Rod bearings being changed as we speak [ DONE, Pics inside]

[Helmsman]

Originally Posted by anom3

Pics uploaded in post #1.

Thanks man, really interesting. 1900USD sounds quite good, not much worse than a major service over here in Sweden. What country is this?

Cheers

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by anom3

Pics uploaded in post #1.

Realy appreciate the pics !
Actualy I'm seeing only good news...And I thought it that way .
From what I'm seeing and a engine with 77,000 km on it , those bearings look realy good , wish that my bearings with 52,000 km looking like your old bearings .
I can see some wear , but only very slight wear and normal for your number of km's .
So maybe that's good news for our Euro/Spec cars !
Best looking bearings with this number of km's ,and out of all the US/Spec bearing pics that I saw on here your bearings are looking in the best condition !
With those bearings you would be able to run another 77,000 km .
So you ticking noise is not changed , and is proof that we can consider it as normal .
Thanks for sharing , but think it's not my last word in your thread .

[thekurgan]

Bearings look ok for your mileage, the engine has been taken care of very well. I don't see any yellowing from the ceratec. What did your mechanic have to say about its use as it may help in this area? Thanks for the post.

[anom3]

thanks, i though the bearings look quite good too. not an expert by any stretch here, but some of the pics i have seen were much worst then this.

the mechanics reaction to ceratec, mos2 or the 0w40 was as expected... 'i wouldnt run anything but 10w60 in there...'...

this is not an 'official' bmw stealership but certified bmw whatever that means... although they have some sort of relationship with some official bmw dealership here as a few months back when i asked them to search up a PUMA case for me, he made a call and asked 'can you please look this puma up for me ...'.

price wise they are considered on the VERY higher side here...

also the 1900usd i mentioned, included this:

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/Belly/ES206651/

install next week.

on the other end, they over charged me for the oil as i see now had i gone out and got it myself, i would have paid 1/2 for the same tws.

ill probably mention it, but let is slide and have them drop the price on the next larger bill (if there is one...).

Originally Posted by thekurgan

Bearings look ok for your mileage, the engine has been taken care of very well. I don't see any yellowing from the ceratec. What did your mechanic have to say about its use as it may help in this area? Thanks for the post.

[anom3]

thanks!

im surprised as i am the 3rd owner AT LEAST.

i take very good care of it, but the 2 (or more?) before me... who knows.

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Realy appreciate the pics !
Actualy I'm seeing only good news...And I thought it that way .
From what I'm seeing and a engine with 77,000 km on it , those bearings look realy good , wish that my bearings with 52,000 km looking like your old bearings .
I can see some wear , but only very slight wear and normal for your number of km's .
So maybe that's good news for our Euro/Spec cars !
Best looking bearings with this number of km's ,and out of all the US/Spec bearing pics that I saw on here your bearings are looking in the best condition !
With those bearings you would be able to run another 77,000 km .
So you ticking noise is not changed , and is proof that we can consider it as normal .
Thanks for sharing , but think it's not my last word in your thread .

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by anom3

thanks!

im surprised as i am the 3rd owner AT LEAST.

i take very good care of it, but the 2 (or more?) before me... who knows.

I'm realy glad to see your S65 is doing well, and finally relieved to see some good looking bearings
Was just thinking... And then saw your reaction,that maybe my friend and ///M mechanic is right about the quality of the Euro/Spec fuel ...but who knows ,and would love to see a lab analyse comparison of Euro/Spec fuel vs US/Spec and affect of it on a S65 ...
Because I was looking again at your bearing pics and it's realy unbelievable that they have 77,000 km on it compared to the US horror bearing pics with far less of km's on it and only one year old !
My conclusion is that it's realy strange to see that much of difference and that's realy good for you and maybe even for me because I've also Euro/Spec conditions .
At least ...let's hope , and again it feels good to see that there are also good looking bearings such as yours .
BTW...And maybe off topic..How is the clunck noise ?

[anom3]

noise is still there.

attacking it full speed ahead this month. going to wait over the weekend to see maybe all the bottom end work they just did helped.

if its still there i am scheduled to drop it off on next wed, and basically leave it there until they can find the cause.

as you have though most of the way thru my long post, im leaning towards the vanos gears tho. i have started it numerous times with my head under the hood and its coming from the drivers side vanos FOR SURE.

so yea, next wed it goes in for as long as it takes for them to find the cause. have a feeling it will be the vanos gears tho. if they recommend replacing them will do so.

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

I'm realy glad to see your S65 is doing well .
Was just thinking... And then saw your reaction,that maybe my friend and ///M mechanic is right about the quality of the Euro/Spec fuel ...but who knows ,and would love to see a lab analyse comparison of Euro/Spec fuel vs US/Spec and affect of it on a S65 ...
Because I was looking again at your bearing pics and it's realy unbelievable that they have 77,000 km on it compared to the US horror bearing pics with far less of km's on it and only one year old !
My conclusion is that it's realy strange to see that much of difference and that's realy good for you and maybe even for me because I've also Euro/Spec conditions .
At least ...let's hope , and again it feels good to see that there are also good looking bearings such as yours .
BTW...And maybe off topic..How is the clunck noise ?

