Rod Bearing Showcase Thread

[Stepstools]

I've been waiting for the past couple weeks to post a photo of my 154k mile rod bearings, so I figured that I would recreate the old showcase thread so that others can add back to it over time.

I received my first blackstone results on my new-to-me M3 back in February and the results were pretty grim, so I stopped driving the car and took it to the nearest shop willing to do the work (2.5 hours away in Memphis). It looks like it was definitely time to for these to be replaced, but the mileage alone probably should have told me that. Here's the report and the bearings (bearings are in no particular order):

[broke12]

I have a 2002 M3 Production date 2-25-2002..M11 bolts..Mine were done (Recall) 9/10/2004 33,902 and changed mine with 98,000 miles on these

[DoubleSidedTape]

Had 189k when I changed the bearings. Also did the VANOS at the same time and had a broken timing chain guide and some brittle seals.

[LightlyToasted]

Completed this job a few weeks ago. 164k km on bearings. Blackstone report showed elevated lead and copper trending upwards.

[Rhythim]

This was the 2nd set of bearings the car's had. Original ones done under the service action at 47K, I replaced them at 138K. UOA looked fine, and really the bearings did too. #5 was getting close to wanting attention, but nothing serious yet. I did them anyway since I was completely rebuilding the suspension and everything was accessible. That was an expensive couple of weekends in the garage.

[R1pilot]

2004 with 95k miles. Tracked on r compounds, not sure it makes a difference.

[heinzboehmer]

Original ones changed because of recall at 35,216mi. Changed out again at 113,588 mi. 78,372mi on the bearings.

[COVID-19]

Replaced them about 60k miles. 06 so it didn’t get them replaced under the service action

[Arith2]

497 miles on these. They look pretty good.



These have 85,000 miles



71,000 miles out of my previous engine with a hole. Part of 6 is permanently attached to the crank.

[///M3_MD]

Had these changed with 118k on the clock. Original recall done at 27k miles. They were probably ready to let loose. Put a new oil pump in at the time. Ended up having to rebuild the engine due to HG failure about 3k miles later (tune related).

[bimmer]

March 2004 build. Original bearings AFAIK with 150,000 miles. Replaced with VAC bearings and ARP rod bolts. Was expecting much worse at 150K!

[Robert's_BMW]

2004 with 138800 miles on the clock, last 20,000 miles were AA supercharged. Just changed the headgasket a few weeks ago and figured I might as well do everything (also my last Blackstone was showing elevated Iron, Copper, Lead. Replaced with ACL Race bearings and OE Bolts. #2 Rod was definitely the worst showing copper, the rest were showing significant wear.

[ELEM3NT]

2005, 99k. Looks like they were getting pretty worn. Visible copper on several.

[8000RPM]

2006 - 115k mi

#2 was the worst. Not sure the blackstone matches the bearings?

Definitely glad I got this done and didn’t delay.

[mrgizmo04]

2006 - 115k mi

#2 was the worst. Not sure the blackstone matches the bearings?

Definitely glad I got this done and didn’t delay.

Those are surprisingly low numbers on the report for a 13k mile oil interval and the look of the shells...

Have you tried sending your pics of the shells back to Blackstone to get their take on "everything looks great".

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