Everything about the Porsche IMS Bearing Failure People Don't Talk About!

[@michael.davides]

Yup, that's what my conclusion was when I was looking for one of these...the garage queens/old lady owned (driven like a Cadillac) cars tend to have the issues. The ones that were driven regularly and maintained had far less issues.

[@petermabbort456]

With respect Mike that’s so not right. Please see my answer here bud.

[@petermabbort456]

Ok. May I add what I know to be facts here that I gathered from owning five Porsche’s and not listening to mechanics but going to the real gurus on this subject like PCA, Classic Cars and Jake Ruby at Flat Six Renn.. Me, I’m just an owner like this nice guy. Here goes ... NO. The original IMS is not bullet proof. That’s why it was changed. YES, the solution was worse with the “M96” bearing that followed (part number 2604). And no, the original double row bearing is not the least failed. It’s the latter M97 single row bearing which was larger than the 2000/1-2005 first single row. No it isn’t that if it’s high millage and driven well it’s less likely to fail due to heat cycles and lube. First, the bearing is sealed so there is no external lubrication. Heat cycles, crappy US fuel and degraded oils (a few reasons I wont bore you with) breakdown the seals and the engine oil that you mention now washed out the bearing grease. Then it fails. NO. It isn’t better to have a high mileage on the bearing bearing. They are serviceable wear items (well they are now... in the beginning before Jake Ruby, Porsche would replace the whole shaft) and common sense tells you that the more use the more wear. You are confusing the info... the conclusion is that some of these cars that have low mileage have sat around and the oils have not been changed every six months. The degraded oil (mainly fuels and wear from the combustion chamber (and yes with these engines you can see piston skirt wear that gets into the oil from as little as 10kms) then causes degradation to the seals. So if the oil had been changed (even in the granny car that sat around) every six months regales of mullahs bat is better than a high mileage example. The only safe solution in my opinion is Flat Six Innovations “IMS solution” bearing a journal, plain bearing, no rollers with oil feed. Event top Porcshe experts, LN Engineering who sell the non roller, plain journal bearing offer a cheaper solution which is a roller bearing. They don’t recommend that even this one which is a ceramic bearing is permanent and should be changed every 50k miles and that’s if you servoce the car perfectly. Failure rates are far high now as the engines get older and combustion is contaminating oils more and sending microscopic piston skirt debris in these engines as well as leaking combustion and leaking injectors are degrading oils which is damaging seals. The info on the net out dated in so many places. Classic cars report 1-10 to 1-12 cars are failing eventually. Jake Ruby expects most of them to eventually. I just don’t get why people that buy these 996s and 997s at a premium cheap price because of this don’t automatically replace the bearing? But if you’re going to stick your head in the sand and do nothing pretending is over reaction then at least do two things ... replace your oil every six months and replace your injectors for brand new if high millage. Not rebuilt, new. That’s my opinion on it. Enjoy your cars everyone. Yours, Peter.

[@marcocerqueira2732]

I didn’t need to watch the video, just had to read your comments. Thanks for the info, it all makes sense to me.

[@dannyross5065]

Great Response! I was looking at a used 911 and did quite a bit of research on this IMS issue. Those resources you named are on point and I learned a lot.

[@taylormordoch9802]

The key to the IMS is change your oil regularly. Use 5w40 liquiMolly oil every 5,000 miles. And drive it past 3500 RPM, or 4000. Now there's another kit you can buy called direct oil feed, which lubricates the IMS bearing with clean filtered oil. I happen to install that direct oil feed on my 996 and 10,000 miles later it's still running like a tank. With no issues.

[@roxximusik8958]

My 2001 Boxster 986 S has come out of the garage today, having been fitted with a new clutch and flywheel, rear main seal, and an EPS intermediate shaft bearing (IMS) to replace the 'notorious' original. After 133k miles, I was keen to see what condition it was in : in fact, it was absolutely fine and quite serviceable ! I was also surprised to note that the single-row bearing itself was made in ENGLAND by NSK....

[@samsoto1155]

My 986 2002 boxster is running good. I never feared the IMS. Im loving the car every day a little more

[@yenipatekmille9830]

How many km does it have

[@adamsangels9874]

Bang

[@CrusaderX]

well, it's so bad that porsche is now selling replacement shortblocks at record numbers.

[@joslinthomas3524]

Just don’t track the 996 unless you prep it for the track. The IMS and other things that can go wrong will be fine. Dual row can fail, but not as often. I’m at 146k with original IMS in a 1999.

[@petermabbort456]

Yes. For track fit a low temp spec temp, a motorsport grade AOS and change the oil before track days every time.

[@Yasin5791-d7u]

I’d still change out the IMS AS a peace of Mind.

[@lmikola]

Have you changed it by now?

[@steveperchinsky5833]

LOOK, it is a porsche roulette wheel if you run the original bearing. THAT'S THAT. It's not a matter of if it will fail it's a matter of when. If you are buying a used porsche you better figure on either making sure that bearing issue was addressed. that's it. If you had a jelley bean galss jar with a hundred jelley beans in it and one of em in there would kill you, would you take one out and eat it? that's the bearing issue. sealed bearings dont get lubricated.

[@brygram]

These Porsches are getting old. It was a less than optimal design when new. Replace the bearing!

[@davidduffield7553]

The ball bearing IMS will eventuality fail. The location of is of concern because it powers the rotation of the camshafts. .

[@MassiveTrackHunter]

To eliminate the pucker factor altogether and get years of hemorrhoid-free driving, maybe just go into it and replace that bearing anyways. It will make some great video. Stunning car. Glad you are enjoying it.