[s85e90]

Originally Posted by anom3

noise is still there.

attacking it full speed ahead this month. going to wait over the weekend to see maybe all the bottom end work they just did helped.

if its still there i am scheduled to drop it off on next wed, and basically leave it there until they can find the cause.

as you have though most of the way thru my long post, im leaning towards the vanos gears tho. i have started it numerous times with my head under the hood and its coming from the drivers side vanos FOR SURE.

so yea, next wed it goes in for as long as it takes for them to find the cause. have a feeling it will be the vanos gears tho. if they recommend replacing them will do so.

I sit here wondering if you'll ever just accept it. Why do you consider the clunk to be a problem anyways? These cars sound like sewing machines, and as you noted, it still ticks even w/ new bearings. Old bearings looked fine. Save your $$$. Ever hear the expression, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". ?

[Richbot]

If ain't broke, read the internet until you're broke

[Candide13]

Originally Posted by Richbot

If ain't broke, read the internet until you're broke

[waldron80]

May have missed it but where did you get the work done? City/State?

[kerrit]

are you sure the ticking is coming from the bottom end? i had some lifter tick at times and it went away when i switched to 0w-40

[spiderspider]

what does your shop charge per hour, if you don't mind my asking.

[Flying Ace]

Have you ever ran an oil report prior to this job?

[jimk]

I could be wrong but from the pictures it appears that there is some type of a slick shinny film on these bearings. Not sure if this is from ceratec but comparing your pictures to others, there seems to be a difference.

[Harry Da Hamster]

How many labor hours were you charged for the rod bearings?

[Petros]

I can't believe what I'm reading. This engine has only 77000 km (that's km, not miles!) yet all the bearings are worn down to the copper. But people think they look good? So how would bad looking bearings look at 77000 km?

[krx927]

Originally Posted by anom3

unfortunatley not.

quite a pain in the ass to get an oil sample out of the EU to blackstone.

i have the blackstone kit (black container, etc...) but from what i read its quite difficult to get it shipped.

Why? I just did it 3 weeks ago and paid like 8 EUR for non tracked shipping. I just put Blackstone kit in separate box and ship it out.

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Was just thinking... And then saw your reaction,that maybe my friend and ///M mechanic is right about the quality of the Euro/Spec fuel ...but who knows ,and would love to see a lab analyse comparison of Euro/Spec fuel vs US/Spec and affect of it on a S65 ...

I will post the Blackstone report after I get it and you will be able to compare. Then we will be also able to speculate about the state of my barrings...

[squartus]

Originally Posted by Petros

I can't believe what I'm reading. This engine has only 77000 km (that's km, not miles!) yet all the bearings are worn down to the copper. But people think they look good? So how would bad looking bearings look at 77000 km?

Exactly, car only has a little over 48,000 miles on it. Several are worn through to the copper, these are not good looking bearings for such low miles. Though compaired to what some bearings look like at 30k you might think they are looking "good"

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by squartus

Exactly, car only has a little over 48,000 miles on it. Several are worn through to the copper, these are not good looking bearings for such low miles. Though compaired to what some bearings look like at 30k you might think they are looking "good"

Agreed OP's bearings are showing some copper such as every S65 even with low mileage ,but as you are saying that they look realy that bad , Than I'm curious how you would descripe those...?
Lucky they are not mine...

[theboss1853]

Are you not getting your main bearings replaced as well? Just curious as I have my engine pulled now on my 2008 to replace the crank and rod bearings.

I actually spun a bearing so my crank has damage. Rods are in good shape thankfully...

My current list of replacements are:
Crankshaft
Rod Bearings
Main bearings
Oil Pump
Oil Line
Belts & Gaskets
Water pump
Clutch kit (found a broken pressure plate)
Head Bolts
Engine Mounts (both are cracked/broken)

Some pics here:
http://www.m3post.com/forums/showpos...postcount=2172

[V8FunNaturally]

Of all the negative factors, the most detrimental to bearing wears by far will be day to day extra load from a flashed ECU tune. It will cause accelerated wear at every drive. Most tuned m3 are undoubtedly in the usa. Though there are some irresponsible euro owners who let their car be flash hacked over the internet which is a big mistake.

Other factors like ethanol and fuel additives could be a factor but unlike tunes it may not be significant :

- Ethanol, can separate from pure gasoline, as water is absorbed in ethanol only, it becomes heavier and accumulate at the bottom of the fuel tank. Ethanol being higher octane than pure gasoline, most of the fuel in the tank will have below pump rating octane and fuel at the bottom will have higher octane. But all modern cars ECU can adjust timing in real time to adjust to the fuel octane, including the s65. When the excess ethanol fuel is getting into the engine it will run hotter (ethanol burns at higher temperature than gasoline) but produces less power (in a NA engine) and more fuel consumption.
When the low octane fuel in the tank is used, timing is automatically advanced to avoid detonation. That also reduces power and engine might run more rough.

-Additives are detergents. They clean the inside of the engine. However residues can slip past the piston rings into the oil pan. Oil + detergent will reduce the lubricating ability of the oil. This is where it can affect bearings. There are hundreds of additives in commercial fuels. It is not reserved to any geographical region of the world. The remedy is to change the oil more often as it gets contaminated with those soapy additives.

Again, tune is the major factor when it comes to bearing wear. This present case looks like a non-tuned car. There is expected wear due to the over tight bmw design tolerance on the engine but if it was tuned there would be much more wear.