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HAH! I saw the same thing happen at a dealer in Chicago, dropped their estimate. I guess they are used to some customers who pay the "Porsche tax" without even thinking about it. The tools for these jobs really aren't that frightening unless you have to buy them from someone, and then you're better off paying someone who already has them because they cost so much. You could try renting or borrowing the engine tool kit from someone who has a set, post a wanted ad here and on rennlist. You can even borrow the IMS tools of course, I've seen these shifted around. You can make most of the tools with a hacksaw, and the most complicated tool required for fabrication you might not have are some taps for the cam lock tool and a left handed die for the variocam actuator tool. The RMS insertion tool can be made with some PVC fittings. For the TDC lock pin you can use a drill bit or buy a steel dowel from home depot. The above of course assuming you've got a good set of sockets, spanners, torque wrenches, hammers, screwdrivers, files, etc. If your "normal" tool chest is lacking, different story. One note with "home grown" tools is that you won't be able to get cam timing 100% spot on, but it would be acceptable for street use. If you can rent or borrow the genuine cam timing tool, then certainly that will be better. Good luck.

Wow, that would be soooooooooo much fun. Only had the pleasure of driving mine in the snow twice, and too bad it wasn't a C4.

Doing the solenoids requires a few special tools. With my big hands and arms I wouldn't do this procedure with the engine in car. A person with smaller hands and access to a lift could probably do the solenoid with engine in car. That being said, the engine drop is not as difficult as it may sound like. If the following doesn't scare you then I would say go for it. The camshafts must be locked prior to unbolting the camshaft cover. This requires a cam locking tool which you can fabricate. If you are doing this on your own I would replace the actuator ($700 incl solenoid) and 5th timing chain as well, since you are saving the money on the labor best to get it done. To remove the actuator, you need another special tool, a threaded rod to compress the actuator and relieve tension on the chain. You can make your own. Before removing the camshafts, you are supposed to use another special tool (hold down tool) to ensure the camshafts are secured while removing the hardware. Some have done this procedure without this special tool, however you can make your own. If you chicken out you can just remove and replace the solenoid without removing the actuator, timing chain, or camshafts (and not have to retime the engine, but the timing should be checked regardless). It would be a shame though to replace the solenoid and after all this work the prolbem was actually the actuator, in which case you need to do it all over again (not to mention you would have missed out on an opportunity to accomplish preventative maintenance of replacing a timing chain and actuator pads which can fail). Once you are done replacing the camshaft cover, it requires a 1 to 1.5mm bead of loctite 5900 or drei bond applied in a specific sequence, with new micro encapsulated bolts torqued to spec in a specific sequence. Otherwise your camshaft cover will leak or your cam bearings will not be the proper bore size (example too tight or too loose). Removing the flywheel to get at the RMS and IMS requires a flywheel lock tool and TDC pulley lock pin (again these tools are possible to fabricate). The RMS insertion requires a special tool, but you can make one. The IMS requires tools which you have to buy from LNE (can't make them unless you happen to be an expert machinist/fabricator with several lathes at your disposal). And you must lock the cams with yet more special tools (provided by LNE or use the ones from your solenoid procedure) or at the very least without locking cams which is optional on your 5 chain engine - you must verify cam timing once you are done with the procedure to validate your chains did not skip during the procedure. There, did I scare you?

170 phillip are you nuts? C'mon, 200 is only a little farther away, Clarkson did it on a stretch of highway in Germany, I believe a little over 200mph.

Tech tips is now called DIY tutorials. Here is the link regarding the spoiler light:

If you look at their instructions it does look like you might need to remove the transmission or at least lower it somewhat, not sure if there is enough access to do it while it is in car. http://www.gboxweb.com/detent.html Once it's out though, it looks pretty simple.

That's more inline with what I've seen other similar procedures performed for. $1500 for an IMS retrofit and $2000 for a solenoid swap.

Definitely. To cure that paralysis, budget this in the cost of the car or negotiatiate the price down to include the retrofit as soon as you buy the vehicle... should only be $600 (DIY) 1500 (shop) USD You can buy one of these as well. True. However depending on the amount, complete engine teardown is required. But if it is a very small amount retrofit procedures have been successful without complete teardown. In either case you would still have a very viable rebuildable core which is worth a lot on it's own since you would have caught the bearing failure before total engine failure. You most certainly have a right to do this. It's called a pre purchase inspection (PPI), and if you are buying a car without one you are asking for trouble. I wouldn't even think about buying a used car without having a shop give it a thorough once over. LN engineering says that 10% of all bearings may suffer failure (failure rate) at some point in their life, whether that happens at 15k or 300k miles, no one knows. Your Boxster shares the same IMS bearing that the 911 does. If you want to get away from the IMS bearing issue all together, then yes the turbo platform is entirely different design without the IMS bearing (as are the newer 911's after 2009).

