Streather and the IMS bearing

I realize this issue has been beaten to death. If you are merely going to complain about it being brought up again, please move on to a different thread. I just finished reading through Streather's 996 Essential companion. On page 182 of the August 2010 printing, he says (to summarize): "Lack of engine oil is the most likely cause of the IMS bearing collapsing. Low engine oil levels......cannot be blamed on anyone but the driver." He goes on to say: "Had a defective batch of bearings been discovered, PAG would have been forced to initiate a campaign action or technical service bulletin to recall these bearings and have them replaced." Now, I have begun research into buying a 1999 996 (I could probably afford a later model year, but 1999 has some significance for me). I have basically become obsessed with reading every bit of info I can find on these cars. I see the IMS bearing thing come up again and again (yes, I believe I have read every thread concerning the issue on every english language message board on the internet). I was all set to put aside money in my budget to do an immediate bearing and RMS replacement. After reading Streather and looking behind his reasoning, I am not so sure. He basically calls the IMS claims bogus, and the dude seems to do his research. So, is Streather full of it? Are the countless message board threads just useless flame wars? We know how things can get repeated and blown out of proportion on the internet until something not entirely based in fact becomes something generally believed as fact. As I have reread through these threads of personal stories of IMS failure, I cannot find one that mentions the oil level immediately before or immediately after the failure. Also, when reading posts of people who have prophylactically replaced their bearing, the overwhelming majority say their original bearing looks perfectly fine. This, of course, brings out the inevitable- "well it gives me piece of mind" comment. (I would probably say:" So I just wasted $2000 that I could have used on a new clutch or a kick *** big screen tv".) Basically, where is the proof? I have a manufacturer of a replacement bearing all over the boards saying to replace the bearing, because in their expert opinion, it is factory defective. But, the great majority of these pulled original bearings seem to be fine. It almost seems like it getting heart surgery done as a preventative. The cardiac stent manufacturer says "hey, get your vessel catheterized and one of our stents put in to keep it open and prevent a future heart attack!! Here are some pictures of vessels of people who didn't get it done and they had a serious heart attack" (while failing the mention the person weighed 400 lbs and mainlined bacon grease on a daily basis). The majority of people are walking around with vessels that are not in need of a stent, and surgery would just be a wasted expense and somewhat dangerous. I have seen people slam porsche for not releasing any numbers relative to IMS bearing failures being the cause of catastrophic engine failures. But, on the other hand, I have not seen any well-documented information from the retrofit manufacturers about how many of these original porsche bearings were actually failing or perfectly fine. (I have read that they ask these bearings be sent to them to validate a warranty, so they should have the information.) I see references to a supposed study by a "retired Timkin engineer" that referenced a 10% failure rate. But, where is the actual study? How many cars were involved? Do they have serial numbers of the engines the IMS bearings were removed from so they could cross reference them with production dates and give us an idea of the magnitude of the problem? Was an ACTUAL study done, with ACTUAL documentation and ACTUAL well established and controlled parameters in a sample size large enough to be significant?? In other words, I am highly skeptical of this IMS bearing brouhaha. All I have seen is hearsay and references to mythical "studies"- none of them independent or documented. I just think if people are going to slam a company with a normally stellar track record of reliability, some proof to back it up would be great. And lastly, I am not a shill for any company, nor do I have an axe to grind. Yes I am a new member and have a relatively low post count. But, a high post count does not necessarily mean someone actually has substance to offer, just that they have no problem pressing "reply" and typing. I am merely neck deep in researching this car and am looking for some answers. (And no, I really don't expect to find them on an anonymous message board, but it is worth a try.) I also don't want this post to come out unnecessarily harsh, as that is not my intention. I'm just looking for some fact-supported commentary instead of the usual fear-fest that occurs when this topic is brought up. If I get some actual documented proof that I should be separated from my $2000 for a new IMS bearing, I will do it because it makes financial sense. Thanks in advance.

