Do all E9x M3 have rod bearing problems?

[Rat3d ///M]

yep.. every. single. one. [/thread]

[kb9uwu]

My '08 E90 M3 doesn't have rod bearing problems. 95k miles on the original bearings. 10w-60 changed once a year, usually 8,000-12,000 miles oci.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by loveskiing

I use to not give rod bearings a second thought...then I spoke to a really knowledgeable senior member of this forum who lives in San Francisco, and he recommended that I change the rod bearings every time I refueled...
I wondered if that wasn't a little too excessive since I don't race or track the car. He thought about it for a moment and we both agreed that I would only change the rod bearings when I changed the oil. His advice was spot on because I'm at 30k, have only changed the rod bearings three times and it must be working because I haven't had any rod bearing issues!

Awesome !

[cmo_93]

Originally Posted by loveskiing

I use to not give rod bearings a second thought...then I spoke to a really knowledgeable senior member of this forum who lives in San Francisco, and he recommended that I change the rod bearings every time I refueled...
I wondered if that wasn't a little too excessive since I don't race or track the car. He thought about it for a moment and we both agreed that I would only change the rod bearings when I changed the oil. His advice was spot on because I'm at 30k, have only changed the rod bearings three times and it must be working because I haven't had any rod bearing issues!

[IIAp3x]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

The OP question is actually useless...
Because...

Meanwhile (the last 2 years) we saw enough pulled S65 bearings on BP .
And we saw what ?
Proof that 90 % of the pulled bearings showed premature wear .
And let's not forget about this => http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=786615

So yes....."Houston we have a problem"

and 90% is even still a conservative figure... I can only remember seeing 1 example of bearings that were in decent shape...

[IIAp3x]

Originally Posted by kb9uwu

My '08 E90 M3 doesn't have rod bearing problems. 95k miles on the original bearings. 10w-60 changed once a year, usually 8,000-12,000 miles oci.

yet...

[kb9uwu]

Originally Posted by IIAp3x

yet...

Well, car is an 8 year old daily driver, when do you think I'll encounter problems? 10 year mark? 12 years? 150k miles?

[IIAp3x]

Originally Posted by kb9uwu

Well, car is an 8 year old daily driver, when do you think I'll encounter problems? 10 year mark? 12 years? 150k miles?

I hope she lasts forever!

[kb9uwu]

Originally Posted by IIAp3x

I hope she lasts forever!

I just want her to last another year, then it's M2 time

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by IIAp3x

and 90% is even still a conservative figure... I can only remember seeing 1 example of bearings that were in decent shape...

Indeed .
I'm not the person who screams that a fly is an elephant ...
But what I saw on BP in a few years actually don't need words to realize what worldwide is wrong with the S65 and S85 bearings.
--------------------------------------------------------
Don't know if you saw this post ? => # 1393 http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthr...786615&page=64

Look...Actually I don't like to type bad things about our cars , because my/your car is involved as well .
Others are saying it's bad for the value of our cars , and they are 100% right but in the mean while they stick their heads in the sand ...
------------------------------------------------------------
I go straight for the reality , and I know that hurts the reputation of our S65 engines .
Need to say mine runs really perfect and hope to keep it this way .

[IIAp3x]

Originally Posted by kb9uwu

I just want her to last another year, then it's M2 time

I think I may go back to the C7 Z06 again after this one... But the M2 is tempting as well cause its got a back seat...

[MFL]

Originally Posted by Dan Bilzerian

Are you into physics??

[IIAp3x]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Indeed .
I'm not the person who screams that a fly is an elephant ...
But what I saw on BP in a few years actually don't need words to realize what worldwide is wrong with the S65 and S85 bearings.
--------------------------------------------------------
Don't know if you saw this post ? => # 1393 http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthr...786615&page=64

Look...Actually I don't like to type bad things about our cars , because my/your car is involved as well .
Others are saying it's bad for the value of our cars , and they are 100% right but in the mean while they stick their heads in the sand ...
------------------------------------------------------------
I go straight for the reality , and I know that hurts the reputation of our S65 engines .
Need to say mine runs really perfect and hope to keep it this way .

Well said... I did read that post... I can remember looking at the rod bearings on my e46 m3 when it had the recall done ten years ago... It had 67k miles on it and when I got to see the old bearings they looked 100% normal with no visible signs of anything unusual... They looked really good! There were no streaks, no layers missing, no pitting, and no cavitations... They looked like what a bearing should look like...

Once again, there were only a small number of cars affected in the e46 M3 bearing saga similar to today's drama, but with one notable difference...

The difference between the E46 and E9x M3 in regards to bearing quality is that we did not see a 99% prematurely worn bearing quality of removed bearings in the e46 M3 as we are seeing now... In fact, I can remember seeing so many perfectly fine bearings removed from e46 m3's for the bearing recall that it really seemed like the problem was isolated to a very small percentage of cars..

