Rod bearings?

[99ron]

I had my shells replaced last year at an excellent BMW Indy.

He fitted ACL shells but OE bolts. I asked about ARP but he reckoned OE were just as good.

I had new engine mounts fitted at the same time - the old ones looked pretty tired after 78K miles!

Did the same... same great Indi
My shells at 83K were not too bad but happy I had them done. Piece of mind when enjoying all the horses.

 

[gr3mlin]

How many owners in the last 47k? Has it had bearings before now?

Personally for the peace of mind I'd do them, it's a comparatively cheap replacement compared to the complete s**t-fest if they go...!

5+ owners, not had them done to my knowledge. Will look into it, would be worth it for the piece of mind I think.

 

[AndyBeech]

:lol: Yeah as above. Not sure what you mean by feel but if you mean performance then no, it's purely for piece of mind it won't feel different in any way.

VAC are probably ok, but really I wouldn't overcomplicate it. Just get whatever is easiest, I presume your not going to track the car so it'll make little difference. ACL and King are well used, VAC not so much in my experience. Like I said most of these are relatively long term untested anyway so no real knowing if one is better than the other.

https://www.hackengineering.co.uk/product/big-end-upgrade-package-s54/

£315 for example.

Don't forget you'll need a oil sump gasket, oil filter, oil, and there's various o-rings you can replace while your in there. There's plenty of garages that will offer this service all in to save you faffing around buying all this stuff separately so unless your garage is doing a particularly good price I'd look elsewhere. *just seen your in NI so maybe not so many then!

You might also want to replace engine mounts / gearbox mounts, cpv o-ring while your getting all this done.

Yeah mainly just would you notice a smoother drive, especially when cold.

Nope you'll notice nothing at all. It's one of those expensive jobs that'll you'll get nothing from apart from piece of mind.

I've seen Redish have a good list on their website of bits you can change (and some of which you'll have to change) while doing the job. Worth a look and should help you out if your gathering your own parts.

https://www.redish-motorsport.com/E46M3S54ConrodBearingShells.html

 

[Mr Tidy]

5+ owners, not had them done to my knowledge. Will look into it, would be worth it for the piece of mind I think.

47K seems quite early, but as you are planning to add a supercharger it may well be worth getting them replaced - for the peace of mind if nothing else!

 

[BMWZ4MC]

I changed mine at 50k miles because it sees a lot of track use. They looked fine, but I’ll change them again at 100k anyway since I’ve no idea what will be the longevity of replaced bearing shells in a car that sees hard use in ambient temperatures of up to 45C.

 

[gr3mlin]

5+ owners, not had them done to my knowledge. Will look into it, would be worth it for the piece of mind I think.

47K seems quite early, but as you are planning to add a supercharger it may well be worth getting them replaced - for the peace of mind if nothing else!

Tempted to wait, I’m doing pretty low mileage atm so might spend the money on some Stack gauges instead for now.

 

[GuidoK]

https://www.redish-motorsport.com/E46M3S54ConrodBearingShells.html

That video they have there with the z4m with only 27k on the clock is quite shocking...
at least they plastigauge. Even the worn bearings to see if fitment was good, so they're definately not cutting corners on work.
I don't see a service for checking the oil pump pressure piston though.

 

[Mr Tidy]

Tempted to wait, I’m doing pretty low mileage atm so might spend the money on some Stack gauges instead for now.

Given how those shells in GuidoK's link looked after 27K miles, maybe at 47K with 5 previous keepers and a plan to add a supercharger the money might be better spent on new shells than Stack gauges - they won't do much if you spin a shell!

Although they are the worst I have seen considering the low mileage they have covered.

My car had 7 previous keepers and I got mine replaced at 78K miles. Old ones looked like this:-

 

[gr3mlin]

Tempted to wait, I’m doing pretty low mileage atm so might spend the money on some Stack gauges instead for now.

Given how those shells in GuidoK's link looked after 27K miles, maybe at 47K with 5 previous keepers and a plan to add a supercharger the money might be better spent on new shells than Stack gauges - they won't do much if you spin a shell!

Although they are the worst I have seen considering the low mileage they have covered.

My car had 7 previous keepers and I got mine replaced at 78K miles. Old ones looked like this:-

Think that video has changed my mind!