Cold start rattle 2-3 seconds then gone.

[sometorque]

I am not sure if Collins is doing the right thing here saying that there is no problem, especially since he commented on said FB post that he does NOT measure S54 shells, so even if there was a problem, he wouldn’t know?

Also up until a few months ago I had never heard of S54 BE failures, and then prior to this thread rumors had already started through other channels.

I am not out to salestrash anyone, and badmouth possibly a good product, but I think it’s all a bit too coincidental, and wrong to blame installer error instead of looking into it.

Robert’s response to not measuring was a response to my question in that specific thread in that Facebook group, so glad to see a few others on here taking about this. He did mention that they have a machine to measure bearings down to 0.000005 inch. I asked him if their shells at least get measured by said machine. Not a replacement for hand measuring or checking tolerances, but at least gives me an idea of how tight the consistency is of their shells.

with all that said, I also don’t want to sling blame around, but have been asking him a number of questions to Robert on this subject for the groups visibility. I have a set of BE bearings that just went into my s54, and have right at 100 miles on them. I am sending an oil sample out over the weekend as a precaution. Fingers crossed I’m not a casualty

[George Hill]

I am not sure if Collins is doing the right thing here saying that there is no problem, especially since he commented on said FB post that he does NOT measure S54 shells, so even if there was a problem, he wouldn’t know?

Also up until a few months ago I had never heard of S54 BE failures, and then prior to this thread rumors had already started through other channels.

I am not out to salestrash anyone, and badmouth possibly a good product, but I think it’s all a bit too coincidental, and wrong to blame installer error instead of looking into it.

My point to the OP was that maybe his problem is fixed but if it took 1000 miles to appear, saying its fixed when the new bearings have 5 miles on them COULD be premature.

And I'm not blaming anyone, I'm just saying that the rumor of BE having a recall is not correct and that the owner (1/2) is saying this isn't a known problem with his product.

With all of that said I run BE exclusively on S65/S85 and ONLY BMW on S54 so it really doesn't matter to me if there is or isn't an issue with his S54 bearings...

[bmwfnatic]

Is the problem fixed or is the symptom fixed?

Why did you initially change the bearings?

There is a thread on a FB group where Robert Collins (BE Bearings) replied and said there is NO BE bearing recall in affect. AND that he has no substantiated bearing failure caused by bearings recently.

Just something to think about but if the bearings were improperly installed originally maybe they fixed the repair this go around. OR its just going to take sometime for these to "fail" too.

I am not sure if Collins is doing the right thing here saying that there is no problem, especially since he commented on said FB post that he does NOT measure S54 shells, so even if there was a problem, he wouldn’t know?

Also up until a few months ago I had never heard of S54 BE failures, and then prior to this thread rumors had already started through other channels.

I am not out to salestrash anyone, and badmouth possibly a good product, but I think it’s all a bit too coincidental, and wrong to blame installer error instead of looking into it.

[Giulianomitaly]

Is the problem fixed or is the symptom fixed?

Why did you initially change the bearings?

There is a thread on a FB group where Robert Collins (BE Bearings) replied and said there is NO BE bearing recall in affect. AND that he has no substantiated bearing failure caused by bearings recently.

Just something to think about but if the bearings were improperly installed originally maybe they fixed the repair this go around. OR its just going to take sometime for these to "fail" too.

I don't want to sound like its all doom and gloom, but just wanted to put out another idea and for you to stay vigilant at least in the short term.

*****

Side note, years ago I bought an M Roadster with a failed rod bearing. I pulled it apart and everything LOOKED great except the bearing. I gambled and rolled a new set in it. They last 1000 miles and it knocked the bearing out again (the rod was damaged from the initial failure). So while I thought I got away with it, really it just need sometime to kill the new bearing.

In my case I reversed the faulty bearings with others that were ok and then the opposite... the problem was reversed... now I have fitted everything original and zero problems... let's hope

[Andratch]

Is the problem fixed or is the symptom fixed?

Why did you initially change the bearings?

There is a thread on a FB group where Robert Collins (BE Bearings) replied and said there is NO BE bearing recall in affect. AND that he has no substantiated bearing failure caused by bearings recently.

Just something to think about but if the bearings were improperly installed originally maybe they fixed the repair this go around. OR its just going to take sometime for these to "fail" too.

