Rod Bearing Showcase Thread

[sapote]

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!

wow, they look not bad for 183K miles! What was the mileage when you bought it and what makes you to inspect/change them now instead of around 100K?

[heinzboehmer]

wow, they look not bad for 183K miles! What was the mileage when you bought it and what makes you to inspect/change them now instead of around 100K?

Mileage when I bought it was 183,968 mi lol. Didn't even drive it home after buying. Had it towed cause I knew the bearings were original.

If I had owned it when it had 100k mi, I would have changed them then.

[Go3go]

Out of my 2003.5 6 speed, 75k miles. Cylinders 1-6 left to right, uppers on the top row. Not terrible but glad I went ahead and did them.

[sapote]

Out of my 2003.5 6 speed, 75k miles. Cylinders 1-6 left to right, uppers on the top row. Not terrible but glad I went ahead and did them.

Good wear patterns; Could run another 30K miles.
How often redline? Track? Hard acceleration?

[bavarian3]

Unknown mileage on bearings, 95k mile odometer 2001 spec.

[sapote]

Unknown mileage on bearings, 95k mile odometer 2001 spec.

Must be a second set bearings as they still have plenty of life.

[Go3go]

Good wear patterns; Could run another 30K miles.
How often redline? Track? Hard acceleration?

Good to know! I just got the car last year so I can’t speak to the previous owner’s driving habits. I’ve put about 6k miles on it but they’ve been pretty tame since the car needed quite a bit of preventative maintenance (vanos, cooling system, bunch of bushings, diff reseal etc). No track time, maybe a couple redline pulls a week (which will change now that I’ve got the car more sorted). Otherwise just freeway cruising to work at 3k.

[BTB]

This was from a few years back, but for the records … about 109k on engine. Engine is from an '06 model year and presumably had original bearings. I put the previous 55k miles on it including maybe 6 track days

OH also under my ownership I drove this thing through cold Chicago winters, those super cold mornings didn’t help much I’m sure

[sapote]

This was from a few years back, but for the records … about 109k on engine. Engine is from an '06 model year and presumably had original bearings. I put the previous 55k miles on it including maybe 6 track days

OH also under my ownership I drove this thing through cold Chicago winters, those super cold mornings didn’t help much I’m sure

right side halves are the top?
Not bad for 109K with some track days. This is good to have in the record.

[Notan_S54]

My contribution to the thread. 05 car with 125k miles!
Daily and mountain spirited driving on the car.

[sapote]

05 car with 125k miles!
Daily and mountain spirited driving on the car.

Looks very good for 125K miles. Are you sure these are original?

[Notan_S54]

Looks very good for 125K miles. Are you sure these are original?

I am not sure if these are the original or if they have been replaced. I do know however, the previous owner took VERY good care of this M3 before I purchased it in 2021. So I wouldn't be surprised if the rod bearings were done in their ownership. Car now has ACL coated bearings and ARP hardware so I'm happy I now have the peace of mind it's been done and that previous owner did their part to keep the car good too!

[Slideways]

Typical amount of wear at 125k, so those are most likely the original bearings for an 05.

[bagger]

2004 - 69k'ish miles. Previous history unknown - probably original.

[gabylonfive]

2004 - here are mine at ~130k miles. Cylinder 6 showing pretty significant wear.