Need advice please on buying good 996

[andywill]

Andy
Richards earlier post says approximate £1200, mine inc whole clutch, rms, service & mot. Parts £1100' labour £900 +vat
Will it last forever? Who knows .

 

[Richard_Hamilton]

LN do put a life on the ceramic bearing. 40,000 miles, or 4 years, if I remember correctly.

 

[wibble]

In the market myself next year for a 996 and have researched many articles on IMS, mostly from US forums and youtube. There is much scare mongering out there, so read between the lines. The LN bearing solution is an 'open' bearing and not sealed 'closed' as the original OEM fitment. With over 190K 996s produced only a small percentage have failures, the original bearing has a lifetime guarantee and is essentially a precision part that is reliable. It's reason for failure is rare and very difficult to predict (hence the IMS guardian system). Inspecting oil filters for metal particles after oil changes could help in diagnosis, but this could be pure luck in catching that moment before failure.

The LN solution relies on normal oil pressure to lubricate the ceramic bearings and have read that even this is prone to failure and not a lifetime fix (certainly if oil is degraded or minimum oil levels drop - fairly standard maintenance anyway). There is also another upgrade IMS bearing with a direct oil feed DOF (not clear if this an LN bearing or another type). I not know much about its long-term reliability with this upgrade, but apparently it is lifetime. Would be interested to know if anyone in the UK use this upgrade?

LN parts are about £500 for IMS bearing and removal/fitting kit £150 (excl. labour).

 

[924nutter]

Hi tony long time no hear. It is precisely because of the possibilty however low a failure rate that I went for the turbo. Completely different engine as you probably know, and it is so quick it is a hoot to drive, but I have an appointment at the dentists next week to replace my fillings hat have shaken loose

 

[wibbaboo]

ORIGINAL: wibble

In the market myself next year for a 996 and have researched many articles on IMS, mostly from US forums and youtube. There is much scare mongering out there, so read between the lines. The LN bearing solution is an 'open' bearing and not sealed 'closed' as the original OEM fitment. With over 190K 996s produced only a small percentage have failures, the original bearing has a lifetime guarantee and is essentially a precision part that is reliable. It's reason for failure is rare and very difficult to predict (hence the IMS guardian system). Inspecting oil filters for metal particles after oil changes could help in diagnosis, but this could be pure luck in catching that moment before failure.

The LN solution relies on normal oil pressure to lubricate the ceramic bearings and have read that even this is prone to failure and not a lifetime fix (certainly if oil is degraded or minimum oil levels drop - fairly standard maintenance anyway). There is also another upgrade IMS bearing with a direct oil feed DOF (not clear if this an LN bearing or another type). I not know much about its long-term reliability with this upgrade, but apparently it is lifetime. Would be interested to know if anyone in the UK use this upgrade?

LN parts are about £500 for IMS bearing and removal/fitting kit £150 (excl. labour).

Hi Tony - Apologies for hi-jacking thread - please email me wibbaboo@yahoo.com and I can send through the 996 buying scores spreadsheet - PM's are not getting through to you

Thanks Greg

 

[Ripmax]

£1500 last time I asked. The specialist I went to said that in his experience they usually go before 70k miles if they're going to and as mine was in the mid 80ks and there was no evidence in my oil of swarf to indicate it might be worn he implied it wasn't worth it. I must admit it does still bother me and I'm still tempted to get it done anyway.