Not only has it been beaten to death, your very point has been raised (Adrain Streather in his book, Bruce Anderson in Excellence, etc, etc, etc). Please do a search and you will see just as the IMS sticky has spelled out. With that said, I agree with you that the IMS hysteria machine is built on the back on the internet. It's very easy to create fear in a forum like this and very easy for guys to be driven to insanity that their car is a ticking time bomb as Raby has said. But......Guys like Raby have developed a great UPGRADED bearing. Under no circumstance should anybody think otherwise that it is preventative maintenance. If you find yourself with the motor and/or tranny dropped and want to drop $500-$1000 on an upgraded bearing then that is a good product. ps. these boards don't have to be anonymous. Use your real name and fill in your location like most of us do. You'll gain much more respect and credibility when people actually know who you are.

Dell, I have done a very thorough search on this subject,as I pointed out above. I have yet to see any EVIDENCE for this replacement, or any to point out that the bearing is actually an UPGRADE over the original. How many times have the new bearings failed? If you could point me to a post where the facts and figures relating to the original IMS versus the new bearings where this has been spelled out conclusively (with actual proof instead of hearsay), that would be fantastic. As for my anonymity, I have seen that the majority of posters on this forum do not use their name. I belong to other forums dedicated to my profession and most posters use their name. On here, I have discovered the exact opposite, so I did not include mine in the original post, as that seemed to be status quo, and I didn't want to violate an unwritten forum rule of which I was unaware. Ethan

Ethan, welcome aboard As far as the evidence, you will find zero. The only evidence would be to understand that upgrade means better that what is already present. However, better than "what" is the underlying problem with this debate. The stock unit is not defective and performs properly. So, upgrading to a bearing that is better than stock is (pardon the loose analogy) like upgrading your stock cast wheels to forged wheels. Sure, the forged wheels are stronger (i.e., better) but are the cast wheels not performing as designed? In the case of the bearing you would be asked to believe so. And the anonymous stuff pisses me off. In my mind I envision a forum where you are REQUIRED to post your real name and location. I have a feeling a lot of the bull**** that flies around here would be reduced if people couldn't be anonymous.

look its simple, buy the best 996 you can find, and replace that damn bearing as part of the purchase they fail... not all of them, but some of them and if anyone on the planet "knows why" they are full of **** IMO driving it more spiritedly is a great way to enjoy the car and might help offset the issue, letting them sit or lugging around at low rpm would be my highest suspect reasons for failure...just change it

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bingo!

Listen, after hearing the horror stories, I am all for replacing the bearing. The only problem is, are they just stories? Is the replacement bearing actually better than the real bearing? We've all heard stories about aftermarket parts voiding engine warranties because a lot of aftermarket parts are under-engineered and over-promised. (I realize a 99 will no longer have an engine warranty). Is the new bearing prone to less failure than the original? Has anyone offered proof that it is? Now I'm not saying this to be cheap. I am asking this more out of self-preservation. If I am to buy another "toy" car, my 6th in 5 years, then justify spending another $2,000 parts and labor on a prophylactic bearing and it blows up, I doubt my beautiful wife will be keen on me purchasing anymore "toy" cars until my kids' college is paid for, and my retirement has been fully funded. Has anyone had any problems with the new bearing? Ethan PS- Dell, thanks for the welcome. I apologize for stirring a hornets nest.

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Too new to know. Sorry, but I won't be a clinical trial guinea pig. Very welcome. Enjoy your time here. It truly is a great community. Just make sure to have a thick skin Don't worry about the hornets. We don't like boring here!

yeah... sigh.... please just search.... please.... all your questions have been answered.. Im tired of retyping the same thing. if you skeptical.. go buy a car and forget about it... Simple.. you have done your research. we all have our own opinions

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I AM NOT.. I think my idea of why is very good and plausable

