Official S65 Rod Bearing Condition Example Thread

[Duckles McGee]

Originally Posted by notouching

Got my bearings replaced today.
2012 E92 6MT, 41k miles on stock bearings:




Replaced with BE bearings and their ARP bolts.
To me they don't look too terrible.
Sorry for potato camera pictures.

What’s it cost to have a shop replace these?

[Green-Eggs]

Originally Posted by L4ces

These last two posts are quite interesting. Fresh thinking that makes sense and we are not focusing on it is shocking. I had the exact same question before seeing rantarM3 post his two questions. I'd like to hear more, after all, it seems like the bearing problem is solved on the Dinan but there are no claims of it.

Dinan has been increasing clearances since the very first strokers. They were setting rod clearance to 0.0024 inch IIRC. No word on what they set main clearances to. Today I believe Dinan uses BE Bearings in their builds because they've bought a bunch and Bert heard from a customer that Steve Dinan has recently told people to use the BE Bearings.

Regarding the weights.
Factory piston + rings + wrist pin: 480g
Factory connecting rod + bolts: 580g

RD Sport stroker piston + rings + wrist pin: 425g
RD Sport Carrillo rods + bolts: 530g

The factory pistons are already very light, lighter than most other engines you'll find. I don't see piston or rod weight being an issue.

[notouching]

Originally Posted by Duckles McGee

What’s it cost to have a shop replace these?

$1600 for labor + bring your own parts (bearings, bolts, motor mounts, oil, filter, oil pan gasket, bolts).

[Duk996]

2012, 28k miles. Not bad...

[DXBM3]

2009, 110k miles

[Teufel_Hunden]

Originally Posted by DXBM3

2009, 110k miles

Those really don't look all that bad for 110k miles.

[pbonsalb]

I don’t see any copper.

[adunn]

Originally Posted by notouching

$1600 for labor + bring your own parts (bearings, bolts, motor mounts, oil, filter, oil pan gasket, bolts).

Sounds reasonable, What shop did you go with?

[Iyzmi]

Originally Posted by adunn

Sounds reasonable, What shop did you go with?

Doesn't sound reasonable to me. I've gotten labor quotes from a couple local shops mentioned on this forum. One was $750 (during a special promotion) and the other was $1050.

[notouching]

Originally Posted by adunn

Sounds reasonable, What shop did you go with?

IS Garage in Kent.

[pbonsalb]

Depends on local labor prices for euro import work. Could be $75 an hour or $175 an hour. Someone who has done the job a bunch of times is doing it in under 8 hours. But shops don’t always want to work on a straight hourly basis.

[luckyse7en]

Originally Posted by notouching

$1600 for labor + bring your own parts (bearings, bolts, motor mounts, oil, filter, oil pan gasket, bolts).

This is the quote I got for labor too. Must be a NW thing.

[dmk08]

Originally Posted by Duckles McGee

What’s it cost to have a shop replace these?

In Atlanta the going rate is between $2500-3k including all parts. Technica who has done some bug builds on here charges $2500.

[pbonsalb]

A shop might be including an alignment as well, which is worth about $100. Parts are $500 to $900, with the high end including BE bearings and ARP studs )oil change and pan gasket included in both). So add in the alignment and you have $1000 in costs. The rest is labor. If it’s $2500, subtract $1000 and you have $1500 for 8 hours work. That is $185 an hour, which might be normal in Silicon Valley and twice what people in more affordable parts of the country pay for labor.

[dmk08]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

A shop might be including an alignment as well, which is worth about $100. Parts are $500 to $900, with the high end including BE bearings and ARP studs )oil change and pan gasket included in both). So add in the alignment and you have $1000 in costs. The rest is labor. If it’s $2500, subtract $1000 and you have $1500 for 8 hours work. That is $185 an hour, which might be normal in Silicon Valley and twice what people in more affordable parts of the country pay for labor.

Last time I checked Atlanta isn't in Silicon Valley If anything I have noticed that the West Coast shops are cheaper than the ones out here due to the volume they service.

Also includes new motor mounts and swap etc.

[pbonsalb]

New Corteco motor mounts are about $120 for a pair and add about 15 minutes labor to the job. So the shop might be making only $175 per hour. If you guys don’t like paying those rates, learn to DIY. I change mine myself in 2014.

[dmk08]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

New Corteco motor mounts are about $120 for a pair and add about 15 minutes labor to the job. So the shop might be making only $175 per hour. If you guys don’t like paying those rates, learn to DIY. I change mine myself in 2014.

I honestly have no problem paying $2500 for a bearing swap. *shrug*

[Iyzmi]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

New Corteco motor mounts are about $120 for a pair and add about 15 minutes labor to the job. So the shop might be making only $175 per hour. If you guys don’t like paying those rates, learn to DIY. I change mine myself in 2014.

Are the Corteco mounts of equal quality to OEM? I noticed they are half the price but I usually try to stick with OEM.

FWIW - all of the shops I've contacted have said their is no added labor charge to swap the motor mounts.

EDIT: Just did a quick search and learned Corteco supplied the OEM mounts for BMW, so that answers that...

[pbonsalb]

Corteco makes the BMW mounts.

You guys are rich, buying parts from dealers and paying people $175 per hour to work on your cars. I am trying to save money for a Porsche 991 Turbo, so I do my own work.

[Iyzmi]

$175/hr is more than dealer labor rates in my neck of the woods. I cringe at anything over $125/hr from an indie shop.

[notouching]

Multiple local shops quoted me 12 hours of labor. Local labor rates vary between $75/hour and $125/hour. Don't forget WA state sales tax at 10%.

Also, around Seattle from asking friends in BMWCCA and here on the forums, looks like there is only a couple of shops that have experience with rod bearings swaps on S65/S85. I know some people say "rod bearings are rod bearings, nothing special", but I'd rather not take the risk.

So, $1600 flat fee (tax included) for 12 hours of labor comes out to $121 an hour. I'm ok with paying that for work done by a reputable shop that warranties their work.

[admranger]

Originally Posted by notouching

Multiple local shops quoted me 12 hours of labor. Local labor rates vary between $75/hour and $125/hour. Don't forget WA state sales tax at 10%.

Also, around Seattle from asking friends in BMWCCA and here on the forums, looks like there is only a couple of shops that have experience with rod bearings swaps on S65/S85. I know some people say "rod bearings are rod bearings, nothing special", but I'd rather not take the risk.

So, $1600 flat fee (tax included) for 12 hours of labor comes out to $121 an hour. I'm ok with paying that for work done by a reputable shop that warranties their work.

12 hours of labor is BS. I'm not a tech and I did it 3 times back in my garage in Vegas (lift, decent set of tools). By the 3rd time I was down to about 8 hours (maybe less) start to finish. I was 53 when I did the bearing changes. A skilled (younger) full-time tech should do it in 7 or less.