Labor hours for IMS bearing on 996 C4S Tiptronic

Hello 996ers. A friend recently bought a 996 C4S with a Tiptronic gearbox. The car is in nice shape with about 70k miles, but it hasn't had an IMS bearing replacement yet. He is considering having this done to safeguard the engine. The first labor quote was for 30 hours to do IMS and RMS. Does that sound excessive or about right? I'm told Tiptronic and all-wheel-drive cars require more labor, but that seems to be about three times the average for rear-drive manual cars. Does anyone have personal experience on what actual labor should be for a C4S Tip? I wasn't able to find much of an answer via search.

I do not know "official" P-hours listed for IMS. However, here is a partial clue: A "high-end high-tier" shop that does engine rebuilds has some numbers posted. One of the "options" listed is "Drop & Install" the engine. They do not give any difference to manual or Tip. That particular number is $2950. Since I know what their "shop-hour rate" is, the division equals just a bit over 15 hours. I have also read that a "usual" engine drop is about 8 hours, "reinstall in" -about the same, so the "high-tier" time X rate appears to be industry average. There are other added costs to R&R engine-trans, like engine coolant drain&refill, but may/may-not be included in the lump sum cost. I do not know if you have to do a complete oil/filter change at the same time, but it would seem logical to do so. While doing the IMS/RMS task, it would also be a good idea to flush & refill the Tip with new fluid and filter. It is a total PITA to do on jack stands in a garage by a neophyte. On the whole, the Tip trans can not be separated from the engine while in the car to do IMS or RMS. It must come out as a unit. No big deal, same hours as dropping a manual-engine unit. Once the engine is out, the IMS and RMS are "relatively" simple. Put another way, why 15 hours to do these 2 tasks? I have not seen any IMS/RMS tasks up in that hour range, no where near it. Ask questions and get a written estimate of what X-shop will do for 30 hours. Maybe watch World Cup Football? Dunno. You do the numbers and math and decide. If you don't like the "math-mental" results, go elsewhere. JMO. FWIW, I have a '04 C4S Tip. YMMV

Thanks, @Siberian14. Sounds like some extra complexity in that you wouldn't usually need to drop the engine to replace the IMS bearing in a manual transmission car. Does the C4's all-wheel-drive system result in extra hours vs rear drive? Regardless, it sounds like he will need to get a few more quotes for this service.

I believe you are correct that a manual trans can come off the engine while leaving engine in car. I have been told that the Tip will not do that. I don't think it is the "all-wheel-drive" system makes a difference. It is the transmission that is different. The Tip has extra lines and cooler on it so yes it is different. I don't think it makes much difference in overall "Time-Hours", just a different set of tasks. A manual trans has mechanical connections (I guess) and a Tip does a lot of "Fluid & electronic" connections. Once the Tip is separated from the engine, all the rest of IMS/RMS work is the same. In addition, it is a PITA to R&R the cooling system, so that alone should add "cost" to a Tip car. Perhaps the "High-end-high-tier" shop just averages everything all together. In the shop I mentioned, there were 29 manual p-cars and 1 Tip. By averaging a "Price", there is a big + for having 29 of "less work" cars and only 1 of the "more-work" cars. At least that is my logic, but who knows? I would still go elsewhere to get an written estimate of doing this project. YMMV

The tip trans is absolutely huge compared to the Carerra manual trans. The 722.6 tip weighs over 100 pounds more than the manual. I think that us why they don't like to pull just the tip. Also the torque converter bolts have to be undone through the starter hole, which can't be easy.

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30 hours seems excessive, but like Siberian said, ask questions and get a detailed, WRITTEN estimate of what they will do for that money. As an FYI, back in Nov of 2021, I had an engine out done on my 2001 C4 Tip equipped Cab. Lots of work done at my Indy, including IMSB, RMS, coils water pump, fluid changes and the list goes on and on. It was a lot of work, but I wanted to baseline the maintenance on my new to me 996. Cost was $8000.

I have done quite a few engine transmission drops under warranty on M96/7 power units....The Warranty time is about 8-9 hours to R&R in the Porsche Labor Time Guide... I think 30 hours is quite high ... There is no labor time for IMSB replacement because it was not suppose to be a repair option . So after the Warranty period Shops can charge what they want...

Thanks for the answers, everyone. I'll relay all this to my friend and recommend he get a few detailed quotes.

I keep hearing that Tips cannot be removed by themselves and it's an whole unit as one job. I did a manual swap to my 99 and the only thing I did was remove the intake plenums to access the starter to reach the torque converter bolts. After that I literally just lowered the engine some to get access to the case bolts and drop it like it was a manual. I believe it's on the Mercedes tip units that the entire assembly has to be removed. I can just speak on my own experience but it was one of the things I was dreading to do again when I was doing the swap and then when I saw I didnt have to remove the engine I was ecstatic lol.