Show of hands:
how many posters here
have PERSONALLY experienced an IMS
bearing failure on their car.

Previous owner or after you sold it doesn't count.
Just IMS bearing failures on YOUR car while YOU owned it.

Thanks.

Not once.

But

I can't find one on my car.

Now I have had a dilivar head stud issue. :(

There used to be a product called IMS Guardian that was a sensor to tell you if there was metal in your oil (a sure sign of coming failure). Has anyone used it? Do they still make it or is the standard answer to do periodic replacement for cars that didn't get the new and improved design?

This deserves it's own thread...

I suggest the number of people who visit the pelican
forums is large than some might think.
If NO ONE in that population
raises his hand, I would see that as significant.
If 100 people raise their hands, that would also
be significant.

I don't comprende how the number of kits sold
would be indicative of anything except effective
marketing and hype.

So far, the answer is zero.
as I expected.


I believe the extent of this problem
has been greatly exaggerated.
It started getting legs long ago from the air-cooled fans
who didn't like the new-fangled 996 cars and were
subconsciously looking for a reason to rationalize
their distain.

It got a boost from the "me too" crowd who
didn't want to be left behind, so they shared
experiences from a neighbor's friend's brother-in-law.

Next thing you know, people were beating down the doors of Porsche
mechanics demanding that they save them from this evil beast!

Entrepreneurs saw what was going on and decided to
capitalize on the hype and make a few $$$ on a product
most don't need, and as the competition grew the resulting
marketing threw gasoline on the hype fire.

It happens.
It sucks when it does.
It is very rare.
There are other problems with the newer engines
that should be of greater concern than the IMS bearing.
Cylinder scuffing for example.

Maybe a better way to ask this question is to ask Indy Porsche repair shop people?
If nothing else, ask the same question in Porsche 911 Technical Forum - Pelican Parts Forums

I had a 2003 2.7 boxster that the IMS failed in 2014 with 45k miles.

I drive 2007 997 using a lot of oil we used the camera and the cylinders are scored
car has 135k miles. Im driving it until it explodes and doing the whole engine

Any given day back in the 996/986 era, there was at least 4 or 5 engines (sometimes more) stacked up on crates in big cardboard boxes behind our shop waiting for Porsche Warranty to call for them to be returned. We had to do a cost analysis, repair vs replace but they always replaced. Once the bearing grenaded there was so much debris throughout the engine it would have been near impossible to get it all removed. Quite often PCNA would even replace the engine for someone who was out of warranty if certain criteria were met. Granted we only saw the problem cars, but boy howdy did we see them!