[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by wdb

Yep that's what I thought you meant. There is a lot of controversy surrounding that bearing. A lot of folks with 100K+ miles on the original bearing, talk of the actual scope of the problem being far smaller than the hubbub made about it, that kind of thing.

The flip side is that you get a box of useless parts for a motor if it fails catastrophically.

I think the best advice is to treat it like S54 rod bearings; keep a watchful eye. For IMS/ISB that means cutting open the oil filter to look for bits at every oil change.

I got into my 3.0si Coupe because of the IMS issue. I had a decent '07 Cayman picked out and was about to buy it in November 2014. It was advertised as a CPO car, but when I went to buy it, the warranty went away when I asked for the details. The car was at Porsche of Tysons Corner (Virginia). With the warranty gone and the tight fit (for me) with the door/seat area, I decided to pass. On the way home from the dealer, which is a hour and a half, it dawned on me that I had really liked the Z4 Coupe when it was introduced in 2006 (the time when I bought my E90). I searched and found my car (at CarMax - never again).

But the point is the IMS kept me away, where as the N52 was a known entity to me and I have all the tools for it, so the 3.0si was a no-brainer. I thought the Cayman drove great, but to me the Z4 is as good, with less drama.