Blown Engine Due to Rod Bearings, Add Me To The List!

[JFWM3]

Well, add me to the list. What a downer.

I drove the car to Kentucky/Tennessee from Toronto as an escape from everything going on, and lost the engine last week. It just violently blew up, sent a couple rods through the block and damaged the steering rack in the process. Oil everywhere. There was no warning, and I was pulling around 4,500 RPM under moderate load around a corner. And before I left, I was thinking, maybe I should get the bearings done. The Dealer says a complete new short block is required. $33k USD. Ridiculous.

The car is modified with an ESS 550 S/C, but the car has been babied and never tracked. 100,000kms. I have found a low mileage 2012 donor motor, and yes, I will get the bearings done. But this will all be pretty expensive, especially with foreign exchange, and of course the car is stranded in the US right now.

I work in the Automotive Industry in a senior executive position, starting out in Engineering, and I know the industry well technically, commercially and legally. In the end, it is apparent there is a problem with these engines when you look at the failure data, and BMW is simply unwilling to deal with the liability. NHTSA is probably tracking these failures since this could render a complete loss of control of the vehicle, but have not done anything yet. It is disappointing considering this is a high performance motor, durability should come with it. Pretty lousy week.

My advice, if you have an M3, get the bearings done. BMW won't do it for you before or after the fact.

Keep your eyes posted, despite having a great time with this car over the years, I will likely sell or part out/sell the car. For those that know this car, it is one of the finest, tastefully modified M3's in Canada. It will be a great car again when the new engine goes in, but I think it is just time for me to part ways.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Yeah...I saw you in the Blown motors, Rod Bearing failure S65 Registry thread .
Post # 1756 => http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthr...786615&page=80
I'm really sorry to hear this man , and I'm sure more will come !

[AustinMsport]

Agreed. I bought an 08 a few months ago and agonized over this for a few weeks. Ended up spending the 3K to have these replaced plus motor mounts. One of the replaced bearings were down to copper. Just a matter of time before mine blew. For anyone purchasing this car.....add 3K for a bearing replacement. It's mandatory on this car IMO

[Installsplus]

Sorry to hear this. I noticed a lot of the bearing failure all happens close to the 100k mark. Mine has 38k on it with a 625 kit but after reading this I may get it done next year. What year was ur car? I was told 2011 uses different rod bearing but I could be wrong.

[JFWM3]

Originally Posted by Installsplus

Sorry to hear this. I noticed a lot of the bearing failure all happens close to the 100k mark. Mine has 38k on it with a 625 kit but after reading this I may get it done next year. What year was ur car? I was told 2011 uses different rod bearing but I could be wrong.

2008. I heard there was engineering change, but I don't know what year. But when I checked the failure registry I saw multiple years.

[DomR]

Hey Guys,

Ive been looking at purchasing a 2013 E92 M3 that has CPO, would the rod bearing be covered under this warranty or is that something I'm going to have to pay out of pocket?

[Webb70]

Covered, but only if they fail while under warranty.....

[Nihilation]

Seems to be a trend with supercharged cars and blown motors. That's certainly one mod I won't be doing till I'm a millionaire.

[Chris_08_M3]

Did BMW ever make a statement about the rod bearing issues? There is a lot of chatter in forums and with manufacturers of replacement bearings but I have never seen anything directly from BMW.

[jgbedford]

JFWM3, what year is your car?

It is my understanding that sometime mid year in 2011 the bearings were changed. Blackstone (the engine oil analysis people) said that they changed from lead to aluminium bearings sometime during the 2011 model year. Early production could still have the lead bearings, newer production would have gotten the aluminium bearings.

[JFWM3]

Originally Posted by Jbedford

JFWM3, what year is your car?

It is my understanding that sometime mid year in 2011 the bearings were changed. Blackstone (the engine oil analysis people) said that they changed from lead to aluminium bearings sometime during the 2011 model year. Early production could still have the lead bearings, newer production would have gotten the aluminium bearings.

2008. Suspect year.

[xander_g]

Has anyone heard of 2013 cars having rod bearing issues? Mine has just over 70000 kms on it now and I'm wondering if its worth replacing the bearings while the car is off the road during the winter.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by xander_g

Has anyone heard of 2013 cars having rod bearing issues? Mine has just over 70000 kms on it now and I'm wondering if its worth replacing the bearings while the car is off the road during the winter.

No matter what year , we saw them blown !

Here is kinda final destination list =>http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=786615

[xaappx]

"The car is modified with an ESS 550 S/C, but the car has been babied and never tracked."

babied and never tracked. That's why the bearings blew up.

[xaappx]

Originally Posted by Nihilation

Seems to be a trend with supercharged cars and blown motors. That's certainly one mod I won't be doing till I'm a millionaire.

plenty of supercharged cars with no problems

These engines don't like to be babied. The guys who track their cars are the ones who's bearings are fine.

[JFWM3]

Originally Posted by xaappx

"The car is modified with an ESS 550 S/C, but the car has been babied and never tracked."

babied and never tracked. That's why the bearings blew up.

Originally Posted by xaappx

plenty of supercharged cars with no problems

These engines don't like to be babied. The guys who track their cars are the ones who's bearings are fine.

When I say babied, I mean I'm a mature driver. I do open wheeled at the track. This is a street car that was driven occasionally.

As for babied cars blowing bearings more, that makes no sense from a physics end. Automotive industry durability testing is accelerated through more rigorous use. Like higher loads, more rpm, higher heat etc. So in other words, if you wanted to simulate 10 years of field use in the lab after a few months, you would run a harsher environment.