should you WORRY about IMS Bearing failure in your Porsche? 

75k miles on my 997.1. Just finished a 3100 mile round trip… flawless performance. Going to replace the clutch and ims bearing pro actively. Peace of mind is priceless

You know, when I was first looking at Boxsters I was just terrified worrying that every time I start the car I'd just be worried the whole time about the IMS going, but after getting my 99 Boxster with the Dual Row a few months ago, it honestly hasn't even been a concern of mine! Thankfully with them estimated failing in less than 1% of the early 986s, I just don't worry! Thankfully! lol

My recently purchased early 05 987.1 Boxster S has 133k on it and as far as I know it's the original single row bearing. It's at a Porsche racing shop for inspection and if it's not been upgraded, getting ceramic bearings with oil feed. They race with this setup and never had failure.

Maybe I’m just cheap and want to convince myself that my 99 996 6-speed will never blow up, so I haven’t had it done. That being said, even a nice 986 is dirt cheap to purchase. If the bearings fail at an established rate then where are all of the failed cars that aren’t worth putting a new engine in? In theory there should be thousands of failed engines out there that would cost well over the price of the car. If that were the case you would see a large number of dead cars that people were unloading for parts, or selling as mechanics specials, but you don’t.

Simple answer no. Every car has a weakness. Drive and enjoy.

Can someone explain to me why some RU-vidrs have music in the background so loud that it's hard to understand what they're saying? Especially when you take into account that the American language (hehe) is not the native language of everyone on this planet.

This is now the dumbest topic on earth…if you can afford a 996 the ims you then have an amazing road car you never wanna get out of! Or you can go buy a c63 amg and buy rear tires every 10,000km and brakes which wear fast will set you back 6k in aud.

996 is a crap....mine '01 carrera 4 cabrio 127000 km ....dead from ims God i just hate this car😠😠😠😠

Had a 99k mile 996 with dual row bearing. Removed trans etc, inspected and it was like new. Have just bought a 2000 2.7 986, 155k miles, just done the same and luckily it's also dual row. Again, absolutely and literally as new. No play whatsoever, butter smooth. Would be mad to remove that and put in an aftermarket one.

I cannot understand how replacing a lifetime part with a part built to last 40k miles is a good idea

My own rule: if you can DIY, drop the trans, lock the cams and remove IMS cover. If single race, replace with a deep roller style bearing. It doesn't need an oil feed as is 1/3rd under the oil level anyway and isn't a plain bearing. If dual row, inspect for play and smoothness, if it feels like new (as both of mine, 99k mile / 155k miles have), button back up. Why replace a high quality bearing that's happily doing its job? Far more likely to induce failure than prevent it. Beware people selling solutions to a problem you probably don't have. Single row though? Yes, I'd definitely replace as not only is it subject to much higher loads, there will be almost no warning of failure. Plenty of oil changes, keep the oil at top of the dipstick (so the bearing sits in the oil), and inspect the filter each oil change.

Also I change the oil every 3k miles. Oil is cheap, engine repair … let’s not go there

In 2018, I purchased an '01 Carrera 4 with 150k(ish) miles. Ran fine, but I installed an IMS Guardian, to hedge my bet. Still nervous, I ponied up for the Solution a year later. And the punchline: it was a dual row; when removed for the Solution retro-fit, the original bearing was PRISTINE. Use it as a $5K [did clutch & RMS & few other odds & ends, too] paper weight...

Even with the dual row you feel the paranoia. I drove my ‘99 for almost a year before I decided to get the IMS Solution installed. With all the hype about IMS failure, that < 1% chance was in the back of my mind every drive. 🤷‍♂️

Why do you say the chain will fail before the IMS on a tiptronic???? i inherited my dad's 996...2002...8,500 miles...and I'm sitting in a shop right now debating if I wanna spend 5k on the IMS....what would you recommend?

A friend removed the oil filter cannister on his 2008 RS60 Boxster and saw metallic shavings in the folds of the removed filter element, as well as in the oil that he allowed to drip into a 'catch' pan. Needless to say, his IMS had already deteriorated with his car's engine being considered 'Totaled' within two days of the oil change. He's looking at a $15,000 engine replacement on a car that had 70,000 miles on it.

excellent review . I have. 1999 996.1 Carrera 4 ; I have not had the IMS bearing worked on as it has the dual row version with a very low rate of failure . On a separate note, I am looking for a reliable and competent Porsche mechanic in the Fresno/Clovis area . Any recommendations? Thanks !

Great video! You might be interested to on my channel I open an IMS on my car with over 80k miles…it looked like new!

My first thought when the video started was your IMS went out. Good video

IMS Solution oily.

@2:20 - You are incorrect. The Porsche 996 Turbo and GT models have an intermediate shaft with a plain bearing to support both ends. This is how the Carrera M96 variates should have been built.