Call me Monday morning and I'll get you in touch with eight owners of Porsches that have their vehicles at my shop now, or just received them back after being positively identified as having IMS bearing failures. These were photo documented. Yes, I have engine serial numbers and VIN from EVERY vehicle that we have retrofitted since day #1. I have a cross reference log that has this information as well as the FSI serial number of the bearing that was applied to that engine and that serial number crosses with the door jamb decal for 100% identification in the future. Here is Ed's decal, we just finished his work two weeks ago, he shipped his car 2500 miles for our procedure because he believed the issue existed. I also have a log of the engines that we have seen fail from the IMSBF. All of this has been gathered and logged for a very specific reason and it takes a lot of effort to keep the logs up to date. I will state that I only have this data for the bearings that we have retrofitted here on site and have supplied to others through our store. Nittanyguy, I appreciate your skepticism. There has to be a "devil's advocate" in every situation for it to be reality. I can tell you that one week spent in my upstairs admin area where the phone calls come in would prove to you that there is an issue and though it might not happen to every car on the road, it certainly happens to enough to warrant action. At the present we have more cars at our facility that have come there broken on a trailer than have come there for elective procedures and thats always the case. I have eleven broken cars from 10 different states (as far away as Oregon and Cali) and only two preventive upgrade cases awaiting the service to electively replace the bearing. While it may seem that many bearings are removed in fine co ndition, many people do not know a bad bearing when they feel one. Disection of the bearing tells the real tale about it's state of wear. It is also possible for a good bearing to become a bad bearing in just a couple thousand miles if it has progressed through the wear stages fast enough. All of this is about to become a lot better for the guys that don't wish to electively apply an IMSR to their Porsche. I have devised a method to predict IMS bearing failures in the car with advanced notice. This allows the driver to look into the engine closer at the local INDY shop, apply an IMSR and save the engine or they have other options as to what can be done to/ with the car before the engine breaks. Much like Cancer, the key to avoiding death from the IMSBF is awareness and early detection. There will always be skeptics. Last year one of the skeptics experienced his own IMSBF and at that point he dropped off the boards and sold his car. I verified what occurred through his local mechanic who called to tell us who he was and what happened. Remember: Before you start busting on the guys who developed this retrofit you should remember that for the first 10 years of the M96 engine a bearing retrofit was not possible. During those periods if a bearing even started to fail the ENGINE WAS DEEMED PURE JUNK!! You had NO CHOICE but to buy a new engine. I'll take all the skepticism in the world, because no one can take away the sense of pride that all involved have from creating the retrofit bearing and procedure that can and does save these engines on a routine basis when caught in time. At the present time the IMSR technology, procedures and bearings have a 100% rate for effectiveness, not a single unit has failed in any engine. Here is another tad bit of information before anyone thinks that we are getting rich from IMSR procedures. We make MORE if your engine fails and it needs replacement than we do if you retrofit a bearing! For many years I had the only M96 engine program in this country and the failures taught us what we know about engines and paid for all the other development. I stand to "gain" a lot more if your engine explodes than I do if you retrofit it electively. That doesn't stop us from retroffitting every car that comes into our facility. The early detection system will help those with cars that have diminishing values and don't wish to spend 3K on a retrofit for a car that isn't broken yet or starting to break. The unit is in final testing now and the only thing holding us up is the patent work and trademarking. Yet again, skeptics are abundant and some people are simply "vendor haters" in this world. We have grown to appreciate what these people bring to the table through their skepticism and NOTHING else on the planet drives us harder than these people, their comments and their disbelief in what we do. The funny part is the fact that some skeptics remain skeptical even after they have an IMSR performed on their own car. They think that we don't know who they are, but we do and I laugh my *** off every time they post saying the problem doesn't exist, even though they have an IMSR in their car but never applied the door decal to prove it!

I love it. Exactly the post I expected. "Please search"... I give the new guy no credence as to his intelligence or persistence. I searched and I did not find my specific answer. I have come to the conclusion, as Dell has pointed out above, that there is no proof. I also think this thread should die a quick and merciful death. I'm not going to get the answer I'm looking for, and its insinuated I'm somehow an idiot for bringing it up. Happens in every message forum on every common topic. You will find it in almost every thread on IMS. Someone says to do a search and leave it alone. (But than invariably, someone else decides to try and answer the original question and some unique information does come out in the posts that follow.)Its like going to an oncology conference and hearing someone say "Cancer, again. Why does someone always bring up cancer at these things?! That horse has been flogged enough." I do sincerely hope everyone has a decent Easter, Passover, weekend, etc. Ethan

