Official S65 Rod Bearing Condition Example Thread

[Scharbag]

Originally Posted by wchow16

Hello

Sorry if it's posted already as I am sure it is some where. Can you guys recommend a brand of rod bearings to use if I decide to replace my OEM bearings? I am engine illiterate so I cannot determine why one brand would be better then the next. Please school me if you don't mind. I am reading that some bearing have more clearance so engine oil can get in there easier to lessen wear. Some aftermarket bearings are treated or coated to strenghten the bearing from stock. Anything else that would make one brand better than the other?

I have 08 with 45k miles and I just received my first oil analysis report where lead has increased by a significant amount from prior oil analysis reports.

The bearings on this thread are:

BE
ACL
WPC
VAC (Calico)

Which set do I buy??

I read it's suggested to replace the motor mounts as you replace the bearings. Can you recommend a brand?

Thanks

This is a good read and should let you make your own informed decision.

http://wiki.rcollins.org/core/index....s#ACL_Bearings

Cheers,

[radiognome]

These were taken off my 2008 E93 at 68K miles before a supercharger install. I was the 2nd owner, bought the car with 24K miles on it and then driven it quite hard with several redlines every single day, 4 years of AutoX with dozens of schools and test-and-tune events some up to 4 hours behind the wheel during hot summer days. Used Motul 15w50 since about 30K with 6-7K oil changes, all sent to Black Stone. Tests constantly shown higher than usual metals, but it was consistent between each oil change so I did not get alarmed that much. Thought about replacing them as precaution when supercharger installed, apparently it was good timing. I'm sure they could survive for some more miles but I did not want to take chances.

[wchow16]

Originally Posted by Scharbag

This is a good read and should let you make your own informed decision.

http://wiki.rcollins.org/core/index....s#ACL_Bearings

Cheers,

Thank you.

[HH5k]

2008 E92 M3, Scandinavia, 98000KMs. BMW recommended service intervals & fluids. What about the crank in these cases? People just swap bearings and keep driving.. Is there not a risk of the crank being damaged, without having spun a bearing?

[G80indy]

Those don't look terrible- not as bad as most we've seen

[pbonsalb]

I am not an engine builder but don’t think you have any reason to worry about crank damage based on those bearings.

[Helmsman]

Tjena HH5k, like the guys say, plenty 08 shells taken out in worse condition without crank damage. What did you put in?
Where about are you? Sthlm here.

[HH5k]

Originally Posted by Helmsman

Tjena HH5k, like the guys say, plenty 08 shells taken out in worse condition without crank damage. What did you put in?
Where about are you? Sthlm here.

Hei! Trondheim=) OE bolts and bearings went back in. Not my car yet. Am considering buying it. But I don't know for sure if the crank is OK. I've talked to a few different shops here, and the feedback is "Don't buy!" or "Don't worry!".

But sure, they don't look as bad as a lot of the other examples.. Just a lot worse than they should look in a fully serviced 100'km car. This is the first set of M3 bearings I've seen IRL, and I was quite disappointed to see that this is not all just car forum anxiety.. :/

Do you guys think that this issue is beeing reflected in the used car price? Or do you feel like that has yet to come?

[Helmsman]

Originally Posted by HH5k

Hei! Trondheim=) OE bolts and bearings went back in. Not my car yet. Am considering buying it. But I don't know for sure if the crank is OK. I've talked to a few different shops here, and the feedback is "Don't buy!" or "Don't worry!".

But sure, they don't look as bad as a lot of the other examples.. Just a lot worse than they should look in a fully serviced 100'km car. This is the first set of M3 bearings I've seen IRL, and I was quite disappointed to see that this is not all just car forum anxiety.. :/

Do you guys think that this issue is beeing reflected in the used car price? Or do you feel like that has yet to come?

Stomp on it before engine is up on temps and the shells probably wear regardless of service intervall (i.e. keep track of current owner since bearing swop if you plan to buy..).

Again a lot of much worse examples as you can see on the board. Personally wouldnt worry but lets see what the engine guys has to say.

Regarding pricing at least over here, njae I dont think original shells at around say 100k km (which is where most 08s seem to be around) influence pricing in general. Main reason being that most 2nd hand buyers are not fully aware of the "issue". Anyhows its a 20-25KSEK fix "only" so not a major deal on a 300K car.
Personally I would prefer to buy an "un done" car and have it sorted with a shop of my choice and see how things look. Like you're doing now assuming quick buy.

