Quote:
Originally Posted by mikefocke
Most overblown issue I've ever read about (even if it happens to me tomorrow).
You want security, buy a Toyota...oh that's right...they turn out to have failure points too. Every car and engine design has design and manufacturing and procurement items that turn out, over time, to not be the best idea. How wonderful is hindsight.
I always love it when people ask for a great deal on a low volume part without knowing anything about the research and design costs that were necessary to come up with the design in the first place. (I used to be responsible for a product that sold about 100 units a year and which required development costs of around $2 million a year. Of course folks wanted the product at what they perceived to be the manufacturing cost. Sorry folks, profit is the motive that produces such products. It isn't a dirty word. And without it you don't have the possibility of the product ...unless you design it and manufacture it yourself. Feel free to.)
Jake is entitled to make money for developing the support and training behind the product. Charles for the research that led to the product.
And there are replacements for the single and the dual bearing IMS bearings....the amounts of misinformation floating around is amazing.
To quote from LN's web site:
"On a new or remanufactured engine the only "preventative" measure that can be taken short of our retrofit kits is to remove the seal off the front of the IMS bearing, to allow for engine oil to lubricate the bearing. Alternatively, you can repack the bearing with a quality synthetic bearing grease and put a new seal (available from any place that sells bearings).
With proper lubrication and more frequent oil changes, longevity of your original IMS can be greatly extended. Our retrofit kits use ceramic bearings with significantly longer service life and come with seals removed for improved oiling as well.
LN Engineering offers three IMS solutions -
* single row IMS retrofit kit (fits most MY01-05 M96 engines)
* dual row IMS retrofit kit (fits most MY97-00 M96 engines)
* and our IMS upgrade which requires engine disassembly to remove and send in your IMS to us for our triple-bearing upgrade & ims reconditioning service"
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Hi Mike,
I'm definitely just getting my feet wet in the Boxster world and I'm already aware that you have made some major contributions to the community via your website. I also agree with 99% of your post above, especially regarding any carping about price for LN's products and/or their marketing. These things are always eventually handled by the market itself and a high-quality product will succeed or fail on that basis.
My only quibble is with your statement about the issue being "overblown." If you are referring to the "discussion" of the IMS fixes and their price points, then I agree. However, it is my VERY newbie understanding, that the problem of IMS failure itself is not overblown, and is something that any smart, conscientious owner is going to want address and probably sooner rather than later.
If I'm misinterpreting your statement as to what's "overblown," my bad. If I'm misunderstanding the breadth and potential severity of the IMS in general, I'll be very pleased to know that.
Again, thanks for your contributions!