Official S65 Rod Bearing Condition Example Thread

[DrFerry]

Originally Posted by e36mikee

49k miles 2010. Rate my bearings:

6/10. 1 the being worst condition possible and 10 being new condition. Here's an example of a 1 rating below. Well done getting them changed. You'll sleep better now. What brand of replacement rod bearings and bolts did you go with?
.

[gasblip]

Originally Posted by DrFerry

6/10. 1 the being worst condition possible and 10 being new condition. Here's an example of a 1 rating below. Well done getting them changed. You'll sleep better now. What brand of replacement rod bearings and bolts did you go with?
.

Did this spin? Or just super close to spinning?

[DrFerry]

Originally Posted by gasblip

Did this spin? Or just super close to spinning?

Yes it spun. It’s posted somewhere on this thread. IIRC it damaged the crank too.

[gasblip]

Originally Posted by DrFerry

Yes it spun. It’s posted somewhere on this thread. IIRC it damaged the crank too.

Makes sense, I was about to say if this is still running then mine had a ton of life left lol

[e36mikee]

Originally Posted by DrFerry

6/10. 1 the being worst condition possible and 10 being new condition. Here's an example of a 1 rating below. Well done getting them changed. You'll sleep better now. What brand of replacement rod bearings and bolts did you go with?
.

BE/arp kit

[Redd]

So I purchased my 2010 E92 M3 DCT Dakar Edition in 2015. It was 5 years old and had 70k kms (43k miles).

In Oct 2016 @ 90k kms (56k miles) I did the first round of rod bearing replacement. The copper RBs that come out were pretty worn, and I was expecting this cos I knew the owner didn't really take care of the car.

This was what the RBs looked like at 90k kms, copper showing on 3 bearings (I didn't manage to get pics of all the bearings). I replaced them with original BMW rod bearings and bolts.



Now fast forward to April 2026, I decided to change the rod bearings again at 170k kms (105k miles).

These past 10 years I have followed a strict routine:
- Oil changes every 10k kms (6k miles) or 1-year whichever came first
- Using only 10W-60, mainly Castrol Edge for the first 8 years and Ravenol for the last 2 years.
- Warm up 1 minute from cold start, or 15-20 seconds if warm start.
- Maintain below 3k rpms until 85C (185F) oil temps.

Now 10 years and 80km kms later, this is what the rod bearings look like:




The mech said they look good, could have lasted a while more.

I think it's safe to say that warming up the engine properly and letting the oil warm up before giving it high rpm goes a long way to protecting the rod bearings.

This round I will be installing ACL HX bearings with ARP2000 rod bolts. Will check back in after another 80k kms to see how the bearings hold up. Tho at the rate that I'm driving these days (about 2-3k kms per year) it might take another 40 years for this experiment to conclude. Lol.

[virrim_E92]

2008 E92 replaced at 56k miles. Went with BE bearings and ARP bolts.

Expected wear for the mileage, no copper showing so not the worst. Now have peace of mind

[jvictormp]

Originally Posted by Redd

So I purchased my 2010 E92 M3 DCT Dakar Edition in 2015. It was 5 years old and had 70k kms (43k miles).

In Oct 2016 @ 90k kms (56k miles) I did the first round of rod bearing replacement. The copper RBs that come out were pretty worn, and I was expecting this cos I knew the owner didn't really take care of the car.

This was what the RBs looked like at 90k kms, copper showing on 3 bearings (I didn't manage to get pics of all the bearings). I replaced them with original BMW rod bearings and bolts.

Attachment 3949237

Now fast forward to April 2026, I decided to change the rod bearings again at 170k kms (105k miles).

These past 10 years I have followed a strict routine:
- Oil changes every 10k kms (6k miles) or 1-year whichever came first
- Using only 10W-60, mainly Castrol Edge for the first 8 years and Ravenol for the last 2 years.
- Warm up 1 minute from cold start, or 15-20 seconds if warm start.
- Maintain below 3k rpms until 85C (185F) oil temps.

Now 10 years and 80km kms later, this is what the rod bearings look like:
Attachment 3949236
Attachment 3949232Attachment 3949235
Attachment 3949234Attachment 3949233

The mech said they look good, could have lasted a while more.

I think it's safe to say that warming up the engine properly and letting the oil warm up before giving it high rpm goes a long way to protecting the rod bearings.

This round I will be installing ACL HX bearings with ARP2000 rod bolts. Will check back in after another 80k kms to see how the bearings hold up. Tho at the rate that I'm driving these days (about 2-3k kms per year) it might take another 40 years for this experiment to conclude. Lol.

Great material there.

Thanks for that.

