08 60K Rod Bearings Done

[twinpuller]

Finally got around to doing the bearings today. Spent today with my cousin and brother working on my rod bearings today. Overall it went pretty smooth and I'm glad I did them. I had no issues that caused me to do them, but I figured it was good insurance against a bigger problem at minimal costs.

I'd like to thank phonsalb, gsxrliterbikz, e92zero, and the folks at BEbearings / Auto Talent for their write ups and help. I used the following guides to help me

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1133147

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showpos...7&postcount=11

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1074496

My cousin is a tech for another german automaker and his overall automotive knowledge was a great help in getting this done. We had a hoist and many tools at our disposal which made this job much easier than expected. I applaud those of you that did this on your back. I won't post everything I did, but a few notes below:

1. Did not remove the electric fan. We were able to unclip everything from the bottom.

2. I removed the air box but I'm not sure we needed to do this in hindsight

3. The ARP grease included with the BE ARP bolts is more than enough for the job. I was worried there wouldn't be enough, but we had some left over and I didn't use it sparingly.

4. Getting oil in your hair and face sucks

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[IIAp3x]

Nice job! Can't believe how bad they look for 60k, but then again mine grenaded at 55k and I had to get a new engine... Great save!

[W Cole]

You did this from start to finish in a day?? That's quick!

[twinpuller]

Started about 10am and finished and cleaned up shop by 8

We ran into a couple issues that held us back a bit. One was the locating the belt tensioner behind the cap and the other was lining up the steering shaft as we were raising the subframe. Other than that there were no real hangups.

[nholmes]

Welcome to the club!

[pbonsalb]

That is a great tip about not removing the electric fan. I did not know that and have done bearings on 2 cars. This job is getting simpler. And 10 hours is good for a first time. I think I took 12 the first time and 10 the second and could do it a 3rd time in 8.

[bigjae1976]

Dang...those bearings look pretty bad! That is a great time. It took me about 10 hours to do my E46 M3. Not really looking forward to doing it again on the E90.

[Frozen]

What is the consensus here? Do these bearings look bad are pretty good? I really can't tell anymore unless they are showing all copper. These actually don't look too bad to me.

[twinpuller]

There's copper on some of the bearings if you look closely. Who knows how much life they had left. It could probably go for another 30k but I'm glad I did them.

[rcracin]

Those bearings look pretty beat. Good stuff man.

[VictorH]

Originally Posted by twinpuller

Started about 10am and finished and cleaned up shop by 8

We ran into a couple issues that held us back a bit. One was the locating the belt tensioner behind the cap and the other was lining up the steering shaft as we were raising the subframe. Other than that there were no real hangups.

Try it with one guy. Getting the steering shaft back on the splined shaft of the rack probably took me an hour of fiddling, it's a tight fit in more ways than one and it pops off easily until you get it about 1/4 of the way on.

[twinpuller]

Originally Posted by VictorH

Try it with one guy. Getting the steering shaft back on the splined shaft of the rack probably took me an hour of fiddling, it's a tight fit in more ways than one and it pops off easily until you get it about 1/4 of the way on.

And you did it on the ground. I don't know how you did it. We raised it slowly with a transmission jack and it just slid in once it was lined up. The trouble we had was thinking that we could get it fully in by hann, when really the subframe needed to be pushed up.

[admranger]

Does this look about right for the parts you need and the "while you're in there" parts? (sorry for the list not working right...)

• QTY P/N
  
  oil 9 83212365944
  filter 1 11427837997
  oil pan gasket 1 11137841085
  motor mounts 2 11812283798
  transmission mounts 2 22312283285
  oil pump small suction pipe o-ring 1 11417839832
  oil pump return pipe o-ring 1 11417839833
  oil pump large suction pipe o-ring 1 11417838534
  oil cooler o-rings 2 17222284079
  rod bearings 8pr bebearings
  rod bolts 16 ARP
  
  AC belt 1 11287841529
  AC tensioner 1 11287841546
  AC tensioner pulley 1 11287841527
  AC idler pulley 1 11287841531
  
  main belt 1 11287837898
  main tensioner 1 11287835417
  main pulley 1 11287838194
  
  PS fluid 1-liter CHF-11S
  
  plugs 8 12120032273

Please feel free to add to this list if I've forgotten anything.

I have the long reach male T30 tool. Any other special tools (other than an engine support which I have)?

I'm going to be doing this on three vehicles in a row later on this year (e.g., when it cools off in Vegas).

Thanks!

[pbonsalb]

Plugs are a completely separate job. No need to drain any PS fluid. No need to change pulleys or tensioners unless high mileage (I left mine alone when I did bearings at 60k). I did not touch my oil cooler. I did change two oil pump o-rings within pan.

Everything else on list is ok.

[twinpuller]

that's a lot of parts!!

I just did the necessary parts. Oil, filter, pan gasket, rod bolts, bearings, motor mounts. These are all parts that are touched during the RB change so I decided to change them while I was there. Everything else is pretty much optional.

I suppose you can change the o-rings and gaskets for the oil pickup tubes, but I didn't do that. Belts are easy enough to do anytime so that wasn't on my list.

[admranger]

Excellent. Thanks!

Yeah, I knew the belts, pulleys/tensioners, transmission mounts were overkill.

Good to know on the oil cooler and power steering. Won't need to mess with those either.

I thought there were three o-rings inside the pan that were touched (2-suction, one return). At least it looks that way in realoem.com

So you cranked the engine over by hand with the plugs still in it? I guess it can be done but figured it would be easier to just pull the plugs (not that pulling the plugs is an easy job). Saves me a ton of time so this is good news!

[admranger]

Updated list with only the items touched during the rod bearing job being changed out.

Originally Posted by admranger

• QTY P/N
  
  oil 9 83212365944
  filter 1 11427837997
  oil pan gasket 1 11137841085
  motor mounts 2 11812283798
  oil pump small suction pipe o-ring 1 11417839832
  oil pump return pipe o-ring 1 11417839833
  oil pump large suction pipe o-ring 1 11417838534
  rod bearings 8pr bebearings
  rod bolts 16 ARP

[nholmes]

Originally Posted by admranger

Updated list with only the items touched during the rod bearing job being changed out.

I didn't bother with these:

oil pump small suction pipe o-ring 1 11417839832
oil pump return pipe o-ring 1 11417839833
oil pump large suction pipe o-ring 1 11417838534

I inspected mine and with 104k on them, they were still in great shape.

Totally up to you though.

I also went with these motor mounts:

http://www.bimmerworld.com/Engine/En...Mount-Set.html

To add to the longevity of your mounts, you might want to consider adding some heat shields from the E36 or you can just fab up some out of aluminum, that's what I did:

[buzz367]

Did you do a Blackstone analysis prior to this job??

[L4ces]

nholmes would please provide some feedback at your earliest regarding the amount of detectable vibration? Is it barely detectable or something really noticeable?

I am in the process of choosing motor mounts as well.

Thanks

[nholmes]

L4ces

It's hard to say. My car is gutted, has test pipes and is a dedicated track car.

Though, I did go with those motor mounts because people said they were very mild. I don't mind NVH, but I didn't want my dashboard rattling apart.

[L4ces]

Originally Posted by nholmes

L4ces

It's hard to say. My car is gutted, has test pipes and is a dedicated track car.

Though, I did go with those motor mounts because people said they were very mild. I don't mind NVH, but I didn't want my dashboard rattling apart.

I hear yah nholms.