Shopping list for rod bearing change

F

Fishy Dave

Active member
 Wiltshire, England
Hi all,

No problems at all with my car, it's running sweetly, but am planning on changing the rod bearings as a precaution now it has passed the 50k mile mark (forum paranoia has worn me down!).

I'd like to double check the parts I need before I begin spending:
6 x 11247835439 Bearing shells, red, genuine BMW
6 x 11247835440 Bearing shells, blue, genuine BMW
1 x 07119905374 Self locking nut (some kits mention needing 4 of these? unsure where these are used at this stage)
1 x 32306778609 torx bolt, genuine BMW
1 x 11137832023 oil pan cover gasket, genuine BMW
1 x 11427833769 oil filter, genuine BMW
1 x 11431707164 dipstick o ring, genuine BMW
12 x Rod bolts, ARP (post 2003)
Castrol 10/60 oil :)

Tools bought for this job:
Engine support
Angle torque gauge
Tall axle stands
High lift trolley jack
Anything else that would be useful?

I have read hours worth of posts about oem vs coated/treated bearings and oem vs ARP bolts and decided to go with oem bearings and ARP bolts. I am not intending to use platigauge, unless other on here regard it as essential.

Anything else 'whilst I'm in there'?
Engine mounts?
Gearbox and diff oil? (My services are out of sync anyway as I service early)
Does the power steering get disturbed, if so I would flush and change fluid?

I was chatting to Arran from Amspeed at the weekend who says they have a method of changing their bearings (E36 and E46 M3) whilst leaving a lot of the ball joints connected and swinging things back and forth to get access.

Regards, Dave
 
I've got a different part number on the oil pan cover gasket (11137834886), and I think you missed out the oil pan gasket (11131437237).

I went with treated bearings and stock bolts...
 
In your case I would also do a change for the rod bearings. For the ARP bolts I have read mixed reviews about them so I decided to go OEM with them again and the same for the rod bearings.
 
Fishy Dave said:
Hi all,

No problems at all with my car, it's running sweetly, but am planning on changing the rod bearings as a precaution now it has passed the 50k mile mark (forum paranoia has worn me down!).

I'd like to double check the parts I need before I begin spending:
6 x 11247835439 Bearing shells, red, genuine BMW
6 x 11247835440 Bearing shells, blue, genuine BMW
1 x 07119905374 Self locking nut (some kits mention needing 4 of these? unsure where these are used at this stage)
1 x 32306778609 torx bolt, genuine BMW
1 x 11137832023 oil pan cover gasket, genuine BMW
1 x 11427833769 oil filter, genuine BMW
1 x 11431707164 dipstick o ring, genuine BMW

12 x Rod bolts, ARP (post 2003)
Castrol 10/60 oil :)

Tools bought for this job:
Engine support
Angle torque gauge
Tall axle stands
High lift trolley jack
Anything else that would be useful?

I have read hours worth of posts about oem vs coated/treated bearings and oem vs ARP bolts and decided to go with oem bearings and ARP bolts. I am not intending to use platigauge, unless other on here regard it as essential.

Anything else 'whilst I'm in there'?
Engine mounts?
Gearbox and diff oil? (My services are out of sync anyway as I service early)
Does the power steering get disturbed, if so I would flush and change fluid?

I was chatting to Arran from Amspeed at the weekend who says they have a method of changing their bearings (E36 and E46 M3) whilst leaving a lot of the ball joints connected and swinging things back and forth to get access.

Regards, Dave
Click to expand...
I would use and will use Plastigauge when I come to change mine, it is a simple easy check to do and does not take much extra time and gives peace of mind that the clearances are correct.
Dave.
 
We used plastigauge on my mate's S50B32 and it was all perfect. It's only really necessary if your bearings are showing a lot of wear and thus you're worried about wear of the crank. But that said, it's not expensive and gives you that bit of extra peace of mind. We only plastigauged one or two bearings and didn't bother with the others - an S54 owning BMW technician friend recommended that is all that's necessary.

We did the same: OEM bearings and ARP bolts, but only because there aren't aftermarket bearings for the S50 available. I'll use treated (NOT coated) aftermarket bearings when I do mine. The ARP bolts and assembly lube made reassembly far easier because it doesn't need angle torquing IIRC.

