Official S65 Rod Bearing Condition Example Thread

bmwstephen wrote

one thing I noticed in this thread is how are people's crankshafts and oil journals during the RB overhaul? Some bearing conditions in this thread suggests there was heavy contact to get it worn down that bad.

BMW hardens their crankshafts, so there is no wear to speak of during a preventative bearing service.

Green-Eggs wrote

It's a spreadsheet posted by a rod bearing denier. He left the forum a long time ago after he had a rod bearing problem of his own. His engine didnt blow though. It's on this forum somewhere. Others have had an interest in updating it. I don't know if they did or not.

This is a beautiful end to the story.

I just changed out the bearings on my ~49K mile 2008. It looks like the uppers have taken a beating. Lot of copper showing on the outer edges as well.

I have 52k miles on my 11 E90 ZCP. Debating if I should get mine done now, or wait another 10k or so.

rotomoto712 wrote

I just changed out the bearings on my ~49K mile 2008. It looks like the uppers have taken a beating. Lot of copper showing on the outer edges as well.

Definitely worth changing them, though they’re not too bad IMO. Good move to replace them. Well done. What type (brand) of rod bearings and rod bolts did you replace them with?

I went with BE Bearings with ARP Bolts. I am installing a Harrop kit so i wanted to be sure that the bearings were in top shape.

rotomoto712 wrote

I went with BE Bearings with ARP Bolts. I am installing a Harrop kit so i wanted to be sure that the bearings were in top shape.

Excellent. You went with the BE bearings and ARP bolts = the 'Gold Standard'. Congratulations on the Harrop SC. I just sold my Harrop blower after six years of ownership and 55K miles of use. I guarantee you'll love the Harrop. It makes the S65 think it's a V10..

Links to m3post Harrop threads:
Official Harrop thread:
https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1070943
Harrop Owners Chime in (aka the unofficial thread):
https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1802212

rotomoto712 wrote

I went with BE Bearings with ARP Bolts. I am installing a Harrop kit so i wanted to be sure that the bearings were in top shape.

Allow me to use your picture to ask something to whoever may know.

Are the upper ones supposed to be strictly used combined with the correspondently placed lower ones? Like I drawed the arrows in the picture? Or opposed?

Green-Eggs

Honestly, I'm not 100 percent sure, but i kept them together like that when i installed them.

Mine at 99k miles. No record of prior replacement:

jvictormp wrote

Allow me to use your picture to ask something to whoever may know.

Are the upper ones supposed to be strictly used combined with the correspondently placed lower ones? Like I drawed the arrows in the picture? Or opposed?

Green-Eggs

All BE Bearings are measured, sorted, and binned before creating matched sets. That means all of the uppers are the same thickness as each other, and all of the lowers are the same thickness as each other. At that point, order within uppers/lowers doesn't matter.

dball4 wrote

Mine at 99k miles. No record of prior replacement:

Pretty decent IMO for that kind of mileage (99K). I've seen a lot worse at 2/3rds your stated mileage. Very good move to replace them finally.
Questions:
1) What year is your car?
2) What numbers are stamped on the backside of the shells you took out?
3) What type (brand) of replacement rod bearings and rod bolts did you go with?

DrFerry wrote

Pretty decent IMO for that kind of mileage (99K). I've seen a lot worse at 2/3rds your stated mileage. Very good move to replace them finally.
Questions:
1) What year is your car?
2) What numbers are stamped on the backside of the shells you took out?
3) What type (brand) of replacement rod bearings and rod bolts did you go with?

1. 2009 (10/2008 build) LCI e90 DCT
2. Didn’t catch them when I was at the shop
3. VAC bearings and ARP hardware

My tech noted that they could have been replaced early on, but again I have no record of them ever being done. They appeared to the the revised OEM ones

dball4 wrote

They appeared to the the revised OEM ones

They look like the original leaded bearings to me. Note the splotchy appearance of the top shells. The newer lead-free OE bearings get a yellow-ish discoloration (looks like wear down to the copper but isn't) but they don't usually get splotchy like that.

dball4 wrote

1. 2009 (10/2008 build) LCI e90 DCT
2. Didn’t catch them when I was at the shop
3. VAC bearings and ARP hardware

My tech noted that they could have been replaced early on, but again I have no record of them ever being done. They appeared to the the revised OEM ones

The numbers stamped on the backs of the bearing will tell you which ones you have. 088/089 are the original 2009 bearings. 702/703 are the updated bearings.

IamFODI wrote

They look like the original leaded bearings to me. Note the splotchy appearance of the top shells. The newer lead-free OE bearings get a yellow-ish discoloration (looks like wear down to the copper but isn't) but they don't usually get splotchy like that.

Ditto

Unfortunately, bad news for this S65. Spun bearing on #1.

2008 M3, 6MT @ 170,250mi

tom @ eas wrote

Unfortunately, bad news for this S65. Spun bearing on #1.

2008 M3, 6MT @ 170,250mi

Looks like we have a new thread winner for the most delaminated rod bearing seen to date. 170K miles! Talk about living on borrowed S65 time. I'm surprised the block wasn't windowed. Or was it tom @ eas ?

DrFerry wrote

Looks like we have a new thread winner for the most delaminated rod bearing seen to date. 170K miles! Talk about living on borrowed S65 time. I'm surprised the block wasn't windowed. Or was it tom @ eas ?

Block is fine, car runs good, plenty of power. Wouldn't have even suspected a thing until the pan was pulled.

tom @ eas wrote

Block is fine, car runs good, plenty of power. Wouldn't have even suspected a thing until the pan was pulled.

Not even rod knock??

Also interested to know, and how was the crank?
Is the big end cap scrap? Or can it be polished??

tom @ eas wrote

Block is fine, car runs good, plenty of power. Wouldn't have even suspected a thing until the pan was pulled.

Block is alive?

owner must play to lottery