IMS BEARING KITS.

WHAT IS THE PORSCHE IMS BEARING?

Many horizontally-opposed Porsche engines have used an intermediate shaft that is driven from the crankshaft via a timing chain. The camshafts are driven off of the intermediate shaft via timing chains as well. Up until the M96 engine, a pressure-fed plain bearing lubricated by engine oil was utilized. With the introduction of the Boxster in 1997, a sealed ball bearing was used on the flywheel side of the engine to support the intermediate shaft. A plain bearing fed pressurized oil from the oil pump was used on the opposite end.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO REPLACE THE PORSCHE IMS BEARING?

On 1997 through 2005 models where the IMS bearing is serviceable, excluding parts bearing replacement usually takes 10 to 14 hours and depends on the model being serviced. Tiptronic 911 models require the engine and transmission to be dropped to facilitate replacement of the IMS bearing, so plan on extra expense with those models. Vehicles from model year 2006 through 2008 have a non-serviceable IMS bearing.