e92 M3 Rod Bearings replaced
Discussion
Hi,
Decided to change the rod bearings in my M3 so thought I'd put the info on here for those that are interested.
Car is a 2010 & has done bang on 50k miles. It is one of the last to have the old style lead/copper bearings before BMW revised them. In the 13k miles I've had it (over 4 years) it's always been warmed up properly/carefully before high revs & had the oil changed (10w60) every year.
The pictures aren't brilliantly clear but here are the bearings that came out -
Cylinder 8 was the worst with a bit of copper showing -
I had the work done at Redish in Bristol (who were brilliant & very professional & I couldn't recommend them highly enough) They said there is wear present on the bearings but not excessive. I've changed to the ACL bearings which give slightly more clearance.
A bit more info for anyone else trying to decide whether to get this work done or not, I did an oil analysis in 2015 which showed 13ppm of copper present. I did another in 2018 which then showed only 3ppm copper. Not really sure what to make of that other than I suppose it ties in with cylinder number 8 showing some copper.
From what I have read etc, it looks like the bearings would have been ok if left in but I'm happy I've had it done for the peace of mind at least!
Cheers,
Ben
Decided to change the rod bearings in my M3 so thought I'd put the info on here for those that are interested.
Car is a 2010 & has done bang on 50k miles. It is one of the last to have the old style lead/copper bearings before BMW revised them. In the 13k miles I've had it (over 4 years) it's always been warmed up properly/carefully before high revs & had the oil changed (10w60) every year.
The pictures aren't brilliantly clear but here are the bearings that came out -
Cylinder 8 was the worst with a bit of copper showing -
I had the work done at Redish in Bristol (who were brilliant & very professional & I couldn't recommend them highly enough) They said there is wear present on the bearings but not excessive. I've changed to the ACL bearings which give slightly more clearance.
A bit more info for anyone else trying to decide whether to get this work done or not, I did an oil analysis in 2015 which showed 13ppm of copper present. I did another in 2018 which then showed only 3ppm copper. Not really sure what to make of that other than I suppose it ties in with cylinder number 8 showing some copper.
From what I have read etc, it looks like the bearings would have been ok if left in but I'm happy I've had it done for the peace of mind at least!
Cheers,
Ben
I had them done in my E46 M3 at 138k. They looked very similar to your bearings, with only one shell showing a little copper. I had Autobahn do the work. With the copper showing, it looks like it was the right time to change them 
.
He did say mine were the second best set of shells he removed. Oddly, the best set came from a car with more miles @140k. His own car at 70k had quite a few down to the copper he was saying. CPC was also saying a similar thing ; i.e mileage isn't an indication with the bearings.
.He did say mine were the second best set of shells he removed. Oddly, the best set came from a car with more miles @140k. His own car at 70k had quite a few down to the copper he was saying. CPC was also saying a similar thing ; i.e mileage isn't an indication with the bearings.
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