Quote:
Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy
Comparing apples to apples, a good DIY mechanic could rebuild a good M96 core for the same or less. Or just swap in a good used engine for $10k or so.
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Apples to apples, you must mean M97 as well as M96 here... An aircooled engine in need of refurbishing to the tune mentioned above has likely done 100-200K miles or more. That's not the same apple as a 30K-miles (or whatever) 997 engine that just grenaded itself due to a defective bearing. Pre-emptively splitting a seemingly healthy M97 case is not financially comparable to any past aircooled defects. Swapping a "good" used engine simply resets the doomsday clock because unless it's an early design, they have the exact same issue of not having a replaceable bearing (unless you tear it down, $$$), see examples above of repeat failures.
Anyway, we're just going in circles... The facts are on the table and everybody gets to pick what they are comfortable with. Early 997 = easily upgraded bearing but hard to identify conclusively. Later M97 Gen I = take your chances (odds *are* good, but if it happens to you, it will sting to the tune of $20K+ realistically, and no guarantee it won't happen again). Gen 2 = no issues so far, but substantially rarer and more expensive.
It's kind of ironic that the red-headed step child (996) is becoming desirable again because it can be upgraded (bearing wise). But I still dislike the interior/exterior look, so the wait for 09s continues.