Who has actually replaced their rod bearings??

[Sandye90m3]

I did mine at 100K miles because I plan on keeping the car for the life of me.. Having said that, I was a little reluctant on doing the rod bearing service.

I have a thread that I started about my Rod bearings, but the wear in my opinion looked minimal.

Having said that, I have a peace of mind that the grenade should not happen. I currently have 117k Miles / 193k kms.

[330ciprem]

Currently at 27400 miles.

Looking at the forum member's experiences - will get it done around 40k mark for sure.

Don't believe in the hysteria but don't think it's a myth as well. Hysteria is what keeps many people from buying these sweet machines.

[PACarGuy]

Originally Posted by 330ciprem

Currently at 27400 miles.

Looking at the forum member's experiences - will get it done around 40k mark for sure.

Don't believe in the hysteria but don't think it's a myth as well. Hysteria is what keeps many people from buying these sweet machines.

Check out some of the posts on rod bearing condition for MY2011+ cars (including mine) - you may decide to hold off a little longer. I clearly could have gone longer than 58K.

[fivaxis]

Originally Posted by Honda

Holly! Do you know the oil consumption with your engine using 0w40? I heard it can get bad

It takes a quart about every 4K miles.

[wickz80]

Just bought the car 6 weeks ago, had the rod bearings done 2 weeks after that by deansbimmer. He did a writeup on it here.

BE/ARP replacements, did engine mounts and oil change at the same time. Car had 70k miles, and didn't seem abused. Did it mostly for peace of mind, and the possibility of track use/supercharging down the line.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by 330ciprem

Currently at 27400 miles.

Looking at the forum member's experiences - will get it done around 40k mark for sure.

Don't believe in the hysteria but don't think it's a myth as well. Hysteria is what keeps many people from buying these sweet machines.

It truly is hit and miss. The common factor is all look way too worn for the mileage, but some look 'worn medium' and others look 'worn extra rare'.

I did two cars this past weekend.

One, a 2011 with ~85k miles, had decent looking bearings other than some pitting. Bought used.

The other is a 2008 with ~55k miles, the bearings were worn to crap. That car wouldn't have made it to 85k miles.
This car was bought new by the current owner and I've seen him drive and take care of his cars.

PM your cell # and I'll forward the pic

[Honda]

Originally Posted by fivaxis

It takes a quart about every 4K miles.

yeah..that's about right from what I've heard.

[byroncheung]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

It truly is hit and miss. The common factor is all look way too worn for the mileage, but some look 'worn medium' and others look 'worn extra rare'.

I'm not a mechanics but a noob, and maybe this question has been asked before feel free to point me to previous answer if that's the case...

Even when you open it up and see some wearing, how do we know if it wasn't changed it will spun at some point? Wouldn't it be possible that the wearing was going at a fast rate when it was new but the system gradually goes to a equilibrium state (given that it didn't explode) by the wearing process? Or the inner layer of the bearing is less strong so that once it reach the inner layer the day of kaboom will not be far from the corner?

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by byroncheung

I'm not a mechanics but a noob, and maybe this question has been asked before feel free to point me to previous answer if that's the case...

Even when you open it up and see some wearing, how do we know if it wasn't changed it will spun at some point? Wouldn't it be possible that the wearing was going at a fast rate when it was new but the system gradually goes to a equilibrium state (given that it didn't explode) by the wearing process? Or the inner layer of the bearing is less strong so that once it reach the inner layer the day of kaboom will not be far from the corner?

the bearings are designed to wear as a last resort to the engine going kaboom

The outside layer is the softest. Then it gets harder in the next and finally you'll get to steel

When the crank contacts the bearing it 'rips' a little piece of the softer material out. Eventually it'll contact hard material and won't be able to just rip it out, so it'll tear the engine up.

The wear does not stabilize. There's one bearing from the last job I did where you could see it clearly.

[330ciprem]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

It truly is hit and miss. The common factor is all look way too worn for the mileage, but some look 'worn medium' and others look 'worn extra rare'.

I did two cars this past weekend.

One, a 2011 with ~85k miles, had decent looking bearings other than some pitting. Bought used.

The other is a 2008 with ~55k miles, the bearings were worn to crap. That car wouldn't have made it to 85k miles.
This car was bought new by the current owner and I've seen him drive and take care of his cars.

PM your cell # and I'll forward the pic

I agree about the Hit and Miss part. Engines have blown up under 40k miles and there is a forum member hitting 150k with original bearings!

Still, wouldn't take chances. Will do a Blackstone till 40k. Will pull the trigger before the 40 mark if the report comes fishy.

PMed!

[JAL0988]

Did mine at 26k. Worth it...

[Bemo]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

the bearings are designed to wear as a last resort to the engine going kaboom

The outside layer is the softest. Then it gets harder in the next and finally you'll get to steel

When the crank contacts the bearing it 'rips' a little piece of the softer material out. Eventually it'll contact hard material and won't be able to just rip it out, so it'll tear the engine up.

The wear does not stabilize. There's one bearing from the last job I did where you could see it clearly.

How much do you charge?

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by JAL0988

Did mine at 26k. Worth it...

Wow!! Audioslave686 also had those spots but yours look even worse!

[Larsim]

I am currently at 100k miles on the original bearings and I haven't given in to the rod bearing hysteria yet.

