Rod bearings after 57k miles

[3littlepigs]

I decided to replace my rod bearings just as a precaution. How glad am I ?
Only 57000 miles they look like they have done much more

Don’t believe anyone who says rod bearing failure is a myth here’s the evidence. I bought the shells and arp bolts from hack engineering you also need a dip stick o ring an oil pump o ring a sump gasket an oil filter and oil .

 

[Simon 3.2M]

Did you do them yourself?

 

[buzyg]

Trouble with older cars is, unless you have known them since new, you just don't know how they have been treated.

 

[BMWZ4MC]

Mine has seen very heavy track use from around 25k through to over 85k miles. I changed my rod bearings at 50k and visually they were absolutely fine. I’ll change mine again at 100k due to the hard life it lives and because the cost is insignificant compared with the cost of rebuilding or replacing the engine.
Mine has been revved to 8k several times on every drive and is usually driven hard even on the road but, importantly, I’ve never thrashed it from cold and I’ve undertaken oil changes every two or three track days or several times every year as a minimum.
I’ve owned mine from two years old, so I can be fairly confident that my use has had a greater bearing than that of the first owner.

 

[Mr Tidy]

As buzy says not knowing the car's history is the main issue.

My car had 7 previous keepers so soon after I bought it I had them replaced at 78K miles for peace of mind and like the OP was glad I had!




I'm now obsessive about getting it properly up to temperature before I let rip.

 

[grannyknot]

I decided to replace my rod bearings just as a precaution. How glad am I ?
Only 57000 miles they look like they have done much more
Don’t believe anyone who says rod bearing failure is a myth here’s the evidence. I bought the shells and arp bolts from hack engineering you also need a dip stick o ring an oil pump o ring a sump gasket an oil filter and oil .

Good call, just for peace of mind it's worth it.

 

[3littlepigs]

Hi all, yes I did them my self . Fair bit of disassembly to get the sump off but definitely worth the effort. Also fitting a garagistic short shift while I am at it photos to follow

 

[grannyknot]

Also fitting a garagistic short shift while I am at it photos to follow

Just did this my self, very pleased with it. Garagistic doesn't make a double shear selector rod for the Z4 so I bought the UUC DSSR and shortened it by 12mm. Very crisp clean shifting now.

 

[XMetal]

Trouble with older cars is, unless you have known them since new, you just don't know how they have been treated.

Don't think this really matter much on this motor. I've owned mine pretty much since new. My bearings looked pretty much like OP's when I did mine at ~54k miles.

 

[BMWZ4MC]

Trouble with older cars is, unless you have known them since new, you just don't know how they have been treated.

Don't think this really matter much on this motor. I've owned mine pretty much since new. My bearings looked pretty much like OP's when I did mine at ~54k miles.

As have I, and I’ve driven it with enthusiasm, yet mine looked ok at 50k…

 

[buzyg]

Trouble with older cars is, unless you have known them since new, you just don't know how they have been treated.

Don't think this really matter much on this motor. I've owned mine pretty much since new. My bearings looked pretty much like OP's when I did mine at ~54k miles.

Why did you feel the need to do them at 54k?

 

[XMetal]

Why did you feel the need to do them at 54k?

Had a string of high lead readings on oil analysis since ~22k miles. Attached is the oil analysis back in 2018 right before I did my rod bearings.

 

[pvr]

Can you get oil analysis in the UK? Seems very much a USA thing

 

[TomK]

Can you get oil analysis in the UK? Seems very much a USA thing

Not really, lots of places in europe.
For the uk Millers is popular.
https://www.millersoils.co.uk/oil-analysis/

 

[buzyg]

Why did you feel the need to do them at 54k?

Had a string of high lead readings on oil analysis since ~22k miles. Attached is the oil analysis back in 2018 right before I did my rod bearings.

Thanks for posting. If I get another S54 that is great data to have.

 

[XMetal]

Thanks for posting. If I get another S54 that is great data to have.

I should have done oil analysis sooner since day 1, but I thought that our S54s were the latest and greatest iteration and should have all the rod bearing issue fixed, especially on my later march 2008 build - Boy was I wrong. I'm glad my paranoia got to me after reading all the bearing issues on the Z4Ms and finally caved and got my first oil analysis at 20k+ miles. You can imagine how my heart sank when I saw my first results! My theory is that BMW probably laxed a bit on their build specs on the Z4M S54 engines since I'm seeing more rod bearing wears on the Z4M than E46M3 (post rod bearing recall, of course).

