New Owner, Would Love Advice

[jayjaya29]

I would stick with OEM sizing, either genuine bearings or ACL standard clearance is fine.

FCP link to standard clearance:

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-race-series-connecting-rod-bearing-set-acl-6b1569h-std

[TR_Beastmode]

Starting the rod bearing job tomorrow. Should I use an engine flush before I start? I was planning to but I’m seeing some places say to not do that. Some diy videos use it, others don’t.

[jayjaya29]

I don't see the logic in doing an engine flush before starting the job.

[TR_Beastmode]

I don't see the logic in doing an engine flush before starting the job.

Okay I gotcha, just wasn’t sure since I saw some people doing that but I’ll skip that. I know you’re supposed to drive easy for 1k miles on the new ones, and then do an oil change. Should I put a cheap conventional oil in after I swap them and change after the first 50 miles? Read that somewhere too

[ATB88]

Okay I gotcha, just wasn’t sure since I saw some people doing that but I’ll skip that. I know you’re supposed to drive easy for 1k miles on the new ones, and then do an oil change. Should I put a cheap conventional oil in after I swap them and change after the first 50 miles? Read that somewhere too

10W60 synthetic only. change after 100 miles, then again after ~1k.

[ATB88]

10W60 synthetic only. change after 100 miles, then again after ~1k.

And if cost worries you, just get the oil from FCP. The hassle of shipping oil back is very much worth the peace of mind here. Consider sending oil samples from your first few oil changes to blackstone for analysis, again for peace of mind.

[Slideways]

Okay I gotcha, just wasn’t sure since I saw some people doing that but I’ll skip that. I know you’re supposed to drive easy for 1k miles on the new ones, and then do an oil change. Should I put a cheap conventional oil in after I swap them and change after the first 50 miles? Read that somewhere too

I would not change the oil even after the rod bearing change for two reasons: The oil filter is there to capture contaminants in the oil and BMW did these rod bearing replacements with the customer running regular 15k OBC oil interval without issue. Trust me when I say that there is already metal floating around in the engine right now. The oil pump chain likes to rub against the oil pump shaving metal into the engine which gets caught by the oil filter.

For a complete engine rebuild, yeah I would change the oil after a few hundred miles.

When doing a bearing job, you have to focus on cleanliness. Use two separate gloves - one pair for general disassembly and one pair for rod bearing installation.

[TR_Beastmode]

I would not change the oil even after the rod bearing change for two reasons: The oil filter is there to capture contaminants in the oil and BMW did these rod bearing replacements with the customer running regular 15k OBC oil interval without issue. Trust me when I say that there is already metal floating around in the engine right now. The oil pump chain likes to rub against the oil pump shaving metal into the engine which gets caught by the oil filter.

For a complete engine rebuild, yeah I would change the oil after a few hundred miles.

When doing a bearing job, you have to focus on cleanliness. Use two separate gloves - one pair for general disassembly and one pair for rod bearing installation.

Okay, I’ll be diligent with the cleanliness. If I don’t change the oil, I’ve got some extra on standby at the very least now too. Good point about the oil pump. I was researching other causes of metal in the oil besides the bearings, haven’t seen anything about that yet

[TR_Beastmode]

Today is the day lads. Got the oil pan off yesterday, thankfully didn’t have too much trouble other than the SMG hydraulic lines being in the way sometimes. Tackling the bearings today, wish me luck

[1000hp]

Today is the day lads. Got the oil pan off yesterday, thankfully didn’t have too much trouble other than the SMG hydraulic lines being in the way sometimes. Tackling the bearings today, wish me luck

Good luck.

Make sure to use one pair of gloves for each rod bolt 😋

[TR_Beastmode]

Good luck.

Make sure to use one pair of gloves for each rod bolt 😋

My trash can is half full of gloves at this point lol. Rods 6-2 are done, and of course the last bolt on rod 1 rounded off on me. Off to harbor freight for some extractor sockets now

[TR_Beastmode]

Alrighty, well the extractor socket didn’t work. Anyone have any idea how to get the bolt out without grinding a flat head into it?

[Cubieman]

Alrighty, well the extractor socket didn’t work. Anyone have any idea how to get the bolt out without grinding a flat head into it?

I would maybe try a different size and/or quality of extractor before loosing even more material on the bolt. Those H.F extractors aren't great, this is when a set of snap on or similar quality metic and standards would be nice, not practical I know. Maybe measure with calipers to get an idea of size and order a quality extractor(s) based on that.

Welding would be the last option,that would have to be done extremely carefully.

[1000hp]

Alrighty, well the extractor socket didn’t work. Anyone have any idea how to get the bolt out without grinding a flat head into it?

Pic of the bolt?

[TR_Beastmode]

Pic of the bolt?

So the 12mm extractor has to be hammered on but I dont Have enough room with the subframe right there to swing at it. I tried but can’t hit it very hard so if I’m not supposed to do that anyway, there’s that at least lol.