Para82

Compared to Florida prices that's very high. Cost of IMS, clutch, oil change and filter total came out to $2,700 for me. Someone really got charged 12k???


2005 997S launch edition - 93,442 miles - no issues. IMS upgraded in 2013 with 52,000 miles, when the bearing was pulled it was in perfect condition, probably a waste of money.

Para82

I'd also like to add had a recent discussion about this with my local independent shop who has extensive experience with building and racing Porsches of all variants even 935 type. He stated out of the thousands of Porsches he has serviced it is an extremely rare occurrence to have an IMS failure. He has seen a total of 3 failures in his lifetime, 2 of which the cars were completely ragged out and looked like they hadn't had an oil change in years. The 3rd had 249,000 miles - the owner replaced motor and now has over 360,000 miles (2005 997) this was confirmed also by my dealership who coordinated with the independent shop for the rebuild.

He even gets calls from people asking if the IMS had been replaced on 930 Turbos to all sorts of other Porsches - I won't repeat what he said about the forums

Stone859

I guess I was just one of the "extremely rare occurrences"... but it happened to me. My '05 987 was NOT "ragged out", but was a one owner (me) with 21k, and oil and filter changed every 3k, and filter cut open religiously ( I still have all the old ones in plastic bags, and I still own the car by the way). I mean... there was a Class Action Lawsuit against Porsche for this very issue! Sorry, but law suits like that don't come about for "extremely rare occurrences". Talk to Jake Raby for heaven sakes, he can fill you in. If it makes you feel better thinking "this can't happen to me"...fine...I understand, you wouldn't be the first person to deny something bad...I mean it's human nature. As far as people not knowing what's in their motor...well there's plenty of that going around. Plus Porsche, in an effort to correct the problem (which they won't admit they have) has made so many changes to the IMS and bearings over the years that I can see where it's a bit confusing to know what's in you engine. On some models you have to go in and physically examine the engine before you know what's in there. I guess I don't blame the customer as much as I blame Porsche...they should know better.

Para82

Lawyers filed a lawsuit and were succesful? No way! Mr. Raby profits very well from this and so did those lawyers.

NIACAL4NIA

Actualy clutch, flywheel, Ims, rms, oil, and filter on a 996 is $2700 but a 997 with tip is around $4000 because of more labor.

HarveyMushman

2008 997.1S C2 M97 6spd 29Kmi, no IMS or RMS issues.

TargaFirst

2007 997.1 Targa 4S - 6 speed manual 62k miles no failure. Wiring harness required replacement, though.

Terry T.

Ervin,
Did the shop install an upgraded bearing when they did the clutch? If so, which one and if not, did they recommend it?

BTW, I'm local to you (Mukilteo) and am in the market for a 997.1, and am looking at some 05s in the area, but wonder if an 06 makes more sense.

Terry

NorCal997s

Interesting post which all 997 owners should have knowledge about. Good to hear IMS issues are rare. I've owned my 2006 997.1 C2S for about 6 months. No IMS problems. 38,000 miles.

Dripola

2005 3.6 litre
Mine went at 60000km while stationary had only owned the car for 5000k so can't talk too much about the history with any conviction. 4months on car should be ready within a couple of weeks and can't wait. Upgraded to a 3.8 LN nickies, FSI "The Solution" so new engine should do much better...can't wait.
As a side I knew about IMS from my previous 996 but didn't think I'd be part of the unlucky 5 to 10%. Even thought all the IMS was scare mongring but then it happened. But at least I had my eyes wide open and no one to blame but myself. Would highly recommend FSI or Hartech if you're in the same country as they were nothing but supportive, even got a response from the legend Mr Raby himself. Still the best car I've ever had.

Stone859

Dripola...When you experienced the failure, and you say it was "stationary" how much engine damage occurred? Did you have any warning, or just look under the car see a bunch of oil?

Dripola

I was stopped at a set of lights, the car switched off nothing sounded wrong, I thought I stalled it so tried to restart it (gave it a bit of gas as it didn't kick over first time), that's when I heard the marbles in the engine, switched it off.

Called the flat bead when I got home checked the filter and sure enough the metal was in there. Complete rebuild required. No oil leaked from the engine. Mechanic showed me the cactus IMS bearing and shaft itself.

When I first bought the car I changed the oil, did see a bit of non ferrous silver in the oil filter, that was the cue I missed. That could have been the bearings starting to wear down. I thought it was general engine wear and was trying not to be paranoid as it ruined my 996 experience.

SteveFoerster

997.1, M96 50,000 mi.
IMS bearing failure, major engine rebuild starting

Dripola

Who have you chosen for the rebuild?

Derek Zoolander

What year/build date?