Hi there, I am new to the forum and a new 2003 996 C4S (and Porsche) owner. I bought the car in May from a Porsche dealer. It had 42k miles on it. I love the car. However, I got a letter in the mail this week about a class action lawsuit involving the IMS failure. I brought the letter to the Porsche service department, and I believe the advisor was very honest with me. He told me he had seen it happen quite a few times. He told me he had seen it on cars with as little as 4k miles and as much as 90k miles. He also said he had seen cars with 180k miles with no issue. Here's the thing. I am quite nervous. This car is my daily driver. I put about 500 miles on a month. I am a regular average income guy that is only able to afford an older pre-owned Porsche. The thought of a $18k engine replacement scares me...and to be honest, I couldn't afford that level of repair. When I bought the car, I thought that if I kept up on maint., I could get over 200k miles out of the car. It had a very clean car fax with no reported major issues. I talked to the sales manager who told me he would love to take the car in on trade, BUT also said it was mostly an issue on the 99-01 cars and it wasn't much of an issue by the time 03 came around. I read on a buyers guide forum that you here a ticking upon start up. I only here a slight tick or maybe more of a rattle from the rear of the the car when I'm driving down the road. It stops when I'm at idle and at very low speed...it could be anything. Anyway, is there any truth that it was mostly a non-issue by the time 03 came around or should I take a $3k loss and trade the car in? Thanks for any info!

 

Ok, I also have a 2003 C4S, I changed out the bearing and put in the LNE upgrade.
The overall IMSB failure is around 3% I believe. I understand where you are coming from but you only have a few options here:
1. Do nothing, if you choose this ensure you keep your oil changed, do not go given 5K on it and use a good oil, I prefer DT40 but there are many out there.
2. Be proactive and have it changed to the LNE.

3. Buy a aftermarket warranty.

Now on the ticking on start-up, could be lifter tick, but if it get louder with speed have it checked out.

I hope this helps, PM me if you want to discuss off forum.

Jim

 

First of all, where are the pictures of this beauty?

Seriously, I was in the same boat as you. I picked up a 2003 C4S that had a great service record with low mileage, the car ran and felt perfect. But the IMS issue scared the crap out of me. I really love the car, who doesn't love the wide-bodies? So, I had the IMS retrofit done and the RMS replaced at the same time. Now I can sleep at night.

If you really like the car but can't sleep at night over this issue, I would just have the IMS retrofit done and then drive the wheels off of it for the next 100,000 miles!

 

And just an FYI, this IMSB and RMS should be less than 2K I think mine was $1500, but as mentioned I can sleep at night and drive in the day.

mine is not a DD though and this was all the more reason I did it.

 

I just changed my IMS bearing the the LN Engineering ceramic bearing when I changed my clutch. The original bearing still looked good at ~125K mikes with no signs of impending failure.

 

First, welcome to the forum! You'll find a tremendous amount of knowledge here.

+1 to what others have said about the LN Engineering bearing.

I have a 99 C2 and had a similar experience. I knew about the bearing before buying it so I was prepared. I bought it with 58,000 miles and now have 68,xxx and am loving it.

I had the clutch, IMS, RMS, and AOS done at the same time to the tune of ~$3200 at a reputable independent shop. Not cheap, but way less than a new engine and doing it all at once saved a ton on labor.

The IMS is the real killer IF it goes, the rest are mostly nuisance problems. If you read up it appears only a small portion of cars seem to have the problem, somewhere ~5% estimated. With the cost of a new engine so high I see the LN option as cheap insurance.

I also think the sales manager was mistaken, the 99-01 had a double row IMS bearing where the 02 and up when to a single row, hence the 99-01 models being left out of the lawsuit.

I don't know if it's an issue with the C4S but you may want to consider getting the water pump changed as well.

 

I was in the same boat. Bought a C4S and loved it. Not a daily driver though. Just a weekend/toy. Then read enough threads about the IMS to take the wind out of my sails. Started to lose sleep over the engine replacement worries and even thought about selling her like you. I decided to get the IMS upgrade, Clutch, RMS etc. Wasn't cheap but made me feel a lot better. Unfortunately or fortunately all of my parts were in really good condition. I could have done nothing, but I don't believe I would've been comfortable with that. It's all in what's going to make you satisfied and happy with the car. If you really like it....do the upgrade and anything else while the mechanic is in there. If not....I'd trade it in and take the loss. Nothing like driving something every day and afraid of what "could" happen. You will freak out at any tick or creak. And with the car being a '03 there will be ticks or creaks from time to time. Good luck with your decision and welcome to the forum!

 

I purchased a mint condition 67K mile, 2003 C4S from a guy I work with, original owner, he had an appointment for the IMS bearing change, 3 weeks prior the bearing went out. I've purchased the car and am in the process of installing a LS3 corvette motor with the assistance of Renegade Hybrids in Las Vegas, goggle it. I say drive the hell out of it and when it blows install the much more reliable LS3 (370hp) or really go wild with an LS7(500+) for about 14k if you do the work yourself. And just watch the attention you'll get when people hear that coming.