An estimated 65,000 (sixty five THOUSAND!) E9x M3s were built and what % of those 65,000 have been affected/the rod bearings spun? Maybe 5%? So let's see, 5% of 65,000 is what? 3,250? So out of 65,000 M3s, 3,250 have been affected (IF the number is even that high). I like those odds.

Also, I hope that most people here realize that MOST M car owners don't post nor read forums so most owners don't even know about this rod bearing non-sense. I asked a guy recently who owns an E92 M3 and an X6M if he had done his rod bearings, he looked at me like rod what? When I explained it he said and I quote "...so you mean to tell me that I should open a perfectly fine operating engine to change a perfectly fine operating part...? To which I just nodded and laughed.

OP, if you really want to be safe I would not only do the rod bearings but I would also change the transmission because I remember reading here a while ago a guy whose transmission blew up so I would just get ahead of the game and order a new transmission as well.

[Visceral]

Had the RBs swapped out at 44k miles. It is becoming a heavily tracked car (and autoX plus street beatings), so I wanted to put it completely out of mind. We did engine mounts and fixed a leaking DCT at the same time.

No regrets. My bearings look just like the 26k mile car wit a few additional scrapes and scars. Meaning if pulled out of a 100k mile LS-motor any mechanic would say they looked pretty bad for the miles.

[R5169]

Replaced mine within 6 months of buying the car at around 87k. Condition was in the medium range with some wear i'd consider troublesome.

As far as I was concerned, $2.5k now is better than rolling a dice for $15k plus diminished resale value cost. Not a single regret. Will own the car for at least another year or so. Loving every minute of it.

[Helmsman]

Originally Posted by Larsim

I am currently at 100k miles on the original bearings and I haven't given in to the rod bearing hysteria yet.

An estimated 65,000 (sixty five THOUSAND!) E9x M3s were built and what % of those 65,000 have been affected/the rod bearings spun? Maybe 5%? So let's see, 5% of 65,000 is what? 3,250? So out of 65,000 M3s, 3,250 have been affected (IF the number is even that high). I like those odds.

Also, I hope that most people here realize that MOST M car owners don't post nor read forums so most owners don't even know about this rod bearing non-sense. I asked a guy recently who owns an E92 M3 and an X6M if he had done his rod bearings, he looked at me like rod what? When I explained it he said and I quote "...so you mean to tell me that I should open a perfectly fine operating engine to change a perfectly fine operating part...? To which I just nodded and laughed.

OP, if you really want to be safe I would not only do the rod bearings but I would also change the transmission because I remember reading here a while ago a guy whose transmission blew up so I would just get ahead of the game and order a new transmission as well.

I also believe the level of risk is limited but so is the cost for replacement compared to a lot of other associated cost. as an example its less than half of what I pay yearly for insurance and garage over here...

Clearly most cars runs for 80k miles and well above. I plan to do mine around 40k miles, and I hope my original comes out in fair shape which may serve as an indication that my housing and journal dimensions are okay.
My thinking here is that new shells with increased clearance is a long term fix. If so, it doesn't really matter that I take the plunge earlier than needed, as I'm saving no money by doing it later but would with certain increase risk.

The remaining factor for me really is to try to ensure the material used is correct and even more important that the job is performed correctly, otherwise I'm obviously still in the shit.

PS. Your gear box comparison doesn't make sense at all in my eyes but different story.

[pbonsalb]

You probably have life insurance even though there is about a 0.01% chance you will die prematurely and lose your ability to provide for your family. But hedging against the irisk is worthwhile. Here, it is now a $10k risk for a DIYer or a $20k risk for someone using a shop, with the bearing replacement cost ranging from $500 to $2500 depending on parts and labor.

To me it was worthwhile. If writing a check for $10-20k is no big deal for you if bearings fail then roll the dice since the odds are small as many have noted including me (and I changed my bearings myself as soon as the car was out of warranty in 2014).

[330ciprem]

Originally Posted by JAL0988

Did mine at 26k. Worth it...

Please tell me that this was after 365 track days in the Sahara Desert with the engine being twin turbo-charged and supercharged, running 40W - 180...

[deansbimmer]

Originally Posted by Larsim

I asked a guy recently who owns an E92 M3 and an X6M if he had done his rod bearings, he looked at me like rod what? When I explained it he said and I quote "...so you mean to tell me that I should open a perfectly fine operating engine to change a perfectly fine operating part...? To which I just nodded and laughed.

OP, if you really want to be safe I would not only do the rod bearings but I would also change the transmission because I remember reading here a while ago a guy whose transmission blew up so I would just get ahead of the game and order a new transmission as well.

"Perfectly fine operating part" is a relative term apparently. It's true that only a percentage of engines have actually failed, nobody knows how many, but ALL S65 bearings are wearing poorly. They may be "fine" this week in the sense that they haven't seized yet, but what about next week? You keep life insurance in case something happens to you even though none of us are planning on needing it anytime soon.

Your transmission comparison is irrelevant.

Half the owners I rebuild or install new engines for didn't "buy into the hysteria" either. It keeps shops like mine busy.

[groovetek]

For the shops that have done dozens of these, did you take note of the sounds the engine was making before and after? Is it always the case that the ones which have wear through to copper will make the louder tapping/knocking sounds etc.?

[zipper228]

Originally Posted by PACarGuy

Check out some of the posts on rod bearing condition for MY2011+ cars (including mine) - you may decide to hold off a little longer. I clearly could have gone longer than 58K.

Its really case-by-case. My 2011+ bearings were changed at 44k, estimate is that they MIGHT have made it through another oil change or so..