My 996 Carrera is a blast to drive but, like all other early 996 owners, I have been thinking about replacing the IMS bearing. Before spending $$ I wanted to get better information for this decision. I contacted the law firm that led the IMS class action lawsuit against Porsche.
They provided the following information:
1. Cars built
before May 4, 2001 are excluded from the lawsuit.
2. Cars built
after February 21, 2006 are also excluded.
During discovery, records showed that IMS failure rate before and after the respective dates is less than 1% while, for those in that period, the failure rate is 4-10%.
There is even an on-line tool where one can enter a vehicle's VIN, and it will tell you if the vehicle is included or excluded from the settlement.
I spoke to Porsche NA service rep. who provided pretty much the same info except the earlier date being April4, 2001.
I was delighted to learn that my P-Car is excluded from the settlement. Now I can really drive it hard!
PS - GT2,GT3 and Turbo cars are not affected by IMS problem.
