2006 Cayman S IMS

[wannaporsche]

Soooo tempted to grab this car.... am getting snagged on the IMS Issue. Anyone know a reasonably ($) good permanent fix for 2006's IMS?? Is bearing concern an overhyped and non-real source of worry??

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-cars-sale/978236-2006-porsche-cayman-s.html

[Toast54]

Originally Posted by wannaporsche

Soooo tempted to grab this car.... am getting snagged on the IMS Issue. Anyone know a reasonably ($) good permanent fix for 2006's IMS?? Is bearing concern an overhyped and non-real source of worry??

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-cars-sale/978236-2006-porsche-cayman-s.html

As I understand it, failure rate in a "S" engine is almost nil. Getting a 2006 Cayman S for 22K seems too good to pass up, but a PPI would probably be well worth the money

[Dmitry at Pelican Parts]

+1 on the PPI. If needing an IMS kit, look at LN Engineering - excellent quality parts.

[Matt Monson]

Doesn’t have an ims in the way an m96 does. Non issue imo. My car had 175k mi on it when a valve spring broke. On tear down the bottom end looked like new.

[mattC2993]

Not a smoking deal for Cayman S based on what I sold my '08 for a year and a half ago. It is a hell of a good bang for the buck as compared to an air cooled though. I believe that era of engine requires the case to be split to change the IMS bearing. No one does that due to the expense. Check the water cooled forums but I believe the failure rates in the '06 models was higher than the '07/08.

[Evan Fullerton]

Back when I was big into Autocross, there were 3 or 4 '06 Caymans and all of them had catastrophic engine failure. I believe Porsche replaced all of the engines which were at the time still under warranty but I wouldn't buy any pre 2009 Cayman or Boxster or 996 or 997 for that matter without going into it knowing an expensive engine repair or replacement was always a possibility. Granted I only dealt with m96/m97 motors that saw HARD use but I can only think of a couple that wore out before some sort of catastrophic failure on something that I normally wouldn't consider a traditional wear item. A friend with a Boxster Spec race car went through 8 motors before having enough and moving to another platform.

[KNS]

Bore scoring seems to be more common on that era Cayman S than IMS issues.

[Matt Monson]

Originally Posted by Evan Fullerton

Back when I was big into Autocross, there were 3 or 4 '06 Caymans and all of them had catastrophic engine failure. I believe Porsche replaced all of the engines which were at the time still under warranty but I wouldn't buy any pre 2009 Cayman or Boxster or 996 or 997 for that matter without going into it knowing an expensive engine repair or replacement was always a possibility. Granted I only dealt with m96/m97 motors that saw HARD use but I can only think of a couple that wore out before some sort of catastrophic failure on something that I normally wouldn't consider a traditional wear item. A friend with a Boxster Spec race car went through 8 motors before having enough and moving to another platform.

That sounds like an oil pick up issue, which they are known to have when hit with really high lateral Gs. The Mantis deep sump helps, but the best solution is Chris Cervelli's dry sump system. However, for a street car it's a non-issue.

[Nick Triesch]

The independent Porsche shop owner in San Diego I go to once in a while told me that they never see Caymans with IMS issues. But there was a Boxster in front of the shop with a blown motor caused by the IMS. He said that Cayman owners should not worry.

[GothingNC]

My friend picked up a 2008 Cayman S with 60,000 miles last spring. All the service records were up to date and it passed the PPI with flying colors.

5,000 miles later it was making a strange noise and the oil light illuminated. Ended up being a failed rod bearing.

$18,000 later it is back on the road and it is now a keeper.

From reading threads on Planet 9, it seems like the base models have the least engine problems or failures.

[Elombard]

I think it depends on your use. Want to do some HPDE and heavy autocross with mods to the suspension....be ready to change the motor. Just drive it around on the street? probably not high probability of a failure.

Although I have seen plenty of stories of folks that track the snot out of M97s with no issues....

[wannaporsche]

Spoke with seller - there's a bit more to the story. This car - which was a very early delivery 1st edition 'Launch Code' car - actually blew it's original motor at about 30k while under warranty. Porsche replaced that motor with another new 2006 S engine. No certainty, but the seller's theory is that the 1st motor was a M96, and the new one is a M97. In any case it looks like at least some Cayman S's do blow - or least this one did.

[Ferrino]

I've been considering a 987.1 CS too, but it's the scored bores and oil starvation that concern me. Probably fine on the street, but I hate the idea of motor failure and the $$$ to repair. That would probably be lingering at the back of my mind on every hard drive. It seems the bump in price to a 987.2 is worth it for the peace of mind (and considering the $18K price quote above for a rebuild). It's just very hard to find a 987.2 CS nationally, let alone locally.

[Matt Monson]

2009 Base is the best buy imo. It’s a great little engine without the drive and if you aren’t building a track beast plenty of power. It’s what I would have bought if I didn’t need an early gearbox for my prototyping.

[Ferrino]

Matt, are we talking as a daily driver or something for weekend hoonage on the back roads? I’m in the latter usage and I do wonder if a base 987.2 would give as many giggles as the 3.4. People say you just need to work the 2.9 a bit harder. That seems entirely compatible with weekend driving to me. Also, the 2.9 has improved oiling for the occasional track day, correct?


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[Matt Monson]

Originally Posted by Ferrino

Matt, are we talking as a daily driver or something for weekend hoonage on the back roads? I’m in the latter usage and I do wonder if a base 987.2 would give as many giggles as the 3.4. People say you just need to work the 2.9 a bit harder. That seems entirely compatible with weekend driving to me. Also, the 2.9 has improved oiling for the occasional track day, correct?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes to all of the above. The ST class Caymans that have been winning in IMSA the last few years are this car. They don’t get to race S models in that series. Great cars for most anything and for someone from longnose or cis era 911s they are just fine. Maybe a 993 or 930 guy would be disappointed but not I.

[Ferrino]

Originally Posted by Matt Monson

Yes to all of the above. The ST class Caymans that have been winning in IMSA the last few years are this car. They don’t get to race S models in that series. Great cars for most anything and for someone from longnose or cis era 911s they are just fine. Maybe a 993 or 930 guy would be disappointed but not I.

Thanks, sounds ideal for a weekend car for the twisties. This 2.9 looked like a good deal on BaT.

[Matt Monson]

Great color. Wonder why it was sold just 3 months after purchase. Still seems well bought on the surface.

[Cevan]

Originally Posted by wannaporsche

Spoke with seller - there's a bit more to the story. This car - which was a very early delivery 1st edition 'Launch Code' car - actually blew it's original motor at about 30k while under warranty. Porsche replaced that motor with another new 2006 S engine. No certainty, but the seller's theory is that the 1st motor was a M96, and the new one is a M97. In any case it looks like at least some Cayman S's do blow - or least this one did.

Kinda ****ty he didn't disclose that in the ad, IMHO.

[Ferrino]

Finding a 987.2 Cayman is challenging! Any thoughts on the 987.1 base Cayman (2.7)? I've heard they are less prone to bore-scoring than the 3.4 and a lot of folks really seem to rate them for fast road use since you get to explore more of the rev range than the 3.4 without doing silly speeds. I guess they still suffer from the same oil starvation mode as the 3.4 though...