Rod Bearing Showcase Thread

[DoubleSidedTape]

So basically the oil report didn’t tell you anything. Guess it’s worth just calling it an 80k-100k maintenance item like the old internet group think always said.

My post on the first page of this thread includes 6 reports over 30k miles on my previous m3 before I changed the bearings. I bought it at 150k, but the engine was not original to the car, so even though I had a fairly comprehensive service history for that car, I knew nothing about the status of the bearings.

For my current m3, like I said earlier, I bought the car, drove it home, and pretty much immediately took it apart to do all of the big 3 as well as some other work. I took a sample of oil from before the change but I don’t know if I still have it. In any case, I didn’t send it in for analysis.

[sapote]

All four of the middle cylinders had the bearings sticking to the crank, and you can see that they have contracted compared to 1 and 6.

#1 and #6 are King and Queen bearings -- they are lazy and don't work that hard.

[sapote]

So basically the oil report didn’t tell you anything. Guess it’s worth just calling it an 80k-100k maintenance item like the old internet group think always said.

No, OP's oil report was after he changed the bearing.

[repoman89]

Nope, I bought the car last fall and drove it home from California, and took it apart over the winter to overhaul everything. Here are the two reports from right after the bearing change (I also ended up replacing the cams and followers because one of the followers had been worn flat). I have driven about 1500 miles since the last oil change and it seems to drive really well, I'm waiting for about 2000 miles on this oil before I change it again and do another report.

So basically the oil report didn’t tell you anything. Guess it’s worth just calling it an 80k-100k maintenance item like the old internet group think always said.

[jet_dogg]

Sounds like you're the perfect person to spearhead this 👍

Give me a time machine.

[dukeofchen]

I'd love a synopsis of driving/service habits since the cars inception for each set of these rod bearings. The massive variance in mileage spreads doesn't give us any remotely conclusive information.

Without any data these pics don't really mean much, they're just a collection of engine internals to look at like paintings on a wall.

Sounds like you're the perfect person to spearhead this 👍

[DoubleSidedTape]

That was close. Any chance you have a Blackstone report before those were changed? Curious to see the numbers if you have them.

Nope, I bought the car last fall and drove it home from California, and took it apart over the winter to overhaul everything. Here are the two reports from right after the bearing change (I also ended up replacing the cams and followers because one of the followers had been worn flat). I have driven about 1500 miles since the last oil change and it seems to drive really well, I'm waiting for about 2000 miles on this oil before I change it again and do another report.

[jet_dogg]

I'd love a synopsis of driving/service habits since the cars inception for each set of these rod bearings. The massive variance in mileage spreads doesn't give us any remotely conclusive information.

Without any data these pics don't really mean much, they're just a collection of engine internals to look at like paintings on a wall.

[mtpktz]

These were especially awful. 05 ZCP with 99k.

That was close. Any chance you have a Blackstone report before those were changed? Curious to see the numbers if you have them.

[DoubleSidedTape]

WOW! Thats so bad.

All four of the middle cylinders had the bearings sticking to the crank, and you can see that they have contracted compared to 1 and 6. Its a miracle that nothing spun and that the crank was smooth.

[cobra]

These were especially awful. 05 ZCP with 99k.

WOW! Thats so bad.

[DoubleSidedTape]

These were especially awful. 05 ZCP with 99k.

[SeanE46]

I’m at 160k with original bearings, thinking about getting them done ASAP!

[dl.m3]

167,000 km. Recall was at 55,000 km. Went with ACL bearings and reused M11 bolts.

Last 3 blackstone showed pretty much nothing. But did em anyway

Sent from my HD1905 using Tapatalk

[M3Bob]

Blast from the past...had these done Dec 2017 at ~170K miles.

Applicable Blackstone report (pre bearing replacement) :

and post bearing replacement. The high copper has been a constant...i wonder if the sample gets contaminated from the copper washer on the oil drain plug.