RND IMS bearing

Anyone with experience with the RND IMS bearing replacement? I am looking for a kit to go along with AOS and clutch replacements at 65,000 miles. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks, Lang G

Looks like a great durable product from a company that is backed by LN engineering. Have you considered the IMS solution?

I like the IMS Solution but it is more than twice the price for the kit. Plus I am assuming that installation is also more time consuming. Lang

Yes it is more expensive, but the IMS Solution is permanent. All the others have to be replaced eventually. The installation is not a lot more involved. The hard part has to be done regardless. Drilling a hold and notching the case isn't really that tough. Adding the spin on filter is a good idea anyways. You could argue that the pre-qualifying part will take additional time, but really those checks should be done regardless IMHO. Why replace with a cheaper IMS bearing if it is not going to last because the existing bearing has already failed?

All good points. The engine has 65,000 miles. Whatever the fault that caused a high failure rate in the single row bearing, mine doesn't have it. Or it is a double row bearing. I have had a spin on filter for several years now. I change oil on average every 2,500 miles. The oil analysis shows zero indication of any bearing failure. If a replacement has a service interval of 50,000 miles, that is 10 years at the rate I drive it. I am 68 years old. Having to 'pre-qualify' to make a 'repair' to my car is unacceptable to me. Lang

Oh, you don't have to pre-qualify for the repair. You pre-qualify for the warranty. They don't want to warranty a bearing that won't last due to prior engine damage. I put 10-12K per year on mine, so a 50K service interval is too short for me. I'm 51 and drive mine daily commuting 52 miles 4-5 days a week. If yours went 65K without a failure, yours probably will keep going. But I would go ahead and replace with a quality replacement anyways.

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The LN IMS pre-qualification procedure is there to protect the owner, installer, and yes, the manufacturer of the IMS product. Can imagine how many people installed a new bearing on a sick car? Then, when the car died of some unrelated problem, their victim mentality convinced them to sue the manufacturer or the last hands on the car - the shop that install the IMS. It happens all the time! If you go through a certified installer that will provide a warranty on the installation, then the car MUST go through 11 points of inspection which includes an oil analysis, ECU check(fault codes, over-revs, fuel trim values, and camshaft deviations, etc.), an invasion check of the cylinders for bore scoring, crank case manometer test, as well as an inspection of the real main seal bore and the original IMS bearing. If any one of these things fail during the 11 point inspection, then the car is disqualified. Now, on the other hand, if you're attempting to purchase the IMS bearing and install tool kit to handle the install yourself, then basically you're on your own. You break it, it's all on YOU. Pre-qualification should apply even in DIY cases - it's common sense. Think about it. If your child was sick with a terrible bacterial infection and the doctor concluded that she was also highly allergic to anti-biotics, would you still insist the child take anti-biotics anyway or work with the doctors to find an alternative? The pre-qualification step is like the doctor taking vital signs, blood samples, and swab tests to determine the health of your child in order to make a proper diagnosis and plan for treatment. Ultimately it's intended for you to make the right decision for your car.

I am thinking on installing the Direct Oil Feed (DOF) solution from TuneRS. I like their approach. Any comment on that solution?

I have the RND installed. I just like the roller bearing over the ball bearing. If your car is a 2001 with 65K miles, I would encourage you to replace the bearing now. That is why it is called preventive maintenance. You don't want to wait until there are signs of failure. Any anti-friction bearing has a finite life and yours will fail sometime. Why push your luck trying to go for 75K miles, or 85K miles or ?? It isn't worth it. I would not do the DOF as I see no valid reason to do so with the RND bearing.

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We private label the RND RS Roller Bearing IMS Retrofit for SSF Auto Parts. Their sales guys wanted a roller bearing option and didn't want to offer any of the existing products available. As we had already developed and tested a roller bearing ims kit years ago when developing the IMS Retrofit, it was easy to build this kit. The RND RS Roller kit is built alongside the IMS Retrofit and IMS Solution and uses a very high quality roller made by Koyo. In fact, they are the only company that offers this particular bearing because it has integral thrust control and increased roller count, which increases it's load rating. The other important feature is that the construction allows for the bearing to be properly retained with a snap ring, where the other commercially available kits are one size fits all and do not utilize any method to retain the bearing. As SSF has to back the product with a 2 year/24,000 mile warranty, they wanted something they could be confident in offering shops. What I will point out is that other roller bearing kits advertise being permanent or being 5-12x stronger, which isn't the case. Open up a bearing manual and look up the actual ratings for bearings used. The roller bearings used in the RND kit and other kits have the same load rating as a dual row ball bearing, but are higher friction and have more moving parts. Facts are facts and opinions are opinions. Just be sure when doing your homework that you are making a decision based on fact.

