Rod bearing replacement - UPDATE

[Viren]

To continue on from my previous thread, I had my rod bearings and bolts replaced by CPC engineering recently as well as vibra technic road engine mounts fitted (WHICH ARE AMAZING!!).

To start with my car has 74k miles and I have owned it from 39k miles. It has had an oil change every 6k miles and was used as a daily driver for most of its time with me. It has been tracked once for half an hour and been on a vmax 200 day, so nothing major in terms of track time (not tracked at all prior to my ownership). I have ALWAYS ensured the oil is at operating temperature before flooring it and do drive it like it was meant to be driven.

I replaced the bearings with oem parts. The previous bearings were actually not too bad and Phil at CPC mentioned that based on the condition of the bearings it was clear the car has had sufficient oils changes and not ragged from cold which is where the damage is usually done. I'm glad its been done so now have some piece of mind. One question for you guys is should I change the oil after 1k miles as I've seen some people do this?

Anyway here is the picture of the oil bearings and engine mounts (which also did not seem to bad).

Rod bearings.jpg (137.87 KiB) Viewed 3751 times

Rod bearings.jpg (137.87 KiB) Viewed 3751 times

BTW did I mention how good the vibra technic engine mounts are!!! I have NO additionally NVH, zero, and I have so much more confidence in the car mid corner and turn in feels a lot sharper, all together just feels better put together. I would recommend this to anyone and its cheaper upgrade.

[maxman]

Looks like you picked a good time to change those big end bearings .The top set of bearings look more worn than the others.

[Mangozac]

I always thought that if you had that much copper colour showing they were beyond the point of "not too bad"?

Everybody I know who has done rod bearings has done a 2k kms "run-in" period (not going past 5k RPM) and then an oil change. It's debatable how necessary this is, but better safe than sorry.

[Beedub]

those bearings are shot.... very good call on getting them done!

also.... all the people that shout track car damage.... see above! theirs no correlation unfortunately when it comes to these S engines and bearing wear! it can happen to even the most babied cars!

[GuidoK]

Is it my cross eyed vision or is one of the motor mount far more compressed than the other one?

I always thought that if you had that much copper colour showing they were beyond the point of "not too bad"?

The copper cladding is technically a part of the wear surface. It is there for having also good wear/running properties. The white metal top coat is an initial wear layer.
For instance, these are rodbearings from (I think) a Ford:

Some copper is showing. But as these are rodbearings after 195k miles (thats what the guy said/wrote) theyre not too bad and probably will go on for 100k miles (or more).

But the s54 is an engine with a very well documented history of rodbearing wear and some catastrophic failures (probably mostly track related or high speed autobahn cruises) that you dont want to take any risks with it. That puts it in a different perspective. And maybe that guy has seen much worse, that also sets your expectations

[D4dawg]

Nice work there
Getting tech mounts next week )

[Vanne]

good job mate

[Mangozac]

Is it my cross eyed vision or is one of the motor mount far more compressed than the other one?

I think that is pretty normal - it was the same when we did them on my friend's S50. I presume it's something to do with the inertia of the engine's direction of rotation?

The copper cladding is technically a part of the wear surface. It is there for having also good wear/running properties. The white metal top coat is an initial wear layer.

But the s54 is an engine with a very well documented history of rodbearing wear and some catastrophic failures (probably mostly track related or high speed autobahn cruises) that you dont want to take any risks with it. That puts it in a different perspective. And maybe that guy has seen much worse, that also sets your expectations

Good to know. Either way, this reinforces the necessity to do S54 rod bearings at a determined interval.

[Yorkie Z]

To continue on from my previous thread, I had my rod bearings and bolts replaced by CPC engineering recently as well as vibra technic road engine mounts fitted (WHICH ARE AMAZING!!).

To start with my car has 74k miles and I have owned it from 39k miles. It has had an oil change every 6k miles and was used as a daily driver for most of its time with me. It has been tracked once for half an hour and been on a vmax 200 day, so nothing major in terms of track time (not tracked at all prior to my ownership). I have ALWAYS ensured the oil is at operating temperature before flooring it and do drive it like it was meant to be driven.

