Miller on oiling, bearings, etc.

[G80indy]

from the October issue of Bimmer

[G80indy]

HDR image.
Not sure if the compression to upload will have readable text

[tacoman]

Cant read it? Whats the underlying message?

In my world...got the news last night from SA...while the car was in their possession (replacing sensor in dct tranmission)...my engine seized. Bearings!!
New engine is called for..
They are working with the warranty company today..
Sweating bullets...

2010 m3 dct...36k miles....engine gone.

[Antomero]

Can't read it. Original link would be perfect.

[kb9uwu]

Originally Posted by tacoman

Cant read it? Whats the underlying message?

In my world...got the news last night from SA...while the car was in their possession (replacing sensor in dct tranmission)...my engine seized. Bearings!!
New engine is called for..
They are working with the warranty company today..
Sweating bullets...

2010 m3 dct...36k miles....engine gone.

aka the tech redlined it while it was cold

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by kb9uwu

aka the tech redlined it while it was cold

That's not possible by the reduced rpm redline limiter when cold .

[G80indy]

http://s233.photobucket.com/user/330...angix.jpg.html dang, I tried

[CHE///MIST3]

Originally Posted by 330indy

from the October issue of Bimmer

It can be read Ok from photobucket, thanks. The small segment about cold start delete is interesting in regards to it being necessary for proper start-up lubrication.

GM

[dparm]

[Z K]

Originally Posted by kb9uwu

aka the tech redlined it while it was cold

My friend's rod bearings went while the car was idling in a parking lot. No drama - it was idling, started making a ticking noise then the engine shut down and wouldn't restart. Rod bearing failure is completely random. There is no need for some high rpm event for it to occur.

You can try to monitor long term wear in the older bearings via oil analysis but otherwise unpredictable.

[New2Roundel]

Originally Posted by Z K

My friend's rod bearings went while the car was idling in a parking lot. No drama - it was idling, started making a ticking noise then the engine shut down and wouldn't restart. Rod bearing failure is completely random. There is no need for some high rpm event for it to occur.

You can try to monitor long term wear in the older bearings via oil analysis but otherwise unpredictable.

I think the overall point of the article is that the engines in these cars are more sensitive to maintenance intervals, oil grade, and overall treatment than days past. If this is to be believed, I'd be more interested in the history of your friend's car than anything that immediately preceded the engine seizure.

Having said that, I'm not sure the author of the response has that much specific knowledge of these engines, so that also needs to be taken into consideration as well.

[tacoman]

Well...per the SA...mine was random.
He said the tech/Foreman was topping off DCT transmission fluid etc etc (after transmission sensor replacement)...and it seized.
He said they were preparing to take it on the first test drive.....but....obviously....never got to it.

They reached out to my warrantor and advised a new engine is required.
So...I wait patiently to hear the outcome.
The SA of course tells me not worry, all will be taken car of etc ...but I am preparing for some pushing and shoving. Hope it does not come to that...

[E90Dave]

I bet there is a MASSIVE correlation between maintenance and rod bearing wear.

People who are anything but 1st owners can't comment on this.

Some guy may have leased the car to begin with and didn't buy the maintenance package and decided because it wasn't his car went down to Jiffy Lube for some 5w-30 every 7K miles.

Or the doctor who loves M cars but knows NOTHING about them and buys it new and decides to get in the car when the oil temp is 60 degrees and sits at 4 or 5K immediately on a back road.

So many unknown factors - not debating that people with brand new cars haven't had issues bone stock as the 1st owners - but being a 2nd owner and beyond gives you almost no room to talk if bearing wear was already done

[scoale]

Originally Posted by tacoman

Cant read it? Whats the underlying message?

In my world...got the news last night from SA...while the car was in their possession (replacing sensor in dct tranmission)...my engine seized. Bearings!!
New engine is called for..
They are working with the warranty company today..
Sweating bullets...

2010 m3 dct...36k miles....engine gone.

My read is that author believes that failures are primarily a result of abuse and extended service intervals.

