Okay why was this damn thread bumped...
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12-07-2025LAST POST
MFL wroteThe rod bearings are dead or they are not. My view exactly. I choose to not look into the box.Schrodinger's Rod Bearings...
6ixSpd wroteBecause this is the only, and most pressing topic to talk about anymore.Okay why was this damn thread bumped...
It's very simple. As your car's mileage goes up, do more frequent oil anayses to determine if the bearings are starting to wear. If they are, replace them. If not, continue driving contentedly, and contiinue to pay for the analysis with every couple of oil changes. Rod bearings, like every other part in an engine, are subject to wear and will at some point need replacement. The longevity of your bearings depends upon a host of variable factors that mean that my experience may not be the same as yours or anyone else's.
The idea that you must replace rod bearings as the first thing you do upon purchase is absurd. Follow this advice and you will be unnecessarily replacing bearings every year, since the new bearings are generally no more immune to wear and failure than the originals. Just keep an eye on them and all should be well.
The idea that you must replace rod bearings as the first thing you do upon purchase is absurd. Follow this advice and you will be unnecessarily replacing bearings every year, since the new bearings are generally no more immune to wear and failure than the originals. Just keep an eye on them and all should be well.
This is a post from an E60 forum that I think has a lot of truth to it. I know it's not E90/2/3 specific but as long as we're beating a dead horse here...
///M5\\\ 29th November 2015, 05:37 PM
"NO THEY ALL WILL NOT FAIL SUB 100K MILES. Go on auto trader and search, you'll find ~500 cars for sale and over half of them are north of 100k miles. Then go on zoomthelist or allofcraigs and search, you'll find so many cars without any mention of "rod bearings".
Then go on nasioc and iwsti and search. Their bottom ends are way more problematic than ours, and guess what their forum is just so ******* paranoid. Yet I still have many friends with over 100k miles on an STI stock bottom end.
FORUMS ARE A BREADING GROUND FOR PARANOIA.
I've been on this forum for years and I'm almost through with it. This RB talk is really out of control and guess what, no one is going to want to own an E60 because of people on this forum saying things like "Its a ticking time bomb" "The tws is syrup, run 0w40" "Oh man the problem is BMW for not putting nascar standard clearance in a high revving motor" "oh man, look at those wear patters, they look bad, i see copper! were all doomed!!!!!!"
Ive seen so many "bad" bearings bearings (replaced as PM) posted with what I see as normal wear patterns and no clearance measurements. The numbers are what matters, not judging a book by its cover. Hell, I saw a well respected user of the forums pulled a set of bearings out of a 15k motor that he rebuilt as a control and ran on a lighter oil, the bearings looked the same as 99% of the other pulled as PM. He then had the gall to say "those bearings would have never made it to 30k".
Spend some time on the E39 forum, a great deal of those users feel their cars have RB problems and guess what, that paranoia has settled down now that their cars are aging. Its very common to see an E39 with north of 150K miles now so no one worries anymore.
Every time I run into someone with an S85 car I chat. I talked to a guy with an IB 06 the other week and he had 120k. He had no clue that his motor "is a ticking time bomb" because he isnt on this forum. Guess what, he enjoys his car and tracks it.
This RB trend needs to stop before the E60 goes the way of the 996. There's a reason why that amazing generation has no resale value even though the failure rate wasn't that high. The problem was TALKED TO DEATH by enthusiasts. The failure rates on RB on these cars are nothing if you consider how many S85s are out there. Like 20k!!! Yet everyone who joins this forums posts something out of regret because now they're scared to own the car. Think about the people who browse without signing in! They're never going to buy one! Over the past two years I've seen the resale value of the E63 and E60 TANK. ANYONE WANT TO TAKE A GUESS WHY????
STOP, JUST STOP with the RB PARANOIA.
Feel free to find my thread I made not too long ago where I had dozens of s85 users comment their milage on a stock bottom end.
Buy an E60
ALWAYS USE 91 OR HIGHER OCTANE.
