Official S65 Rod Bearing Condition Example Thread

[Assimilator1]

Originally Posted by mjn77

2011 / 98k miles

...

Fancy doing a little experiment on 1 or 2 of your shells? Or posting me one?

[ckang008]

Has anyone change out a set of BE or ACL bearings after considerable amount of miles to check for wear? It will be nice to see the results of high mileage BE/ACL bearings

[Assimilator1]

What do you call high mileage?

I've only come across a handful of aftermarket bearings being replaced, here's the list I've complied anyway.

Good condition, aftermarket bearings pulled :-

Deansbimmer - (122k miles total) 52k miles supercharged with VAC/Clevite bearings (increased clearance), 14/1/20 - https://www.m3post.com/forums/showpo...postcount=1386
toolshed - 31k miles, BE bearings, 26/7/18 (only 1 shell shown) - https://www.m3post.com/forums/showpo...postcount=1114
Malek - 33.5k miles, old design VAC/Clevite (slightly reduced clearance! Also a close up of an LCI bearing), 30/12/14 - https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1073979
maicol76 - 6-12k miles, lots of track use, VAC bearings, https://www.m3post.com/forums/attach...1&d=1522589580
SYT_Shadow - 25k miles on BE bearings, mostly track use. (No1 mains spun).Photos taken from 'blown engine thread pt2' - https://www.m3post.com/forums/showpo...5&postcount=93
scrippy - 98k miles on WPC bearings, replaced due to cracked sumps and oil loss! Photo is poor quality, but bearings seem good. https://www.m3post.com/forums/showpo...&postcount=612
akkando (from FB) - 40k miles, poor quality pics - https://www.m3post.com/forums/showpo...postcount=1947
Green-eggs - 4k track miles, nearly exclusively, ~1000hp!! BE bearings https://www.m3post.com/forums/showpo...postcount=2197

[mjn77]

Originally Posted by Assimilator1

Fancy doing a little experiment on 1 or 2 of your shells? Or posting me one?

What do you want me to do?

[Assimilator1]

Originally Posted by mjn77

What do you want me to do?

Pick the most worn shell, and sandpaper the shell on the most worn part until it either turns back to a silvery colour or turns coppery, then take a good quality close up photo of your job and post it here .
We want to see if your shell has worn though the babbitt layer. If it hasn't, as you rub it down it'll turn back to a silvery colour, if it has it'll turn copper. A medium grade sandpaper should do it I think.
If you don't want to do that, you could post your most worn shell to me, I'm only 1 county over .

[mjn77]

Originally Posted by Assimilator1

Pick the most worn shell, and sandpaper the shell on the most worn part until it either turns back to a silvery colour or turns coppery, then take a good quality close up photo of your job and post it here .
We want to see if your shell has worn though the babbitt layer. If it hasn't, as you rub it down it'll turn back to a silvery colour, if it has it'll turn copper. A medium grade sandpaper should do it I think.
If you don't want to do that, you could post your most worn shell to me, I'm only 1 county over .

I haven't got copper bearings. These are the reworked later bearings used in the later LCI cars.

[IamFODI]

Originally Posted by mjn77

I haven't got copper bearings. These are the reworked later bearings used in the later LCI cars.

The later bearings do seem to have copper.

https://www.m3post.com/forums/showpo...postcount=1222
https://www.m3post.com/forums/showpo...postcount=1937

[Assimilator1]

Originally Posted by mjn77

I haven't got copper bearings. These are the reworked later bearings used in the later LCI cars.

As per IamFODI's links, the LCI bearings do have copper in them too.
Are you interested in doing the little experiment for us? Or sending me one of your most worn bearings?

[munstro]

Is it common for engine temps to increase after a rod bearing change? Seems to be the case with my car. I’m just wondering if there is any consensus on this.

[TX]

Originally Posted by munstro

Is it common for engine temps to increase after a rod bearing change? Seems to be the case with my car. I’m just wondering if there is any consensus on this.

Do you mean it comes up to running temperature quicker or do you mean it actually runs hotter at running temperature?

I felt that my engine reached operating temperature quicker on a regular basis after a switch to BE and I was told I was crazy so I let it go. It used to take a full 15 minute drive to work and I was still restricted in rpm and had little reading in the temperature. Now I can be 1/4 of the way to work and I’m past the first dot on the gauge and starting to measure oil level. This is a change I’m totally happy with.

Is this your question or do you mean your engine is running hotter past the 210 mark?
There’s not a lot that could change in a bearing job unless something was not done right with the pickup tubes or they have become clogged.

[Helmsman]

Originally Posted by munstro

Is it common for engine temps to increase after a rod bearing change? Seems to be the case with my car. I’m just wondering if there is any consensus on this.

New bearings will not make the engine run warmer. Maybe another oil brand in? For instance Shell 10w60 seems to come up to temp slightly faster than Castrol 10w60.
If the engine definitely is running warmer (above 100C) vs before, I'd have a talk with the shop to investigate.

[munstro]

Thanks for the replies. It takes the same amount of time to get to operating temp but yes when driving hard i see it go further past the 210 mark. It could be the high ambient temps we’ve been having. I’ll keep an eye on it. The shop that did the work has been less than able to tolerate my concerns with their quality control, which required me to have my much more trusted and talented local shop give the car a look over after the RB job. Oil was clean, car runs good etc.

[IamFODI]

Originally Posted by munstro

It could be the high ambient temps we’ve been having.

This will do it.

[munstro]

Yeah when just cruising the temps seem normal, I don’t think it has changed by 100C and I am running same Liqui Molly

[Helmsman]

Originally Posted by munstro

Yeah when just cruising the temps seem normal, I don’t think it has changed by 100C and I am running same Liqui Molly

Mine is normally running fairly "cold" a needle below the 100C mark, however this Summer with temps towards 30C it pass a needle above even at steady high way speed. So yes, the outside temp matter without doubt.

[PTRAN]

Replaced RB in May 2021 at AutoCouture

Shells are out of order.

2012 M3 ZCP
42,380 miles.

Replaced with WPC treated Bearings/ARP Bolts

[Assimilator1]

Originally Posted by mjn77

What do you want me to do?

Not interested?

Originally Posted by PTRAN

Replaced RB in May 2021 at AutoCouture

Shells are out of order.

2012 M3 ZCP
42,380 miles.

Replaced with WPC treated Bearings/ARP Bolts

Are you interested in a little experiment on one or 2 of your old shells? (see my post on 27/6).

[GeorgeA]

Here are mine. Just replaced with ACL/ARP.

Car is a 09 with 81k miles. Driven hard but always warmed up and oil changes every 5k miles.

Shells are out of order but the worst one was cylinder 5

[Assimilator1]

Yea no5 is a nasty one!
Pretty typical for those early bearings though.

[GeorgeA]

Originally Posted by Assimilator1

Yea no5 is a nasty one!
Pretty typical for those early bearings though.

Yup, my oil reports were coming back decent. I'm glad I got them done.

[Assimilator1]

Have you posted the oil reports anywhere? (I could add your data to my thread).

[MPizza]

Got my bearings changed yesterday - they are out of order.

2010 M3 - 105k miles - i think i got lucky guys...