Finally buying Rod Bearings and ARP bolts! Please Help!!!

[ThatWhiteM3]

Hello fellow M3 owners. So its that time to do rod bearings. So everyone suggest and have been replacing OEM with BE bearings and ARP bolts. As i got on BE website it showing that they have bolts that go with their bearings which are developed with ARP. They are almost 200 dollars cheaper than actual ARP bolts. So are those the same bolts or should i go with actual ARP from ARP website? Please help! Thank you!

Those are the ones i ran up on the BE website

http://www.bebearings.com/store/inde...&products_id=4

Actual ARP website

http://arp-bolts.com/kits/ARPkit-det...?RecordID=4848

So which ones should i pick?

Thank you in advance!

[aus]

Get the BE ones. They're made for our cars and allow easy installation.
.

[Green-Eggs]

Originally Posted by ThatWhiteM3

Hello fellow M3 owners. So its that time to do rod bearings. So everyone suggest and have been replacing OEM with BE bearings and ARP bolts. As i got on BE website it showing that they have bolts that go with their bearings which are developed with ARP. They are almost 200 dollars cheaper than actual ARP bolts. So are those the same bolts or should i go with actual ARP from ARP website? Please help! Thank you!

Those are the ones i ran up on the BE website

http://www.bebearings.com/store/inde...&products_id=4

Actual ARP website

http://arp-bolts.com/kits/ARPkit-det...?RecordID=4848

So which ones should i pick?

Thank you in advance!

They are two different materials, hence two different prices. The BE-ARP bolts are ARP-2000 material. ARP does not sell an S65 rod bolt of this type. The ARP bolts listed on their site are ARP-625 material, and are much more expensive. Details on both materials can be found at the ARP web site.

[SYT_Shadow]

The actual ARP bolts have been shown to distort the rod/cap in both the S54 and S65.

Get either OEM bolts which have a torque procedure compared to sending a manned mission to Mars or buy the BE-ARP ones, which do not distort the rod/cap but allow you to install them easily

[schnell1982]

Originally Posted by ThatWhiteM3

Hello fellow M3 owners. So its that time to do rod bearings. So everyone suggest and have been replacing OEM with BE bearings and ARP bolts. As i got on BE website it showing that they have bolts that go with their bearings which are developed with ARP. They are almost 200 dollars cheaper than actual ARP bolts. So are those the same bolts or should i go with actual ARP from ARP website? Please help! Thank you!

Those are the ones i ran up on the BE website

http://www.bebearings.com/store/inde...&products_id=4

Actual ARP website

http://arp-bolts.com/kits/ARPkit-det...?RecordID=4848

So which ones should i pick?

Thank you in advance!

Why not order it all from VAC ?

https://store.vacmotorsports.com/vac...s65-p3479.aspx

[ThatWhiteM3]

Originally Posted by schnell1982

Why not order it all from VAC ?

https://store.vacmotorsports.com/vac...s65-p3479.aspx

Is VAC same as BE? which ones are better?

[Green-Eggs]

Originally Posted by ThatWhiteM3

Is VAC same as BE? which ones are better?

No, they are not the same. Here's some information to help you decide.

The folks behind BE Bearings are the guys that discovered this issue, and did all the research on this issue. It's all documented here, and on their wiki page (below).
http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=892838

If you believe the S65 has a rod bearing clearance issue, then BE Bearings are the only ones with extra clearance to address that issue. If you don't believe the S65 has a rod bearing clearance issue, then it matters less which you choose. Both bearings are made by Clevite on the same Tri-Metal process. BE Bearings uses the Clevite TriArmor low-friction coated surface, design by Clevite. VAC uses an aftermarket company named Calico to do much the same thing; but the latter has fallen out of favor with most shops (ours included) due to bad quality control issues. Clevite TriArmor coating has never had a quality control issue on the BE Bearings that I know of. BE Bearings measures every single bearing and separates them to ensure uniform quality and uniform clearance to each customer. This process guarantees that every customer receives the correct clearance. BE Bearings is the only company that does this. That process is explained here:
http://www.m3post.com/forums/showpos...&postcount=267

The rod bolts are also an issue. You can read more about them here. Be sure to read about bore distortion measured with non BE-ARP bolts.
http://wiki.rcollins.org/core/index....2000_rod_bolts

I hope this helps.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by ThatWhiteM3

Is VAC same as BE? which ones are better?

Please spend 20 min of your life googling 'VAC M3' before spending any money with them.

[ThatWhiteM3]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

Please spend 20 min of your life googling 'VAC M3' before spending any money with them.

