Man Down! 2008 M3 Rod Bearing Failed

[Killerfish2012]

Originally Posted by Mike Benvo

+1. Not a single issue with mine in 7 years. Always seems to be accurate/consistent.

I think track use/extended high RPM use is a large contributor to bearing failure.

Except the failures in non tracked, late model cars with <15K miles. How do you explain that except for production/assembly variances.

[Killerfish2012]

Originally Posted by thekurgan

Harder material as the babbitt layer isn't usually a good thing to have. S55 revs much lower and produces max power below redline, so I expect it to not have these types of issues. Carbon fouling would be my guess as an extra maintenance cost on the S55.

Not to mention the iffy High pressure fuel pumps, turbos, and stand alone electric water pumps, and thermostats. A real long term maintenance nightmare.

[Killerfish2012]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Agreed about the S55 carbon fouling , but the new water injection system is coming soon , the engine will run much cooler ...adds more HP and avoids carbon fouling .
The ///M4 DTM peace car is running for the moment with this new system and the results are very positive .
The water tank of the water injection system is in the trunk of the car it's about 3-4 liters .

They should come out of the dark ages, and just go Naturally aspirated gas-electric hybrid.

[whats77inaname]

Originally Posted by Killerfish2012

You trust the fluctuating oil level sensor? Today it's 1/2 full, tomorrow it's full?

Originally Posted by Killerfish2012

There's a current thread about this issue (do a search), so I'm not the only one experiencing it.

http://store.bimmerworld.com/e9x-m3-...kit-p2042.aspx

Problem solved.

[vsix]

Originally Posted by Killerfish2012

My car has 112K miles and 4 track events since I bought it in May, with my next event going down all day Saturday. I run in the advanced group, so I don't take it easy. It's tuned so I shift at 8,600rpms. Oh, and did I mention, I don't have any warranty of any kind? I sleep soundly, every night.

Good.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by Killerfish2012

My car has 112K miles and 4 track events since I bought it in May, with my next event going down all day Saturday. I run in the advanced group, so I don't take it easy. It's tuned so I shift at 8,600rpms. Oh, and did I mention, I don't have any warranty of any kind? I sleep soundly, every night.

True !
Because I saw your video , but think twice with a S65 with 112K on it and shifting at 8,600 rpm's...
I know you saw that I was talking about the S65 lottery story ..
So I'm thinking you have a winner for the moment...I said for the moment !
Man I really hope you can keep it this way .

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by whats77inaname

http://store.bimmerworld.com/e9x-m3-...kit-p2042.aspx

Problem solved.

Or more problems , the installation is not really a piece of cake it's more a pain in the a$$...
Do you go for it ?

[whats77inaname]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Or more problems , the installation is not really a piece of cake it's more a pain in the a$$...
Do you go for it ?

I wired in an oil pressure sensor on my P3 gauge http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1104869 so if the car has less oil than it should, the gauge will indicate that as the normal pressure parameters will change. I feel comfortable w/out having the manual dipstick, as I haven't experienced any issues with the sensor. That link was for those that are worried about not having a manual dipstick.

[Killerfish2012]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

True !
Because I saw your video , but think twice with a S65 with 112K on it and shifting at 8,600 rpm's...
I know you saw that I was talking about the S65 lottery story ..
So I'm thinking you have a winner for the moment...I said for the moment !
Man I really hope you can keep it this way .

I'm 100% confident! I've flushed the motor 4 times now, so it's clean as can be. Even before that the motor sounded like a jet first time I drove it, till today. It's ultra important to flush the motor once in a while, when changing the oil. Especially with delicate bearings. OP noticed noise in his car, but chose to ignore it.

[s85e90]

Originally Posted by whats77inaname

I wired in an oil pressure sensor on my P3 gauge http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1104869 so if the car has less oil than it should, the gauge will indicate that as the normal pressure parameters will change. I feel comfortable w/out having the manual dipstick, as I haven't experienced any issues with the sensor. That link was for those that are worried about not having a manual dipstick.

Pressure and volume are not mutually exclusive. If the car is down a 1qt the pressure should be the same as full.

[IIAp3x]

Originally Posted by to///m

This statement concerns me.

I think I read that you just recently changed your oil prior to this. So wouldn't the oil dropping from full to half pretty quickly after an oil change be normal and NOT indicate anything is wrong with your bearings.

I've changed the oil about 6 times since ive owned the car and every time the oil gauge goes from about max to half pretty quick, then it levels out and I maybe have to add another 1/2 liter before I change the oil again.

I just want clarification so people (and myself) just don't think because they are burning oil quickly its bearing failure...

