Just changed out rod bearings at 59k...

[eocrm3]

As I'm nearing the 60k mille mark I decided to have the following services on my m3:

1. Spark plugs
2. Coolant flush
3. Brake fluid flush
4. Diff fluid

I had a Blackstone Oil analysis performed at 55k miles and lead levels on the car were at 9 (avg is 7).

I figured the oil analysis came back decent enough that I could put off swapping bearings at a later time, but I just worried more and more about the potential issue that I decided to just have the bearings swapped out with the fluids service.

My car is a 2010 m3 DCT, 58,889 miles, all stock with no track use.
I purchased car at 40k miles, it previously only had original owner, all services were maintained at BMW dealership(s). I switched to 5k oil change intervals once car went out of warranty, and have been using 10w60 oil.

Below are the pics of the bearings:







I had service performed with all original OEM parts at DBC Tuning in San Antonio, Texas and couldn't be happier with the service I received. Berk at DBC was great to work with and kept me updated throughout the entire time car was at the shop.

Berk told me the bearings were not terrible but some did have significant wear, as can be seen in the pics. I'm glad I decided to go ahead with the swap as these were clearly on a path to failure with continued wear. I would have figured that with a Blackstone oil analysis showing lead levels at 9 that the bearings would've shown far less wear.

While car was in service at DBC I had Berk inspect DCT for leaks which did reveal a small, slow leak from DCT pan....so DCT pan, gasket, bolt and DCT fluid was all replaced.

I plan to hold onto my m3 for quite some time, so having all of the aforementioned services performed has hopefully substantially extended the life of my car.

[X5-User]

they are pretty worn out man

[K-M3]

Ummmm.... They don't look too bad .... At least not nearly as bad as some of the others on this forum.The upper ones show a lill more wear than the bottom ones which apparently is the wear pattern on multiple threads ..... None show copper like some of the worse off bearings have shown around here

OP - good to know that you were pretty far off from the engine grenading . And congrats on the service. Me too - like u, plan on keeping mine for a long time , so ur engine health gives me good hope

Whatever the cause of premature wear, at least it seems like if u replace them in a timely fashion , u can enjoy the car without mind fucking urself ......

OP - any idea u decided on repeating OEM and not WPC treated ones ?

[JRV]

Is it me or the upper shells always get the beating on this motor? Thanks for sharing.

[K-M3]

Originally Posted by JRV

Is it me or the upper shells always get the beating on this motor? Thanks for sharing.

Yep --- tht seems to be a pretty consistent trend

[m3ray]

They look like bearings on a 60K motor. Not horrible.

[aus]

Did the 2010's still use the lead bearings?

.

[JEllis]

Blackstone really only works if you do the analysis regularly. Lead levels at 9 doesn't sound bad but if you start out at 0 and slowly see the numbers creeping up then that says more than just a single apparently clean report.

[CSBM5]

Originally Posted by JRV

Is it me or the upper shells always get the beating on this motor? Thanks for sharing.

The upper shells are the ones that wear most on *all* motors. It's simply due to combustion forces pushing the piston/rod downward on the power stroke. These don't look too bad in the above pictures, but it's definitely good they were replaced especially since the new bearings are the lead-free ones which open up the gap a tad and greatly increase eccentricity compared to the earlier bearings.

In answer to the other question, AFAIK all 2010 and back S65s got the older bearings. There has not been a definitive date established yet (that I've seen) of when the switchover occurred, but it appears to coincide with the 2011 US model year which began in early 2010 (03/2010 onward, or was it actually 05/2010 onward?).

[s85e90]

Those bearings looked fine.

[Helmsman]

OP, thanks for sharing. May I ask before you took over and started 5k oil change, was the previous 40k on a 15k interval or more frequent?

Cheers

[Killerfish2012]

Originally Posted by s85e90

Those bearings looked fine.

+1! total waste of money, and proof that you shouldn't allow things you read a public forum to mess with your head.

[Killerfish2012]

Originally Posted by Helmsman

OP, thanks for sharing. May I ask before you took over and started 5k oil change, was the previous 40k on a 15k interval or more frequent?

Cheers

Most likely a 15K interval since the stealership performed the oil changes. OP, if you're worried about bearing wear enough to do 5K oil changes, then switch to mobil 1 0W40.

[eocrm3]

Helmsman,

The service records on the car do show that the previous, original owner was doing 15k oil changes, using 10w60.



-The majority of the bearings don't look too bad, as mentioned by replies, and it might be overkill that I had them swapped out with such little wear as implied by some, BUT I'm still glad I had them replaced them as there is clearly wear on them and if left in place those bearings would've likely failed at some point down the line.

[Helmsman]

Originally Posted by eocrm3

Helmsman,

The service records on the car do show that the previous, original owner was doing 15k oil changes, using 10w60.



-The majority of the bearings don't look too bad, as mentioned by replies, and it might be overkill that I had them swapped out with such little wear as implied by some, BUT I'm still glad I had them replaced them as there is clearly wear on them and if left in place those bearings would've likely failed at some point down the line.

Thanks Eocrm3,

totally understand your thinking. Not following Killerfish' thinking here; nobody claims all bearings get smoked, but it's proven some does. Up to each if you want to be on the safe side.

Cheers

[Sinful]

How much did the bearing service cost you?

[///M Power-Belgium]

If I knew that my bearings were in condition such as the OP bearings I don't change them !
I can see some weare but not too bad at all , and was this a good dicision....who knows ?

[K-M3]

Originally Posted by CSBM5

The upper shells are the ones that wear most on *all* motors. It's simply due to combustion forces pushing the piston/rod downward on the power stroke. These don't look too bad in the above pictures, but it's definitely good they were replaced especially since the new bearings are the lead-free ones which open up the gap a tad and greatly increase eccentricity compared to the earlier bearings.

In answer to the other question, AFAIK all 2010 and back S65s got the older bearings. There has not been a definitive date established yet (that I've seen) of when the switchover occurred, but it appears to coincide with the 2011 US model year which began in early 2010 (03/2010 onward, or was it actually 05/2010 onward?).

Does anybody know what stock the WPC treated bearings come from ? I understand they are OEM bearings that receive the WPC treatment. My thoughts are as follows -

If the newer bearings (lead free) are in fact thinner allowing more clearance ; are we actually going backwards by installing WPC treated ones if the OEM that they use to treat are from the old stock which inherently has lesser clearance ?? ( although WPC doesn't add any more thickness to the bearing itself )

[pbonsalb]

Both new and old bearings have failed. No way to know the condition of yours without inspecting. If spending the time/money to inspect, you should go ahead and change them. I do not think the original bearings should have been reinstalled instead of new in this case.

[spdy330]

I wonder what the bearing look like in my 2005 Tundra V8 with 190k on it. That truck runs like a champ.

[Petros]

Just came from a shop where i bought used coilovers. They were doing a bearing change on a 2009 car with 110000 km on it. Owner heard ticking sounds in the run up to the bearing service. And yep the bearings were shot.

[Helmsman]

Originally Posted by Petros

Just came from a shop where i bought used coilovers. They were doing a bearing change on a 2009 car with 110000 km on it. Owner heard ticking sounds in the run up to the bearing service. And yep the bearings were shot.

Petros, did you have a chance to check if it was one of the guys on this forum?