Official S65 Rod Bearing Condition Example Thread

[Duk996]

Originally Posted by PHM3

M3 E92
2013
93000KM
mixed use... last couple years doing as many track days as i can.
oil change every 7000km
going in are VAC main and rod bearings and ARP bolts. And because engine is out i m putting in oil pan baffle, dipstick and new mounts...

pictures are not great but its all i have from garage so far

Wow, that's a lot of scoring! I assume your finger nail catches on those and it's not just the pics? Any idea why soo scored?

[admranger]

Originally Posted by PHM3

Well i m not engine builder so i cant tell how much wasted they are. But i have seen somewhere here on forum main bearing failure with simmilar looking wear.. pete

Ask the shop to see if the dark marks come off with brake cleaner. Looks like material deposited on the bearing vs. wear. The scratches are spooky though.

[PHM3]

Originally Posted by Duk996

Wow, that's a lot of scoring! I assume your finger nail catches on those and it's not just the pics? Any idea why soo scored?

I will know more next week when i ll go pick my car up. I will add info as soon as i know.

Pete

[Helmsman]

Originally Posted by PHM3

I will know more next week when i ll go pick my car up. I will add info as soon as i know.

Pete

Cheers Pete. Would also be interesting to learn about what made the shop/you to go for the mains as well.

Thanks
Nik

[Duk996]

Originally Posted by admranger

Ask the shop to see if the dark marks come off with brake cleaner. Looks like material deposited on the bearing vs. wear. The scratches are spooky though.

My donor engine had similar spots, it doesn't look debris related, 2012 car w/tin aluminum bearings. Zoom in.

[admranger]

Originally Posted by Duk996

My donor engine had similar spots, it doesn't look debris related, 2012 car w/tin aluminum bearings. Zoom in.

I should have been more specific. I was talking about the main bearings.

[G80indy]

How many miles on these in above picture, 2012?

[Duk996]

Originally Posted by 330indy

How many miles on these in picture?

Only 28k, I thought they looked great (for an s65).

[G80indy]

What is your OCI?
I'm encouraged by these pics of your Sn Al bearings

[Duk996]

Originally Posted by 330indy

What is your OCI?
I'm encouraged by these pics of your Sn Al bearings

Killing me with the acronym...I had to look OCI up. Anyway, it's a donor engine but according to bmw the oil was changed at 4K miles, 12k, then 18k. There might have been some owner performed ones in there but probably not.

Earl changes don't matter FYI, if an engine has properly designed and set up bearing they will last forever (barring crazy stuff like the filter failing or the oil NEVER being changed). These engine have some flaw from the factory and it's a total crap shoot.

[PHM3]

Originally Posted by Duk996

My donor engine had similar spots, it doesn't look debris related, 2012 car w/tin aluminum bearings. Zoom in.

what i dont understand that mine rod bearings show copper inside.. but car was build septebmer 2012 and purchased in germany by previouse owner. He only had it for 1 year and did not replace them... i have print out of service history.. and everywhere i read that after 2011 they moved from copper... confusing..

[PHM3]

Originally Posted by Helmsman

Cheers Pete. Would also be interesting to learn about what made the shop/you to go for the mains as well.

Thanks
Nik

well i knew i have to change rod bearings and i know i want to track and use car for longer period of time, plus i wanted to baffle oil pan and put dipstick in and replace engine mounts. so decided to do it all and take engine out (well not me but guys at Senkyr motorsport). bearings are not that expensive compared to lot of useles stuff we buy for our cars ) i mean bearings are like set of front hawks dtc70 for stoptech st60.. well all this reasons made me do it.

pete

[Helmsman]

Originally Posted by PHM3

well i knew i have to change rod bearings and i know i want to track and use car for longer period of time, plus i wanted to baffle oil pan and put dipstick in and replace engine mounts. so decided to do it all and take engine out (well not me but guys at Senkyr motorsport). bearings are not that expensive compared to lot of useles stuff we buy for our cars ) i mean bearings are like set of front hawks dtc70 for stoptech st60.. well all this reasons made me do it.

pete

Cheers Pete, follow your thinking here although I'm not there yet myself. Interesting with the copper RB's btw. Let's see if the experts can shed some light here.

