Our exposure to and experience with IMS (Intermediate Shaft) issues keeps growing and there is a new way to address this chronic problem. The IMS Solution is a recently introduced product offered by LN Engineering that completely eliminates the single row ball bearing found in model year 2000-2005 M96 motors.
The amount of “fixes” coming to market for this problem is becoming overwhelming and there are more than a few offering an oil feed option. LN Engineering has been working on their “Solution” for quite a few years and the R & D that went into the product is apparent. Their other product “IMS Retrofit” has proven to be an excellent choice and one we have used in the past. The retrofit product uses ceramic ball bearings proven to excel in a low lubrication environment (Porsche designed the IMS bearing to operate in a sealed state, with no external lubrication), but it is not intended nor expected to last for the “life-time” of the vehicle. The new “Solution” product replaces the ceramic ball bearings with an oil fed plain bearing, similar in operation to the bearings found supporting a crankshaft or camshaft, and is intended to last for the life of the vehicle.