I can see what you are saying, but I put almost 1000k miles on the car after the oil change when this occurred... I had already topped it off shortly after the oil change anyways... The oil level was at the max level for all of those 1000k miles until the day before the failure... Then it dropped 1 bar for each commute to and from work the day before... That is pretty unusual...

[IIAp3x]

Originally Posted by s85e90

Maybe I am the only one here who have no issue with the oil sensor? It works fine. Change oil, and add all back and it's right at top.. Never fluctuates, drops (except for normal consumption). It seems to work fine. Sure it's annoying (I'd rather have a conventional dipstick) but it still works well.

I have to say also that my oil level gauge was also pretty stable as well... No weird fluctuations...

[whats77inaname]

Originally Posted by s85e90

Pressure and volume are not mutually exclusive. If the car is down a 1qt the pressure should be the same as full.

My reference was to the "full one day, 1/2 full the next" scenario. Being down a quart is not ideal, but the car will still function okay.

[IIAp3x]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

That I was thinking too , and that's why I was asking OP if he had a lot of exhaust fumes because if that amount of oil was burned the only exit was via the exhaust tips and visible .

Definitely no weird fumes at all... And being in florida I always drive with the windows down so I am pretty sure I would have noticed... But then again the converters on our cars barely allow air flow let alone fumes...

[IIAp3x]

Originally Posted by MPowerZ32

Interesting. So the factory bearing upgrade of 2010+ didn't really do us any good. Now we've lost the lead content as an early warning indicator, and at the same time the newer cars fail at lower mileage. I'd be curious to see if the new S55 will have similar bearing related issues.

My lead count was 12 just before this happened, copper was 2... So... Not really doing us any good either way...

I have also seen guys on the Oil Analysis threads that have 30-40k miles worth of terrible lead counts without bearing failures...

[marksae]

So if you bought the car at 49k miles, and got your Blackstone report at your 54k miles, how many miles were on the oil when you changed it?

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by Killerfish2012

I'm 100% confident! I've flushed the motor 4 times now, so it's clean as can be. Even before that the motor sounded like a jet first time I drove it, till today. It's ultra important to flush the motor once in a while, when changing the oil. Especially with delicate bearings. OP noticed noise in his car, but chose to ignore it.

Where can I read in this thread that OP noticed noise in his car ?
About your flushed engine ...
Do you have a link to the product that you are using to flush the S65 ?
It's actualy not the first time that I hear about to flush an engine...
Long story in short...
It's the former Belgian rally pilot Guy-Colsoul that said to flush race engines.
He was talking about that the black oil..."the black sludge" really needs to be flushed out of the oil pan of the car ,and said he never had a broken engine !
He won a lot of rally's and he was also in the Dakar rally with a nice 4-place (was one entire week on the 1-ste place) => http://www.colsoul-rallysport.be/content.php?hmID=6
If this is that good (flush the engine) than I asking myself why is BMW not doing this ?

[IIAp3x]

Originally Posted by marksae

So if you bought the car at 49k miles, and got your Blackstone report at your 54k miles, how many miles were on the oil when you changed it?

Oil change and report were done at 55k miles... Last oil change was right before I purchased at almost 49k

[marksae]

Sorry, I just re-read the first page and saw your Blackstone report, which said you changed your oil at 5k miles.

[IIAp3x]

Originally Posted by Killerfish2012

I'm 100% confident! I've flushed the motor 4 times now, so it's clean as can be. Even before that the motor sounded like a jet first time I drove it, till today. It's ultra important to flush the motor once in a while, when changing the oil. Especially with delicate bearings. OP noticed noise in his car, but chose to ignore it.

I never stated that, nor did I notice any noise until the bearing had already failed... I certainly would not have ignored it... The tapping sound which turned into a knocking sound occurred suddenly while driving to work... 4 miles worth of commute... Started off normal and ended terribly...

[Killerfish2012]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Where can I read in this thread that OP noticed noise in his car ?
About your flushed engine ...
Do you have a link to the product that you are using to flush the S65 ?
It's actualy not the first time that I hear about to flush an engine...
Long story in short...
It's the former Belgian rally pilot Guy-Colsoul that said to flush race engines.
He was talking about that the black oil..."the black sludge" really needs to be flushed out of the oil pan of the car ,and said he never had a broken engine !
He won a lot of rally's and he was also in the Dakar rally with a nice 4-place (was one entire week on the 1-ste place) => http://www.colsoul-rallysport.be/content.php?hmID=6
If this is that good (flush the engine) than I asking myself why is BMW not doing this ?

I've pointed you in the right direction

[maloo]

Who else is using an engine flush?