Busta Rib

I'm an old-timer on RL, have been a member since 2007, and have read a thing or three about these cars. Have owned 7 911s: 4 aircooled and 3 997s. One was a .1 Carrera S that ultimately succumbed to bore scoring with 83K miles. Based on my experience, numerous anectdotal threads like these sprinkled throughout RL in this sub-forum and every other sub-forum relevant to M96/97 engined-cars, and the 10+ years of experience from my local Porsche tech who advises to avoid these engines, I am in the camp that all M96/97 engines are highly susceptible to bore scoring and not worth the risk or hassle. Much moreso than 9A1 engines. Does it mean it will happen to every car with one of these engines? No. Can you find M96/97 cars with over 100K miles with no issues? Of course you can. Do 9A1 engines have risk and issues? Absolutely. But in totality, there are just many more stories about M96/97 engines than I care for or want to deal with as a former/prospective owner. Read the sticky-ed thread about it in this forum and you will see the vast majority of reported cars affected are .1, not .2.

Risk is all relative. Like many have said, do your homework and apply to your personal calculus before buying. For some, including me, peace of mind is worth a lot more than wondering when my engine might start down the bore-scoring slippery slope. Or allowing it to affect how I use and drive my car, or potential resale value. YMMV. Happy holidays, everyone.

bgoetz

But you didn’t avoid the cost, you just bought down the risk up front, that is my point. And to only still think about it!

Look I am not debating that a 997.2 isn’t a great car or that it is nearly as likely to have issues, my whole point is think of the full equation before deciding either .1 or .2 is the “better path” because depending on how you like to think of risk the answer might be different.

Regardless of what anyone chooses, I don’t think someone should own one of these cars or any car for that matter that they can’t stomach a major repair, because you are correct it definitely takes away from the enjoyment of ownership.

bgoetz

My S4 has a similar transmission that has a similar issue where the end result is a new $12k tranny. Problem is those cars are relatively inexpensive in the used market, so the market is littered with ones that people can’t afford to fix 😂

Wonderdan

So is the reason bore scoring isn’t a topic in the GT3 threads because of the Nikasil coating? Or is it because the average mileage is lower. I do know scoping .7 GT3s isn’t that common.

bgoetz

Nikasil coating, scoring is extremely rare almost unheard of short of some type of owner induced error.

silver_tt

It depends which year GT3 you are talking about. The 2011 GT3RS you own has a Mezger with Nikasil plating, which as bgoetz says, basically won't score (technically it can but it is extremely rare -- eg. you let a bad injector leak down into the cylinder over a long period of time). The ones after that can score up until the introduction of SUMEbore (thermal plasma spray technology that uses powder as the input) in the 991.2s.