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Hello, Yesterday I fulfilled a long dream of finally becoming a 911 owner. I purchased an 12/04 build 2005 997.1 in Lapis Blue with black interior 6 speed stick with 38k miles. Purchased from Champion Porsche Dealer in South Florida. Looks like car was lowered and has some contact noise going over speed bumps. Pioneer stereo installed with Apple Car Play. Air intake improvement may also have been added. Previous owner replaced ims bearing in 2014 and provided proof with receipt. Looks like it used the method involving the oiI line directing lubricant to the bearing. Contacted servicing facility Foreign Affairs Motor Sport in Pompano Beach, FL to ask what work was done. They said previous owner spent $7,000.00 on the car over the last three years. Car appears well taken care of. Received receipts. No wrap, ceramic finish applied.
I've also got a steering wheel and brake pedal vibration under braking at speeds above 35 mph...Looking to replace / paint/ leather wrap center console and would like a thicker steering wheel. Car runs great and drives beautifully. Any guidance would be appreciated.
Last edited by JEHolloway; 02-04-2020 at 12:06 PM.
Reason: Updating info
Congrats on your new buy! I would not worry myself about IMS; steering wheel vibration easily checked out. I have a 2005(997) and no IMS history; if I had to guess I would say the IMS has not been replaced. Bought the car in 2013 at 65K miles with 98K today. If you need to worry consider the ongoing maintenance of a 15 year old automobile. Best advice; lose the worry and enjoy the drive!!
Hello, Yesterday I fulfilled a long dream of finally becoming a 911 owner. I purchased an early build 2005 997.1 in Lapis Blue with black interior 6 speed stick with 38k miles. Purchased from Champion Porsche Dealer in South Florida. Looks like car was lowered and have some contact noise going over speed bumps. Pioneer stereo installed. Air intake improvement may also have been added. Previous owner said IMS bearing was replaced but had no evidence. I called servicing facility Foreign Affairs Motor Sport in Pompano Beach, FL to ask what work was done. He said previous owner spent $7,000.00 on the car over the last three years.Car appears well taken care of.
He also said IMS bearing if replaced was not done by him. L and M said they have no record of it either. I've also got a steering wheel vibration under light breaking at low speeds. I am tempted to take it to Foreign Affairs to address the IMS bearing and the steering wheel vibration. I am curious if I should worry about the IMS bearing and am curious what the actual statistical odds of it being an issue. Car runs great and drives beautifully. Any guidance would be appreciated.
Congratulations on the purchase!
You will find varying answers for the chance of failure of the small bearing - the lawsuit alleges that it might be around 10% (I could be waaaaay wrong in quoting this)..
Anyways, the problem with an IMSB failure is not the chance of occurrence - it is the fact that it is an instant-failure and the high cost of repairs.
Carfax report should tell you a lot about shop visits - you could try calling those shops and asking them with the VIN.
A few calls exploring the shops and previous owners shouldn't cost anything significant other than your time
You could take it to a shop and open up the car to determine what bearing the car has.
But unless the car has the smaller bearing or needs a clutch change, this will be a throw-away expense.
I think a better option is to purchase an aftermarket warranty that covers IMSB failure.
When it is time to do the clutch, you can find out what bearing the car has and upgrade if needed.
My original post suggested ims replacement was unknown. Found out it was replaced in 2014. Located previous owner and received receipt for work.
Great, one major thing not to worry about
Both my 997 cars had their IMSB fail and were repaired by previous owners - and I managed to get all the details from the shops involved.
My original post suggested ims replacement was unknown. Found out it was replaced in 2014. Located previous owner and received receipt for work.
Make sure you locate/hang onto the new IMS serial number.
This serial number is really the only proof you have a new bearing - Lots of stories of sellers claiming they replaced IMS bearing especially in the 996 world. Even made up service receipts which are bogus.
The installed should have affixed the serial# label to the door jam or engine compartment/decklid shelf
01-31-2020, 11:57 PM
New 997.1 Owner
