Prepping for rod bearing replacement on 01 M3 with replacement engine through BMW

[fattycharged]

I'm currently creeping on 90kish on the current bearings and am slowly replacing all wear items, back to front, as I make my way an hour or two at a time in the wee hours of the evening. I remember this being easier and me being far far faster in my late 20's and 30's... I am not confident on this being simple under jack stands any longer, maybe a QuickJack?

So down to my question, just confirming I am reading this correctly on RealOEM, photo of block tag and realoem search for clarity, it comes up as post 6/2003, so suggests the M10's would be needed. I always assumed this, but couldn't recall if I ever confirmed over the past decade or so...
Anyone clear on whether they replaced full long block when owners under warranty had full rod bearing failure?

[bigjae46]

You can contact your dealer, give them your VIN and they can pull the history in DCS. It will show if the engine was replaced.

[fattycharged]

You can contact your dealer, give them your VIN and they can pull the history in DCS. It will show if the engine was replaced.

Jae, I know the engine was replaced, there was an engine failure while on the interstate as I had seen the details at one point, I've just misplaced it over my many many moves during ownership, just trying to confirm that my block code above is actually from the date specified on realoem, or I'll just assume it is an order bolts ahead of time.

[bmwfnatic]

Switch from M11 to M10 was one particular day in December 2002, so you would have M10 for certain.

[tlow98]

M10 motor.

not really a big deal tho. Order the M10 and bearings ahead of time and if for some odd reason it’s M11 the bearings will still work and you’ll just reuse your old bolts.

[Amos]

So I'm in the exact same situation, my 2001 engine was replaced back in 2004 so I'm not sure which bolts I have.

I'm taking my car in for rod bearing replacement tomorrow, I'm curious what they will find

[Tbonem3]

You'll have M10

[Amos]

So the shop said I had the old style bolts. Not sure how that makes sense, I have the service record from BMW showing an engine replacement in 2004 but who knows?

Engine was replaced at 70,000 KM due to rod bearing recall
Car currently has 220,000 KM (so 150k on the engine/rod bearings)

Here are the pictures of the road bearings they took out, glad I decided to get these done.

[tlow98]

Ha, that’s crazy. Hard to tell from the pics, but do I see copper?

[Arith2]

This is why I'm sticking to a 50k mile rod bearing service interval. Or every oil pan gasket leak. Whichever is first.

[Slideways]

This is why I'm sticking to a 50k mile rod bearing service interval. Or every oil pan gasket leak. Whichever is first.

Seems like a waste of parts, time and $. With regular oil changes and warm up procedure, these bearings easily see 80-100k with non-track use. On the post above, that is pretty standard wear and nothing was failing even at ~100k miles, which is double the miles you are suggesting. Almost every bearing replacement done now won't need another replacement until the entire engine needs a full rebuild.

[SQ13]

Seems like a waste of parts, time and $. With regular oil changes and warm up procedure, these bearings easily see 80-100k with non-track use. On the post above, that is pretty standard wear and nothing was failing even at 150k miles, which is triple the miles you are suggesting. Almost every bearing replacement done now won't need another replacement until the entire engine needs a full rebuild.

My 01 with about 50k on the rod bearings and lots of track days. I try to stay under 3k rpm until the temp needle reaches the first dot, then under 4k rpm until fully warmed up (needle at ~11 o’clock). Guess what I’ve been doing is working just fine.

[Amos]

Ha, that’s crazy. Hard to tell from the pics, but do I see copper?

Not sure, it is a bit hard to tell. Can definitely see lead wearing. All I know is that both lead and copper have been trending up slowly over the past 5 years, I'll post the analysis in the big rod bearing thread once I get the latest results back.

[Amos]

Seems like a waste of parts, time and $. With regular oil changes and warm up procedure, these bearings easily see 80-100k with non-track use. On the post above, that is pretty standard wear and nothing was failing even at 150k miles, which is triple the miles you are suggesting. Almost every bearing replacement done now won't need another replacement until the entire engine needs a full rebuild.

Just to be clear, that was 150k kilometers, not miles. I do agree with you, 100k miles seems like a good interval

[Slideways]

Just to be clear, that was 150k kilometers, not miles. I do agree with you, 100k miles seems like a good interval

Ah, didn't see KM. The few that I have seen at that 100k mark look like that with the uppers just getting into the copper. Really depends on how the previous owner(s) used the car, but under current ownership, the bearings might fair better.