Quote:
Originally Posted by SenorFunkyPants
There is no hard data on when the lead free bearings were introduced.
There is the date set by the EU for certain exemptions from the RoHS regulations regarding lead in bearings (ended 2011 - july I think).
There are the dates when the part numbers for the bearings changed (in Realoem) - different date for the top bearing compared to the bottom bearing shell.
So really only BMW know for sure.
There is no apparent improvement in reliabilty produced by the new lead free bearing type.
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Perhaps BMW is just keeping quiet about the benefit of the newer bearings to avoid potential lawsuits for the older specification bearings, but, yet we still see these failing on 2011 and up models. In fact 2011 seems like one of the more common bearing failure years on the E9X M3.
Maybe the bearings were changed due to some EU lead regulations - we will never really know. The point being they still seem to fail just like the old ones did even (maybe not as often) though they are about 3+ times stronger...
Anyhow, this whole rod bearings business is a travesty on BMW's part...
They should definitely goodwill engine replacements for proven rod bearings failures on stock cars with proper maintenance and driving patterns.