BE bearings - progress reports

[pbonsalb]

Malek has a pretty good reputation. I think he is able to correctly torque the bolts. I have no issue trusting what he reports.

[shimmy23]

2008 here with replaced bearings and were replaced with the newer OEM bearings. I plan to eventually do BE/VAC and will share pics of my OEM bearings. That is the first time I know of that someone has shown OEM bearings being replaced twice.

[BMRLVR]

Originally Posted by FazerBoy

I stated in my initial post that I didn't want to start a debate here. I just want guys who have installed BE bearings to post up their experience.

If you want to have a discussion about whether their engines would have failed with OEM bearings etc please start your own thread.

Thanks

Exactly!

[BMRLVR]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

Malek has a pretty good reputation. I think he is able to correctly torque the bolts. I have no issue trusting what he reports.

I don't want to slander Malek, but the info is out there on the testing of the bolts he was using, and at the recommended torque spec the big end bores of the rods show considerable distortion. I'm sure he has updated his torque specs/bolts since this info has come to light.

[Solo_M_Tech]

The worst part about all of this is.... EACH ENGINE IS DIFFERENT AND WILL SHOW DIFFERENT WEAR PATTERNS AND BEHAVIOR. You can't look at one engine's results and say " well mine must look the same". We have seen too many examples of the original bearings showing drastically varying levels of wear at similar mileage. Changing the bearings in 100 engines won't make every single one of them magically wear the same on the new bearings.

[Green-Eggs]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

Malek has a pretty good reputation. I think he is able to correctly torque the bolts. I have no issue trusting what he reports.

Nobody's questioning his reputation or ability to torque bolts. The issue is the bolts he's using and how much they've been torqued. Malek has reported in the past that he uses 45 ft/lbs of the VAC-ARP bolts. That's the exact value that's been shown to cause the bore distortion and extra clearance at 90-degrees. Here's the numbers and measurements to back up what I just said. This is using VAC-ARP bolts at their recommended spec of 45 ft/lbs, and BE-ARP bolts at their recommended spec of 50 ft/lbs. You can see the bore distortion in one, and the lack of it in the other.
http://wiki.rcollins.org/core/index....2000_rod_bolts

The bore distortion and extra clearance says to me, that pictures of the bearing shells after removal aren't of any scientific value to tell how well the bearings themselves did their job.

[BMRLVR]

Originally Posted by Uber///M

The worst part about all of this is.... EACH ENGINE IS DIFFERENT AND WILL SHOW DIFFERENT WEAR PATTERNS AND BEHAVIOR. You can't look at one engine's results and say " well mine must look the same". We have seen too many examples of the original bearings showing drastically varying levels of wear at similar mileage. Changing the bearings in 100 engines won't make every single one of them magically wear the same on the new bearings.

Not true, the wear patterns observed are very consistent from engine to engine when comparing 088/089 shells to 088/089 shells and 702/703 shells to 702/703 shells sir.

[Solo_M_Tech]

Originally Posted by BMRLVR

Not true, the wear patterns observed are very consistent from engine to engine when comparing 088/089 shells to 088/089 shells and 702/703 shells to 702/703 shells sir.

OK. my personal experience says otherwise. Of the 3 cars I've personally done bearings on, all three of them had different wear patterns. The other 4 cars my colleague has done, none of them had similar wear patterns. 3 were completely wiped out. 3 more had top and bottom wear with wear on the parting lines and 1 could have gone longer. Similar wear patterns maybe, but not a consistent wear amount or pattern to draw any conclusions from. Im not regurgitating information I read on the forums, these are cars I've touched or saw the aftermath of.

[LevelM]

Any update for guys with BE rod bearings?
Would be nice to know current mileage and if any issues?
Thank you

[StripclubDJ]

Heck yeah we have another bearing thread bumped up from the dead

[wfdeacon88]

would you rather have new threads?

[FazerBoy]

Originally Posted by StripclubDJ

Heck yeah we have another bearing thread bumped up from the dead

Well, it’s not just another bearing thread.

It’s a thread specifically asking for those who have swapped their original bearings for BE bearings to chime in with progress reports after they have covered lots of miles. That way we can see if the extra clearance of BE bearings is a potential long-term solution.

Hopefully this thread will become a resource in the longer term for those who are thinking of changing their bearings and wondering which replacements to go with.

But thanks for your helpful comment anyway.

[wfdeacon88]

just ordered my bearings.. anxious to get them in! honestly, I can't wait. It's been tough to enjoy it without having them done.

[StripclubDJ]

Originally Posted by FazerBoy

Well, it's not just another bearing thread.

It's a thread specifically asking for those who have swapped their original bearings for BE bearings to chime in with progress reports after they have covered lots of miles. That way we can see if the extra clearance of BE bearings is a potential long-term solution.

Hopefully this thread will become a resource in the longer term for those who are thinking of changing their bearings and wondering which replacements to go with.

But thanks for your helpful comment anyway.

Topics been covered about 6 times in the last 7 weeks in 18 different new threads bud.


But you're right .
Instead of reading through the useful info that's been posted just LAST week about BE bearing and how the experience with them has been great , and how nobody except MRF or maybe deansbimmer has pulled them back out, where they also provided pics if I recall . Let's go fire up some 2-5 year threads and ask the same question again.

