Seeking Advice - IMS

Hi all,
I need some wisdom. I have owned my 2000 Boxster (daily driver) since new and now have 153K miles on the car. Still have the original clutch and had an RMS leak that was repaired at about 40K miles. I plan to keep the car. The questions are:

Do I have one of the IMS "fixes" installed?
Which one of the solutions out there is recommended?

Thanks,
Kevin

the factory IMSB is in service.

I can't make a recommendation on which "fix" to use. I have elected with my 2002 Boxster, now with over 290K miles on its IMSB (and original clutch), to just stay the course. If the IMSB gets noisy then I will think about what to do.

To clarify my question - SHOULD I have one of the fixes installed?

Sounds like the car has served you very well, and is probably worth more to you in utility than it is on the open market (and I love hearing good stories about high mileage cars). KBB indicates a 2000 non-S in 'good' condition and 153k miles is worth about $4k, so in purely economic terms, an IMS and clutch replacement will cost almost what the entire car market value, making the IMS a very expensive insurance policy against a failure that may or may not occur. If it were me, I'd just continue to drive it, and bank the $4k towards the purchase of a new car if / when the time comes. YMMV

- JAL
Boston
01 S (original clutch and IMS)

thing that can happen? Is the car a utility you'd just replace? Or is this car an object of affection that you'd pay any price to keep forever? You say you'd keep it a long time.

Can you afford a $3k expense? A $7k engine swap? How would you feel about the sure $2k expense against a 25% probability of a $7k expense? (That probability is not based on any facts, BTW, just had to pluck one.) What if it were 10% or 50%?

How would you feel if two weeks after the IMS swap your car was totaled? Or the engine broke for a completely different reason? Why are you focused on the IMS? There are dozens of other parts that could take out an engine. Some more probable to fail.

How many other parts once the transmission is out are you going to replace while you are in there? $$$ Do you periodically replace the water pump (a high wear out item)?

You don't even know for sure what generation IMS your car has so statistics are a total swag.

We all have different risk versus reward profiles. I could have paid cash for a new Boxster, instead bought an older one. I almost wanted a failure to have the fun of a rebuilt and upgraded engine. Yet I have said I had as much fun in my base Boxster as I did in my S. I recognize my lack of logic.

I'm not sure there is a technical or statistically accurate answer to the "should you" question. Some things are best done on emotion and how they make us feel.

Someone just contacted me telling me he saw my name in the records of a '01S he bought and he brought me up to date on its condition. Still original IMS. But half the miles of your car.

Quote
kgribbon
Hi all,
I need some wisdom. I have owned my 2000 Boxster (daily driver) since new and now have 153K miles on the car. Still have the original clutch and had an RMS leak that was repaired at about 40K miles. I plan to keep the car. The questions are:
Should I have one of the IMS "fixes" installed?
Which one of the solutions out there is recommended?
Thanks,
Kevin

Mine is not an un-biased opinion, but it is my good faith advice.
Because the car has over 150,000 miles you should assume that the clutch should be close to needing replacement, although depending on how a car is driven, the clutch can last beyond 250,000 miles.
On an older 986, such as yours the time to install the DOF is when you need a new clutch. Installing the DOF at the time of clutch replacement will cost an extra $900 or so ($799 for the DOF -plus $99 for a new IMS bearing).
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 314,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

---

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"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

If - when - you do a clutch, the incremental cot of a DOF + new OEM bearing is < $1000, making it a more palatable proposition. At $3k, not so much.

That said, the fact that you have 150k on it says that some combination of driving habits and car is doing quite well, thanks.

Grant

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com