By the way, I think the comparison isn't so clear because the first ones look like the earlier version bearings. The former and the earlier versions wear out differently.

[Assimilator1]

Originally Posted by Redd

So I purchased my 2010 E92 M3 DCT Dakar Edition in 2015. It was 5 years old and had 70k kms (43k miles).

In Oct 2016 @ 90k kms (56k miles) I did the first round of rod bearing replacement. The copper RBs that come out were pretty worn, and I was expecting this cos I knew the owner didn't really take care of the car.

This was what the RBs looked like at 90k kms, copper showing on 3 bearings (I didn't manage to get pics of all the bearings). I replaced them with original BMW rod bearings and bolts.

Attachment 3949237

Now fast forward to April 2026, I decided to change the rod bearings again at 170k kms (105k miles).

These past 10 years I have followed a strict routine:
- Oil changes every 10k kms (6k miles) or 1-year whichever came first
- Using only 10W-60, mainly Castrol Edge for the first 8 years and Ravenol for the last 2 years.
- Warm up 1 minute from cold start, or 15-20 seconds if warm start.
- Maintain below 3k rpms until 85C (185F) oil temps.

Now 10 years and 80km kms later, this is what the rod bearings look like:
Attachment 3949236
Attachment 3949232Attachment 3949235
Attachment 3949234Attachment 3949233

The mech said they look good, could have lasted a while more.

I think it's safe to say that warming up the engine properly and letting the oil warm up before giving it high rpm goes a long way to protecting the rod bearings.

This round I will be installing ACL HX bearings with ARP2000 rod bolts. Will check back in after another 80k kms to see how the bearings hold up. Tho at the rate that I'm driving these days (about 2-3k kms per year) it might take another 40 years for this experiment to conclude. Lol.

Lol! Well I won't be around then by far!
Anyway, excellent data point! Very useful (I'll save that to my file), interesting to see they still have the light wear+discolouration typical of the later OEM bearings, but not worn to copper (remembering the later bearings do have copper too).

I'm not sure that going for HX bearings is a good idea, they have quite a lot more clearance, certainly more than BE v1, I can't remember vs BE v2.
Although Helmsman has them IIRC and no probs so far AFAIK.

[PapaMurph]

127k miles, 2009.

Just picked this car up and put in BE v2 bearings and their ARP 2000 bolts. Didn't look terrible but glad to be refreshing them, copper showing in some spots

[Helmsman]

Originally Posted by Redd

So I purchased my 2010 E92 M3 DCT Dakar Edition in 2015. It was 5 years old and had 70k kms (43k miles).

In Oct 2016 @ 90k kms (56k miles) I did the first round of rod bearing replacement. The copper RBs that come out were pretty worn, and I was expecting this cos I knew the owner didn't really take care of the car.

This was what the RBs looked like at 90k kms, copper showing on 3 bearings (I didn't manage to get pics of all the bearings). I replaced them with original BMW rod bearings and bolts.

Attachment 3949237

Now fast forward to April 2026, I decided to change the rod bearings again at 170k kms (105k miles).

These past 10 years I have followed a strict routine:
- Oil changes every 10k kms (6k miles) or 1-year whichever came first
- Using only 10W-60, mainly Castrol Edge for the first 8 years and Ravenol for the last 2 years.
- Warm up 1 minute from cold start, or 15-20 seconds if warm start.
- Maintain below 3k rpms until 85C (185F) oil temps.

Now 10 years and 80km kms later, this is what the rod bearings look like:
Attachment 3949236
Attachment 3949232Attachment 3949235
Attachment 3949234Attachment 3949233

The mech said they look good, could have lasted a while more.

I think it's safe to say that warming up the engine properly and letting the oil warm up before giving it high rpm goes a long way to protecting the rod bearings.

This round I will be installing ACL HX bearings with ARP2000 rod bolts. Will check back in after another 80k kms to see how the bearings hold up. Tho at the rate that I'm driving these days (about 2-3k kms per year) it might take another 40 years for this experiment to conclude. Lol.

Cheers Eric. And the 2nd round looks like LCI 702/703 shells, no?

Curious, what did you/your mech base the decision for ACL HX on? (I run them since 2018/45k km, but plan to go down on clearance maybe Mahle next time).

Thanks
Nik

[tau111]

55k miles, 2011 (mfg 6/2010)

I had them replaced with BE/ARP as well as doing a DCT service while it was at the shop.

The picture was taken at home after getting the car and bearings back.

[DrFerry]

Originally Posted by tau111

I had them replaced with BE/ARP as well as doing a DCT service while it was at the shop.

The Gold Standard. Well done.