thanks Steamboat. Very usefull info.

 

It does get confusing. After speaking with one of the primary suppliers of IMS kits, they gave me a solid impression that 2006-2008 Carrera S models were fairly immune from IMS failure. In fact it was more likely with the 3.6 Carrera (997.1).

Also, I can’t figure out if a car was manufactured in late 2005, but marketed as a 2006 S model whether or not you would have the M96 or the M97 IMS. And if there is any way to tell through production numbers, VIN numbers, etc.

 

I ended up taking my car to Newport Beach Porsche and had them confirm vin. I have an 06 C2 built in mid 05. They confirmed that it has the updated IMS and does NOT need the retrofit. They even left me a vm confirming it.....saving that gm in my box indefinitely! They said that they have only had 2 confirmed 05 IMS failure.....nothing 06 or beyond.

 

So the 2 confirmed IMS failures would be with cars that were assembled late 2004 and EARLY 2005? Cars that were assembled in 2005, but sold as 2006 models would have the updated IMS?

 

On mid 05's and early 06's best bet is to have a visual check done by someone knowledgeable. External bearing locking nut, etc is different.

 

I am simply telling you what the dealer told me. I encourage everyone concerned about their IMS to contact their dealer and post the dealer response. I plan on taking my car to another dealer shortly for a second opinion. As you all know, P car dealers are pretty far from each other....even in SoCal!

 

I asked my dealer yesterday, he was saying every carrera untill 2008 MY is prone for IMS bearing failure, told me no fix for this from porsche and they don't carry over any retro fit installation with after market parts for remediation. he replied saying this will be more prone in garage queens(in which case i am good that i drive every day in the year). As per Porsche engineers this can be remediated only when you drive the car frequently thru-out the year and keep the RPM higher than 2500 .

i will take a second opinion from other dealer this weekend and post here.

i am concerned...

 

The failure rates are extremely low in 06+ motors. Is dealer trying to sell you a newer car? Seriously, search for the poll on rennlist "report ims failures". As I recall about 6.5 percent of owners posting (IMO more likely an overreport if compared to general population-you know: "boards exaggerate problems") post ims failure, nearly all of those occurring in 05 motors. Btw, this is nothing new. To the contrary. Don't over react unless you have your heart set on that .2

 

I don't understand how your dealer could be correct saying a problem on all 911s until 2008. I've read on this board that Porsche changed the type of bearing in early '05 and then in '07 went to a supersized bearing which is so large it cannot be removed with out cracking the case open and is meant to last forever.

 

Surely I will take second opinion. Good part is my dealer is not offered to sell a another car on that phone conversation though, we never know if I go there they may do that, I will find that out as well.

Question.
I heard the external mount is different in rectified engines. Can someone tell me where I can see visually under the car, I will take a picture In the mean time post here for you guys opinion.

My car is 2005/07 build and sold as 06 car.

 

I ordered my car in November, 2005 and had it delivered in March, 2006. It has the latest bearing for the M97 family of engines that cannot be removed without splitting the case. It wasn't in 2007 that they did the change but in cars built sometime starting from August, 2005, as far as I understand. When I got the X51 retrofitted to my car, they looked up its built date because, if it was built prior to 08/2005, the retrofit was not possible - I have a copy of the Tequipment catalog and it is written in there quite clearly. There was mention of updates done to the motors after that date and, iirc, the improved bearing was spoken of. That is why I think 08/2005 must be the cutoff date for the new bearing... an educated guess, of course.

 

checked my certificate of authenticity, in that the engine/transmission type mentioned as M96/03/G96/00. and production date as 07/14/2005, Is my car is prone for IMS issue?

 

Firstly, the 05 cars definitely have a far higher incidence of failure than 06 and up, though it is not unheard of in the later cars. If I had a car with the larger IMS bearing from the factory, I wouldn't do the upgrade. However, I have an 05 with the older smaller bearing so I did the upgrade.

Build date and VIN are an imprecise way to tell if you have the smaller bearing. You NEED to do a visual inspection

For the Salt Lake guy, I had mine done at Ken Garff Porsche. They already have the tool to do it. Shoot me an email and I will talk to them and see what kind of deal they can put together for you.

Also, definitely read the LN Engineering article in detail. It answers most of the questions here. I drive my car like it was meant to be driven and watch the oil analysis like a hawk, no problems so far...

 

I was referring to the 3.8L engines, the M97 designated ones. I don't know when and if the M96 designated motors got the improved bearing.

By the way, even a Certificate of Authenticity is not necessarily infallible; I know of one instance in which a CoA has stated an M96/03 motor when, in fact, the car's motor was an M97/01 as visually verified by reading its serial number underneath it. A new, corrected CoA was promptly issued by PCNA.

 

"though it is not unheard of in later cars"
Anybody actually heard of this in the later cars with the larger bearings?

"If I had a car with the larger IMS bearing from the factory, I wouldn't do the upgrade."
While you can replace the triple bearings in the 06 to 08 vehicles, it requires cracking the case and according to George at LN Engineering, the only time they change the bearings on a '06 to '08 is when a customer is having the block bored out from a 3.8 to 4.0.