Why is that? I did some research seemed like it’s only bearings that show no wear after it was inspected after the usage. Most people say it’s too early to predict rather to go with BE or VAC due to time. May be in a few years. It’s seems like 50/50 pick for most people some prefer vac where others go with BE. I’m just curious what what makes you not go with VAC?

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by ThatWhiteM3

Why is that? I did some research seemed like it’s only bearings that show no wear after it was inspected after the usage. Most people say it’s too early to predict rather to go with BE or VAC due to time. May be in a few years. It’s seems like 50/50 pick for most people some prefer vac where others go with BE. I’m just curious what what makes you not go with VAC?

Note I didn't say research VAC and bearings. Although if you did that you'd see a couple cases when they sent people the wrong bearings and/or forgot to sand the parting lines. If a regular human receives those bearings and installs them their engine will go kaput not long after.

If you research VAC and M3 you'll find 30 page long threads of customers complaining about receiving the wrong part, not receiving anything, month long delays, etc etc. Massive unhappiness that spawns multiple forums related to BMW.

Why anyone would use VAC for anything at all is just beyond me. Either they do not research or they deliberately believe that the issues that have affected a legion of M3 owners will not affect them.

Why anyone would use VAC for bearings is also beyond me. Their complete absence of documentation talking about what they're selling, their flip flopping about whether they're increasing clearance or not -now they are, now they're not, wait now they are again!!- and the fact that there another alternative out there, BE, which actually did the research, documented everything in the most epic thread of M3 forum history and provided results for everyone to see seals the deal.

The biggest thing VAC has going for them is a shop who has done 'hundreds' of rod bearing jobs in a timeframe that averages two rod bearing jobs a week -cough cough- likes using them, or must be getting a sweet deal to use those bearings. I assume there is collusion between VAC and that shop because the body of evidence is so overwhelmingly against VAC that it really is mind blowing that someone uses them willingly.
Regardless, that some shop has managed to make drinking water out of nuclear sludge doesn't make me want to drink that water when I can go anywhere else and buy regular water.

In the end, do whatever you want. I don't work for BE or VAC, or anyone in the car business for that matter.

[8k4]

VAC is crap, terrible customer service

[BrewRifle]

I went with BE bearings and OEM rod bolts (BE ARP bolts didn't exist yet) without issue as long as you can find a competent patient mechanic like I did.

You'll either save money on the install or bolts so pick your poison. You can't go wrong with either.

[ThatWhiteM3]

Originally Posted by BrewRifle

I went with BE bearings and OEM rod bolts (BE ARP bolts didn't exist yet) without issue as long as you can find a competent patient mechanic like I did.

You'll either save money on the install or bolts so pick your poison. You can't go wrong with either.

They do exist, you can find BE Arp bolts on BE website.

[BrewRifle]

Originally Posted by ThatWhiteM3

They do exist, you can find BE Arp bolts on BE website.

"Yet." I know they exist now

[ThatWhiteM3]

Originally Posted by BrewRifle

"Yet." I know they exist now

You think they would be the best fit with BE?

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by ThatWhiteM3

You think they would be the best fit with BE?

BE-ARP bolts are always the best fit, it doesn't depend on which bearing you use. They're ARP bolts built the BE's specifications.

The issue with OEM bolts is the torque procedure is very lengthy and the bolts are one use only. It's very unlikely people or shops are actually doing it correctly

The issue with regular ARP bolts is they distort the bore/cap. This was shown in the S54 and now in the S65. The thing is these are really easy to install, you just reach a single torque value and you're set

BE-ARP gives you the ease of installation of ARP with the bore distortion of the OEM ones

[Z K]

Originally Posted by ThatWhiteM3

You think they would be the best fit with BE?

The BE ARP bolts are the ones to use if you want bolts that don't require the crazy torque sequence the OEM ones use. Other bolts can distort things as other people above have mentioned.

[TrAcK TRaP]

Originally Posted by 8k4

VAC is crap, terrible customer service

I am 15 min from VAC and they are always doing excellent work. I didn't have a single issue with them for the last 6 years

[BimmerAffair]

Absolutely go BE bearings and bolts. They are the only company that supplies real world data on their product.

[deansbimmer]

BE/BE ARP and don't look back.

[Todd0131]

Would you go with the extra clearance bearings? I am about to pull the trigger on them.

[jcolley]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

...managed to make drinking water out of nuclear sludge doesn't make me want to drink that water when I can go anywhere else and buy regular water. ...

Having done exactly this in my past career, this made me chuckle.