Mspeedster

It was a team effort, cheers to all!

96redLT4

Does this mean I should just leave the IMS bearing in my car alone, or do people still try and upgrade. Thanks
Jim

Mspeedster

With the newer style IMS bearing, you can't do the LN upgrade unless you tear down the engine. Reports of MY06-08 IMS bearing failures are relatively rare, furthermore LN Engineering's upgrade is not 100% immune to failure either (they list 5 failures on their website).

So I'd say most, if not almost all, with the newer IMS bearing do not do the upgrade. If you want peace of mind, I'd suggest looking into an extended warranty.

96redLT4

I will definitely leave it alone. Mspeedster, thank you very much for your help. While I'm picking your brain, do you know anything about the RMS in my vintage car- 05 but closer to the 06-08 run. Is it still an issue with these cars? Thanks again.
Jim

trcox57

I think you are correct Mspeedster.
Mine is a 2006 C2S
Build date 07/05 Engine Number M97/168601479. There has been some data saying that Porsche built about 2000 engines a month so mine looks like one of the first MY2006.

Palmbeacher

The number keeps growing. As someone who opted for their retrofit bearing, I find this increasingly worrisome, especially since my OEM bearing was found to be in perfect condition with intact seals @ 30K miles. We don't know how many older single-row LN bearings have been installed. They say 99% failure-free TOTAL, but that includes the dual-row and the engine-apart upgrade as well. Would really like to know what the failure percentage is for the older single row. If (for example) they've got 1000 of these in service and 5 (so far) failed, that's half a percent...still better than the OEM you might say (though nobody really knows the true percentage, including Porsche by now since many failures have been dealt with outside of their dealer network)...however keep in mind that the LN bearing has only been around for something like 3 years, so all of these failures must be at relatively low mileage.

Charles, if you're reading, perhaps you have more specific data on those five failures which might give some clues. Such as were these bearings from a specific time period or lot? DIY or pro installations? Mileage of the cars before the retrofit? Miles driven post-retrofit until failure? Condition of removed OEM bearing? Mode of failure of the LN bearing (eg. stud vs cage vs race vs ***** themselves)?

Docofthebay

How would I find my actual date of build I've noticed others are giving the actual day of the month? The car data plate says 06/05 and my engine number is about 1800 after a previously noted May 25 build date I'm thinking I may have one of the last '05s which is pointing toward a likelihood that the '06s started on or about 7/1/05
Trcox57 above has an '06 with 7/05 build date and engine number 1479 this is the lowest number '06 engine reported yet.

mten

Actually, I may be the lowest... rplied in other thread

here is mine
06 C2S
Product 07/2005
M97/0168600833

Docofthebay

Do you know which day in July yours was made?

RollingArt

COA (cert of auth) gives the exact prod date.

AP997S

My 2005 997S Launch Car is one of the earliest built having a Production Completion Date of 07/08/2004. The Engine Number is 68501564.

My car is about 7 1/2 yrs old. It's never had an issue w/ RMS or IMS. No oil what so ever seeping from the RMS; the bottom of the case is clean and dry. I'm sure I have the early IMS bearing. The tranny (TIP) was replaced years ago due to a recall by Porsche.

I would love to see IMS failure statistics by transmission type (ie manual vs. Tip).

boolala

Mine is a C2 tip. Production date 12/8/04. Engine #69505025. No IMS, RMS issues after 7 years and 70+K miles.

henchpilot

Engine number is 68511117....03/05 build date.

Upgraded bearing and for sale in classified ads. Lol

kevin.oconnell

FWIW I have a late-May 2005 build Carrera (3.6) that I always assumed had the earlier IMS bearing and cover. The car was in with a specialist for a new clutch not long ago and it turns out I have the larger 22mm bolt on the IMS cover and hence the later bearing, i was going to have the bearing upgraded but this was not possible without a complete teardown.

My experience concurs with the Porsche shop manual for the 997 that shows the larger IMS bearing cover and nut were installed at engine number 695 07475 (3.6) - my car has an engine number in the 695 09xxx range and has the larger nut on the IMS cover; the manual provides the cutoff for 3.8S as 685 09791.

Palmbeacher

And then correlate it to the total # of tips sold vs 6-speeds. There might be some protection offered by a tip in that you can't lug the engine, but I suspect the main reason we hear of fewer tip cars that suffer IMS failure is mainly because there are fewer tips.

BTW my '05, built in Jan '05, 3.6L in 05xxx range, early IMS bearing. Had it replaced at ~30K, old one came out in perfect condition with seals intact.