tapper56

2006 C2S no IMS issues.

useridchallenged

IMS failure. 2005 C2 (November 2004 build), failed at 68k miles after 51.5 months. After 2 months of complaint and negotiation with Porsche NA, we split the cost 25/75 (me/Porsche) on a new crate motor and labor. This was before the lawsuit. Another 2 months to ship and install by the dealer. Crate motor has the larger single-row IMS.

I still have the car, now 9 years after the failure with 156k miles on the chassis (88k on the crate motor). Normal wear and maintenance.

I love the 997.1 with its lighter chassis and hydraulic steering assist - destined to be a classic in my opinion. It's been my daily driver and occasional auto-x car for 16.5 years. Low cost of ownership. More reliable and has out-survived all other family cars (Audi, BMW and VW).

Keep the motor under 4000 RPM until OIL temp is completely warmed up. I use Motul 8100 X-Cess 5-40W, FWIW.

Although the failed IMS was a huge aggravation and I had lost confidence in the 997.1 at the time, in hindsight the failed IMS was good fortune. I received a new crate motor (effectively a new car) for a mere $6k after 5 years of hard driving. The new IMS has more than proven its reliability.

If I were to buy a pre-2006 997.1 today (with the smaller factory IMS bearing), I would factor in the cost of a LN Engineering IMS upgrade into the purchase cost. No hesitation.

useridchallenged

I would not wait. IF the IMS fails, there will be metal bits throughout your engine's oil channels. It is very difficult to fully clean these metal bits out, and requires a full and costly rebuild to do so. It's relatively inexpensive to upgrade the IMS bearing compared to an IMS failure. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

The small IMS bearing has an estimated life of about 50k miles depending on maintenance and driving style.

If you intend to keep your car for a long time, I'd do the LN Engineering solution and drive the car hard or race it without worry.

Then again, if you don't drive the car hard and fully warm up the oil before taking it over 4000 RPM, wait until the odometer reaches 50k miles to replace the IMS. My C2 (Nov 2004 build) IMS bearing failed at 68k miles and 51.5 months (see my post elsewhere in this thread). I autocross my car. :-)

emodog

2007 997.1 Cab S. 30K miles, No problems with IMS.

bantamben

I just removed my engine on 05 c2 6 speed at 134k and checked the original IMS and it was still good turned very smooth. I do have really bad bore score though and am trying figure that out.

Flat6 Innovations

Go watch the "Focus on Bore Scoring" series at www.rennvision.tv
Have 10 hours on your hands to watch all the content, though.

RobPosha

Nope

stiffler199

Just pulled my 2005 c2s with 83k. Smooth as silk.

mfreak

142,000 miles, still good on my 997.1

Lateralgrip

Early build 05 C2S 95k miles original IMS no issues. Will replace IMS with clutch which is also original 😉

mcarpani

No failure. 80,000km. 75 track days

nfldcoffee

08 C2S cab. All good

mcarpani

06 C2S 80,000km. All good.

Hector.Crespo

2005 997.1 M96.05, IMS failure around 90K. Failure happened in neutral coasting to a red light. The engine turned off with no load, made it to a parking lot, towed home and removed filter. Failure was determined via engine oil filter inspection. Everything was normal, no prior issues. Changed oil every 6 months. I owned for 1.5 years prior to failure. Once the engine was removed and disassembled, the single row bearing was the root cause. No other damage to engine besides the IMS housing gear, bearing itself, and IMS/Crank chain guide. All other components looked normal.

Flat6 Innovations

I've heard that one a few hundred times.. Usually when someone calls they start telling me what happened, then I tell them that I'd like the opportunity to take the words out of their mouth..
I state what you said above, and then the phone goes quiet.. They pack the car up and send it on, since I just blew their mind. I just did it last week!