ALWAYS LET IT WARM UP BEFORE BEATING.
NEVER TRACK THE CAR ON "MINIMUM OIL LEVEL"
NEVER REDLINE IT AT IDLE TO HEAR THE SOUND
NEVER REDLINE IT WHEN COLD
ALWAYS USE APPROVED OIL and not whatever crap the conspiracy theorists suggest.
DONT REFLASH YOUR ECU WITH ONE OF THE MANY REVERSE ENGINEERED "TUNES" AVAILABLE.
Do this and the car will last a long time."
///M5\\\ 29th November 2015, 05:37 PM
"NO THEY ALL WILL NOT FAIL SUB 100K MILES. Go on auto trader and search, you'll find ~500 cars for sale and over half of them are north of 100k miles. Then go on zoomthelist or allofcraigs and search, you'll find so many cars without any mention of "rod bearings".
Then go on nasioc and iwsti and search. Their bottom ends are way more problematic than ours, and guess what their forum is just so ******* paranoid. Yet I still have many friends with over 100k miles on an STI stock bottom end.
FORUMS ARE A BREADING GROUND FOR PARANOIA.
I've been on this forum for years and I'm almost through with it. This RB talk is really out of control and guess what, no one is going to want to own an E60 because of people on this forum saying things like "Its a ticking time bomb" "The tws is syrup, run 0w40" "Oh man the problem is BMW for not putting nascar standard clearance in a high revving motor" "oh man, look at those wear patters, they look bad, i see copper! were all doomed!!!!!!"
Ive seen so many "bad" bearings bearings (replaced as PM) posted with what I see as normal wear patterns and no clearance measurements. The numbers are what matters, not judging a book by its cover. Hell, I saw a well respected user of the forums pulled a set of bearings out of a 15k motor that he rebuilt as a control and ran on a lighter oil, the bearings looked the same as 99% of the other pulled as PM. He then had the gall to say "those bearings would have never made it to 30k".
Spend some time on the E39 forum, a great deal of those users feel their cars have RB problems and guess what, that paranoia has settled down now that their cars are aging. Its very common to see an E39 with north of 150K miles now so no one worries anymore.
Every time I run into someone with an S85 car I chat. I talked to a guy with an IB 06 the other week and he had 120k. He had no clue that his motor "is a ticking time bomb" because he isnt on this forum. Guess what, he enjoys his car and tracks it.
This RB trend needs to stop before the E60 goes the way of the 996. There's a reason why that amazing generation has no resale value even though the failure rate wasn't that high. The problem was TALKED TO DEATH by enthusiasts. The failure rates on RB on these cars are nothing if you consider how many S85s are out there. Like 20k!!! Yet everyone who joins this forums posts something out of regret because now they're scared to own the car. Think about the people who browse without signing in! They're never going to buy one! Over the past two years I've seen the resale value of the E63 and E60 TANK. ANYONE WANT TO TAKE A GUESS WHY????
STOP, JUST STOP with the RB PARANOIA.
Feel free to find my thread I made not too long ago where I had dozens of s85 users comment their milage on a stock bottom end.
Buy an E60
ALWAYS USE 91 OR HIGHER OCTANE.
ALWAYS LET IT WARM UP BEFORE BEATING.
NEVER TRACK THE CAR ON "MINIMUM OIL LEVEL"
NEVER REDLINE IT AT IDLE TO HEAR THE SOUND
NEVER REDLINE IT WHEN COLD
ALWAYS USE APPROVED OIL and not whatever crap the conspiracy theorists suggest.
DONT REFLASH YOUR ECU WITH ONE OF THE MANY REVERSE ENGINEERED "TUNES" AVAILABLE.
Do this and the car will last a long time."
