DIY: S65 M3 Rod Bearing

[Assimilator1]

Yea would be interesting to know.

Also have you got a pic of just the installed bearing, inner (wearing) face?

[jvictormp]

Great report, man!

Curious to know how was the condition of the upper bearing.

But we can see that the ARP 625+ bolts are a good choice too.

[Scharbag]

Originally Posted by Assimilator1

Yea would be interesting to know.

Also have you got a pic of just the installed bearing, inner (wearing) face?

You mean this one?

Or you want a shot of the one in the upper rod too?

They look good - would love to know how many miles.

[Edberto]

Originally Posted by Assimilator1

Yea would be interesting to know.

Also have you got a pic of just the installed bearing, inner (wearing) face?

Originally Posted by Scharbag

You mean this one?

Or you want a shot of the one in the upper rod too?

They look good - would love to know how many miles.

Originally Posted by Helmsman

What a nice surprice mate! Strange that the guy who sold it didn't think it was worth to mention, so you no idea how many miles on that shell then?

Indeed but since the previous owner seemed to be not too much of a car guy it must have been during the owenership before him.
Based on MyCarfax there is a service mentioned in 2017 at 115.711mi where oil pan gasket and engine mounts were replaced and I would guess that was the point wehere they also covered the rod bearings while they were down there
If so, the bearings would just have seen 12.000mi...
(which would match the great shape of the engine mounts)

Originally Posted by jvictormp

Great report, man!
Curious to know how was the condition of the upper bearing.
But we can see that the ARP 625+ bolts are a good choice too.

Thanks and Sorry, but after looking at the bottom one I didn't even touch the upper one to interfere as few as possible...

[Helmsman]

Originally Posted by Edberto

Indeed but since the previous owner seemed to be not too much of a car guy it must have been during the owenership before him.
Based on MyCarfax there is a service mentioned in 2017 at 115.711mi where oil pan gasket and engine mounts were replaced and I would guess that was the point wehere they also covered the rod bearings while they were down there
If so, the bearings would just have seen 12.000mi...
(which would match the great shape of the engine mounts)


Thanks and Sorry, but after looking at the bottom one I didn't even touch the upper one to interfere as few as possible...

12k miles is a fair start and as the shell looks totally untouched from the picture (?) I guess there's no reason it should wear going forward assuming clean oil and proper warm up - congrats!

[jvictormp]

Hey, guys, I found some advise about keeping the back of the shells dry (free of oil), because that surface is the main cause of avoiding spin of the bearing.

That said, what you think about oil getting in there during engine running? Will it get in there or not? I mean, do that surface characteristic change when in contact with oil?

[Scharbag]

Originally Posted by jvictormp

Hey, guys, I found some advise about keeping the back of the shells dry (free of oil), because that surface is the main cause of avoiding spin of the bearing.

That said, what you think about oil getting in there during engine running? Will it get in there or not? I mean, do that surface characteristic change when in contact with oil?

The force of the rod cap on the bearing is what keeps it from spinning. Like a 10 pound ham in a 5 pound sack. See this page for info.

In a perfect world, the backs of the shells would be kept clean and dry. But, in reality some oil will be there. Crush will squish it out pretty fast and the hatching of the rod will keep it in place.

Cheers,

[jvictormp]

Originally Posted by Scharbag

The force of the rod cap on the bearing is what keeps it from spinning. Like a 10 pound ham in a 5 pound sack. See this page for info.

In a perfect world, the backs of the shells would be kept clean and dry. But, in reality some oil will be there. Crush will squish it out pretty fast and the hatching of the rod will keep it in place.

Cheers,

Thanks for the info.

What if I tell you I wasn't aware of this, and didn't pay attention at all about cleaning and drying bore surfaces?

Well, I used a clean paper towel on every cap bore, because I had it on hand. After that, I put engine oil in the "face" of the bearing, and THEN I put it on the cap. This movement may have put some little quantity of oil in the back of the bearing.

In the rod, unfortunately I didn't clean and dry the bore. Just removed the old bearing, got the new one, put oil on its "face", and, with the hand oily (sleeves, I mean), installed the bearing in the rod.

There may have been oil left in the rod bore, and I may have accidentally put oil in the back of the upper bearing with the oily hand.

I've driven the car for 150 miles since then, so nothing happened right after start, but I'm a little concerned now.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by jvictormp

Thanks for the info.

What if I tell you I wasn't aware of this, and didn't pay attention at all about cleaning and drying bore surfaces?

Well, I used a clean paper towel on every cap bore, because I had it on hand. After that, I put engine oil in the "face" of the bearing, and THEN I put it on the cap. This movement may have put some little quantity of oil in the back of the bearing.