I have heard of at least one failure with a replacement bearing.... but it was NOT the LNE bearing. LNE's have a perfect track record at this point in time. as for $ / toy / beautiful wife equation..... dont go into this thinking it will be cheap, even a well sorted car has stuff it needs...and there aint nothin cheap about a Porsche when it comes to getting things done. Last week I got new tires and someone asked how long the old ones lasted... I said 1 year / 9k miles.... he said holy crap, my last set I got 40k miles out of.... I looked him straight in the face and said, those must have been the worst tires on the planet, why did you wait so long to get rid of them.... doing an oil change myself (with good oil) is over $100 just changed shocks.... $150 each, really? yea really - not to frighten you but its just costs money. Learn to do some of your own work and you will save $2k in no time, just take it to the shop for stuff that is too big to tackle by yourself (although many have done this at home too) welcome to the board, after the fear wears off the smile is still stuck

nice post Jake

Jake, Can you release the statistics you have compiled? I am not a "vendor hater", only someone who likes a bit of information to make informed decisions. I think releasing your findings would be extremely beneficial to every porsche owner and your business. There would be an actual case for getting these bearings replaced proactively, and it seems like you are the only game in town. Out of proactively replaced bearings in 1999, how many were actually going bad, and how many were normal? I have heard 10% bandied about, but have not seen any actual statistics. If I own a car that has a 10% chance of needing a new engine at $16,000, I get the new bearing at $2-3,000 instead. I think that is a no brainer. If you found that only 2-3% of these bearing were bad, I may not elect to get the bearing done. What have you found? Or, to be more specific, out of the original 1999 bearings you have received, what percentage were actually bad? And thank you for posting on this. I have seen you post on other threads, but have yet to see any concrete statistics. (The thread usually blows up in accusations, etc. before that point) Concrete statistics turn people from skeptics into believers. And secondly, A 0% failure rating on the new bearing is absolutely fantastic and has probably swayed me into purchasing an upgrade when I purchase the car. Still, I am VERY interested to see the stats from the pulled bearings. Thanks, Ethan

Ivangene, one my "toy" cars was a range rover. After owning that bucket, I think I may be completely immune to sticker shock on repairs. They were needed on a monthly basis and all cost a small fortune. First vehicle I ever owned that I sold just to cut my losses. It was never 100%. Hell, it was never 75%.

now you are over the line: statistics wont tell you if your car will fail, and if your car fails and the statistics said it wouldnt, then what? - seriously, dont lok for an answer that way - just replace the thing and get back to the reason you bought it....to drive it - I am out (unsubscribed)

7 pages

Ethan, Welcome to rennlist, all I can add is that if you come onto a forum and bring up a beaten to death subject with thousands of posts already on it don't cop an attitude when you get some opinions. Adrians book is great but many things have changed since it was written, Fwiw, my ims seal leaked, replaced with LNE bearing and time will tell I guess. I used to be in the camp that this was overblown but know too many people personally who have had failures. Good luck, they are great cars.

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10+.

And still will nothing changing

Nittanyguy1 - If you've read every English language post on the Internet, why do you think that starting one more will definitively answer your question? The net is full of wild speculation about this subject and it's up to you to decide whether updating the IMS is a worthwhile investment.

The only reason I copped an attitude is although I am new on this forum, I have belonged to other forums on other subjects for a number of years. People will come on and start a new thread on a very popular and controversial topic, and you inevitably get the holier than thou "do a search, idiot". That drives me insane. How about in the spirit of cooperation and fostering discussion, and possibly even teaching me a thing or two, you LINK to the thread that has my specific answer. I did search. Over the past week or two for hours on end. I did not find my specific answer. If someone knows the specific answer, or have the specific answer, please share it. LINK to it. You don't have to spend any energy making commentary or being involved in the discussion. Thanks, Ethan

