Official S65 Rod Bearing Condition Example Thread

Richbot · 04-27-2018, 11:25 AM

3/08 build 2008

PAM3Guy · 05-01-2018, 08:00 AM

2012 E92 with 58.3K on the clock. Bought it 1 year ago w/53K on it. I'm 3rd owner and the car was maintained well and seems not to have been abused, but followed CBS for oil changes, so about every 10-14K during first years. It's my DD, and my commute is mostly back roads/stop lights from 25-50MPH.

Shop is putting in BE bearings and ARP bolts, plus new engine mounts, and a few other miscellanous maintenance items. They say the crankshaft looks "beautiful".

Additional Edit: The owner of the shop said that despite the appearance, mine were actually some of the best RB's he's seen pulled from an E9X M3. He said they were not even fully through the first layer. He believes that it's possible that BMW may have made some slight changes to tolerances in the later LCI year bearings (w/o calling attention to it, obviously), but that tolerance stacking was likely the main issue to begin with, and he does like the BE solution (also WPC coated bearings as well).

Edit #2: Added more pics of the RB's and motor mounts

deansbimmer · 05-01-2018, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PACarGuy

Shop is putting in BE bearings and ARP bolts, plus new engine mounts, and a few other miscellanous maintenance items. They say the crankshaft looks "beautiful".

Congrats on the service and good outcome! Just one item to "nitpick" that may help others who are looking on. It isn't good practice to lube all of the bolts at once prior to installation unless your'e in a conditioned clean room environment. It opens the door to issues arising from debris sticking to the lube before you install the bolts. Debris can hamper torque readings but you just don't want sand, dirt, lint, etc on the threads inside a rod.

Helmsman · 05-01-2018, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deansbimmer

Congrats on the service and good outcome! Just one item to "nitpick" that may help others who are looking on. It isn't good practice to lube all of the bolts at once prior to installation unless your'e in a conditioned clean room environment. It opens the door to issues arising from debris sticking to the lube before you install the bolts. Debris can hamper torque readings but you just don't want sand, dirt, lint, etc on the threads inside a rod.

Wow love that care to detail. Again, if we only had our Deansbimmer over here.

PAM3Guy · 05-01-2018, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deansbimmer

Congrats on the service and good outcome! Just one item to "nitpick" that may help others who are looking on. It isn't good practice to lube all of the bolts at once prior to installation unless your'e in a conditioned clean room environment. It opens the door to issues arising from debris sticking to the lube before you install the bolts. Debris can hamper torque readings but you just don't want sand, dirt, lint, etc on the threads inside a rod.

Thanks! Good to know. I'll check with the shop on that. They are a very well known BMW specialist in the area (have been in biz for nearly 40 years, prep lots of racing cars and race themselves) and have done lots of rod bearings, so hopefully won't be an issue.

BTW, what do you think of the condition of the RB's? I think the wear looks fairly significant for 58K miles, no?

Audioslave686 · 05-13-2018, 08:19 AM

Replaced the rod bearings on my car yesterday.
Thanks, SYT_Shadow, for your great help. It was an awesome and quite intense day. 10 hours flew incredibly fast.

Patient: M3 e90 2011. 86 000 miles
I have no service history so i didn't know what to expect, however bearings was in a decent condition...

JP10 · 05-13-2018, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PACarGuy

2012 E92 with 58.3K on the clock. Bought it 1 year ago w/53K on it. I'm 3rd owner and the car was maintained well and seems not to have been abused, but followed CBS for oil changes, so about every 10-14K during first years. It's my DD, and my commute is mostly back roads/stop lights from 25-50MPH.

Mind sharing where you got your bearing done/what they quoted you? I'm right outside of Philadelphia as well and potentially looking to get my bearings and engine mounts done in the future. Appreciate the help.

PAM3Guy · 05-13-2018, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JPacy

Mind sharing where you got your bearing done/what they quoted you? I'm right outside of Philadelphia as well and potentially looking to get my bearings and engine mounts done in the future. Appreciate the help.

Bavarian Specialties in King of Prussia. Fantastic shop and extremely knowledgeable owner. They've been in biz for a long time and race BMW's too. Quote will depend on which bearings you go with, but somewhere between $2,100 - $2,400 for just bearing swap. Engine mounts add a bit more + oil and filter change, obviously.

