New to the 996

I wanted to say hello and ask for opinions. I have owned 928s, 914s and an early 911 but just yesterday bought my first 996. I got a smoking deal on a high mile 1999 C4 that appears to have been meticulousely maintained including an IMS bearing replacement but this is the rub. The service records are not available so other than the POs word, I have no way to tell that the IMS was in fact replaced about 60,000 miles ago as stated. Here are my questions to you. 1)Is there a way, with a scope or something to confirm that the bearing was truely replaced? I plan to replace it either way, just deciding on timing. 2) I would like to hear other people's opinion on if I can wait till fall or if I should take it straight to the shop when I take delivery.

What type of bearing was used? If they say it's an LN bearing, there should be a serial # sticker somewhere on the car. They're often on or under the drivers side door or jam (mine's on the lower underside of the drivers door). They're also often put somewhere in the engine bay. The rub with this (as is the case with mine) is that, if the installer didn't send the bearing back to LN (i.e. register it), they'll have no record of what bearing it actually is, or by whom and when it was done. One thing they will be able to tell you is the date of manufacture of the bearing - it's up to you to deduce the rest from there. Good Luck

Welcome to 996 World! Like they say around here "pictures or it didn't happen!" No expert here but I believe the only way to tell is drop the transmission and review the outer cover. Did PO indicate what type of bearing was used? If LN part, they might have a record. Then there is the double-row discussion i.e. much lower failure rate compared to the later single row. There should be some very knowledgeable folks address your questions more fully, soon.

LN Engineering themselves say for their ceramic bearing every 75k or 6 years. FWIW. I think the bigger question is your intent with the car. If you want to drive it 2-3 years and then move on you could leave it as is (on a high mileage car). If you intent to keep it longer, then I would swap it now so you are good to go for the next 6-8 years. You might also consider first other priorities; high on my list would be temperature management. So replace waterpump, maybe new thermostat, clean radiators, replace if necessary. To me IMS, AOS and temp mgt are the 3 biggies. Volkert

Sorry, forgot to add the picture. I won't take possession till next week, will get more pictures then. This is from the original listing.

Good point on the intention question. I plan to hold on to it long term and drive it the way that Porsche intended. It will get plenty of spirited miles over several years. Thanks for the service recommendations. I plan to do any maintenance that I can't prove was already done.

The '99 is the most robust year of the "replaceable" IMS years. Assuming the original engine (which you can verify by checking the engine number), and the production year is '98 (check the door jamb), the dual-row retrofit bearing is going to be of the none-of-em-have-ever-failed variety. I bought my '99 with no service records, and from a third party...I didn't even get the chance to look the previous owner in the eye and shake his hand. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this approach to the risk-averse, but at least in my case I couldn't be happier. 4 years in, I still find surprises - while changing my starter, I discovered the previous owner installed a Turbo Mike (now IPD) plenum. Every time I dig into an aftermarket part, or I remove a previously installed component, it has proved to be top-notch, either OEM or top-of-the-line aftermarket.

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I'm a new owner as well; at 60k miles on a replacement IMS bearing you are probably due a swap, especially if you don't know what kind is in there. I'm doing mine now with an LN bearing, plus clutch kit, AOS, water pump. They aren't too bad to work on these cars.

It's finally home. Like I said, it was a great deal but it does have a few problems. First there is no service history, so I made an appointment for the 15th to have the IMS bearing replaced, clutch checked and a general inspection to make sure nothing else is wrong. The car has a warm start issue. I plan to burn through a tank of gas to make sure that it isn't just bad fuel. I suspect that it isn't but will see what I find. It basically acts like it is vapor locked when hot. And the biggest problem of all, the cigarette lighter fuse was blown!!!

I love my 99 C4 and I am just a year into it. Best to you

I drove the 996 to work this morning. I'll probably park it this afternoon and leave it until the IMS bearing is replaced in a couple of weeks. I love driving the car but am constantly worried about the bearing.

Welcome to the 996 realm and great color by the way. Only bias because I have the same color.

Without those records it's very hard to believe are trust by word of mouth, Just keep fresh oil and filter in it always, replace oil and filter every couple thousand miles

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and always cut the old filter open to check for metal debris is a good habit to get into

Get a screw on oil filter adapter to make those oil changes a twist away. Stock up on Oil. Be sure and replace that crush washer on your oil plug each time.

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What about the other 28 methods of failure, you aren't worried about those? I kid, I kid. But you have a 99 with the dual row, so driving it a few weeks wouldn't concern me. I have a 99 and in hindsight, I would have left the old bearing in if I'd thought longer about it. Congrats on the car!

Welcome. The hard start issue - I would take a look at the fuel filter. I believe 99's have an external replaceable filter that doesn't require going into the gas tank and taking out the fuel pump. It might not be the cause of the starting issue, but then again, the filter could be old.

Interesting thing on this bearing is that there is a 99,5% chance when it comes out that it will be in engine oil (which is not how it is supposed to be, it should be greased) but that is perfectly fine in any other way. Some then will think "why did I just throw away a good 1000$ but that is beside the point. The point is that you have it replaced in time before it starts to be damaged. On my car the clutch was replaced at 80k kms and I purchased it at 135k. There was no record of a IMS bearing replacement and with the clutch having been replaced at a Porsche dealer I was pretty sure it was original. I know now the current thinking is to leave it be but I chose to get the clutch and bearing done (LN ceramic) together with a new AOS and RMS. Better safe then sorry. So if you don't feel happy driving the car until the 15th I think that is A-OK. I would be stupid if it would grenade on you in the meantime. Just my 2c of course. Volkert