Ps. It should have been possible to get a fair visual inspection of the crank during bearing swap?

[Gossypiboma]

Originally Posted by 330indy

Those don't look terrible- not as bad as most we've seen

For a car with 100km those look horrific, the babbitt layer is quite worn and there are areas of copper visible.

[Helmsman]

Originally Posted by BigBoosting

For a car with 100km those look horrific, the babbitt layer is quite worn and there are areas of copper visible.

Looked through the thread?

[SoCalRPM]

Originally Posted by HH5k

Is there not a risk of the crank being damaged, without having spun a bearing?

Someone more knowledgeable than I can speak to this better, but I'm guessing that if you're crank was damaged, you'd exhibit some unpleasant signs, like rod knock, etc..

Originally Posted by Helmsman

Looked through the thread?

I think it's important for us to distinguish whether we're judging rod bearing wear as good or bad from the point of view of e9x owners or from a generalized engine functionality perspective.

Are some photos of people's rod bearings posted in this thread less worn than others? Yes.

Are all of the bearings posted here worn significantly more than they should be or more than any other car of comparable mileage and usage. Also yes.

[kyippee]

How does this look? 2011.5 E92 M3, 61k miles on the car, ~20 track days since I've owned it.

This is the stock rod bearing AFAIK, replacing with BE bearings

[G80indy]

Not too shabby!

[G80indy]

Originally Posted by SoCalRPM

Someone more knowledgeable than I can speak to this better, but I'm guessing that if you're crank was damaged, you'd exhibit some unpleasant signs, like rod knock, etc..

I think it's important for us to distinguish whether we're judging rod bearing wear as good or bad from the point of view of e9x owners or from a generalized engine functionality perspective.

Are some photos of people's rod bearings posted in this thread less worn than others? Yes.

Are all of the bearings posted here worn significantly more than they should be or more than any other car of comparable mileage and usage. Also yes.

Maybe.....
If you search rod bearings for STis or Porsches or other (performance) cars you will see some images that are "familiar"

[E90M3velocity]

I don't want to stir up drama (yeah kinda hard to do talking about our rod bearings), but for the people who still want BMW to do something about this issue:
https://jalopnik.com/heres-how-to-po...car-1830938474

[wfdeacon88]

Here are mine changed last week. 2009 DCT E90 with 99.7K miles. Replaced with BE Bearings just in time.

edit: attachments are not working now

[Rvnmaniak]

Just bought my 09 M3 with 80k miles. Engine purrs like a kitten, but no evidence that rod bearing issue has ever been addressed, so I will be in the market.
I am a longtime BMW fan, owning an e28, 2 e36s, and an M2.

Frankly, I am shocked at BMWs negligence in the case of the e9x cars. They already faced this issue big time in the e46 M3 to the point of recall and ongoing headaches. How could the NEXT GENERATION of M3 have the same problem? You would think they would have designed the entire damn car around perfect rod bearings following that e46 disaster.
Secondly, I am surprised that the pictures on this thread show bearings from 2008 and 2009 with higher mileage that look BETTER than some of the bearings from 2013 cars that had 30k miles on them.........supposedly after 5 years of design improvement (or at least knowledge of the problem.)
Don't get me wrong, I bought my e92 prepared to address the problem, but this makes BMW engineering look like a bunch of morons.

[houston]

“German Engineering” they said. After two e39’s and an e36... my e90 M3 is the nail in my BMW coffin. BMW NA was horrific to deal with when my rod bearings went at 17k on my 2011. Worst experience ever. And the incompetence of the dealership was astounding. Never again.

[eM3e]

These seem to be worse than most I've seen.

[Helmsman]

Originally Posted by Rvnmaniak

Secondly, I am surprised that the pictures on this thread show bearings from 2008 and 2009 with higher mileage that look BETTER than some of the bearings from 2013 cars that had 30k miles on them.........

Keep in mind that the shells was changed mid 2010 and the latter have a different appearance that sometimes plays tricks.

[Impastokitsch]

Just gotten my 2008 e93 m3 which has seen 57,000 km mileage

Was informed that ex owner is an a**h**** who abused this car badly.

Sent the 2000km oil to blackstone and got 19 lead ppm so i decided to change BE bearing crb and arp bolt.

Attached are the pictures of my old CRB
[IMG][/IMG]