Ethan, I won't release the data that I have. It has been gathered for our purposes only and it would even create more drama that no one needs on this topic. Last year I was contacted by a really well known TV show that spotlights issues and I wasn't even willing to talk to them or release anything.. Because of that I believe they dropped the story. The interesting part is a member of their staff had his Boxster engine experience a catastrophic failure and it ended up at our facility.. 35K miles on the clock. There are no stats. Stats can't be compiled. Who knows how many engines were built, how many were replaced under warranty or even exactly how many cars were built. Only Porsche knows that and they are about as willing to share their records as I am. Stats mean very little. I applied the very first retrofit bearing to my own personal Boxster. The bearing that came out of that engine felt fine, but when I took it apart it already had flat spots on the rollers.. This is a matter of personal preference. If you believe in the retrofit then have the work done, if not you can wait on the "IMS ALERT" system or you can just drive along never thinking that it can happen to you and it might not.

Bill, So the solution to a question that does not have a definite answer is to simply stop asking it? Anyways, this has, of course gone completely off the rails. Not being facetious or snide, I am sorry for starting this. I should have simply emailed Jake directly, sent a letter to Streather for his opinion, and sent a letter to porsche asking them for an explanation. Although, I may not get answers from any of them, I would at least have my no-responses directly from the horse's mouth.

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and yet you are surprised DUDE, that is funny

Jake, No offense, but that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. It would be conclusive evidence to the existence or non-existence of this problem. You don't need porsche's number to come up with statistics. Simply, what percentage of original bearings that you have received show damage per model year? I mean, it serves no one's common purpose to withhold this information if you have it. Of course they dropped the story!!!! If you won't give them evidence to prove or disprove, there is nothing to talk about. Only speculation and rumor remains. Releasing the info. would put an end to most of these arguments. There would be conclusive proof of an issue, and people would have numbers to prove it. "Out of the XXX original bearings we received from the 1999 model year, XXX had signs of failure or unacceptable wear IN OUR OPINION. " That simple. No need to quote porsche numbers of originals produced or remanufactured.

Nitannyguy, Your questions are perfectly legit, however the answers, such as they are, have been posted many times before. Jake has records - no doubt. Since nobody knows how many engines have failed (consider engines replaced by dealers on warranty, engines replaced with crate engines which were fairly inexpensive for a while), no valid statistics are available except from PAG. If you expect an answer from them, well, good luck. I can say that if I had a car with and IMS, (I don't), I'd be in line for a bearing or at least the new early warning system. I consider it significant that PAG redesigned the engine for 2009 and later cars with no IMS bearing or shaft. The m64 engine saw service for 20 years (and still does in the GT cars) whereas the m96 mit IMS lasted only ten years. This suggests to me at least, that PAG decided that their design was not as good as they hoped. As always YMMV. Best,

can we get an emoticon for a cigar, please? This is in no way intended to be smartass. As a rookie-in here- (who, BTW, had the LNE IMS Retrofit Upgrade done last year on a low mileage engine), I continue to be fascinated by the discussions on this topic. The topic almost takes on the status of "religion", no actual proof, but some people are believers and their beliefs gives them comfort and I'm sure, much much more. I take nothing away from those who believe. Ethan, while you search for answers, it seems to me (IMHO) that it will come down to whether you believe or not. If you don't.... fine, buy the car of your choice, drive it, live with it, whatever happens. If you are simply unsure, do the LNE upgrade, what is piece of mind worth? ($10K to $15K)??? No disrespect, meant, insinuated, implied, etc. Oh, yeah, wlecome to the board. The gang in here will help you find the promised land, whichever fork in the road you might wish to take..happy motoring.

bravo brovo jake

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Oh come on.. we all love drama!

I personally think it's a worthwhile upgrade. I had my car less than 2 weeks when I changed mine. There's plenty of evidence on both sides of the coin, but ultimately it's the choice of the owner. IMHO if there's an upgrade for anything I want it! Anything mechanical is going to be subject to failure,at some point.

ivangene, I am still shocked that somebody got 40k miles on a set of tires. On a 911? Really?

