I am in the market for a 997 CS. I found one with a X51 powerkit where the dealer said that the owner had an IMS failure and had Porsche replaced the engine and paid extra for an engine with the X51 powerkit. I aked the dealer to take some paint meter readings for me and here is what the dealer came back with .

lf fender-4.0 / 4.2 , l door-4.2 / 4.3 , l rear qtr – 4.1 / 4.1 , roof – 4.1 / 4.4 , r rear qtr – 4.3 / 4.3 , r door – 3.8 / 3.8 , rf fender – 3.9 / 3.9 , hood – 4.3 / 4.6

1. Should I be concerned that paint work had been done on the right door and rf fender? Do the low readings indicate that these panels have been replaced?

2. How would you feel about the engine replacement with the X51 powerkit if there is paperwork to backup the work done by Porsche?

Thanks in advance for the feedback.

MTN

 

I think the variation in paint meter readings is normal. If a panel was replaced it would likely be blended into adjacent panels. This would leave the adjacent panel readings that are 2-3x the other panels.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

I am not an expert at bodyshop by any means but my thought was that with parts that are easily removed and replaced like doors (in this case right door) and front fenders (in this case right front fender) they can be painted to the appropriate Porsche paint code away from the car and then installed on the car after the paint has been applied without having to blend the paint into other adjacent body parts. Whereas a repair to a non-removeable part (at least can't remove without cutting metal and reweld) like a rear quarter panel for example, would require the bodyshop to blend the paint into the roof line or other portions of the rear quarter panel.

MTN

 

Body shops love to blend panels. Without blending matching the color is very difficult.

I'm sure others will chime in

 

I'm still learning how to interpret paint metering results. But my first impression with this set is they are all pretty close. Yes two panels start with a '3' and the rest start with a '4', but they are fractions of a mil off. Compare the two fenders for example, only 0.1 difference. In my book these two read the same.

lf fender – 4.0 / 4.2
rf fender – 3.9 / 3.9

The hood is the highest but by a small amount. Don't know if that is normal for 997's, a respray for chipping (common), or from a accident. Notice how the both bumper readings are missing? Ask for those before deciding. But maybe they are missing because the panels are poly and not metal. I just don't know enough about paint metering yet.

edit: Bumpers probably missing due to the meter type reading on metal only, you need a different ultrasonic meter to measure on non-metal surfaces

Here's a good primer on paint metering (see case study at the bottom): http://www.defelsko.com/applications...aint-meter.htm

Also looks like OEM paint on cars generally meter between 4-7 mils: http://www.dndautodetailing.com/apps...aint-thickness
BMW's come in at 4.7 mils (120 um): https://www.bmwusfactory.com/manufac...ss/paint-shop/

 

Paint meters only work on metal surfaces. You won't get a reading on a plastic bumper.

 

Thanks for the feedback

 

that car is an 07 not an 05 or 06 so should NOT have had an IMS rms failure. But guess it could... I would ask for DME report, did you do that? new motor likely new dme but there are still 6k of miles and 1 year of data to gather from how car has been driven since new motor.

 

Thanks for the feedback regarding the DME report. I will ask for that.

I am not sure how you figure out the car is an 07. The ad that I am looking at is a white 05 CS for $44K.

 

too funny, my apologize... a car just sold this week a white 997s with 55K miles on car, new motor installed 7k miles ago (so new motor has 6K on it) and it was an x51 motor as no S motors were available for the original owner at that time so he went with a new x51 motor. I almost bought it but got beat by a day.... thought was same car and you were whom I lost it too...

just not many 997 with x51 added for sale never mind in the same week...thought same car.

this sold for 39.9 and still had another 12 months warranty on the motor, car was 07 c2s...

if 05 then yes ims rms normal factor to cause engine swap.

 

Would the paint thickness on the hood be affected because it's aluminum and not steel?
Is the paint process different?

 

The dealer just got back to me with the service record. The original engine was swapped out with the X51 engine at around 18,500 miles (see attached images) but was not done by an Indi (LMN Motorsports LLC) rather than by a Porsche dealer. There are engine numbers (old and new). It does not appear that a PSE was installed with the X51 engine.
A handful of oil changes later at around 34K miles an oil change was performed in June 2014 where a request made to check for metal deposits on magnetic drain plug and filter and an oil analysis was done by LN Engineering LLC.
Should I be concerned about the request for an oil analysis with the assumption that the previous owner experienced some anomolies which lead him to order an oil analysis? Is it a coincidence that the oil analysis was performed by LN Engineering who are known for devicing he IMS fix? Is it correct to assume that even the Porsche rebuilt x51 engine suffers from the infamous IMS RMS weakness?

Thanks

 

Its hard to say. if the metal is in the filter its no big deal but if its stuck to a magnet than it's ferrous metal which could mean the IMS is shredding. Sorry to scare you but that is just the way it goes.

 

depends on how many miles is on the x51 motor.

It shows rebuilt so its not a new motor by any means nor can anyone source a new motor for 11k.

 

I don't think ordering an oil analysis is a bad sign. It could just be a caution by an owner who just had to replace his engine due to failure. In such situation, I would be paranoid and would do that for a piece of mind. Besides, having metal in the engine usually won't show any symptom until many miles later. By the time you feel the symptoms it is already too late. If it's priced below market, I would not hesitate to buy the car. If it's priced at market value, i would keep looking.