G80indy · 05-13-2018, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Audioslave686

Replaced the rod bearings on my car yesterday.
Thanks, SYT_Shadow, for your great help. It was an awesome and quite intense day. 10 hours flew incredibly fast.

Patient: M3 e90 2011. 86 000 miles
I have no service history so i didn't know what to expect, however bearings was in a decent condition...

Those look decent to me

SYT_Shadow · 05-13-2018, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 330indy

Those look decent to me

They do look pretty decent, although the pics don't show the pitting the bearings had which didn't make me feel warm and fuzzy

The other car we did together with audioslave's had around 60k miles and they looked absolutely horrible. Hopefully the owner will chime in

spxxx · 05-14-2018, 02:36 AM

105k miles, unsure if they have been replaced before. Potentially newer aluminum style?

2009 (late build)

Scharbag · 05-14-2018, 05:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spxxx

105k miles, unsure if they have been replaced before. Potentially newer aluminum style?

2009 (late build)

What is stamped on the back of the bearings?

JP10 · 05-14-2018, 06:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PACarGuy

Bavarian Specialties in King of Prussia. Fantastic shop and extremely knowledgeable owner. They've been in biz for a long time and race BMW's too. Quote will depend on which bearings you go with, but somewhere between $2,100 - $2,400 for just bearing swap. Engine mounts add a bit more + oil and filter change, obviously.

Great, thanks for the info. Hoping to get these done soon.

rymerc · 05-14-2018, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Audioslave686

however bearings was in a decent condition...

Decent condition... FOR AN S65 MOTOR.

For any other motor I've had apart, these would be critically alarming. Glad you got them done before they failed

SYT_Shadow · 05-14-2018, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rymerc

Decent condition... FOR AN S65 MOTOR.

For any other motor I've had apart, these would be critically alarming. Glad you got them done before they failed

hopefully the other owner will chime in... his bearings were the worst I've seen so far. That engine wasn't going to make it much further!

Richbot · 05-14-2018, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rymerc

Decent condition... FOR AN S65 MOTOR.

For any other motor I've had apart, these would be critically alarming. Glad you got them done before they failed

The only explanation for why they haven't all blown up is that the S65 is somehow able to harness fanboy energy and use it to hold off bearing failures. We need a new poll about whether the owner is a true believer or heretic, other marques they own, comparisons to how much easier it is to make 335's fast made etc.

dpaul · 05-19-2018, 03:05 PM

2011 E93 M3 74500 miles.
Just preventative maintenance. Had a very pleasant day doing this job thanks to the posts by SYT_Shadow and others. Don't love the way they look but seen worse

aswy6 · 05-19-2018, 04:15 PM

figured i would throw this in here as well. 80k miles 2011 M3. Daily Driven only 10w-60 even in the winter

wickz80 · 05-21-2018, 01:00 PM

2011, 70k, DCT/ZCP, not tracked

inTgr8r · 05-25-2018, 04:32 PM

Guess I should add mine to the list.
Picked up the car late last year and did the bearings as a preemptive service.

I used BE bearings and bolts.
Very happy that I can now start trending the wear.

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Helmsman · 05-25-2018, 05:43 PM

This is becoming a nice thread. Lots of fairly high mileage shells that comes out in a decent shape, after all.

///M Power-Belgium · 05-25-2018, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Helmsman

This is becoming a nice thread. Lots of fairly high level shells that comes out in a decent shape, after all.

They show a wave wear pattern . This means that the S65 was running out of balance (and very likely also the crank) suffered from serious internal vibrations.
I agree they look better . But the cause of the wave wear pattern is no good .