GVFlyer wroteSchrodinger posts on the forum?The rod bearings are dead or they are not. My view exactly. I choose to not look into the box.
xander_g wroteGet off your soap box. I've been in the car industry for 20 years and most people especially the original owners of E60 & E90/92 M3s will never rev their engines anywhere close to redline. You think most of those original owners are going out and auto cross or tracking their cars. I'll bet only a fraction of original owners can push their car 10/10th.This is a post from an E60 forum that I think has a lot of truth to it. I know it's not E90/2/3 specific but as long as we're beating a dead horse here...
///M5\\\ 29th November 2015, 05:37 PM
"NO THEY ALL WILL NOT FAIL SUB 100K MILES. Go on auto trader and search, you'll find ~500 cars for sale and over half of them are north of 100k miles. Then go on zoomthelist or allofcraigs and search, you'll find so many cars without any mention of "rod bearings".
Then go on nasioc and iwsti and search. Their bottom ends are way more problematic than ours, and guess what their forum is just so ******* paranoid. Yet I still have many friends with over 100k miles on an STI stock bottom end.
FORUMS ARE A BREADING GROUND FOR PARANOIA.
I've been on this forum for years and I'm almost through with it. This RB talk is really out of control and guess what, no one is going to want to own an E60 because of people on this forum saying things like "Its a ticking time bomb" "The tws is syrup, run 0w40" "Oh man the problem is BMW for not putting nascar standard clearance in a high revving motor" "oh man, look at those wear patters, they look bad, i see copper! were all doomed!!!!!!"
Ive seen so many "bad" bearings bearings (replaced as PM) posted with what I see as normal wear patterns and no clearance measurements. The numbers are what matters, not judging a book by its cover. Hell, I saw a well respected user of the forums pulled a set of bearings out of a 15k motor that he rebuilt as a control and ran on a lighter oil, the bearings looked the same as 99% of the other pulled as PM. He then had the gall to say "those bearings would have never made it to 30k".
Spend some time on the E39 forum, a great deal of those users feel their cars have RB problems and guess what, that paranoia has settled down now that their cars are aging. Its very common to see an E39 with north of 150K miles now so no one worries anymore.
Every time I run into someone with an S85 car I chat. I talked to a guy with an IB 06 the other week and he had 120k. He had no clue that his motor "is a ticking time bomb" because he isnt on this forum. Guess what, he enjoys his car and tracks it.
This RB trend needs to stop before the E60 goes the way of the 996. There's a reason why that amazing generation has no resale value even though the failure rate wasn't that high. The problem was TALKED TO DEATH by enthusiasts. The failure rates on RB on these cars are nothing if you consider how many S85s are out there. Like 20k!!! Yet everyone who joins this forums posts something out of regret because now they're scared to own the car. Think about the people who browse without signing in! They're never going to buy one! Over the past two years I've seen the resale value of the E63 and E60 TANK. ANYONE WANT TO TAKE A GUESS WHY????
STOP, JUST STOP with the RB PARANOIA.
Feel free to find my thread I made not too long ago where I had dozens of s85 users comment their milage on a stock bottom end.
Buy an E60
ALWAYS USE 91 OR HIGHER OCTANE.
ALWAYS LET IT WARM UP BEFORE BEATING.
NEVER TRACK THE CAR ON "MINIMUM OIL LEVEL"
NEVER REDLINE IT AT IDLE TO HEAR THE SOUND
NEVER REDLINE IT WHEN COLD
ALWAYS USE APPROVED OIL and not whatever crap the conspiracy theorists suggest.
DONT REFLASH YOUR ECU WITH ONE OF THE MANY REVERSE ENGINEERED "TUNES" AVAILABLE.
Do this and the car will last a long time."
My point is most of these cars that are now on the used car market have never been driven hard. I'm sure some have. Are you kidding me of your supposed 20K S85 how many you think have been driven hard. Doing a quick blast down the highway is not driving a car hard.
As for the 996 it did have a problem. The IMS and if you didn't fix it and you drove the car hard the engine would fail.
Some of us change our rod bearings like our underwear, some do it preventatively, some in emergency! 
