Rod bearing failure. What now?

[liam821]

Honestly, $13k is a pretty decent price IMHO. You'll spend half of that on a used shitty high mileage engine that probably needs another $3k in bearings, seals, vanos, etc etc.

For OP, you can just buy just a replacement crank, new bearings, etc, and put your engine back together as long as you didn't push too much metal through the engine though. Although at that point you're basically doing an engine rebuild. This is probably the cheaper route to a new long block from bmw though.

[cornerbalanced]

Honestly, $13k is a pretty decent price IMHO. You'll spend half of that on a used shitty high mileage engine that probably needs another $3k in bearings, seals, vanos, etc etc.

For OP, you can just buy just a replacement crank, new bearings, etc, and put your engine back together as long as you didn't push too much metal through the engine though. Although at that point you're basically doing an engine rebuild. This is probably the cheaper route to a new long block from bmw though.

I found a healthy long block for $4k, it will be another ~$2k to replace every gasket, replace rod bearings, throw on my fresh VANOS unit from my blown core, etc.

Could you justify spending $7k MORE for a refurbished “new” long block from BMW? I don’t know if I can.

As far as rebuilding my blown core, decided against it. Will take too long, too much of a headache, etc. I’ll just give the blown core to my mechanic as a credit towards labor.

[liam821]

I found a healthy long block for $4k, it will be another ~$2k to replace every gasket, replace rod bearings, throw on my fresh VANOS unit from my blown core, etc.

Could you justify spending $7k MORE for a refurbished “new” long block from BMW? I don’t know if I can.

As far as rebuilding my blown core, decided against it. Will take too long, too much of a headache, etc. I’ll just give the blown core to my mechanic as a credit towards labor.

That's a good deal. I'd do exactly what you're doing. I just had a look through eBay though and all the s54's are all around $6k and have 100k+ miles. So nicely done.

As for your blown engine, I'd imagine it's still worth a few grand on the used market.

[Nate047]

Just out of curiosity, where are you finding these motors in LA? I haven't looked lately but people were asking stupid amounts last time I checked. Long block for $4000 sounds very reasonable and in fact, slightly suspect even.

[cornerbalanced]

Just out of curiosity, where are you finding these motors in LA? I haven't looked lately but people were asking stupid amounts last time I checked. Long block for $4000 sounds very reasonable and in fact, slightly suspect even.

Ended up paying $4,100 for the long block including oil filter housing, lines, and oil cooler, delivered. Guys name is Isaac, you should be able to find him on Instagram. Parts out a ton of E46s.

Not going to lie, I was very doubtful at first. Luckily the engine was still in the car, so my mechanic was able to go over, get cold compression numbers, then crank the car to idle and check for codes, etc. Was also able to have him verify mileage. If I wasn’t able to have this done ahead of time, I would have likely passed on the engine.

[GreyM340i]

Ended up paying $4,100 for the long block including oil filter housing, lines, and oil cooler, delivered. Guys name is Isaac, you should be able to find him on Instagram. Parts out a ton of E46s.

Not going to lie, I was very doubtful at first. Luckily the engine was still in the car, so my mechanic was able to go over, get cold compression numbers, then crank the car to idle and check for codes, etc. Was also able to have him verify mileage. If I wasn’t able to have this done ahead of time, I would have likely passed on the engine.

That’s a good deal especially if the old motor will pay for all the labor. I’m sure labor would be $3-5k by itself if someone’s also going to refresh the new motor and do the swap.

[Nate047]

Agreed, that is a good deal. Nice find!

[AWE46M3]

Ended up paying $4,100 for the long block including oil filter housing, lines, and oil cooler, delivered. Guys name is Isaac, you should be able to find him on Instagram. Parts out a ton of E46s.

Not going to lie, I was very doubtful at first. Luckily the engine was still in the car, so my mechanic was able to go over, get cold compression numbers, then crank the car to idle and check for codes, etc. Was also able to have him verify mileage. If I wasn’t able to have this done ahead of time, I would have likely passed on the engine.

Isaac is a reputable SoCal parts seller. M3list and M3parts on IG would repost a lot of his listings and I know Spencer does his best to vet the sellers he frequently reposts.

Glad you did your due diligence and glad the sale worked out! Saved quite a bit of money.

[simon_c]

Had you been monitoring your oil prior to rod bearings failing?

[WestBankM4]

The long block you acquired for $4,100, great job on that. What year was the car the engine came out of?

[cornerbalanced]

Had you been monitoring your oil prior to rod bearings failing?

Oil level? I had checked it twice prior to them failing, oil read full both times. Checking the oil was kinda a pain with the airbox in the way—so I’m not 100% as to how accurate the readings were.

As for oil analysis, I had not unfortunately—was planning to with the upcoming oil change but was never able to get to that point.

[cornerbalanced]

The long block you acquired for $4,100, great job on that. What year was the car the engine came out of?

Appreciate it! I believe it’s an ‘03, I just remember it not being an early car (‘01-02).

[WestBankM4]

Appreciate it! I believe it’s an ‘03, I just remember it not being an early car (‘01-02).

When I had my head decked at my local machine shop, shameless plug to Star Machine in Emeryville, CA the machinist was super knowledgable about S54's. He was explaining the difference between early and late (01-03 vs 04-06) heads, apparently there is a difference that is noticeable to machinists he mentioned something about the later heads being built more robust? I was going to ask you for some pictures of the rear of the head if it was an 04-06 because I'm curious as to what he was talking about.

Thanks and congratulations again, happy you've gotten it sorted for the most part!

[simon_c]

Oil level? I had checked it twice prior to them failing, oil read full both times. Checking the oil was kinda a pain with the airbox in the way—so I’m not 100% as to how accurate the readings were.

As for oil analysis, I had not unfortunately—was planning to with the upcoming oil change but was never able to get to that point.

Yeah I meant running an oil analysis from a place like Blackstone to keep an eye on copper / iron levels. I don't have rod bearings placed but have done an oil analysis at every oil change for the past 7 years to keep tabs on potential rod bearing failure.