The 1999 has a little more room in the back to play with, but I'm not sure about the fronts, sorry. With the increase of track, I would be concerned about rubbing, especially if you have it lowered... certainly worth getting an answer first.

Your car may or may not have all of these, but these are all the valves I could find related to fuel system. These are all in the fuel tank/filler area: #6, shut off valve in below diagram #9, carbon canister valve in below diagram http://www.autoatlanta.com/porsche-parts/996-99-05/201-20.php #12, bleeder valve in below diagram #21, tank vent valve in below diagram http://www.autoatlanta.com/porsche-parts/996-99-05/201-00.php This one is in the engine bay: #30 fuel regeneration valve in this diagram: http://www.autoatlanta.com/porsche-parts/996-99-05/107-10.php

Loren is that book time for a 2002-2004? The OP has a 1999 C4, which means they've got to remove the camshaft cover. Plus they wanted to reseal the camshaft cover on the other side. Even still, with or without engine drop, $4300 of labor is just insane.

I think it's a great concept and the reviews on 5th gear were positive (except for looks). Personally having seen and sat in one I would wait for version 2.0. Not a fan of the lines myself.

There is a purge valve (or actually maybe vacuum control valve) in the engine bay above the brake booster (near top of left hand side intake). Very easy to get to. There is another valve near the EVAP canister, same place where it is on the boxster - behind the right front wheel (remove the wheel well liner to gain access).

Walk away! That is far too expensive. I've read similar work (cam solenoid, ims, rms, engine drop) that have been done for $3-4k range. I would shop around, at independents and dealers. Make the dealer aware you are shopping around, they might drop their price. The IMS ($600 part, 2 hour job once transmission is removed) and RMS ($20 part, 30 minute job once transmission is removed) are good "while you're in there" peace of mind items, but I wouldn't call them a requirement. If there is a large leak between engine and bellhousing however then you might want to address those. You might also want to read up on the IMS guardian instead of IMS bearing replacement. I would also have them replace the AOS while you're in there.

Some of the early tiptronics use this same system (first year or two IIRC). I also edited my post above for clarity and added some more info about aftermarket mounts.

+1 to the above. To diagnose further I would remove the wheel well liners. Also lift the hood and remove the cowling near the windshield. Between those simple steps it should be easier to isolate where the noise is originating from.

Bizarre. The only thing that comes to mind is the ignition switch, they are known to cause very strange electrical issues. Perhaps the door micro-switch is interacting with the ignition switch and instrument cluster. This is the only guess I have. And it is just that. A guess.

Checking for intake leaks is usually best done with a smoke machine. The smoke will reveal any leaks in the intake system.

Nice work, and glad it is a relatively straightforward repair.

Nice work!

Sorry for the confusion, for some reason I had the CD changer on my brain, which does have a stereo pair output. I'll edit my posts above for accuracy.

This is correct, stereo output, but individual channels from the HU to the amp. Fading simply lessens the output (volume) to front/back/left/right from each amp channel, it doesn't move sound. i used to run 5.1 true surround in my truck, which requies a 5.1 source and processor. The output from your mp3 or cd is only 2 channel stereo. edited for accuracy

4 channels from the head unit to the amp, but it is still stereo output from the head unit (not 4 "distinct" channels). The amp then sends the left signal to front left and rear left. And right to right speakers/etc. The crossover simply sends the higher frequency signals to the dash speakers and the lower frequency ones to the door speakers. If you have a subwoofer the crossover sends the lowest frequencies to the bass speaker. I've read about plenty of people dropping in standard 4 ohm speakers on the stock amp and it works fine. If you are after MUCH more sound though, you'll certainly need to do some upgrades (amp, speakers, etc.) edited for accuracy

Hello from Moscow. Yes the stock brakes are Brembo. I would agree that larger brakes are extreme unless you are tracking the car. Since you probably see a lot of winter weather there, I would sell the upgraded brakes, go back to stock brakes and use your winter wheels.

You can also boroscope the cylinders per MIke's comment to inspect and read what you're in for before going to far into a repair... definitely pull the plugs and read those too. Would be a lot of money wasted to pull the heads if they don't need repairing, only to find the case has been compromised... in which case it's big decision time on what to do next.