Jake Raby Question - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Local dealer says $1200.00 for IMS LN Engineering bearing in a manual trans and about $2000.00 for a Tiptronic, which I have. Does this sound right? Is there that much more involved in the Tip removal to install the bearing?

Everything is more difficult with a tip. I charge 500.00 more to do the procedure to a tip car than a manual. Those prices are dirt cheap, they must be hungry over there!

Not sure about the Boxster, but in the 996 cars the engine and gearbox must be dropped as a unit, and then separated out of the car, which is not a fun job in and of itself, as access to the bolts to that hold the torque converter to the flexplate (flywheel on an automatic car) is through the opening in the bellhousing where the starer sits (you remove the starter). Those prices seem pretty reasonable for the amount of work involved.

In a Boxster the Tip tranny can be removed with the engine remaining in the car, but it is no fun at all. I'd never do an IMS procedure for that kind of money, but then again we do way more than just the retrofit and we helped develop the tools and procedure.

Thank you for the information. $1200 seemed like pretty cheap IMS "insurance" to me. This quote over the phone was from Reeves Imports, the local Porsche dealer here in Tampa. They usually anren't considered the cheapest place to have work done! Didn't even ask about a PCA discount which they normally give! Rob C.

That's pretty close to the labor when I had mine done on a manual transmission. $1200 doesn't include the bearing and puller tool, right?

The guy I bring my S to, recommended by a board member, so far has been great and I am very impressed with his work. Top quality. For the clutch replacement he charges $430 on labor. I imagine doing the IMS at the same time he would charge me probably another $210-300 at the most (labor only). As the IMS retrofit kit is in the $700-800 ballpark from what I know, a full clutch replacement plus IMS kit would not cost more than $1800-1900 what is very cheap considering what you are getting for. Others may charge way more per hour than this guy over here does. Anyone has any idea how much more work it is to replace the IMS once you are already doing the clutch? I mean if you need 6-7 hours to do the clutch, how much more labor (timewise) to do the IMS? I guess that is what we get when healthcare is free. Cheaper labor overall. CR

I asked what it would cost to have the IMS bearing replaced and this is what I was told 1200man/2000tip. I assumed that included the part/s. Hopefully a $600 IMS bearing was not going to be a later surprise as an additional cost on top of the $1200.

Might want to ask. Note that the different bearings have different prices.

What is the total charge on a '03 TIP to install the LN IMS bearing bolt, cover etc parts and labor all included. Then ask how many they have done. They are probably quoting the factory parts.

If your 986 is 02 and older and a TIP, I would not worry about it my self. Mine is a 2000 S with a 3.2 with 68K. Usually the IMS fails before the 60K mark. If it's stick I would maybe consider it when I needed a new clutch.

It is a 1998 Tiptronic, 26K mi. I asked about the LN Engineering IMS bearing when I spoke to the service advisor. They are listed on the LN Eng web site as installers and I wanted to make sure they still were. I'll call again tomorrow for clarification.

If a 98, you certainly have the dual row bearing, which I would worry considerably less about. Being a 98, I'd be much more concerned about the risk of suffering a slipped sleeve.

Not sure I would agree with that anymore... I just recently did the IMS bearing retrofit on my 2000 Boxster S 70k miles 6-speed, lets just say the factory dual row bearing was not looking too good. I was very glad I had it replaced along with a new clutch and RMS. There was way too much play in the center bolt and when rotating the bearing you could feel the grittiness of worn bearings as it turned.

Sounds exactly like my 2000 S @ 88,500 miles when I tried to remove the seal frome the IMS bearing the bearing outer race came off also & bearings spilled out.

Sounds like we can all retract our statements that the dual row bearing is more reliable....

The dual row bearing is more reliable, BUT they still fail. The dual row arrangement is twice as robust as the single.

Yes. single row. While you can't update to a dual row, you can upgrade to a hybrid ceramic single row.

WHAT?????????? I changed the clutch and RMS on my 996 turbo without dropping the engine.

996 and 996 Turbo are completely different monsters to work on....