should you WORRY about IMS Bearing failure in your Porsche?

[@clnhunter9137]

75k miles on my 997.1. Just finished a 3100 mile round trip… flawless performance. Going to replace the clutch and ims bearing pro actively. Peace of mind is priceless

[@OurRideLife]

Many who do the service sleep much better. If you are one prone to worry it is definitely worth the price just for your own mental health. Thanks for watching and sharing your experience.

[@Gertzerroz]

Aren't there only 1 and a half years of the 997.1 that even have serviceable IMS bearings?

[@xclear1874]

You know, when I was first looking at Boxsters I was just terrified worrying that every time I start the car I'd just be worried the whole time about the IMS going, but after getting my 99 Boxster with the Dual Row a few months ago, it honestly hasn't even been a concern of mine! Thankfully with them estimated failing in less than 1% of the early 986s, I just don't worry! Thankfully! lol

[@rusty911s2]

Had a 99k mile 996 with dual row bearing. Removed trans etc, inspected and it was like new. Have just bought a 2000 2.7 986, 155k miles, just done the same and luckily it's also dual row. Again, absolutely and literally as new. No play whatsoever, butter smooth. Would be mad to remove that and put in an aftermarket one.

[@larry2447]

In 2018, I purchased an '01 Carrera 4 with 150k(ish) miles. Ran fine, but I installed an IMS Guardian, to hedge my bet. Still nervous, I ponied up for the Solution a year later. And the punchline: it was a dual row; when removed for the Solution retro-fit, the original bearing was PRISTINE. Use it as a $5K [did clutch & RMS & few other odds & ends, too] paper weight...

[@ridgemanron]

A friend removed the oil filter cannister on his 2008 RS60 Boxster and saw metallic shavings in the folds of the removed filter element, as well as in the oil that he allowed to drip into a 'catch' pan. Needless to say, his IMS had already deteriorated with his car's engine being considered 'Totaled' within two days of the oil change. He's looking at a $15,000 engine replacement on a car that had 70,000 miles on it.

[@OurRideLife]

Oh that is a tough one. I’m assuming they went in to see that the shavings were damage to the cylinders versus just cleaning it out and replacing the IMS bearing. Just thinking if it didn’t jump time that re-speaking the cylinders may turn out to be a bit cheaper, but labor and parts will cost a decent amount even if that is all that is needed and sometimes and engine replacement is cheaper than a rebuild depending on what needs to be done. Thanks for watching and sharing your friend’s experience.

[@jeffc79]

Maybe I’m just cheap and want to convince myself that my 99 996 6-speed will never blow up, so I haven’t had it done. That being said, even a nice 986 is dirt cheap to purchase. If the bearings fail at an established rate then where are all of the failed cars that aren’t worth putting a new engine in? In theory there should be thousands of failed engines out there that would cost well over the price of the car. If that were the case you would see a large number of dead cars that people were unloading for parts, or selling as mechanics specials, but you don’t.

[@aszrael1266]

My first thought when the video started was your IMS went out. Good video

[@OurRideLife]

Glad you enjoyed it and my 996 is still running (although I’m currently replacing the water pump, but other than that it has just been routine maintenance). I hope your 996 is running well. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.

[@rusty911s2]

My own rule: if you can DIY, drop the trans, lock the cams and remove IMS cover. If single race, replace with a deep roller style bearing. It doesn't need an oil feed as is 1/3rd under the oil level anyway and isn't a plain bearing. If dual row, inspect for play and smoothness, if it feels like new (as both of mine, 99k mile / 155k miles have), button back up. Why replace a high quality bearing that's happily doing its job? Far more likely to induce failure than prevent it. Beware people selling solutions to a problem you probably don't have. Single row though? Yes, I'd definitely replace as not only is it subject to much higher loads, there will be almost no warning of failure. Plenty of oil changes, keep the oil at top of the dipstick (so the bearing sits in the oil), and inspect the filter each oil change.

[@HokieD1993]

My recently purchased early 05 987.1 Boxster S has 133k on it and as far as I know it's the original single row bearing. It's at a Porsche racing shop for inspection and if it's not been upgraded, getting ceramic bearings with oil feed. They race with this setup and never had failure.

[@OurRideLife]

Enjoy your Boxster as much as you can and I hope it is a fun dependable ride for you. Thanks for watching and sharing your experience.

[@Phil99six]

Even with the dual row you feel the paranoia. I drove my ‘99 for almost a year before I decided to get the IMS Solution installed. With all the hype about IMS failure, that < 1% chance was in the back of my mind every drive. 🤷‍♂️

[@OurRideLife]

I hear you there. The IMS Solution has a higher cost, but it is one less thing to worry about while driving your 911. Thanks for watching and sharing your experience.

[@nasirkamal3186]

excellent review . I have. 1999 996.1 Carrera 4 ; I have not had the IMS bearing worked on as it has the dual row version with a very low rate of failure . On a separate note, I am looking for a reliable and competent Porsche mechanic in the Fresno/Clovis area . Any recommendations? Thanks !