Definitely do the engine mounts while you're in there. It's all going to be a bitch to do on jack stands though - we did the M3 on my mid-rise lift (1200mm high) and I wouldn't want it to be any lower than that.

Gearbox and diff oils will be changed at inspection 2, which it sounds like your car isn't far from? You might as well change them now - I found it makes a difference. Steering fluid I wouldn't worry about, you should be able to get the job done without disconnecting the steering.
 
I would do the Engine mounts while the sump is off... its very easy then.. maybe even gearbox mounts as well as they are also easy to do and cheap so while the car is up on stands, do it if it suits your pocket.

Also maybe try out a higher quality oil like liquimoly 10w60 racetech instead of Castrol 10w60 . castrol isn't the greatest now days... was back then but now days there's loads of better quality oil products around. We run our S54's in S.A with LiquiMoly RaceTech 10w60 and 1 can of Liqui Moly CERATEC (anti friction additive - works well)

We removed the front subframe and steering rack when doing mine so i would say get power steering fluid also.

If your old bearings haven't put any wear on the crank journals, you should be ok to just replace the bearings and move on... if there is some light wear then you may need to polish the crank journals and then look at using a plastigauge .

Diff oil though is very specific to BMW as it has the friction modifiers and the normal castrol LS Diff oil that they try to sell us doesn't have the friction modifiers and will cause the diff to make the grinding noise on start up and first few km's on left turns after start up but once warm it does go away. Liqui Moly LSD oil is the same... so the BMW oil is the right one to get for the Diff...

Gearbox oil makes a nice noticable difference, I went the Liqui Moly route for gearbox oil and wasn't expensive.
 
Would be interested what it would cost to get the parts yourself as I've been quoted £322.80 in parts from a specialist to do the job.
 
pcube said:
I've got a different part number on the oil pan cover gasket (11137834886), and I think you missed out the oil pan gasket (11131437237).

I went with treated bearings and stock bolts...
Click to expand...

Thanks, you are right, the oil pan cover gasket number has been superseded by the one you mention ending 886, I've added the oil pan gasket too. :thumbsup:
 
Mangozac said:
It's all going to be a bitch to do on jack stands though - we did the M3 on my mid-rise lift (1200mm high) and I wouldn't want it to be any lower than that.

Gearbox and diff oils will be changed at inspection 2, which it sounds like your car isn't far from?
Click to expand...

Sadly my good friend has sold his workshop (but building another one) so I no longer have the use of lifts, at least for the next 6 months. My new jack lifts to 85cm, with jack stands to suit, hoping that will be high enough. :?

I've only just carried out inspection 1 (plus plugs which aren't due until insp. 2), but do loads of oil changes and other maintenance in between. Think I'll change the diff and gearbox oils whilst I'm in there. :)
 
Check the engine mount bolts as well whilst you are in there. Not the bolts on the rubber mounts, but the bolts that hold the fixing plate for the mounts to the engine itself. The exhaust-side ones are known to work their way out and eventually shear, a manufacturing fault common to many M's. An number of mine went and had to be replaced. My indy also replaced the mounts for engine and gearbox as a precautionary measure as they would have been put under stress from the engine dropping and were looking a bit worn anyway.

See this thread, my symptoms starting on page three, pics of resultant damage from the engine dropping on page 6 : http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=52569&start=30
 
Will do, thanks Bing. I have checked them before, well, as best you can from above and below but will give them a close inspection. :)
 
Mangozac said:
We used plastigauge on my mate's S50B32 and it was all perfect. It's only really necessary if your bearings are showing a lot of wear and thus you're worried about wear of the crank.
Click to expand...

It's also a control measurement that the bearings are ok and seat properly in the caps. BMW TIS suggests you do this for every pistonrod.
 
GuidoK said:
Mangozac said:
We used plastigauge on my mate's S50B32 and it was all perfect. It's only really necessary if your bearings are showing a lot of wear and thus you're worried about wear of the crank.
Click to expand...

It's also a control measurement that the bearings are ok and seat properly in the caps. BMW TIS suggests you do this for every pistonrod.
Click to expand...

Ahh that's interesting and makes sense. My understanding though is that it's pretty usual for people to just plastigauge one or two bearings.
 
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