[Bartledoo]

Originally Posted by PHM3

what i dont understand that mine rod bearings show copper inside.. but car was build septebmer 2012 and purchased in germany by previouse owner. He only had it for 1 year and did not replace them... i have print out of service history.. and everywhere i read that after 2011 they moved from copper... confusing..

I'm not sure what that copper colored scoring is, but those bearings appear to be aluminum/tin otherwise.

[aus]

2011 with 50,000 miles on them. Oil changed every 7,000 and once at 9,000 miles with 10W60 initially and then mixed Mobil 1 0W40 with 15W50. BE Bearings installed by AutoTalent.
.

[G80indy]

Top shells on the left, I assume...
We've seen worse.
Clearly the Sn/Al shells are holding up better.

[SohoE93]

Bearings removed today. The shop said that they have wear that is typical. Not good but not bad.

BE Bearings and BE ARP Bolts were installed.

The work was completed at:

Tuning Dynamics
2848 Grand Blvd, Holiday, FL 34690

66k miles
Florida Car
DCT

[Scrippy]

2nd set I've pulled for replacement. These are WPC bearings with ARP bolts used and they've gone 98,000 & 4 summer track days in SoCal. Another thing to note is that I recently hit a concrete bump in the road and it cracked my oil pan, trans pan and drivers motor mount. I didn't know but I was losing oil for the 10 miles left in my journey home. There is literally a trail. When I pulled in the garage my cars valves sounded like a steam engine lol. I turned the car off in horror and immediately heard SPLUSH! That was what was left of my oil on the floor. Towed it to my local BMW......Oil pan, trans pan, both motor mounts, aluminum belly pan and 3rd set of rod bearings later I got her back. Good to go so far. Some notes.....
1-OG OEM bearings removed at 25,000 of use. (OEM)
*Looked like shit!
2-2nd set replaced with 98,000 of use. (WPC/ARP bolts).
*the enclosed picture and they look amazing!

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by Scrippy

2nd set I've pulled for replacement. These are WPC bearings with ARP bolts used and they've gone 98,000 & 4 summer track days in SoCal. Another thing to note is that I recently hit a concrete bump in the road and it cracked my oil pan, trans pan and drivers motor mount. I didn't know but I was losing oil for the 10 miles left in my journey home. There is literally a trail. When I pulled in the garage my cars valves sounded like a steam engine lol. I turned the car off in horror and immediately heard SPLUSH! That was what was left of my oil on the floor. Towed it to my local BMW......Oil pan, trans pan, both motor mounts, aluminum belly pan and 3rd set of rod bearings later I got her back. Good to go so far. Some notes.....
1-OG OEM bearings removed at 25,000 of use. (OEM)
*Looked like shit!
2-2nd set replaced with 98,000 of use. (WPC/ARP bolts).
*the enclosed picture and they look amazing!

Finally also good news ! Good job man !

[Dreamer99]

Aren’t the WCP bearing a tight clearance bearing with the treatment on the surface? Maybe the issue with our bearings is mostly bolt related?

[Solo_M_Tech]

Originally Posted by Scrippy

2nd set I've pulled for replacement. These are WPC bearings with ARP bolts used and they've gone 98,000 & 4 summer track days in SoCal. Another thing to note is that I recently hit a concrete bump in the road and it cracked my oil pan, trans pan and drivers motor mount. I didn't know but I was losing oil for the 10 miles left in my journey home. There is literally a trail. When I pulled in the garage my cars valves sounded like a steam engine lol. I turned the car off in horror and immediately heard SPLUSH! That was what was left of my oil on the floor. Towed it to my local BMW......Oil pan, trans pan, both motor mounts, aluminum belly pan and 3rd set of rod bearings later I got her back. Good to go so far. Some notes.....
1-OG OEM bearings removed at 25,000 of use. (OEM)
*Looked like shit!
2-2nd set replaced with 98,000 of use. (WPC/ARP bolts).
*the enclosed picture and they look amazing!

This is encouraging. It's good too see aftermarket bearings coming out looking better than the OE bearings at initial replacement. I might just put off doing another bearing job till 190k miles.

[330ciprem]

Originally Posted by Dreamer99

Aren’t the WCP bearing a tight clearance bearing with the treatment on the surface? Maybe the issue with our bearings is mostly bolt related?

It's a micro level treatment that fills in the crevices on the surface. The clearance remains the same but 2 things change

Friction reduces.
Bearing strength increases.

I will be getting the WPC bearings too once the time comes.