[LevelM]

Originally Posted by FazerBoy

Well, it’s not just another bearing thread.

It’s a thread specifically asking for those who have swapped their original bearings for BE bearings to chime in with progress reports after they have covered lots of miles. That way we can see if the extra clearance of BE bearings is a potential long-term solution.

Hopefully this thread will become a resource in the longer term for those who are thinking of changing their bearings and wondering which replacements to go with.

But thanks for your helpful comment anyway.

Thank you for your comment.

Really want to know as bought my gf somewhat high mileage e92 m3 and have to do bearings...

[LevelM]

Originally Posted by StripclubDJ

Topics been covered about 6 times in the last 7 weeks in 18 different new threads bud.


But you're right .
Instead of reading through the useful info that's been posted just LAST week about BE bearing and how the experience with them has been great , and how nobody except MRF or maybe deansbimmer has pulled them back out, where they also provided pics if I recall . Let's go fire up some 2-5 year threads and ask the same question again.

If you dont know BE bearings launched in 2015
So no 5 year threads to be pulled out.

All i need
The mileage when installed and mileage now with maybe oil analysys if not too much to ask lol

[SDPLV]

BE bearings (Fall of 2016)
OEM bolts
0W-60 Motul since then every 5-7k miles

and....

$40 rock auto rotors!

25k miles later, car runs like a boss!

[Mvy]

Just a heads up for those who care. I have the non extra clearance VAC bearings. As the extra clearance bearings were released not long after I replaced mine in 2015, I considered if I had made a mistake using VAC bearings. To my surprise, 3.5 years and 20k miles later plus a super charger, my car runs great. No strange wear in the oil reports which have been done every time since the bearing change. Checked the filter every oil change for flakes from the coated bearings, nada. As others have stated, the wear that causes the bearing problem may occur early on then stop. As long as you replace them with something, you probably dont risk catastrophic engine failure from the rod bearings.

[Scharbag]

Originally Posted by Mvy

Just a heads up for those who care. I have the non extra clearance VAC bearings. As the extra clearance bearings were released not long after I replaced mine in 2015, I considered if I had made a mistake using VAC bearings. To my surprise, 3.5 years and 20k miles later plus a super charger, my car runs great. No strange wear in the oil reports which have been done every time since the bearing change. Checked the filter every oil change for flakes from the coated bearings, nada. As others have stated, the wear that causes the bearing problem may occur early on then stop. As long as you replace them with something, you probably dont risk catastrophic engine failure from the rod bearings.

Careful with statements like that. If you replace the bearings with something that causes even lower clearance due to tolerance stacking, then you will actually have made things worse.

Hydrodynamic bearings should not need to be considered a wear item in a passenger car, even a really high performance car, when properly designed (read clearance is correct). How many Porsche, Corvette, Acura, Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha, Ferrari, Bugatti etc. engines consider rod bearings as wear items?

Cheers,

[Mvy]

Originally Posted by Scharbag

Careful with statements like that. If you replace the bearings with something that causes even lower clearance due to tolerance stacking, then you will actually have made things worse.

Hydrodynamic bearings should not need to be considered a wear item in a passenger car, even a really high performance car, when properly designed (read clearance is correct). How many Porsche, Corvette, Acura, Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha, Ferrari, Bugatti etc. engines consider rod bearings as wear items?

Cheers,

If the theory that this made things worse were true, I suggest to you that I would have seen flakes from the coating or had a bearing spin by now. My argument is the wear that happens early on might somehow contribute to additional clearance. Or maybe the bolts created some. Otherwise, my car along with others who installed standard clearance vacs would have blown up by now. And I am sure we would be hearing about it on this forum.

[Scharbag]

Originally Posted by Mvy

If the theory that this made things worse were true, I suggest to you that I would have seen flakes from the coating or had a bearing spin by now. My argument is the wear that happens early on might somehow contribute to additional clearance. Or maybe the bolts created some. Otherwise, my car along with others who installed standard clearance vacs would have blown up by now. And I am sure we would be hearing about it on this forum.

Not sure what to say here. It is not a theory that tight bearings cause problems. It is also not the case that bearings will self clearance. Too tight will cause abnormal wear which can lead to blown engines.

Math is math. Physics is harsh mistress. Blown S65s are costly. Simple truths.

But alas, it is what it is.

[dv13]

Originally Posted by Mvy

If the theory that this made things worse were true, I suggest to you that I would have seen flakes from the coating or had a bearing spin by now. My argument is the wear that happens early on might somehow contribute to additional clearance. Or maybe the bolts created some. Otherwise, my car along with others who installed standard clearance vacs would have blown up by now. And I am sure we would be hearing about it on this forum.

Which bolts were used in the replacement? It makes a difference. The type of bolt and the torque can add clearance in the right places. Conversely, improper bolt torque from the factory may also be responsible for the wear issues seen in most of these cars. We may never know the true reason for the issues, we only have theories. But, if improper factory installation/torque of rod bolts is the root m issue, you may be correct that your replacement bearings are ok, assuming the replacement bolts were torqued properly. Only one way to find out in your case. Open it back up to check. 😉