04-27-2018, 11:25 AM	#683
Richbot Major General 2835 Rep 5,493 Posts Drives: Jerez Black E90 Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: STL iTrader: (5)	3/08 build 2008 __________________
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05-01-2018, 08:00 AM	#684
PAM3Guy Major 985 Rep 1,137 Posts Drives: 2012 E92 M3 DCT ZCP Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Philly burbs, PA iTrader: (1) Garage List 2012 E92 M3 [8.90] 2018 F48 X1 (Daught ... [0.00] 2019 G01 X3 (wife's) [0.00]	2012 E92 with 58.3K on the clock. Bought it 1 year ago w/53K on it. I'm 3rd owner and the car was maintained well and seems not to have been abused, but followed CBS for oil changes, so about every 10-14K during first years. It's my DD, and my commute is mostly back roads/stop lights from 25-50MPH. Shop is putting in BE bearings and ARP bolts, plus new engine mounts, and a few other miscellanous maintenance items. They say the crankshaft looks "beautiful". Additional Edit: The owner of the shop said that despite the appearance, mine were actually some of the best RB's he's seen pulled from an E9X M3. He said they were not even fully through the first layer. He believes that it's possible that BMW may have made some slight changes to tolerances in the later LCI year bearings (w/o calling attention to it, obviously), but that tolerance stacking was likely the main issue to begin with, and he does like the BE solution (also WPC coated bearings as well). Edit #2: Added more pics of the RB's and motor mounts Attached Images __________________ 2012 E92 M3 \| ZCP \| DCT \| Space Grey Metallic \| Black Novillo \| BE/ARP \| MPE V2 \| do88 DCT cooler \| Vorschlag \| Solid SF Bushings \| BMW CF Rear Spoiler, RW Carbon Diffuser, CF Front Splitters \| DTEC 160W Angel Eyes Last edited by PAM3Guy; 05-02-2018 at 07:53 PM.. Reason: Added more pics
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05-13-2018, 08:19 AM	#688
Audioslave686 Private First Class 177 Rep 127 Posts Drives: M3 E90/X4 F26 Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: Columbus, OH iTrader: (0)	Replaced the rod bearings on my car yesterday. Thanks, SYT_Shadow, for your great help. It was an awesome and quite intense day. 10 hours flew incredibly fast. Patient: M3 e90 2011. 86 000 miles I have no service history so i didn't know what to expect, however bearings was in a decent condition... Attached Images Last edited by Audioslave686; 05-13-2018 at 09:57 AM.. Reason: pics added
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05-14-2018, 02:36 AM	#693
spxxx Boost 1427 Rep 3,712 Posts Drives: 135i M-Sport Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Valley of Silicon, CA - United States iTrader: (9)	105k miles, unsure if they have been replaced before. Potentially newer aluminum style? 2009 (late build) Attached Images __________________ F80 M3 TrackBoi, Z4MC GarageBoi, 1M Clone StreetBoi
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05-19-2018, 03:05 PM	#699
dpaul Lieutenant Colonel 679 Rep 1,893 Posts Drives: 2009 E90 335xi, 2011 E93 M3 Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Boston iTrader: (3)	2011 E93 M3 74500 miles. Just preventative maintenance. Had a very pleasant day doing this job thanks to the posts by SYT_Shadow and others. Don't love the way they look but seen worse
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05-19-2018, 04:15 PM	#700
aswy6 Captain 291 Rep 769 Posts Drives: 2016 BMW M3 Join Date: Jan 2017 Location: Austin, TX iTrader: (1)	figured i would throw this in here as well. 80k miles 2011 M3. Daily Driven only 10w-60 even in the winter Attached Images
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05-21-2018, 01:00 PM	#701
wickz80 Enlisted Member 33 Rep 30 Posts Drives: 2016 MG F80 6MT Join Date: Apr 2018 Location: SoCal iTrader: (0)	2011, 70k, DCT/ZCP, not tracked
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05-25-2018, 04:32 PM	#702
inTgr8r Lieutenant General 2514 Rep 11,671 Posts Drives: M2 Comp Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Toronto iTrader: (10)	Guess I should add mine to the list. Picked up the car late last year and did the bearings as a preemptive service. I used BE bearings and bolts. Very happy that I can now start trending the wear. __________________ nada
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05-25-2018, 05:43 PM	#703
Helmsman Major General 5484 Rep 7,657 Posts Drives: 2011 AW E90 M3 ZCP Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Stockholm, Sweden iTrader: (0)	This is becoming a nice thread. Lots of fairly high mileage shells that comes out in a decent shape, after all. Last edited by Helmsman; 05-26-2018 at 07:48 AM..
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