Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Rod Bearing Replacement - RESULTS from a 2005 E46 M3 w/ 51k miles

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Rod Bearing Replacement - RESULTS from a 2005 E46 M3 w/ 51k miles

    Hi everyone,

    I had my rod bearings replaced this week using BE Clevite bearings and BMW OEM bolts. My car is a 2005 Competition with 51k miles. Many of the rod bearing pictures I see are cars with 100k+ miles, so I wanted to share my results to give folks a view of what to expect from a lower mileage engine.

    I bought this car with 50k miles and the Vanos + Subframe mounts done, but no record of Rod Bearings. I didn't have any records of how the car was driven by previous owners, and being that I imported it from Canada I wanted to make sure it didn't have extra wear from hard drives when the oil is still viscous. I didn't expect copper to be showing....this was more of a peace of mind project because I expect to keep the car for life.

    Below are the results. As you can see, I had 5 pieces with a bit of wear. It's not something I'd describe as excessive; however, with another 50k miles, I'd expect them to probably be near replacement time.

    Anyway, just sharing to give another perspective on bearing life from a lower mileage car versus the ones you see with 190k miles and have almost worn through the copper. Interested if anyone else has any observations.

    Click image for larger version

Name:	9a28143cd63c4b1a9ef8610e64504961.jpg
Views:	481
Size:	90.7 KB
ID:	246348

    Click image for larger version

Name:	493b0f5ec1bf4317b89ed0262deb4cca.jpg
Views:	383
Size:	108.5 KB
ID:	246349

    Click image for larger version

Name:	e8c2e3cd30e84a31827138ae3a789c8d.jpg
Views:	383
Size:	116.2 KB
ID:	246350

    Click image for larger version

Name:	401b4a64c3384109a5598636ebd14bba.jpg
Views:	383
Size:	120.8 KB
ID:	246351

    Click image for larger version

Name:	54b154d1544e4aba884394b56a217655.jpg
Views:	390
Size:	123.3 KB
ID:	246352

    #2
    That looks about right. They probably had a good amount of life left in them. At 100k mine were just showing copper.

    BTW there is a rod bearing thread, located here: https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...howcase-thread

    Comment


      #3
      I'll be doing mine this year with the WPC OE bearings and OE rods. I just hit 55k. I'm curious to see mine, not sure if being boosted it's entire life has caused increased wear. Both times I've gotten the oil changed I forgot to bring the container to have the oil analyzed, so I have no idea what to expect. I would assume my car has a harder life than most being an S3-R
      2004 Dinan S3-R M3
      2023 X3M Competition

      Comment

      Working...
      X