Why do all of the bearings taken out of e9x M3s for preventive maintenance look so bad? Why are they so cavitated in certain spots primarily on the upper shells?

The e46 M3 was just as volatile and high strung as the e9x, so why did the vast majority of those bearings look normal?

Is this just the quality one should expect from a high revving v8 motor? I can't imagine that the answer is yes...

[MaximusB]

So if there are that many bearing failure, how many people had successfully had their bearings or motor replaced by BMW?

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by IIAp3x

Well said... I did read that post... I can remember looking at the rod bearings on my e46 m3 when it had the recall done ten years ago... It had 67k miles on it and when I got to see the old bearings they looked 100% normal with no visible signs of anything unusual... They looked really good! There were no streaks, no layers missing, no pitting, and no cavitations... They looked like what a bearing should look like...

Once again, there were only a small number of cars affected in the e46 M3 bearing saga similar to today's drama, but with one notable difference...

The difference between the E46 and E9x M3 in regards to bearing quality is that we did not see a 99% prematurely worn bearing quality of removed bearings in the e46 M3 as we are seeing now... In fact, I can remember seeing so many perfectly fine bearings removed from e46 m3's for the bearing recall that it really seemed like the problem was isolated to a very small percentage of cars..

Why do all of the bearings taken out of e9x M3s for preventive maintenance look so bad? Why are they so cavitated in certain spots primarily on the upper shells?

The e46 M3 was just as volatile and high strung as the e9x, so why did the vast majority of those bearings look normal?

Is this just the quality one should expect from a high revving v8 motor? I can't imagine that the answer is yes...

No one till today can pin point 100% the true cause of the BF (Not even BMW)
So let's guess ,like everyone is doing on here ..

For me personal and I guess...It's a combination of design flaw and faulty engine assembling .
This means no average in reliability..
That's why we see S65's with + 200K on it while others failed at 6K .
Some are lucky ...some are/were out of luck .
"The German lottery"

[IIAp3x]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

No one till today can pin point 100% the true cause of the BF (Not even BMW)
So let's guess ,like everyone is doing on here ..

For me personal and I guess...It's a combination of design flaw and faulty engine assembling .
This means no average in reliability..
That's why we see S65's with + 200K on it while others failed at 6K .
Some are lucky ...some are/were out of luck .
"The German lottery"

I still love my E92 M3 though!

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by IIAp3x

I still love my E92 M3 though!

That's a normal reaction..Same thing here .
Mine is actually a garage queen , don't drive it in winter ...don't drive it in the rain .
Summer is comming in Belgium , and wait for sunny weather to drive her again through the Belgian Ardennes .
Because she said to me ....I really love the twisties in the forests .
Last time she said also to me...I really hate speed cams !

[MFL]

Rod Bearings, suspension, brakes, bushings, cooling system = 200k mile car with few failure points capable of this kind of performance. Fucking well done, BMW.

[kb9uwu]

Originally Posted by MFL

Rod Bearings, suspension, brakes, bushings, cooling system = 200k mile car with few failure points capable of this kind of performance. Fucking well done, BMW.

hear hear!

[IIAp3x]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

That's a normal reaction..Same thing here .
Mine is actually a garage queen , don't drive it in winter ...don't drive it in the rain .
Summer is comming in Belgium , and wait for sunny weather to drive her again through the Belgian Ardennes .
Because she said to me ....I really love the twisties in the forests .
Last time she said also to me...I really hate speed cams !

How many miles are on your car now?

[cenix]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

That's a normal reaction..Same thing here .
Mine is actually a garage queen , don't drive it in winter ...don't drive it in the rain .
Summer is comming in Belgium , and wait for sunny weather to drive her again through the Belgian Ardennes .
Because she said to me ....I really love the twisties in the forests .
Last time she said also to me...I really hate speed cams !

You truly are the ///M Whisperer... Now you hear voices from the V8? Just kidding!

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by IIAp3x

How many miles are on your car now?

32K .
Some stuff about oil...
Last oil change was done last year in November at my BMW/Dealer .
Oil change was done with the new BMW "///M-Twin power turbo" 10W60 made by Shell .

Need to say my S65 runs smoother with the new stuff .
Before I was on the Castrol/Edge , but had some oil consumption when I really pushed it into the high rpm's for several days .
I noticed also that the new Twin oil warms up about 20% faster compared to the Castrol .
I have stored the whole stuff like oil temps and needed time to warm up in my database in combination with the driven speed and outside temps .
Of course all the data comes from the same traject ...or route.
Before I can say something of the oil consumption with the new Twin oil I need to wait when I can push it really hard through the Belgian Ardennes .
I will drive also over "Francorchamps" , just like I did last year in July 2015.