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was some econobox car...not a P-car

Oh.

ahhhh.... IMS, the new OIL thread. Jakes stats wont mean anything to any of us..... its too small of the whole picture. In the end, noone has the answer to what you or any of us is looking for. Jake just gives us an option to "choose".... and that is good. Pick which side you are on and be happy.

Beautiful car in your avatar dresler

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Hey thanks. Because of the widebody, it has a turbo aerokit. The only other place I have seen a C4S with one is on wikipedia.

now hopefully this thread has been adequately derailed...

its a winner for sure!!! adequately derailed... ??? what ever do you mean actually I think the labels are backwards on the pic

https://rennlist.com/forums/attachme...darythread.jpg

Nooooooooooo!!!!! I want to get back on topic. Just kidding. I think I will look for some suggestions on where to by a car lift for a small garage. Thanks for the welcomes. Much appreciated.

http://www.ezcarlift.com/ Works great. A bit heavy, though. I hang it on the wall when not in use.

Thanks for the link. I don't know why, but scissor lifts scare me. I have no logical basis for this fear. I was thinking something like this: http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...6167_200386167

if you dont need storage I would love to get this instead... http://www.maxjaxusa.com/

I was on this board very early in 1999, there is a FAQ that lists my name in it. Back then the subject of Boxter engines failing came up - 12 years ago. I sold that Guards Red 996 against my will because of economics and was just sick over not having my Porsche any more. Fast forward to last year, I decided I can get one again so I started reading and this subject was everywhere on the 3 forums that I joined. It freaked me out, I called Porsche, I spoke to a service writer at North Scottsdale Porsche, I spoke to Don Jackson, a local Indy Shop owner and I spoke to Jack at Stuttgart Southwest who did the PPI on the '99 I ended up buying. I could have bought a 2000 or 2001 but for me it was some crazy thing about getting back what I gave up another '99. Everyone I spoke to told me something I read here, "stay on top of the oil level, change the oil no more than 5K miles or every year which ever comes first, do not drive the car like your in the Indianapolis 500, don't hit the redline." I do a lot of reading here, every day, I don't post much. I love the comments about "spirited" driving then CRISIS happens. Going back to what I was warned about by everyone that I spoke to when deciding if I should go for another '99 or not, is there a link? My car was manufactured in March of 1998, that's 13 years ago. I drive it and enjoy it but I don't beat the dog #### out of it. Does that decrease the chances of the engine grenading, I tend to think so.

Speaking of 996's and the potential problems that arise from them.......

Careful - those sunglasses may scratch the lid...

The design of the IMS and bearing was a bad design that Porsche tried to correct, but had 10 years of issues from 1999-2009(997.1). They stepped up under warranty and fixed the cars in one manner or another, i.e. new engine, seals, etc. They did not publish any factual rate of incidence....that would be suicide PR. They moved on to a new engine design - 997.2 with no IMS designed in the engine......that took a while, thus the 10 year issue after 5 years of possible band-aid fixes... After market company comes to the rescue with an upgraded bearing for bad design........so far, it really assists owners psychologically and mechanically.... Bottom-line....no car is perfect.....it is just comes down to how much you want to spend or time wasted to repair the issue if it occurs The options: New upgraded bearing New engine or other parts/labor if needed under warranty or out of your pocket Get rid of the car Avoid the 99 to 2009's.

Sorry to get back to the topic, but the IMS bearing is designed as a sealed bearing that is not lubed by engine oil. In fact, the failures are caused by a failed bearing seal allowing engine oil to wash out the bearing permanent lube. How would engine oil level make any difference? Streathers comments are off. On an intact bearing, engine oil level has no impact on the bearing race and *****. If your bearings' seal failed , and your oil was low, well maybe that would do it. But then you would have a failed bearing wouldn't you! Furthermore, from a statistical standpoint, there is no way to get statistically meaningful numbers from this board or Raby. You need a large enough random sampling group. Neither is random. But it is clear that IMS bearings do fail often enough to be of concern, primarily because the failure results in a destroyed engine. If a failed IMS bearing only resulted in a burned out dash light, it wouldn't be a subject for discussion or such a big concern. All you can reasonably infer from all this IMS BS is some IMS bearings fail. And is it worth spending $800 during a clutch change (or more) to reduce the odds of a $16,000 engine replacement . It was to me. I don't think about it anymore.

and another

OK Dell.... I am re-subscribing

I figured as much. Cafalu tried to derail the thread but we fixed that

Dell, tell me you have a pic of her turned around

That one would get me banned.........

