So I had the unfortunate luck of running over a rock on the fwy a few weeks ago.
Long story short, I had the car towed to my dealer and insurance picked up the tab. Damage from the rock resulted in broken underbody panels, left rear control arm, a dent to my Akra Evo, and most importantly, a hole in my oil pan!
My car is a 08 and had just a few clicks above 69k when the insident happened. I talked to my SA and inquired about the cost of doing rod bearing inspection/replacement, since the front subframe and pan would already be removed. The cost of 4 hours labor plus parts seemed worthwhile to me so i went ahead and had them done. I want to remind everyone that my car never exhibited any issues relating to the motor and performed flawlessly for 69k on 10w-60. I had 1 UOA done 7k miles ago and it showed very low copper levels. Dont mind the scratches on the lower bearings, they are from being in a plastic bag loose.
A few mentionable notes from the master tech who did the work.
-The amount of wear on my old bearings is "normal" and "with in spec".
-Old bearings were measured using a micrometer and showed uniform wear. Good thing.
-New 702/703 were plastigauged and verified to be "with in spec".
-Crank had no marks or signs of scoring.
-Tech says to stick to 10w-60.
-Says bearing wear is normal on high rpm motors. "Either the bearings go or the crank does, guess which is more expensive?'
Some other interesting things he mentioned.
-Every S65 he has seen has had some sort of wear to the bearings. Some obviously worst then others, but just the "nature of the beast" were his words.
-In the 10 years he has been a tech at this dealer he had only seen 2 blown S65 motors and they were both found to be due to user error (miss shift, over rev). States the S65 is one of the most reliable motors he works on.
-He swears by using the recommended 10w-60, he told me a funny story that one of the newer techs went out to do a top off on a F80 M3 and had 10w-60 in his hand
My tech stopped him before and asked him if he was sure that was the right oil? New tech responds with "yeah! its an M3 right?"
My tech kindly asked him to go back into the shop and search the system for correct oil for F80...
-Specifically stated that following BMW 15k service intervals is not recommended. Oil changes every 5k for street use and 3k if including track time.
-Motors that rev this high are not meant to last 200k. His opinion is if you get 100k of street and track miles, you got your moneys worth. Bearing maintenance is something he says BMW should add to their inspection 3
So I got my car back a couple days ago and everything seems just as fine as before. I asked my SA if there was any break in period. He replied, No. No reduced revs, no early oil change. Just drive it he says. So I did!
On the way home after getting her up to temp, a guy in a 1 series ahead of me is about to exit but sticks his hand out waving me by. I come up to pass him and he has a thumbs up hanging out the window
So I quickly grabbed 5th, "WHAAP!" followed by 4th, "WHHRAAAAAAPP!" Perfect buttery smooth downshifts on my first attempt after not driving her for 2 weeks (that pretty much never happens
I usually make a couple jerky downshifts before my timing gets up to speed)
In any case it feels great to be back behind the wheel of this motor again. Now I have some peace of mind for the next 60k I hope.
Although the dealer says no break in period is neccessary, I was thinking of having an oil change done after 1k just to get rid of any new metals from the fresh bearings. Thoughts on this?
My personal opinion on this "bearing problem" is mainly unchanged. Yes the S65 has bearing wear. As does the S85, S54, S14, and S38. This is nothing new to people who have been around M cars for years. Its a high maintenance motor. Learn to live with it. As others have mentioned all manufactures have their issues (Ford 5.0L, AMG 6.2, LSX, P-cars). Understanding what your brands issue is and maintaining the car around that is key for longevity. I will continue to use 10w-60 unless another oil is recommended by BMW. I still believe these blown motors we are seeing are factory defects from tolerance stack up when mass producing engines. I can agree that my bearings dont look "good" after 69k. I can also live with the fact that this motor will need fresh bearings every 60k, CODB- CostOfDoingBusiness in my book.
Shafique