Rod Bearing Showcase Thread

[tlow98]

Ok, here we go.

211k miles. 2002 SMG convertible. I’m doing a full engine rebuild and just dropped the block, heads, pistons, and crank off at the machine shop. The piston and cylinder wear are well within spec so intend to re-ring, hone and go. The main bearings looked nearly new save for #7 that has slight wear.

I have decent maintenance history and all
major jobs were done at the dealer and show on the carfax. For non major jobs I also have Midas receipts for oil changes and a drain plug that was stripped and replaced at some point. So, yeah it was treated ok, but never looked after with an open checkbook.

I believe these to be original. Not bad I thought?

Every rod bearing, save for two, does show some sort of copper, however.

https://imgur.com/a/KjjGweU

[heinzboehmer]

Ok, here we go.

211k miles. 2002 SMG convertible. I’m doing a full engine rebuild and just dropped the block, heads, pistons, and crank off at the machine shop. The piston and cylinder wear are well within spec so intend to re-ring, hone and go. The main bearings looked nearly new save for #7 that has slight wear.

I have decent maintenance history and all
major jobs were done at the dealer and show on the carfax. For non major jobs I also have Midas receipts for oil changes and a drain plug that was stripped and replaced at some point. So, yeah it was treated ok, but never looked after with an open checkbook.

I believe these to be original. Not bad I thought?

Every rod bearing, save for two, does show some sort of copper, however.

https://imgur.com/a/KjjGweU

I'm assuming those were replaced at the dealer at some point because of the 02 model year. Any idea when that was done? They look pretty good regardless.

[tlow98]

I'm assuming those were replaced at the dealer at some point because of the 02 model year. Any idea when that was done? They look pretty good regardless.

Well, I have no proof they were replaced, if they were. Several other major services (SMG, clutch, etc.) do show up on the carfax.

The first few years of the car’s life only saw 15k miles total, so I would assume if they were replaced that they were replaced in that timeframe.

so 195k-ish miles. Does anyone know for how long the rod bearing service was offered?

[Jimbo's M]

Well, I have no proof they were replaced, if they were.

Since this was a no cost SA, the dealer would have the record, or the PO had the work done elsewhere. Who would do that? So, I think it's safe to say the dealer did it, or they weren't done.

[thetypicalm3guy]

This and vanos are the most over-hyped things on internet fora.

oh vanos is definitely an issue on the e46. Much more than rod bearing imo.

[sapote]

Lmao I'm probably the second longest original owner on here and it wasn't until joining this forum that I saw so much paranoia about rod bearings as a regular maintenance item, "bulltetproofing" vanos, etc. My solenoid went out and I replaced it.

My rod bearings are still original and I've never spun a bearing with as many miles as I have. Do I have a broken tab? We'll see when my cams go in. Should I replace my rod bearings? Maybe it'll be done once during the car's lifetime.

Can I assume yours is over 100K miles? If it has less than 40K miles then no point to debate. How is your driving style? Many people enjoy driving their M3 hard sometime, as expected for these cars which put more stress and wear on the components. I agree that the original VANOS hub tabs would be fine if the rpm is never higher than 4000.

[Obioban]

Stick to cars, everyone.

and, yes— rod bearings wear by time spent near redline. If you don’t drive your car, or don’t drive it hard when you do, they’ll be fine.

… unlike VANOS, which is just a lottery when/if it fails, if you don’t lock it down.

Whining that continued after this post moved here: https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/t...lated-bitching

[stephen]

Well, I have no proof they were replaced, if they were. Several other major services (SMG, clutch, etc.) do show up on the carfax.

The first few years of the car’s life only saw 15k miles total, so I would assume if they were replaced that they were replaced in that timeframe.

so 195k-ish miles. Does anyone know for how long the rod bearing service was offered?

PM me the VIN and I can look up the repair history on TIS on Monday

[Sprp85]

2006 M3, 100.7 k Miles.

Blackstone reports showed clean health (3 consecutive submissions, last one being about 2,000 miles ago)

Overall looked pretty good except for cylinder 4 and 5?

[MTiz]

When I first got my car with 143k miles. The seller said the rod bearings had been done before he bought the car and "couldn't find the receipts". I didn't believe him and had them done anyway, but these didn't look bad. My car was an EAG car back in 2015~ so I'm wondering if they did them.

[tlow98]

Ok, here we go.

211k miles. 2002 SMG convertible. I’m doing a full engine rebuild and just dropped the block, heads, pistons, and crank off at the machine shop. The piston and cylinder wear are well within spec so intend to re-ring, hone and go. The main bearings looked nearly new save for #7 that has slight wear.

I have decent maintenance history and all
major jobs were done at the dealer and show on the carfax. For non major jobs I also have Midas receipts for oil changes and a drain plug that was stripped and replaced at some point. So, yeah it was treated ok, but never looked after with an open checkbook.

I believe these to be original. Not bad I thought?

Every rod bearing, save for two, does show some sort of copper, however.

https://imgur.com/a/KjjGweU

just to follow up here. The dealer network was searched. There is no evidence that these rod bearings were ever done by the dealer. And fwiw, the pics don’t really show how worn they were. There was copper of some sort on every top and bottom. The tops showed guide a bit, but never did the copper cross all the way across the bearing like you see in spun bearings or bearings that are about to spin.

[MathewM3]

just to follow up here. The dealer network was searched. There is no evidence that these rod bearings were ever done by the dealer. And fwiw, the pics don’t really show how worn they were. There was copper of some sort on every top and bottom. The tops showed guide a bit, but never did the copper cross all the way across the bearing like you see in spun bearings or bearings that are about to spin.

Recall service bulletin for the Rod Bearings at the BMW dealership is: 11 04 04 / LBL code 422 if that helps you trying to track down the recall history and performed maintenance.

I have attached the PDF from BMW's recall.

[R1pilot]

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

Looks like we are doing this again at 151k miles 🤬

I will update once I get my report back from Blackstone, but last one was showing copper high at 16 ppm while lead was at 2 ppm. Might do BE and ARP this time instead of BMW bearings (these are WPC treated)

Car runs fine, no noises or anything weird ... just did an oil change and found this:

[stephen]

Not M3 bearings but these are the bearings that came out of my 2000 M5. 130,500 miles.

[heinzboehmer]

These came out of a late production car (04/25/06 build date) with 183,968 mi on it:



I was told that they had never been changed. Not bad for the mileage!