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Dr. Dre wroteLol.Get off your soap box. I've been in the car industry for 20 years and most people especially the original owners of E60 & E90/92 M3s will never rev their engines anywhere close to redline. You think most of those original owners are going out and auto cross or tracking their cars. I'll bet only a fraction of original owners can push their car 10/10th.
My point is most of these cars that are now on the used car market have never been driven hard. I'm sure some have. Are you kidding me of your supposed 20K S85 how many you think have been driven hard. Doing a quick blast down the highway is not driving a car hard.
As for the 996 it did have a problem. The IMS and if you didn't fix it and you drove the car hard the engine would fail.
Touche on the 996 tho.
Adenau wroteI keep extra sets in my gym bag too. You never know, thats the pointSome of us change our rod bearings like our underwear, some do it preventatively, some in emergency!
xander_g wroteI keep an extra set of rod bearings in my back up underwear in my trunk emergency kit lolAdenau wroteI keep extra sets in my gym bag too. You never know, thats the pointSome of us change our rod bearings like our underwear, some do it preventatively, some in emergency!
I don't carry any back up rod bearings because when you need them, it's too late. Just change them once and you can base the next change interval on how the old ones looked at the mileage they had when pulled. I changed mine at 60k and am good for another 60k.
pbonsalb wroteSpeculation. You have no way of knowing. So my advice to you is keep an extra set of rod bearings with new bolts in the glove box next to your Captain America funderwear! I'm a Batman fan personally, but realize others have their own preference.I don't carry any back up rod bearings because when you need them, it's too late. Just change them once and you can base the next change interval on how the old ones looked at the mileage they had when pulled. I changed mine at 60k and am good for another 60k.
Adenau wroteYou've got to be pulling my leg with this post right? Because I've scoured the internet and nary any Captain America or Batman rod bearings. Did you get them from an Indy or are they BMW OEM? Any part number(s) would be helpful too...pbonsalb wroteSpeculation. You have no way of knowing. So my advice to you is keep an extra set of rod bearings with new bolts in the glove box next to your Captain America funderwear! I'm a Batman fan personally, but realize others have their own preference.I don't carry any back up rod bearings because when you need them, it's too late. Just change them once and you can base the next change interval on how the old ones looked at the mileage they had when pulled. I changed mine at 60k and am good for another 60k.
I just bought an 2008 with 85K. The next day I took it to MRF Engineering to get the bearings replaced. He contacted me today and told me that my bearings were showing copper and some had significant scratches.
Go ahead. Roll the dice if you wish. I'll spend the $2350 as opposed to crossing my fingers and hope that things work out. I hope to post pictures soon.
Go ahead. Roll the dice if you wish. I'll spend the $2350 as opposed to crossing my fingers and hope that things work out. I hope to post pictures soon.
Adenau wroteBest analogy yet!Some of us change our rod bearings like our underwear, some do it preventatively, some in emergency!
If you wear pull ups, you can go a lot longer in between changes.
This subject reached the status of viral years ago. No subject is more misunderstood and exaggerated . All the top most commonly heard rant on it are only speculations and wrong especially the ones coming from part selling profiteers. All wrong theories. Only bmw the worst company in automobiles knows and will not tell what's going on. 
MaximusB wroteShort answer? NO!So I am new to the forum, but for the last couple of weeks I've came across quite a few threads related to rod bearing issues. Is the issue sort of got blown out of proportion or all e9x m3 regardless of production year have this problem? If it is really that common then couldn't owners have the dealer fix it under warranty?
Aboutcars wroteIf your engine fails then theory becomes your reality and the thousand your going to have to pay. It's not that hard to figure out what the issue is. I guess BMW has never had any issues with rod bearings on "M" cars.This subject reached the status of viral years ago. No subject is more misunderstood and exaggerated . All the top most commonly heard rant on it are only speculations and wrong especially the ones coming from part selling profiteers. All wrong theories. Only bmw the worst company in automobiles knows and will not tell what's going on.
If all E9x M3s had bearing failure, there would be a recall. Do most? No. Do some? Yes.
