who is still on original rod bearings?

[dry87]

Very low km 15k miles 2010 e92 MDCT with orignal bearing

[Bucki14]

74k miles original bearings. Blackstone results come back fantastic and are well below the average in most areas. However, after supercharging my car I'm getting my bearings replaced this month. I'll post results of the bearings as my tests have shown no sign of anything to worry about.

[redpriest]

154k miles, 45 track days, original bearings. 2011 M3.

Probably will do rod bearings this year.

[F48_Driver]

Originally Posted by redpriest

154k miles, 45 track days, original bearings. 2011 M3.

Probably will do rod bearings this year.

Wow... You really got life out them!

[KawBoy]

2012, 27k miles, original bearings. Going to replace them sometime this month though.

[m3purdue]

2011- original bearings
72,000 miles
Tracked 2-3 times per year

[gazosnic]

Originally Posted by KawBoy

2012, 27k miles, original bearings. Going to replace them sometime this month though.

Why w so low miles? Unless you plan for SC seems very premature.

[KawBoy]

Originally Posted by gazosnic

Why w so low miles? Unless you plan for SC seems very premature.

It may be premature, but in doing this I just don't have to worry about it later on. Motor has not shown any symptoms of the problem and may never show, but I have no plans in selling the car and it is an easy enough job.
As for SC, I've been thinking about a Harrop, but it may never happen.

[gazosnic]

Originally Posted by KawBoy

It may be premature, but in doing this I just don't have to worry about it later on. Motor has not shown any symptoms of the problem and may never show, but I have no plans in selling the car and it is an easy enough job.
As for SC, I've been thinking about a Harrop, but it may never happen.

To my knowledge there really isn't a real true solution yet, so by this logic you will still need to worry about it and have to replace them again every 20k miles? Seems overkill, but its your money.

A interval of 50-75k seems more reasonable with oil analysis monitoring between or sooner if planning a SC or racing the car a lot.

Either way goodluck... it certainly wont hurt the car if installed correctly.

[behemveh]

Originally Posted by gazosnic

To my knowledge there really isn't a real true solution yet, so by this logic you will still need to worry about it and have to replace them again every 20k miles?

That's something that hasn't been clear to me. If you replace the bearings once does that solve the problem or do you have to do it every 20K miles?

I have one of the early 2008s, original owner. 40K miles and am not sure when I should do it. I don't have any plans to sell it... I just love that German V8 but certainly can't afford a new engine.

[gazosnic]

Originally Posted by behemveh

That's something that hasn't been clear to me. If you replace the bearings once does that solve the problem or do you have to do it every 20K miles?

I have one of the early 2008s, original owner. 40K miles and am not sure when I should do it. I don't have any plans to sell it... I just love that German V8 but certainly can't afford a new engine.

replacing is not a permanent fix. The clearance is tight so its basically a wear item. For 2008 I would recommend getting a Blackstone oil analysis to see if it shows any exclusive wear (e.g. increased copper levels). If not I'd plan on replacing between 50-75k miles if still NA and not raced regularly.

[Doc Oc]

Originally Posted by gazosnic

replacing is not a permanent fix. The clearance is tight so its basically a wear item. For 2008 I would recommend getting a Blackstone oil analysis to see if it shows any exclusive wear (e.g. increased copper levels). If not I'd plan on replacing between 50-75k miles if still NA and not raced regularly.

Sorry, disagree with this. Replacing with new OEM is not a fix but we've had zero failures with BE and VAC extra clearance bearings. I've pulled vac's out after 13k miles of hard use and they were still flawless. Could've sold them as new. To me that is pretty indisputable proof that there IS a permanent fix for most engines....the exception being the small % of engines that suffer side clearance problems.

[behemveh]

Originally Posted by gazosnic

replacing is not a permanent fix. The clearance is tight so its basically a wear item. For 2008 I would recommend getting a Blackstone oil analysis to see if it shows any exclusive wear (e.g. increased copper levels). If not I'd plan on replacing between 50-75k miles if still NA and not raced regularly.

