Although extremely rare, early model 997’s (called 997.1) had IMS (intermediate shaft failure) and RMS (rear main seal) issues. PASM (Porsche active suspension management) is reliable despite its complexity, but as cars get older, the active dampers may fail and that is an expensive repair bill. Other than that, the 997.1 has no specific issues. For people who are in the market for a used 997.1, I usually suggest looking for 997’s from June ’06 or newer since there was a final change for the IMS starting from MY06. You sure know that prolonged periods of garage exposure and short trips are not good for Porsches.

 

^ My car had a March, 2006 delivery and has an M97/01S engine in it so maybe that date is a little earlier than June, 2006. The Carrera Powerkit X51 option - hence the denomination M97/01S code - wasn't available for the early 997.1 Carrera S perhaps because of a different IMS?

 

So the change or improvement related to the new model yr rather than M96/M97?
Jim

 

The second gen 997 have the new A91 engine which does not have an IMS and Porsche insists that the RMS issues from the first gen 997 have been eliminated.

 

Yes, as far as I know the change started with the first MY06 car. LN Engineering research appears to support this.

The M96 vs M97 engine discussion appears to have a lot of opinions and to be honest I am not sure what the 97 vs 96 indicates. Some say the M97 indicates the change in the IMS bearing. However, I have seen some say the M96 refers to the 3.6L and the M97 the new (for the time) 3.8L.... to be honest I do not know...

Jason

 

If you put your VIN into the tool on the first page, does it say M97.01 or something else?

 

I haven't put it in that VIN tool yet but I got my code from under the engine, by the sump, where it is clearly stamped starting with M97xxxxx/01S at the end; I'm going from memory so the format might not be exactly this way. Nevertheless, it does start with M97 and ends in 01S with the rest of the engine number in between. Also, my maintenance book and Certificate of Authenticity both have the same number.

 

On the Tequipment catalog, there are options like the X51 Powerkit, that are for cars built in late 2005 onwards as model year 2006 starts around this time, if I am correct. If I am not correct about the model year switch over, please, let me know. Somehow this, plus the fact that I placed the order for my Carrera S in November, 2005, leads me to believe that some Carrera Ss got the M97 motor for the 2006 model year- maybe not all the model year but certainly from at least January, 2006, as my car was delivered in March and has the updated motor.

 

I'm just trying to figure out if mine's likely to be pre revision or post. My warranty (CPO) expires 9/11 (lol) which by my math means it was an early '06 car.

 

CPO is an additional 2 years from the day of delivery and up to 100k miles. My original warranty started on March 8, 2006 and expired this past March 8, 2010. Had I sold my car and someone bought it CPO from a dealer, the CPO would last until March 8, 2012, if I'm not mistaken. Maybe your car was delivered sometime around 9/2005 and, wether or not it had the revision, I would be inclined to think it doesn't. Check your engine number and see. Sorry I cannot be of any real help

 

Well ironically, my car just broke down on my driveway, "System Error" and it shows no oil in the engine any more. It must have known I was onto it.

 

I always knew it; that cars know when we get these gut feelings. Just like when they break down but work perfectly at the mechanic. Look at it this way - at least you're covered by warranty! Good luck and let us know!

 

My '05 997S launch edition has 38k miles and shows MY97.01 engine code - delivery date for the car new was December 24, 2004 so it was probably a build date of October/November 2004.

Nonetheless, I have not had any issues with IMS or RMS - I drive about 5-7k miles per year, and change the oil annually. The car is also driven quite frequently and rarely sits more than 5 days. Another thread on this forum mentioned the issue seems to be more prevalent in cars that sit and are not driven regularly. Bottom line - I don't think there is any way to predict 100% if you will have issues. Engine codes, driving habits, whatever - as another member said, preventative maintenance and keeping it on your radar during maintenace checks is a good approach!

 

According the LN Engineering it was a MY06 change. I would be willing to believe that some late MY05 cars managed to get the update. But its also possible they did not and even some MY06 did not.

Also, I have been told that the only way to know for sure if you have the newer bearing, is to visually check the actual bearing which can be done when replacing the clutch. This info is from LNE and is probably just a disclaimer that no one really knows when for sure the change took place.

I am also not sold on the fact that M97 means a beefier bearing. It may just be the designation for the 3.8L engine that appeared in the "S" models. Keep in mind that prior to the 997 there was no "S" in the 911 lineup and all flat six driven Porsche's (minus the TT and GT cars) received a variation of the M96. But who knows because I have heard that newer 3.6L from MY05 is also given the M97 designation. I find it all confusing.

Furthermore, there were multiple changes to the IMS and bearing within the M96 line prior to MY06 and yet they did not include a change in the designation of the engine. If memory serves the original M96 had a small single row bearing that then was converted to a duel row following the issues with the early 2.5L M96. Then in MY06 it went back to a single row design but much beefier. Again, I am just going off of memory here... all the great info on this is on the LN Engineering website. Excellence has used LNE data and research in several articles so I believe it to be accurate.

Jason

 

Well, while it seems that I really cannot assert some things to be a certain way or another, I had written an e-mail about 1 year ago to LN Engineering about my particular car with X51 and was told my car had the intermediate shaft bearing that cannot be retrofitted with theirs as it couldn't be replaced without a tear down - all this without even knowing my engine number or date of delivery etc. It seems that cars that can have the Powerkit option retrofitted to them already have this newer IMS, as was my case.