I like where this thread is going...

Behave boys!

We promise Mark....no ban possible pics

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What kind of oil does HE use...

disregard thread

Wow: this is now getting really interesting! More pix, please.....(*insert cigar emoticon, here*).

I think one of the most telling things is the fact that [email removed] lets LN Engineering advertise the product.

Look, nittanyguy, not really sure what you want from us - people have been trying to answer your question, but you've just been posting snarky responses to them. Cars fail all the time, for all kinds of reasons, and one that has been identified for the Porsche 996 (especially the 1999 model year, which is probably the least expensive 911 out there of any model year) is the IMS. If you can't handle this risk and believe there is a conspiracy theory or something, maybe go buy a BMW...

She can stand on my bumper anytime

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Perhaps not in regard to the fact that IMS failure has been greatly exaggerated through purposeful manipulation of fact to create internet hysteria for the sake of entrepreneurial gain...but the quoted assertion is patently ignorant. The OEM bearing is grease-packed and sealed. It is not purposed to be lubricated by the engine oil. Theoretically one could run the engine bone-dry of oil until it seizes, and the IMS bearing would be found to be in perfect condition.

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My feelings exactly...the IMS upgrade is an insurance policy and for peace of mind....the cost of the upgrade vs the cost of a crate motor.......

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That is, IF the bearing still had the proper amount of uncontaminated grease still in it. The G96 pinion head bearing acts much like the IMS bearing in the engine, as per its design intention.

[QUOTE=Country911;8497120 The topic almost takes on the status of "religion", no actual proof, but some people are believers and their beliefs gives them comfort and I'm sure, much much more. I take nothing away from those who believe. [/QUOTE] I love analogies. Thanks for this one. It will help me sleep at night. Sincerely.

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OK. I'm officially in love. Dear Lord. BTW, I have the ezcarlift, too, got it under a GB for $1250. Love it. The low rise (26") is allI've needed so far. An oft ignored benefit of the lift is the micro-precision raise/lower that is near impossible to do with any other lift. Makes alignment of heavy large underbody items a breeze. It's truly portable. 2 posters are portable in the sense if you move, you can take it with you, or have to move it for something. You can't take it to a track, or lend it to a friend, and the ezcarlift stores in like no room at all. FWIW, YMMV, My $0.02, etc, etc.

Please kill these IMS threads. It' s always the same wild speculation, complete guesses, and misinformation which people state as fact. Nobody knows the frequency or cause, with the possible exception of Porsche, and their not likely to publish anything anytime soon. Enough already. If you're concerned, do the upgrade. If you're not, just enjoy the ride.

I plan to replace my IMS...I do, just not yet because if the engine grenades while under CPO, I get a new engine... I can't help but think if there were hundreds of 996's that were losing engines, Porsche would be facing a class action lawsuit. Regardless if it's after the warranty period. Instead, because there are third party products like LNE, they have been saved. With everyone running to install this upgraded component, Porsche is then cleared from any responsibility for those engines. They must be LOVING the LNE kit. It (quite possibly) saved them hundreds of thousands of dollars! In theory, if the part they used is subpar for the abuse/life it might lead, or simply their design is shotty, having third party solutions removes a LOT of headaches from Porsche. The only thing they are stuck with now is the possible bad rep for the M96....but they've already moved on from that platform, so that doesn't really matter. If no one made an "upgrade", all these engines would be dying and Porsche would have some REAL issues on their hands. They should send Jake and LNE some fruit baskets or something sean

A class-action lawsuit for a problem that may or may not happen with some cars that are up to 13 years old? I don't think so. I hereby pledge that I will never again read another IMS thread.