I think the M96 is done a huge disservice by 996 owners. It is an awesome piece of work, the power delivery, the soundtrack the torque, simply staggering in a road car. In these terms I'd say its one of the best production engines ever.
However it has some design and quality control faults (manifested in cracked heads / cylinders and leaking RMS in the early days now bore score and IMS bearing failure in later engines) which have unfortunately eclipsed this awesomeness.
Now there are known solutions to all of these problems. The early engines with faulty castings have probably all shown themselves by now, and as the 3.6's creep towards 100k miles if their IMS bearing hasn't collapsed they will show scored bores.
Most of these cars will be fixed with good solutions, and some tatty cars will be scrapped as they will inevitably be worth more in parts.
An early 3.4 with stronger IMS bearing and non-scoring ferrous coated pistons is a reliable car - mine shows 118k and is in rude health and some in the states are over 200k with no major issues.
A 3.6 with a rebuilt engine implementing known solutions to design faults will also be a reliable no worries car again.
Both an early 3.4 and a rebuilt 3.6 are undeserving of the ill reputation, and as the demographic of buyer shifts they will realise this.
If the world stays as it is - I think all 996s will be seen as classic and appreciate soon enough, but people are right to be wary of non-rebuilt 3.6s at the current price point - but as the value rises this will be less of an issue.
(In truth however I wonder how long we can keep driving these "dinosaurs" around. I expect petrol and diesel cars will be dead in the next 15 years for commuting and domestic duties. When alternative technologies like battery storage and hydrogen come "of age" fossil prices will rise accordingly through lower demand and carbon taxation - cars like ours will become collectors items rather than useful devices. Future generations will see us as outlandish and excessive with our conspicuous consumption of fossil fuels. So who knows where the classic car market will be in all this.)
However it has some design and quality control faults (manifested in cracked heads / cylinders and leaking RMS in the early days now bore score and IMS bearing failure in later engines) which have unfortunately eclipsed this awesomeness.
Now there are known solutions to all of these problems. The early engines with faulty castings have probably all shown themselves by now, and as the 3.6's creep towards 100k miles if their IMS bearing hasn't collapsed they will show scored bores.
Most of these cars will be fixed with good solutions, and some tatty cars will be scrapped as they will inevitably be worth more in parts.
An early 3.4 with stronger IMS bearing and non-scoring ferrous coated pistons is a reliable car - mine shows 118k and is in rude health and some in the states are over 200k with no major issues.
A 3.6 with a rebuilt engine implementing known solutions to design faults will also be a reliable no worries car again.
Both an early 3.4 and a rebuilt 3.6 are undeserving of the ill reputation, and as the demographic of buyer shifts they will realise this.
If the world stays as it is - I think all 996s will be seen as classic and appreciate soon enough, but people are right to be wary of non-rebuilt 3.6s at the current price point - but as the value rises this will be less of an issue.
(In truth however I wonder how long we can keep driving these "dinosaurs" around. I expect petrol and diesel cars will be dead in the next 15 years for commuting and domestic duties. When alternative technologies like battery storage and hydrogen come "of age" fossil prices will rise accordingly through lower demand and carbon taxation - cars like ours will become collectors items rather than useful devices. Future generations will see us as outlandish and excessive with our conspicuous consumption of fossil fuels. So who knows where the classic car market will be in all this.)