I am far enough into the process that I have confirmed that the engine has a dual row IMS. I have decided to go with the dual row LN replacement bearing. I have not seen the old one yet. I will try to post pics when I have some. Lang G

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Great! Are you installing it yourself? If so, please post lots of pictures and description on how the process panned out. Thank you!

Curious to know where LNE ranks the different bearings i know the “solution” is the top product, but how do the RND roller and IMS retrofit compare as far as longevity goes does it make sense to put in the solution on a car with 100K miles that will probably need a rebuild in 50 to 75 K anyway? maybe install the less expensive bearing for now, then do the solution at the rebuild?

Save yourself some money and the car is a keeper, do the solution now and reuse it at rebuild, the ball bearing IMS is not reusable.

Technically speaking, the car needs to be "qualified" for any LN bearing retrofit to be warranted... Just sayin'

but does it have to be an approved installer on the "list"? to get the warranty? there is not an approved installer near me also, isn't the bearing the only item warrantied? if the motor grenades, the cost of the bearing will be the least of my concerns BTW, i'm not worried about passing the qualification, car is clean and strong, just looking at options thanks

I have a 2003 Targa with 74,000 miles, decided to drop engine and do bearing and seal swap before any issues. Pulled it apart and found out that bearing was different. Upon Inspection found out I had a new engine fitted in 2010 under warrantee at 49,000 miles by Porsche. Its the newer engine so IMS is not an issue. I had talked to the dealer before and asked why they did not tell me, there explanation was they only keep records for 2 yrs, go figure?. NEW KIT FOR SALE So I have a LN kit and a new oem seal , I paid $547 for all as I had a coupon, the LN kits are now $650 plus seal $48 ( $698) value I will seal all for $490 to member. I have photos and receipt, brand new, along with registration card for kit, I can send photos. John

Jdoc, wondering, did you have the bearing shield removed when you found the updated IMS ?

I had pulled trans and engine apart and then saw completely different bearing and shaft. It was the new design in the 2009/2010 engine at 47,000 miles , if I was to replace I would have to split the the case. The engine basically is new only has 30,000 miles on it as it was replaced in Oct 2010 so there was no point. I did replace water pump, reservoir tank, thermostat, belts etc John

x2 on the seal. Mine was compromised with oil at 50K.

In the end I used the engine # went to Porsche dealer in Kansas City and they sent paperwork to show me engine # and when it was replaced.

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The only requirement is professional installation including the pre-qual process. We realize that not everyone has access to one of our installers in their area.

My installer has done a number of kits. He is experienced and I trust him. He installed an IMS Retrofit kit in place of the original dual row bearing. I will post pics when I can. Lang G

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There are plenty of Indys that have done this IMS update out there, my guy in KS has done a few and has said no issues. Most all Porsche repair guys that rebuild engines, replace clutches etc can do this and most of them have the correct tools so i would not worry about IMS certified shop. You just want to feel comfortable about them, talk to customers about how there work done and look them in the eye and get a quote from them. John

Retrofitting an IMS bearing is expensive. I would suggest that is one of the reasons for the lower price point of the 996. I just had the Solution installed along with clutch/flywheel/AOS/waterpump/T-stat. Had I installed a replacement bearing, based on retail cost of the bearings ($800 vs $1800 for the Solution), I figure I could have saved maybe $1200? $1000 extra for the Solution plus maybe a couple of extra hours of labour. Although I have no plans to sell my car, ever, (hence the Solution), I have got to figure that even on resale a car with the Solution installed has to be worth at least $1000 more. So, I suggest that the Solution is actually the most cost effective option whether you keep the car or sell it.