Thanks gazosnic. I was not sure of how solid of an indicator the oil analysis is for the early engines. My car hasn't been raced and is NA. I like to drive it hard sometimes but nothing approaching what a raced car goes through I'm sure.

Also, I was very careful to break it in per specs and did an initial oil change at 1k and then every 5k or so. Hopefully will last a long time!

[aussiem3]

Sept '07 build. 73k km. Last BL analysis not great. High lead after a prolonged spell with the oil. I am nearing my next oil change and it will be interesting to see the BL analysis.

The interesting part is that with my previous oil changes, I had to top up 1L every 3km religiously. I am currently 8k km into the change and there is no warning to top up. The driving style hasn't changed.

I wonder with the increased lead level in the last change - a case of RB wear, whether the RB clearance has opened resulting in reduced oil consumption? If that's the case then, with the oil feeding thru as designed I should not see anymore wear right?

This is my theory and happy for a wider discussion!

[Doc Oc]

There is not much correlation between oil use and bearing wear. Only two ways to lose oil, via leak or by burning it. It only burns when it gets into the combustion chamber. Clearance affects oil pressure and flow but that's about it...

[Theodore]

Originally Posted by aussiem3

Sept '07 build. 73k km. Last BL analysis not great. High lead after a prolonged spell with the oil. I am nearing my next oil change and it will be interesting to see the BL analysis.

The interesting part is that with my previous oil changes, I had to top up 1L every 3km religiously. I am currently 8k km into the change and there is no warning to top up. The driving style hasn't changed.

I wonder with the increased lead level in the last change - a case of RB wear, whether the RB clearance has opened resulting in reduced oil consumption? If that's the case then, with the oil feeding thru as designed I should not see anymore wear right?

This is my theory and happy for a wider discussion!

Did you change your car's oil yourself or was it done at a shop? Is it possible the oil brand or weight used at the last oil change was different?

[bond_007]

2008 E90 with 143k, 77k of which are miles that I put on the car, mostly highway miles. Not sure if I need to start going car hypochondriac on the situation???

I guess I'll send used oil from the upcoming used oil to Blackstone and a sample of the fresh oil about 3k into use and see what they say?

[R_lara]

2009 E90 M3 20,700 miles S/C'ed @ 8000 miles oil change every 4 month no matter the milage. It's my weekend car. Love it.

[aussiem3]

Originally Posted by Theodore

Did you change your car's oil yourself or was it done at a shop? Is it possible the oil brand or weight used at the last oil change was different?

I do the change myself and there has been no change to the oil used Castrol 10w-60 and it's either retail or TWS. Regardless of the retail or TWS, I have topped up every 3k km from the time I bought the car new. This is what's puzzling me now.

[Magnetic Fusion]

08 E92 M3 147k. Blackstone analysis looks like shit. 3 1/2 times the limit on Lead and 2x limit on copper.

[pbonsalb]

If we could all be assured rod bearings were a 100-150k mile maintenance item, I would feel much better. But there are too many reports of failures with much, much lower miles that there is no certainty about anything.

The best certainty that I see is the overall statistics -- probably less than 1% of the 57,000 cars have had failures so far. Maybe 3% have had preventative maintenance rod bearing changes, and the majority of those bearings have looked well worn. Those are pretty good odds if you are a betting person.

I am not, and changed my bearings at 60k and 6 years when my extended warranty expired. I have absolutely no worries now, but will change them again by 120k.

[R_lara]

Originally Posted by Doc Oc

Sorry, disagree with this. Replacing with new OEM is not a fix but we've had zero failures with BE and VAC extra clearance bearings. I've pulled vac's out after 13k miles of hard use and they were still flawless. Could've sold them as new. To me that is pretty indisputable proof that there IS a permanent fix for most engines....the exception being the small % of engines that suffer side clearance problems.

Doc oc what is side clearance damage?

Thanks