[@KylePancis]

thank you! Im sure at some point il dive into it

[@johnash826]

Look, whatever about statistics, this is a sealed bearing type so, it will fail eventually like many engine components will of course. So treat it like a service component and at an appropriate point new clutch, whatever fit the Jake Rabey solution. When? It is up to you. Or indeed it might be up to the individual engine!

[@tjj6583]

Wrong. Not too many people reported the i ms in class lawsuit bcs it happened in 2011. Now there would be way many cars. Therse arent daily driver cars. Same for the Audi CVT issue. Cvt took a shi.t 75k and they told me im late to claim. Great german engineering as I would call it a scam. Get a toyota or a honda.

[@ArrowheadGarage]

Finally some truth about the Porsche M96 IMS!!! Change your oil every 5k, drive it past 4,000 RPM as much as you can, enjoy the heck out of your Porsche M96 car!!! Great video!

[@KylePancis]

thank you! Congrats on the 1k! You have the secrets down lol

[@nsltrc]

This was far from authoritative and nothing new. You just bought the car and now you are dispensing advice. If you want more subscribers you are going to have to be a little more honest with your video titles.

[@petermabbort456]

I think that’s unfair. He was honest. He’d said he was new to this. He’s just ill informed. I’ll put the fact here for everyone.

[@mikek1681]

Like most, I have an opinion too. What follows is just that. I welcome comments. The bearing failure is caused by a failure of the seal in the bearing. The lube leaks out, and the bearing disintegrates. Sealed bearings are sold based on their history of reliability, freedom from external contamination, and isolation from a lubrication system failure. Porsche's use has been criticized as an engineering design error, but there is nothing about this application that corroborates that claim. A genuine design error would create a much higher failure rate than a few percent. Further, there are many examples of cars with over 100,000 miles trouble free. How could the same design that claims a car at 20,000 miles be fine for 100,000? My conclusion is a bad bearing batch. The seal was not installed correctly. Would incoming QA even look for it? My '01 C4 with 64K is tight and quiet -- I'm the original owner. The car has been driven several times a week for its entire life, and has had routine maintenance by the book, but nothing more. IMO, if you buy a 996 today, it's either had the IMS done, or will never need to. I'm taking mine to the grave with me.

[@zzbear]

I was driving my friend’s 2005 Boxster when his IMS bearing failed. Very expensive fix. If you have a single-row I’d invest the $$ before anything happens.

[@brentjohnson5171]

Respectfully there is so much misinformation in this video you're doing more harm than good. Most of it has been covered by other commenters so I won't rehash it, but you really should consider putting a disclaimer in this video or re-editing it. Even if not for people that might see it, just for the fact that everybody that knows and owns these cars won't think you're just repeating stuff you read in a forum without checking it. Reputation is everything. You're a good presenter, you're personable, and come across on camera well so I'm not trying to discourage you, only offering a little constructive criticism. Best of luck to you, and that's a pretty 996! I've got the red 986S with a 3.4 swap and a Biarritz White on Metropole Blue 996 coupe. I love them both. Had them many years and will keep them until I'm too old to drive them anymore.

[@adamsangels9874]

Starts at 5.07

[@INTERNA9]

Thanx

[@topboxing4764]

Thanks for taking the time; now this is 2022, how is this car holding up as I'm getting ready to pick one up...

[@KylePancis]

Mine is for sale! Car is SOLID. Let me know if your interested we can connect

[@KylePancis]

where are you based out of? As noted my car is up for sale. Happy to provide you more details if your interested.

[@tjj6583]

If porsche would do it right the first time we woudnt have this conversation. $150k pike of junk

[@bullfrogzbodyshop]

Better get it changed bud,or the next time you drive it may be the last. &, you should be scared

[@davidtracy9058]

I have a 2002 Boxster S with a failure of the IMS at 5K miles. It was replaced under warranty with an engine with the same design flaw. It failed at 24K again but I was not eligible under the Eisen lawsuit because the car was then over 10 years old. I should have opted out of the settlement but did not realize that would have allowed me to take action.

[@mrkongsimr]

Hi does this ims problem also come on Boxster 1997 model ?? Thank'a

[@KylePancis]

Yes!

[@joslinthomas3524]

Get the IMS done they all fail. Thought the same with dual row high mileage on my 1999 996. It failed without warning, but not catastophic .

[@JSARLIS]

The 3,4L 300bhp engines was from 1997 to 2000…

[@desmomotodesmomoto2033]

IMS, bore scoring.....etc

[@derekcrymble9085]

Vid starts at 5:00 . UGH !

[@TechnoloG84]

recently inherited my dad’s 02 911…has 2100 miles on it…tiptronic..shouldI go ahead and just replace the IMB bearing now or wait?

[@alcopower5710]

Any way to tell (besides dismantling) if a car has double row bearings?

[@christian_urocar]

2000-up were single row 97-99 cars ( boxsters , 911) had dual row

[@rumrnr78]

@@christian_urocar I read that the class action suit only covered from 2001 on- do you know of this?

[@christian_urocar]

@@rumrnr78 only 2001-2005 . But I don’t know if that lawsuit would still cover you now. I wouldn’t dip into a 2000-2004 Boxster or 996 (especially 996 or Boxster S 3.2) without knowing if they did ims or planning to do it after ownership because they will go up in price and you’ll eventually get your money back, Boxster s are appreciating in value and the 996 is probably at its all time low and is probably on it way back up in price very soon..trust me

[@rumrnr78]

@@christian_urocar Thanks for fast and thoughtful post!

[@petermabbort456]

The duel row bearing was the only one with a wire lock.