[@OurRideLife]

Glad you enjoyed the video. Unfortunately, I can’t provide a recommendation as I no longer live in the Fresno area. You may try to contact the local region of the PCA and get a recommendation from them, I’ve found that they are usually helpful when looking for help. For Fresno / Clovis it would be the Sequoia region of the Porsche Club of America (a Google search should take you to their website and should have a place to contact the board).

[@TechnoloG84]

Why do you say the chain will fail before the IMS on a tiptronic???? i inherited my dad's 996...2002...8,500 miles...and I'm sitting in a shop right now debating if I wanna spend 5k on the IMS....what would you recommend?

[@OurRideLife]

If you already have the IMS right there and it will save money to do it now, then I would go ahead and replace the IMS Bearing. Otherwise, I personally would wait as Tiptronics do tend to have a lower failure rate due to how much easier the Tiptronic is on the drive train over a manual. However, with a 2002 you may have a single row bearing, so it could be worth replacing as they fail more often than the dual row bearings. The IMS Bearing is one of those things that if you don’t replace it and it goes out, then you kick yourself. But then there are some with very high miles that are still original. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.

[@TechnoloG84]

@@OurRideLife i'im gonna go ahead and do it...the shop claims that out of 10 installations they have never had a failure.

[@vintagesteelgarage]

Simple answer no. Every car has a weakness. Drive and enjoy.

[@OurRideLife]

Well said. Perhaps I should have made it a short and the video would have been 15 seconds. Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts.

[@RennvisionbyTheKnowledgeGruppe]

@2:20 - You are incorrect. The Porsche 996 Turbo and GT models have an intermediate shaft with a plain bearing to support both ends. This is how the Carrera M96 variates should have been built.

[@OurRideLife]

Thanks for the corrects, you are the experts. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.

[@MartiS-n8m]

...meany to say, "but I had to watch a lot of videos and double and triple checking the facts."

[@clnhunter9137]

Also I change the oil every 3k miles. Oil is cheap, engine repair … let’s not go there

[@OurRideLife]

I completely agree. The very most I would go in between oil changes is 5K miles or every six months if not too many miles are put on the car. 3K is even better and if you do it yourself it doesn’t cost much at all. Thanks for watching and sharing you thoughts.

[@someluke005]

Can someone explain to me why some KZbinrs have music in the background so loud that it's hard to understand what they're saying? Especially when you take into account that the American language (hehe) is not the native language of everyone on this planet.

[@OurRideLife]

Probably because those that don’t have a large enough following do the editing themselves and it takes a while to learn how to do all of the editing. For example, it wasn’t until recently that I learned how to edit the gain better for sound to better differentiate between the voice and the background sound. Still learning as I go. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.

[@robertslegers257]

Not if you don't own a Porsche

[@joeezra5460]

This is now the dumbest topic on earth…if you can afford a 996 the ims you then have an amazing road car you never wanna get out of! Or you can go buy a c63 amg and buy rear tires every 10,000km and brakes which wear fast will set you back 6k in aud.

[@OurRideLife]

Fair point. In the grand scheme of things upgrading the IMS Bearing can be cheap insurance. Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts.

[@desmomotodesmomoto2033]

IMS Solution oily.

[@rusty911s2]

Absolutely not. It's one of many possibilities and a triumph of clever marketing and fear mongering.

[@john9968]

Great video! You might be interested to on my channel I open an IMS on my car with over 80k miles…it looked like new!

[@OurRideLife]

Glad you enjoyed it. I also checked out your video and very interesting. Thanks for watching and sharing your experience.

[@kostantinoskakaletris766]

996 is a crap....mine '01 carrera 4 cabrio 127000 km ....dead from ims God i just hate this car😠😠😠😠

[@OurRideLife]

I’m sorry to hear that. Was it the original IMS Bearing? I have heard of a few aftermarket bearings failing and was wondering if it was original or new. The ‘01 is a tough year as well as some do have the dual row bearing, but others have the single row bearing with a higher rate of failure. Again, I’m sorry that you had it go out and thanks for watching and sharing your experience.

[@OurRideLife]

I’m sorry to hear that. Was it the original IMS Bearing? I have heard of a few aftermarket bearings failing and was wondering if it was original or new. The ‘01 is a tough year as well as some do have the dual row bearing, but others have the single row bearing with a higher rate of failure. Again, I’m sorry that you had it go out and thanks for watching and sharing your experience.

[@911928944]

I cannot understand how replacing a lifetime part with a part built to last 40k miles is a good idea

[@KTLaz]

Exactly!. Surely an new original part is better if u replace at some point

[@rusty911s2]

Actually an old original part is better still, if it's running cleanly without play. New parts have a period of higher failure rates then settle to a (hopefully long) mid-life which will likely be longer than the rest of the car anyway.