Hi my name is Mark and I live on Long Island. I am looking for some help and advise from you guys. I am currently in the market for a low mileage 996 preferably 02-04 and I believe there is good value right now in these 996's. However, the IMS bearing scares the hell out of me. So I was figuring on finding the right one and immediately bringing it in to have the LN Engineering retro fit bearing installed. Should this give me enough piece of mind that I can enjoy the car without worrying about the IMS bearing?

Worth mentioning I would much rather a 2005 997 but from my understanding that bearing is buried and requires a full rebuild to replace and that is way to costly.

Any advice for a muscle car guy trying to get into a Porsche would be greatly appreciated.

 

Hi Mark,

You will find that the IMSB issue is a real "hot-button" item here. It has been hashed over 1,000 times at least. If you do some searches, you will find many threads on it.

When I bought my 996, I put in a new IMSB and a bunch of other routine preventative maint. items right away. That being said, you will find many, many different opinions on this site regarding the IMSB issue.

You are correct... 996 is one of the best values to be had, for a phenomenal car. 997 value is very good too.

 

Thanks for the reply. I have read so many posts about this IMS bearing my head wants to explode. I guess a better question is if I find the right 996 and install the LN bearing right away, can I be worry free? do the retro fit LN bearings ever fail before their recommended 50k replacement interval?

 

Mark good luck in your search. Anybody want some corn?: corn:: corn:: corn:

 

just get one that the PO has spent a ton of money on.
searches on here will let you know what needs to be done.
or get a 99, they came from the factory already sorted.
oh ya fastest color is arctic silver

 

Dont worry Mark. If you buy a 996, your head wont explode but the engine might. (kidding, GLWS)


Not sure its a muscle car. Maybe more like a "skinny hard-gainer that needs juice"?

 

Get an intensive PPI, swap the bearing as soon as you purchase the car, and prepare to have a whole lot of fun. Particularly if the old bearing was in solid shape, no reason to believe that the LN unit will not last a good long time.

 

Just buy a clean, documented 996 or 997, do a ppi including inspecting the oil pan and filter for metal particles, do 5K oil changes again looking for metal in the filter, and don't sweat replacing the IMS until you need a clutch or see metal.

The IMSB is way, way, way overhyped of an issue. Personally I think it's crazy to just 'automatically' replace the IMSB on a car that doesn't otherwise need the tranny dropped.

 

See?? Told ya you'd get a variety of opinions, and you haven't even scratched the surface here!

Yes, it can be mind-boggling to read all that IMS stuff. Hard to separate fact from fiction. Quick cheat sheet:


1. As far as I can tell, it has affected maybe 5% of 996's. But, it seems that Porsche has kept the actual data fairly secretive. The 5% number is what I've seen cited the most, in various places.

2. No one knows if it is how you drive the car that causes it to fail.

3. There were two type of bearings: single row and double row. Despite what you will read, no way to know for sure which one you have.

4. Stats are poor whether or not it makes a difference if you have 1 or 2 row bearings.

5. LN bearing isn't the only "upgrade" option. But it's the one that made the most sense to me.

6. I have never seen a documented case of a LN bearing fail. I've heard rumors of it, but vague undocumented rumors are useless to me.

7. For me, it was a "peace of mind" thing to change out the bearing. That doesn't mean that everyone else needs to do it. Many sleep just fine with the original bearing.

8. 996 is a great car. Ignore most of what you read on the internet, and just enjoy the car.

9: Everything you need to know about owning a 996 can be found in this thread:

https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...6-forum-6.html

 

I bought an 03 C2 tip a year ago with the same concerns. It has 64K miles and not a drop of fluid has come out of it. As has been documented, the later 996s with tip and higher miles are of the least risk if it hasn't failed already. I don't have access to the history of my car. I have come around to thinking that until there is a problem, I'm not going to invest heavily in a precautionary measure. Yes, opinions are all over the place but the 5 percent failure rate does not seem to be heavily challenged. That being the case, I feel pretty good about driving it. I will look at the filter every 3K miles, they are cheap.

 

If the IMSB issue scares the hell out of you, the conventional wisdom says you should actually avoid the low mileage cars. The IMSB retrofit only got common in the last 3 or 4 years, but it isn't that hard to find a car that has already had the bearing replaced. If you are interested in a car that is advertised as having the bearing replaced, insist on a receipt proving it or assume it actually wasn't changed. I looked at one like that, and it turns out that it was only the RMS that was changed.

 

some observations I've made over the years:
#1: many join a forum because they need help with an issue/problem (or have READ about it, see #3 below)
#2: because of #1, most forums have an inordinate number of threads/posts about problems
#3: future buyers get scared because of all the horror stories from the 5% (and join a forum and repeat #1 above).

P.S. If the OTHER 95% of owners without problems join car forums, then 996 land will be a happy place

 

Since you've done some homework about the car's shortcomings, you have probably also deduced that the 996 is an amazing car for the money. If you find a clean specimen for a great price, and you address any issues you find worrisome, you're unlikely to be disappointed.

 

Lets put it this way Mark in relation to a bad IMS. Here is the chance that you will get a bad 996. Stand 20 next to each other. One of them is a bad one and 19 are all good. I would take you on for a $1000 that you can't pick the bad one. That's the chance you take in buying a 996. Great odds in my book. Don't sweat the small stuff and go for it.

 

Hey Mark. I purchased my first one earlier this year after looking for almost two years. I had the same concerns as you prior to jumping in and I passed on what were probably good cars from those concerns. When I found my car I had a PPI and that made the decision for me; the inspection was good with the exception of a little residue at the RMS. I had already prepared to do a RMS and IMSB immediately after purchase so the RMS report was not an issue. Me being me, after I purchased the car I took it to the <gasp> Porsche retailer to have an annual service and a PPI; this time it was a POST Purchase Inspection. I asked them to look at the RMS in the process and asked about the dreaded IMSB......now keep in mind this is a franchised retailer....their response was yes, the RMS is sweating a little but they suggest keeping an eye on it (they also said they would be happy to take the work and and money but seriously didn't think it needed to be addressed). Their response to the IMSB was there is not a factory approved fix for this problem and despite having issues it is a very small percentage of cars (oh boy, I can hear the hate mail and rants starting already.....!) Their suggestion? Drive the car...Drive it and enjoy it.....Put miles on it and drive it all the time. And I have tried to follow this advice for the past 9 months and have put a trouble-free 6,000 miles since purchasing. I am picking it up from the dealer tomorrow after leaving it for an oil change, brake flush and coolant flush and can't wait to have it back.

Go buy one and love it!