In the rod, unfortunately I didn't clean and dry the bore. Just removed the old bearing, got the new one, put oil on its "face", and, with the hand oily (sleeves, I mean), installed the bearing in the rod.

There may have been oil left in the rod bore, and I may have accidentally put oil in the back of the upper bearing with the oily hand.

I've driven the car for 150 miles since then, so nothing happened right after start, but I'm a little concerned now.

I don't think you have anything to worry about. Engines are full of oil and it gets everywhere

[Scharbag]

Originally Posted by jvictormp

Thanks for the info.

What if I tell you I wasn't aware of this, and didn't pay attention at all about cleaning and drying bore surfaces?

Well, I used a clean paper towel on every cap bore, because I had it on hand. After that, I put engine oil in the "face" of the bearing, and THEN I put it on the cap. This movement may have put some little quantity of oil in the back of the bearing.

In the rod, unfortunately I didn't clean and dry the bore. Just removed the old bearing, got the new one, put oil on its "face", and, with the hand oily (sleeves, I mean), installed the bearing in the rod.

There may have been oil left in the rod bore, and I may have accidentally put oil in the back of the upper bearing with the oily hand.

I've driven the car for 150 miles since then, so nothing happened right after start, but I'm a little concerned now.

As long as there was no solid debris, you should be fine.

[Assimilator1]

Originally Posted by Scharbag

You mean this one?

Or you want a shot of the one in the upper rod too?

They look good - would love to know how many miles.

Lol , yes & no, I want to see all of the old bearing without the new bearing in the way, that's what I meant

[Bubbles]

Servotronic cable bracket part number?
Tried realoem and couldn’t locate the part number for this servotronic cable bracket (Cable part number is 61129115546) that attaches to the front subframe. Anyone know the part number?

[pbonsalb]

What did your google searching for e90 servotronic cable bracket show? Mine showed this:

https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1459677

You are not the first to break it while working on your car.

[Bubbles]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

What did your google searching for e90 servotronic cable bracket show? Mine showed this:

https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1459677

You are not the first to break it while working on your car.

Thanks. I used the forum search not google search. Lesson learned.

[Edberto]

Originally Posted by Assimilator1

Lol , yes & no, I want to see all of the old bearing without the new bearing in the way, that's what I meant

That was the "old" bearing and the background is just the inner side of the cap without a bearing in it.

[Assimilator1]

Lol, ah ok, the shell looked so good I thought it was a brand new one!

[Bubbles]

After a 7 day wait for oil pickup tube bolts I finished the bearing job.

PSA. Make sure you clean all the coolant from the engine bay, otherwise you will have an incredible sinking feeling as white smoke starts coming out of the engine bay during the first cold start cycle. I decided to replace all coolant hoses, half shaft, differential seals, pinion seal and alternator while I had the car on the lift.

I blew out one of the wishbone rubber gaskets on reinstall (replacements on the way) and spent some time fishing out a broken coolant hose. Car Alignment is a bit off now, but the motor is running great.

Although I had about 10k on the motor mounts (corteco) and I wanted to see if Vibra Tech motor mounts were the real deal so I ordered street version fro. upsmotorsports. I was pleasantly surprised when I received the motor mounts and a free t shirt the next day (well done guys). When you look at the mounts they are impressive but even more impressive is there is literally no NVH, hopefully they continue to perform in this manner for the long term. Kudos for a great thread and contributions.

[SYT_Shadow]

It feels good to do it doesn't it? Good work!

[Assimilator1]

Why did you replace the alternator? Mileage?

[Bubbles]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

It feels good to do it doesn't it? Good work!

Indeed, loading the subframe on and off wasn’t a lot of fun.

Originally Posted by Assimilator1

Why did you replace the alternator? Mileage?

Total mileage 112k and 10+ years. Noticed a slight voltage drop at idle with accessories on, with the subframe off it made sense to replace.

[tigermack]

When you guys did this, did you guys mark where the subframe was? I am thinking the guy that did my subframe didn't really care and just tighten the bolts up. I had an alignment done shortly after and I notice that one side's wheel was further out than the other, would it be possible the subframe isn't centered?

[Assimilator1]

If I remember correctly, the subframe is located with dowels, so it can't be misaligned.
But let those who know for sure have the final word! .

SYT_Shadow
Btw you've still got his confusing sentence in
To remove the OEM rod bolts you can use a 12 point 12mm socket. Some have mentioned that it doesn't fit all that well and instead recommend '12mm "Bi-Hex" and 12mm "Bi-Hexagon"'

Just to reiterate, 12 point & bi-hexagonally sockets are exactly the same thing