JustRob

It's an 05 997 in Seal Grey Metallic and I'm absolutely loving it! Last Porsche I drove was my dad's 911T, good times, except the day the clutch cable broke. Mine is way more fun...

I hate to beat a dead horse here, especially in my first post, but I went into this deal understanding IMS issues with these cars and I figured I could replace the bearing with a better aftermarket unit as long as the engine was fine internally. However, as I was browsing this forum I came across the following thread:

https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...e-and-ims.html

Message #14 caught my eye. I've scoured the rest of rennlist looking for more details, but haven't found any. Has anyone been able to positively confirm or refute what holden997 stated?

My car build date is March of 2005, engine number is M96/0569508353, which would put me less than 1000 engines into the larger bearing. I know that I won't know for sure until a visual inspection is done, but I hate to do that just to check, especially given that I should have the larger bearing.

I'm not losing sleep over this. I got the car at a good price and that left enough money to prime the PRF. If the engine blows I can replace it, but my wife probably won't talk to me for a week.

I must say I've enjoyed reading these posts. Hope to contribute in the future!

Thanks
rob

Strelok

I don't know if there will ever be a end-all solution to this, but I hope that post is right because it would mean my 05 is well within the newer bearing range.

Rikky001

Do you have signs of a failing IMS? If not, keep changing engine oil on a regular base and drive the car. Seems you got the 997 at a good price and left enough money, just stop worrying. You can always worry when it happens later!

Hunt3R

You most likely have the larger IMS bearing but neither build date nor engine number nor VIN can definitively tell you which bearing your car has and the only way to know absolutely for sure is to drop the transmission and inspect it. Otherwise that post #14 in that thread is correct. All 05 997's, both base and S models, could have either bearing. Just plan on having it checked out whenever the clutch goes.

For reference, my 05 997S (M97) with a build date of 9/2004 had the smaller replaceable bearing and when I had the clutch replaced last year at 46K I had the IMS bearing replaced and the original was in perfect shape.

tomc_mets

Congrats. This is great advice. Drive the heck out of it, and if in the unlikely event something bad happens, you'll have a ton of great memories to cheer you up while you're sitting on the side of the road waiting for a flatbed. Post more pics!
T

Own Goal

I had a 06 Cayman S, M97 motor. Drove for a couple of years, put about 30k miles on it. Zero issues. Nada. I think the only part that ever broke was a door handle. Think the guy bought it has put another 20k on it. Enjoy it.