I replaced the bearings with oem parts. The previous bearings were actually not too bad and Phil at CPC mentioned that based on the condition of the bearings it was clear the car has had sufficient oils changes and not ragged from cold which is where the damage is usually done. I'm glad its been done so now have some piece of mind. One question for you guys is should I change the oil after 1k miles as I've seen some people do this?

Anyway here is the picture of the oil bearings and engine mounts (which also did not seem to bad).

Rod bearings.jpg

Rod bearings.jpg

BTW did I mention how good the vibra technic engine mounts are!!! I have NO additionally NVH, zero, and I have so much more confidence in the car mid corner and turn in feels a lot sharper, all together just feels better put together. I would recommend this to anyone and its cheaper upgrade.

How much did they charge you to carry out the work?

[Z4M-2006]

A timely change ...

Peace of mind has to be worth the cost, especially as the mileage is getting up

[ZAR4MC]

Great job getting them replaced before any damage was caused... Its very easy for the crank journal to dig into the copper layer and spin the bearing, its common on alot of rebuilds. glad you have got it in time...

[Viren]

Nice work there
Getting tech mounts next week )

Honestly an amazing upgrade you will love them, I can't get over how stable the car feels on high speed corners!

[Viren]

To continue on from my previous thread, I had my rod bearings and bolts replaced by CPC engineering recently as well as vibra technic road engine mounts fitted (WHICH ARE AMAZING!!).

To start with my car has 74k miles and I have owned it from 39k miles. It has had an oil change every 6k miles and was used as a daily driver for most of its time with me. It has been tracked once for half an hour and been on a vmax 200 day, so nothing major in terms of track time (not tracked at all prior to my ownership). I have ALWAYS ensured the oil is at operating temperature before flooring it and do drive it like it was meant to be driven.

I replaced the bearings with oem parts. The previous bearings were actually not too bad and Phil at CPC mentioned that based on the condition of the bearings it was clear the car has had sufficient oils changes and not ragged from cold which is where the damage is usually done. I'm glad its been done so now have some piece of mind. One question for you guys is should I change the oil after 1k miles as I've seen some people do this?

Anyway here is the picture of the oil bearings and engine mounts (which also did not seem to bad).

Rod bearings.jpg

Rod bearings.jpg

BTW did I mention how good the vibra technic engine mounts are!!! I have NO additionally NVH, zero, and I have so much more confidence in the car mid corner and turn in feels a lot sharper, all together just feels better put together. I would recommend this to anyone and its cheaper upgrade.

How much did they charge you to carry out the work?

Around £950 for parts and labour for bearings change (also includes the labour cost for changing engine mounts). Quotes vary from 800 to 1200 (I checked at various garages including redish, ML etc).

[Viren]

those bearings are shot.... very good call on getting them done!

also.... all the people that shout track car damage.... see above! theirs no correlation unfortunately when it comes to these S engines and bearing wear! it can happen to even the most babied cars!

This was the surprising part, I drive it how it's meant to be driven but don't track it and I'm so careful about warming it up and it still showed wear at only 74k. But at least the wear was uniform and even across the bearings which is how it should be.

[Viren]

Is it my cross eyed vision or is one of the motor mount far more compressed than the other one?

I always thought that if you had that much copper colour showing they were beyond the point of "not too bad"?

The copper cladding is technically a part of the wear surface. It is there for having also good wear/running properties. The white metal top coat is an initial wear layer.
For instance, these are rodbearings from (I think) a Ford:

Some copper is showing. But as these are rodbearings after 195k miles (thats what the guy said/wrote) theyre not too bad and probably will go on for 100k miles (or more).

But the s54 is an engine with a very well documented history of rodbearing wear and some catastrophic failures (probably mostly track related or high speed autobahn cruises) that you dont want to take any risks with it. That puts it in a different perspective. And maybe that guy has seen much worse, that also sets your expectations

Both mounts compressed the same, it's just the angle their sitting at that's gives the impression one is more compressed then the other.