Original rod bearings at 90k miles

[SDPLV]

Originally Posted by admranger

Quit injecting data into an internet forum discussion.

[drrust]

Originally Posted by SDPLV

I'll just leave this image here from my stock non-tracked E90 with 82k miles on it at time of swap...

I changed mine at 109,000 miles. My bearings showed uneven wear as do the above bearings. With numerous threads on clearances. There has not been much discussion on uneven wear. I'm no expert, but the Clevite guide suggests it could indicate other issues.

[E90_M3_Dubai]

IMHO I think this topic is always a debate because of the cost involved in replacing them .. if this was a $200 service job no one will question or dare debate whether you need to do it or not ..but at the end f the day its a service requirement ..after a certain usage you will need to do it and the fact that there is a an actual Law suit concerning this particular part "failing" make it bit dumb to still argue whether you should "worry" about it or not .

Its not some interweb myth , its an issue we have with this platform and we actually should worry about it and allocate a budget to have it serviced so we can continue driving those cars we very much love with no issues .

[doogee]

If you can afford it, then just get it done. 99% of bearings pulled show excessive wear, mileage doesn't seem to matter.

[ccdre]

Has anyone taken a look at the replaced bearings after 10-20k miles? I'd be interested in seeing if this $2500 "maintenance" item fixes the issue or delays the issue.
Also, I am not seeing a lot of 2013 owners performing the bearing swap, what gives? Aren't the OEM bearings all the same?

We're beating a dead horse here but as a new M3 owner I too have concerns.

[doogee]

Originally Posted by ccdre

Has anyone taken a look at the replaced bearings after 10-20k miles? I'd be interested in seeing if this $2500 "maintenance" item fixes the issue or delays the issue.
Also, I am not seeing a lot of 2013 owners performing the bearing swap, what gives? Aren't the OEM bearings all the same?

We're beating a dead horse here but as a new M3 owner I too have concerns.

Do some searching and you'll find answers to all your questions. We have enough threads about this lol.

[Maxf80M3]

Just did mine tonight at 80km . Blackstone report came back with no signs of wear. So glad I did . Will post tomorrow with my report. I changed them days after installing my charger . What's the consensus on break in ?

[drrust]

Originally Posted by Maxe93

Just did mine tonight at 80km . Blackstone report came back with no signs of wear. So glad I did . Will post tomorrow with my report. I changed them days after installing my charger . What's the consensus on break in ?

For break in just drive it. Break in cycles are more for motors with new rings.

[pbonsalb]

No break in for bearings. But you might want to drive quietly and listen for a day. Yours have more wear than I would expect for 80k km or 50k miles. They are much worse than the bearings were on my 08 at 60k miles.

For the other poster asking how replacement bearing look with some mileage on them, there are few reports since not many people want to spend the time/money to look again. But squartus removed a set of vac bearings after 13k and they looked great, and Malek at mrf has looked at a dozen or more sets of vac bearings after some racing or mileage and they have looked good. As for negative reports, Jcolley has removed 2 sets of wpc treated stock bearings from S85 motors with wear. There are a few motors that fail due to main bearing issues and sometimes the rod bearings are damaged as a result. It is too much work to replace main bearings as preventative maintenance unless maybe you are a serious racer with a large budget.

[4corners]

I replaced mine at 147000 miles. They were worn but not ready to fail anytime soon. I don't do oil analysis anymore. A lot of piece of mind. $2000 to 2500 to get them done is not the most you will spend as an owner of a BMW M3.

[chris719]

Agree with above poster. Oil analysis has shown no ability to indicate levels of bearing wear in this engine.

[dreamspeed]

Originally Posted by Harrry

I'm saving up for it right now....i know 3k can be used for many other things on the car especially maintenance stuff....but to know the engine won't blow up on you is the best piece of mind.

Hasn't there been instances of people replacing their bearings and still having their engines implode?

[pbonsalb]

Just a few that I have read about here over the past few years, and at least one of those was attributed to a bad main bearing. In contrast, I have read about a lot of original rod bearing failures.

[azndrunk74]

I just did mine at 105k. I'm very glad I did...blackstone results were always clean (aka useless) but reality shows otherwise with upper bearings showing heavy wear for 7 out of 8 bearings:

[Revvvm3]

Highly suggest getting the bearings done. After speaking with MRF Engineering (Malek) about the whole issue, he's seen way too many instances of our cars barely making it. Got mine done around 85K. Mine are on the Left.