I don't want to sound like its all doom and gloom, but just wanted to put out another idea and for you to stay vigilant at least in the short term.

*****

Side note, years ago I bought an M Roadster with a failed rod bearing. I pulled it apart and everything LOOKED great except the bearing. I gambled and rolled a new set in it. They last 1000 miles and it knocked the bearing out again (the rod was damaged from the initial failure). So while I thought I got away with it, really it just need sometime to kill the new bearing.

I suppose we'll see in the next few months!

I initially changed the bearings because I knew they were original, and was not sure of their condition (52k miles). It was part of the baselining of the car. The original bearings that came out were actually in nice shape, with predictable but relatively minor wear.



BimmerWorld did not say there was an active recall in place for BE, they just said they were in early stages of investigating a higher than average number of failures from a specific batch. That said, there's no hiding that my new bearings were TRASHED in just a few hundred miles.

Another potential factor is that the shop that changed my bearings told me that "there is no wear in process" - so after a couple hundred miles of light load driving, I had a HPDE scheduled and I used the car in the HPDE. The WPS bearings that are in it now will get babied for the first 1k miles, all below 5k rpm.

With that in mind, I suspect the problem in my case was one of these two:

1) Issue with the bearings themselves, based on BimmerWorld's comment that the specific batch of BE bearings was showing higher than normal warranty returns for spun bearings very shortly after installation
2) Issue with the installation / torquing sequence of the bolts. The shop that installed them normally uses ARP bolts, not OEM, and may not have followed the proper torquing sequence for OEM bolts. This could be exacerbated by the HPDE.

I'm not sure which.

[George Hill]

Is the problem fixed or is the symptom fixed?

Why did you initially change the bearings?

There is a thread on a FB group where Robert Collins (BE Bearings) replied and said there is NO BE bearing recall in affect. AND that he has no substantiated bearing failure caused by bearings recently.

Just something to think about but if the bearings were improperly installed originally maybe they fixed the repair this go around. OR its just going to take sometime for these to "fail" too.

I don't want to sound like its all doom and gloom, but just wanted to put out another idea and for you to stay vigilant at least in the short term.

*****

Side note, years ago I bought an M Roadster with a failed rod bearing. I pulled it apart and everything LOOKED great except the bearing. I gambled and rolled a new set in it. They last 1000 miles and it knocked the bearing out again (the rod was damaged from the initial failure). So while I thought I got away with it, really it just need sometime to kill the new bearing.

[Andratch]

Hey everyone, just wanted to follow up on this after a week of cold starts, driving and listening for the noise.

The cold start rattle is totally gone. Definitely 100% resolved by addressing the rod bearings. Glad to see some others have been able to save their engines from this too!

[bavarian3]

yes I mean the clearance... I have read other threads on acl... good for many and some with problems

thanks for calling it out! I'll keep an eye on them

[Giulianomitaly]

by tolerance, are you referring to clearance?

I'm curious as I have ACL but no problems. only a few hundred miles on them tho

yes I mean the clearance... I have read other threads on acl... good for many and some with problems

[bavarian3]

The appearance of the removed bearings is not bad but out of tolerance,I will never install an ACL again

by tolerance, are you referring to clearance?

I'm curious as I have ACL but no problems. only a few hundred miles on them tho

[Giulianomitaly]

The appearance of the removed bearings is not bad but out of tolerance,I will never install an ACL again

[bavarian3]

Yes i used plastigauge and had a tolerance of 0.051 on all… my ex bearing is acl 6b1569h-std

What do the bearings look like now?

[Giulianomitaly]

Yes i used plastigauge and had a tolerance of 0.051 on all… my ex bearing is acl 6b1569h-std

[bavarian3]

Good morning everyone...it seems that I too have solved the problem of the noise at first start-up....my bearing had been changed 8000km ago with acl ones...2 were out of tolerance, when I installed them they were ok.. .now I have mounted everything OEM BMW hopefully

Which ACL bearings did you use? Did you plastigauge on install?

[Giulianomitaly]

Good morning everyone...it seems that I too have solved the problem of the noise at first start-up....my bearing had been changed 8000km ago with acl ones...2 were out of tolerance, when I installed them they were ok.. .now I have mounted everything OEM BMW hopefully