For you data nerd, here are the analysis since the 2018 rod bearing change, including my last oil change 3 months ago. Wear in lead had nearly disappeared since the rod bearing job.

 

[mr wilks]

Why did you feel the need to do them at 54k?

Had a string of high lead readings on oil analysis since ~22k miles. Attached is the oil analysis back in 2018 right before I did my rod bearings.

Possibly the most interesting S54 oil / rod bearing reading ive seen in my forum years .
Raises a good few questions & at the same time backs up my own thoughts on the topic of when to change them & likelihood of failure in relation to mileage .
Whenever i see guys posting their pics of "shot " bearing shells i can't help but consider the wear could have been done at any time in the cars mileage ( as in this case fairly early on ) & that subsequent wear is minimal therefore a small chance of failure if the owner is treating the car as they should
IE max yearly or 7k oil changes - no cold high revving - oil always kept topped - no significanct tracktime

@XMetal
have you a record of what oil brand + spec you were using on the individual tests from 28k to 54k ?

 

[XMetal]

@XMetal
have you a record of what oil brand + spec you were using on the individual tests from 28k to 54k ?

Yes - If you look at the original oil analysis that I've posted, look toward the bottom of the first section will show what oil and additives. I've mostly used the OE Castrol 10W60, but since I've started seeing the higher lead wear, I've decided to try different viscosity and various additives to test out everyone's theory that I've came across regarding this topic over the years (I'm an engineer, so I like concrete data vs just "theory"). Since seeing the high strings of lead, I knew that I had to do my bearings sooner or later, so not much harm in trying out various things. As you can see from the analysis that nothing really helped. This lead me to believe that the original bearings probably didn't get installed (torqued) down properly from the factory - probably BMW didn't put their top techs building the later engines or they just let their torquing equipment go out of specs? Since the rod bearing change, I've only use LiquiMoly 10w60 and Castrol 10w60 - no difference in wear.

I have no track time on the car. Car doesn't get past 3.5k until oil is fully warmed up (I live in Southern California, so weathers are mostly in the 70s F to 90s F year round) - can't blame the 10W60 getting properly up to temp. My oil change interval is annual since I don't drive that much, but the last change was 1.5 years since I've only driven it around 3k miles - can't blame the lack of service. The car doesn't consume a drop of oil up to this date. My driving habit hasn't changed over the years, so...can't say that I've treated the car any differently pre/post bearing change.

 

[rocket70]

Can you get oil analysis in the UK? Seems very much a USA thing

Not really, lots of places in europe.
For the uk Millers is popular.
https://www.millersoils.co.uk/oil-analysis/

We have oil analysed from our Standby Generators and our our screw compressors (chillers) annually.
I will find out the companies they use.

 

[mr wilks]

@XMetal
have you a record of what oil brand + spec you were using on the individual tests from 28k to 54k ?

Yes - If you look at the original oil analysis that I've posted, look toward the bottom of the first section will show what oil and additives. I've mostly used the OE Castrol 10W60, but since I've started seeing the higher lead wear, I've decided to try different viscosity and various additives to test out everyone's theory that I've came across regarding this topic over the years (I'm an engineer, so I like concrete data vs just "theory"). Since seeing the high strings of lead, I knew that I had to do my bearings sooner or later, so not much harm in trying out various things. As you can see from the analysis that nothing really helped. This lead me to believe that the original bearings probably didn't get installed (torqued) down properly from the factory - probably BMW didn't put their top techs building the later engines or they just let their torquing equipment go out of specs? Since the rod bearing change, I've only use LiquiMoly 10w60 and Castrol 10w60 - no difference in wear.

I have no track time on the car. Car doesn't get past 3.5k until oil is fully warmed up (I live in Southern California, so weathers are mostly in the 70s F to 90s F year round) - can't blame the 10W60 getting properly up to temp. My oil change interval is annual since I don't drive that much, but the last change was 1.5 years since I've only driven it around 3k miles - can't blame the lack of service. The car doesn't consume a drop of oil up to this date. My driving habit hasn't changed over the years, so...can't say that I've treated the car any differently pre/post bearing change.

Thanks , just for clarity i wasn't suggesting you had anything to do with the shells being like they are , i actually beieve many cars incurred the wear very early on for a variety of reasons & can go on to cover 100k + without issues or further wear , i don't believe for a minute that when shell pics a re posted the wear has happened in the last 1000 miles .
Are you now running Millers oil since rebuild ? I have had 3 x 911s & through those ownerships realised that not all oil is the same despite having the same numbers & will only ever use Millers in whatever cars i own .