panamamike

I've read up some on the First gen Boxster. Looks like the 90's vehicles had an issue with poor castings. Then there are some of the 2000's vehicles that had issues.
I know about the IMS bearing issue as being the "big" problem. Wanted to know if it would be a good idea to buy one of these late model examples with high mileage.
What should I look out for and any advice on whether or not it would turn into a money pit. Can one run one of these cars on a modest budget?

Regards,

Mike

Hasdrubal

I've got moderate skill as a mechanic, a set of quickjacks, and way too much time watching Youtube. For me, it's been a relatively cheap experience so far, had the car close to a year now. I've rebuilt the axles, rewired the headlights, caught up on basic maintenance, and the parts aren't as expensive as I thought they would be. If you have to go to a dealer, OEM axles are about $1k per side, and the suspension has to come halfway apart for replacement. Not a cheap job, but the CV boot kits and a crimping tool were less than $100. Between this place and 986forum, there's definitely enough information to help you do the work on pretty much anything.

Do some searching on the IMS issue to see a great many opinions on them, most from people more experienced than me, and decide what level of risk you're comfortable with. My intent is to drive the car and not worry about it, and if the transmission ever needs to come out, replace the bearing even if I haven't seen any flakes in the oil.

Bush Pilot

I suspect that a casting issue would show up by now. I read that the dual row IMS bearing has a 1% failure rate vs the 10% of the single row but both are wear items and should be replaced periodically. I’d go with a car that checks all of your boxes and if the IMS hasn’t been done on a single row car negotiate with that.

CharlesLS

Exactly this. In at least year 99 the M96 engine uses a dual row IMS bearing from what I've read. Even so, it's still a sealed roller element bearing, so a refresher item.

...

As far as I know about casting, that issue really appears in the engines that have greater than 2.5L displacement because of thinner cylinder walls. The M96.25 has the thickest cylinder walls, so is less likely to have problems.

elgy

Since I have owned 3 boxsters and they are/were all 2000s I am prejudiced. The 2000 has a 2.7 engine in the base model and likely a double-row IMS bearing (although I do own an engine built in 2000 that was installed in a 2001 S and has a single row IMSB). More important to me is the condition of the cam chain adjuster pads, if they haven't been changed they should be. Verifying the cam deviations with a Durametric, or other specialised tool can give you an idea of the pads' condition. The IMSB bearing gets blamed for every engine that fails, but if the engine is torn down other causes are found including failed tensioner pads... or in the case of the S I bought, a spun bearing.
I run my cars on a very modest budget, but do all my own wrenching. Once I got the maintenance up to date on my green 2000 base it has been very reliable, only minor problems that come up on any 20+ year old car. Maintenance took a lot of time and work and some money, previous owners seem to have thought that maintenance started and ended with oil and filter changes and brake pads.

Nickshu

If you are worried about the metallurgy problems and IMS problems your best bet is to buy the 987.2 generation-on. The problems persist (although to a lesser degree as the years go on) through the 987.1s. Also the direct injection engine is night and day leap forward starting w/ the 987.2 Boxster S in 2008. I think the base Boxster retained the port injection engine until the 981.

Dr. 914

2004 up

paulofto

I’m curious as to why 2004 and up? 2003 and 2004 (986.2) are identical while 2005 to 2008 (987.1) are pretty much the same. Some 2005s have the same engine as the 2004 but that is the only similarity between 986 and 987 during a cross over year between the two marks that I know of.

RL911

if anything, I’d say 2003+, for no other reason than the glass window. But all years from 97-2004 are great and have their own particular issues. The 986 is likely the most under rated and under valued sports car right now.