added flex loom plastic tubing around the wire for extra protection from the sensor to the interior of the car.

I would also like to buy additional washers and the metal skid plate when they become available. I wonder if two factory washers would work.

In my case, this system is perfect because I believe I have the updated 2005+ IMS which cannot be changed unless I tear down the engine. I wish I had this Guardian years ago because it would have saved my original engine. My original engine’s IMS bearing broke at 23,000 miles when the car was still under the factory warranty. I had about six months left and got the remanufactured engine. The odd thing was I had a full inspection and oil/filter change at the dealership about five months or 3,000 miles before the IMS broke. I’m sure the Guardian would have alerted me a few hundred miles prior to the complete breakdown.

thirteeneast

I also considered doing that but when its wet its just going to hold water and stay wet for ages.
The cable already has heat shrink round it and if it did get damaged just replace it with some 3 core Automotive flex.

I do want to make a custom skid plate though to cover as much as possible especially if the snow is coming.

KrazyK

Sorry guys but theres no logic in this. Spend $500 for a warning system or spend a little more and fix it yourself, which is not much harder than a clutch install. Im speaking from an extensive mechanical background and dont let anyone fool you, other than the electronics, the flat 6 is really fairly easy to work on compared to some of the new gasoline and diesel engines.

If the IMS failure is such a small % of 996's, whats with the mass hysteria about buying the IMSG? It almost sounds like 996 owners are falling for the latest "must buy gadget" wether its a CAI, tuner, or fuel saver device gizmo. Maybe Im just a wrench turner that believes in "fix it right, fix it once". Learned these lessons the hard way. Please dont take offense but not all of us on the forums are dupes behind a PC screen. Oh and before you bash me as just another dupe, my brother competed and went to nationals in mechanics competitions and I went to state. Collectively, we probably have about $30K or $40K just in hand tools, including a 4 bay shop just for personal, not business use.

dennis hiip

For me. I just feel better now that I have the IMS Guardian. Worth the <$400.

Sue Esponte

The IMSG is under $400 and the install shouldn't take more than a couple of hours. It's a straight forward fix that could be undertaken by just about anyone.

An IMSB retrofit kit is $619 + $189 for the tool kit and is not by any stretch of the imagination a quick fix (especially for the inexperienced). You need the right tools and experience to do the job and perhaps, most importantly for the inexperienced and experienced alike, you need the time. As you say later in your post, you and your brother are extremely experienced mechanics. What makes you think for a second that most IMSG buyers have similar backgrounds? Given that most won't undertake the task for themselves it often becomes a $2K repair...5x that of that the IMSG and then you've replaced your lifetime bearing with a 50K mile bearing.

I'll see that and raise you what's the mass hysteria about the IMSB in general?

There's a lot of online fear mongering around the IMSB that fuels people's "hysteria" around failure. I'm not saying the IMS bearings don't fail or that the result isn't catastrophic if they do. It's a known risk and issue. Does it get blown out of proportion? IMHO, yes, although plenty of people will disagree. Personally, I feel like the fact that it's a risk with a significant repair cost, makes the ease and simplicity of the IMSG a cheap no-brainer.

Could I replace the clutch in my 996? Sure. Will I? Hell no. I can count the number of times I've replaced a clutch on a car on one hand and I am still not going to pull apart the engine/transmission on my 996. Unlike you, I didn't "go to state" in mechanics competitions and what takes you an hour will take me a significant multiplier in time in order to ensure that I'm "doing it right." Unfortunately, that's time that I just don't have.

I, too, am all for "fix it right, fix it once" but you've obviously bought into the claim that the "50K mile" LNE bearing is superior to the "lifetime of the engine" bearing engineered by Porsche just because there's a small failure rate. Who says the LNE bearing is definitely the right fix?

The beauty of the IMSG is that it allows you to fix your IMSB if or when, in fact, it's going to fail. What if you're in the 95%+ [I don't think anyone has suggested more than a 5% failure rate] of owners with M96 engines in which the IMSB will last for the life of the engine? In that case, if you just go the LNE route, then you've replaced a lifetime bearing with one that is engineered to be replaced within 50K miles. Since my C4S has about 25K miles on it and I don't plan on getting rid of it any time soon, that means I'm in for, at least, two IMSB retrofits. NOW, if I was going in and doing a clutch replacement then MAYBE I would consider doing it. It would certainly be a much different consideration since I'd already have the car apart but my clutch is brand new and so is my RMS seal.

I don't criticize people who replace their bearings, buy Guardians or decide to live with their M96 "as-is" without any protection. Whatever floats your boat. People have different reasons for their decisions. If I'm going to criticize anyone it would be those who seem to enjoy perpetuating the fear of failure.

-Eric

thirteeneast

Maybe you could ask him then why the IMSG might help with engine wear?.
Lots of metal to go wrong in an engine?.