S54 rod bearing
- Thread starter Vanne
- Start date
CornishRob
Senior member
ga41 said:
Is this the hot weather effecting the oil or something else?
I've looked again at the photos of all the bearing shells and it seems that all the top shells have worn the same across the whole of the surface but the bottom shells have worn on one side only. It doesn't look like one particular cylinder is far worse than all the others. I'm sure a good engine builder would be able to explain that.
Liverpool
£120-£180 an hour, depending on location.GuidoK said:
Specialists from £40-£90 an hour.
For example, my recent clutch/flywheel change was £3k done at BMW, or £1200 at the specialist. £1000 of the difference was due to paying 'genuine' BMW prices for 'genuine' LUK parts. The rest is down to labour.
Fair play to the dealer though, as they did the diagnosis for 1/4hr labour cost rather than their quoted 1hr minimum.
srhutch said:
I agree with that. I'm just thinking that the tolerances for cold starting in sub-zero temperatures yet getting up to full operating temperature, might be different for cold starting in a hot climate which might have an effect, because the operating temperature range would be different?
CornishRob
Senior member
exdos said:
Could it be that as the engine will be warmer when not being used, the tolerances will be slightly tighter, so if most damage is done from a cold start, as its just that little bit tighter, they could be getting worn before the oil could get warmed up and do its thing.
simonlpearce
Senior member
Could it just be that that car has done 200k and we haven't a clue how it was driven? Either that or the oil was dug out the back garden and not refined properly 
But Ms are bulletproof… :?
Been saying this for a long time they are wearable items this does look an extreme case probably the worst I've seen but 210000km is a lot of milage! Get it done between 80-100k £1k for parts and labour is more like the figure, £2k sounds a lot.
It does show that buying cheaper high milage Ms is a risk and the cost difference may not be worth it when you have big jobs like this to be carried out. While your there get the engine mounts and bolts done too, probs £13-1500 in total.
You can't really check them as you have to take the engine shield out and drop half the engine out its a pretty big job. You will have to pony up and pay to have them sorted. £1500 for a bit of piece of mind… its like a set and a half of tires…
This happens with all high performance cars as natural aspirated engines have such small tolerances and they don't have a dry sump so its so important the engine is warmed up properly!
You have to be careful with the bearings you put back in, people say put coated bearings in… but thats not the answer as they are harder and reduce the tolerance. Best to replace with OEM BMW parts and 100k is a lot of miles most people on here struggle to put 6k on a year.
Been saying this for a long time they are wearable items this does look an extreme case probably the worst I've seen but 210000km is a lot of milage! Get it done between 80-100k £1k for parts and labour is more like the figure, £2k sounds a lot.
It does show that buying cheaper high milage Ms is a risk and the cost difference may not be worth it when you have big jobs like this to be carried out. While your there get the engine mounts and bolts done too, probs £13-1500 in total.
You can't really check them as you have to take the engine shield out and drop half the engine out its a pretty big job. You will have to pony up and pay to have them sorted. £1500 for a bit of piece of mind… its like a set and a half of tires…
This happens with all high performance cars as natural aspirated engines have such small tolerances and they don't have a dry sump so its so important the engine is warmed up properly!
You have to be careful with the bearings you put back in, people say put coated bearings in… but thats not the answer as they are harder and reduce the tolerance. Best to replace with OEM BMW parts and 100k is a lot of miles most people on here struggle to put 6k on a year.
Yeap, it cost several thousands of euros, replaced 1 rod, all the bearings (obviously) and put in a used E46 M3 crankshaft (new it was 3-4k euro!), not to mention the rod bolts, gaskets and assorted bits and pieces... We got there in the end. It was OK until about a couple of weeks ago when the engine started dipping revs at idle and during light throttle input, back to the shop it goes.... Anyway it's a matter for another thread... Suffice to say i'm not loving the car right now and if i hadnt poured so much money into it it'd probably be gone by now...
simonlpearce
Senior member
exdos said:You've said what I was trying to say, but you've phrased it better.CornishRob said:
Are there any other manufacturers that suffer from similar engine failures in these warmer climates? One would expect BMW with their infinite wisdom would account for these type of events in the materials they use. If not then surely we would see/hear many more stories from across the pond of similar problems? Just playong devils advocate. Personally i think your all looking into it a bit much.
But the thing is they do… its just they are wearable items. Like I said most NA high performance engines have the similar issues when the milage piles on…
You are talking about an M with the equivalent of 130,000 miles its quite a lot for these types of cars. Yes there are loads of M3s with similar milage but how many are ticking time bombs.
You are talking about an M with the equivalent of 130,000 miles its quite a lot for these types of cars. Yes there are loads of M3s with similar milage but how many are ticking time bombs.