Rod Bearing Showcase Thread

[BL92]

113,700 Miles second set of bearings by the part numbers, Had the sump washed at the machine shop

2001 M11 engine


Used ACL and ARP

[0-60motorsports]

Yeah! I feel like I caught them just before they started to head towards riskier territory. I replaced with plain old OE BMW bearings. I couldn't find any conclusive evidence that any aftermarket bearings are meaningfully any safer to run longer than the OE bearings. Absent the conviction that aftermarket bearings fix any problem, it felt sensible to stick with BMW parts. They were pretty pricey though..

Great! Yeah i agree about that. I wouldnt mind going ACL (but standard and not extra clearance) or if MAHLE ends up making bearings for the S54....

[ATB88]

Good time to change and still not bad. What did you replace with?

Yeah! I feel like I caught them just before they started to head towards riskier territory. I replaced with plain old OE BMW bearings. I couldn't find any conclusive evidence that any aftermarket bearings are meaningfully any safer to run longer than the OE bearings. Absent the conviction that aftermarket bearings fix any problem, it felt sensible to stick with BMW parts. They were pretty pricey though..

[0-60motorsports]

Here are mine! 95k miles on the bearings, which were installed in November 2004 by a BMW dealership under service action. They mostly look alright but you can see that top shells on Cyls 1 & 2 are starting to show some copper -- there's a whole strip at the top edge of the cyl 2 bearing that's all exposed copper. Makes sense that lead was high in my most recent blackstone analysis, and copper was creeping up. Not nearly as bad as others in this thread but seems like I caught them at a good time.

Good time to change and still not bad. What did you replace with?

[ATB88]

Here are mine! 95k miles on the bearings, which were installed in November 2004 by a BMW dealership under service action. They mostly look alright but you can see that top shells on Cyls 1 & 2 are starting to show some copper -- there's a whole strip at the top edge of the cyl 2 bearing that's all exposed copper. Makes sense that lead was high in my most recent blackstone analysis, and copper was creeping up. Not nearly as bad as others in this thread but seems like I caught them at a good time.

[bagger]

I'm the second owner and don't push too hard. I don't know the original owner, but I did look him up and it seemed to also have been "adult owned" during his time if I had to guess. I'm just glad I did them. Slept like a baby last night.

[sapote]

"2004 - here are mine at ~130k miles. Cylinder 6 showing pretty significant wear."
"2004 - 69k'ish miles. Previous history unknown - probably original. "

wow, 130K vs 69K: only a little more wear on the 130K. I'm interested to know if the 69K car had been driven hard with these mileage.

[gabylonfive]

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

[bagger]

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

[Slideways]

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

[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!

[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]

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

[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.

[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