[pbonsalb]

Originally Posted by E90Dave

I bet there is a MASSIVE correlation between maintenance and rod bearing wear.

People who are anything but 1st owners can't comment on this.

Some guy may have leased the car to begin with and didn't buy the maintenance package and decided because it wasn't his car went down to Jiffy Lube for some 5w-30 every 7K miles.

Or the doctor who loves M cars but knows NOTHING about them and buys it new and decides to get in the car when the oil temp is 60 degrees and sits at 4 or 5K immediately on a back road.

So many unknown factors - not debating that people with brand new cars haven't had issues bone stock as the 1st owners - but being a 2nd owner and beyond gives you almost no room to talk if bearing wear was already done

So why hasn't this been a problem on other models? Is it just E9xM3 and E6xM5/6 owners who are bad?

[CHE///MIST3]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

So why hasn't this been a problem on other models? Is it just E9xM3 and E6xM5/6 owners who are bad?

Owners of other model BMWs aren't concerned with how their engine sounds at 8,000+ RPMs...so they don't go there

GM

[E90Dave]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

So why hasn't this been a problem on other models? Is it just E9xM3 and E6xM5/6 owners who are bad?

Because YES the tolerances are much tighter on these engines, and proper care must be used in conjunction with revving to 8000+ RPMs.

Not to mention, a small percentage of owners actually visit forums. Generally, it's those with issues who come to post for an explanation.

[Z K]

Originally Posted by E90Dave

I bet there is a MASSIVE correlation between maintenance and rod bearing wear.

People who are anything but 1st owners can't comment on this.

Some guy may have leased the car to begin with and didn't buy the maintenance package and decided because it wasn't his car went down to Jiffy Lube for some 5w-30 every 7K miles.

Or the doctor who loves M cars but knows NOTHING about them and buys it new and decides to get in the car when the oil temp is 60 degrees and sits at 4 or 5K immediately on a back road.

So many unknown factors - not debating that people with brand new cars haven't had issues bone stock as the 1st owners - but being a 2nd owner and beyond gives you almost no room to talk if bearing wear was already done

I really don't think this is the case. Engine failures are across the board with no common factor.

Call any indie BMW shop in my local area and they've all seen a few M3s with blown engines from rod bearings. Everytime I go for maintenance and see a M car with the engine out, it is usually because of rod bearings.

You'll only see more cases as M3s fall off of warranty and more people with blown engines go to independent shops rather than the dealer. Most of these people are not on and do not post on forums.

I know my friend is a BMW enthusiast and has had multiple M cars including other M3s and he takes care to keep the rpm down until it gets up to temp. His engine was covered under the BMW new car warranty.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by tacoman

Well...per the SA...mine was random.
He said the tech/Foreman was topping off DCT transmission fluid etc etc (after transmission sensor replacement)...and it seized.
He said they were preparing to take it on the first test drive.....but....obviously....never got to it.

They reached out to my warrantor and advised a new engine is required.
So...I wait patiently to hear the outcome.
The SA of course tells me not worry, all will be taken car of etc ...but I am preparing for some pushing and shoving. Hope it does not come to that...

Wow !
I'm sorry about your luck , please keep us posted about your situation..

[Bartledoo]

Can't...👀

[ec_E92]

FYI, Mike Miller is THE authority on old school bmw maintenance schedules and <I believe> was of the first group to criticize bmw for their free maintenance schedule that stated "lifetime" fluids and 15k oil changes.

[Gesler]

Not sure how much substance this point of view still has. Apart from the NA M3 and M5 engines these prolonged oil change intervals haven't affected other BMW engines since the N54. (Not following other subforums, so if there is a "blown motors" thread in each of them, I stand corrected). Anecdotal "authorities" without scientific evidence just muddy the issue and add nothing more.

Originally Posted by ec_E92

FYI, Mike Miller is THE authority on old school bmw maintenance schedules and <I believe> was of the first group to criticize bmw for their free maintenance schedule that stated "lifetime" fluids and 15k oil changes.