[apexit4]

Originally Posted by ssleefl

Glad your build went OK and thank you for posting this with all the related information. Cheers!

Thanks! So far I've done about 1600 miles on the "new" engine and all seems good. Definitely worth the effort to get it back on the road.

[Pep423]

Originally Posted by apexit4

Thanks! So far I've done about 1600 miles on the "new" engine and all seems good. Definitely worth the effort to get it back on the road.

Hows the car running?

My dealer just told me likely bearings are causing the noise I started hearing all of sudden about 3 weeks ago. However, they did not drop the oil pan to actually check.

Only have 61k miles on my 2011 so I am incredibly disappointed. I don't know how this could happen. I'll be getting a second option though. Then will decide whether I want to go through the time and cost of replacing my engine. The work is beyond my ability. I might be able to do it but would probably take me months.

[Soonerbilly]

Well if you even THINK the bearings could be bad...stop driving now. Once the crank has to be turned the MAIN bearings are expensive as hell. Just went through all that. Rod bearings are fairly cheap though.

[apexit4]

Originally Posted by Pep423

Hows the car running?

My dealer just told me likely bearings are causing the noise I started hearing all of sudden about 3 weeks ago. However, they did not drop the oil pan to actually check.

Only have 61k miles on my 2011 so I am incredibly disappointed. I don't know how this could happen. I'll be getting a second option though. Then will decide whether I want to go through the time and cost of replacing my engine. The work is beyond my ability. I might be able to do it but would probably take me months.

Car is running great, I'm very happy with my decision to do the engine swap. I've put about 6k miles on it so far without significant issues.

Did the dealer tell you whether they suspected the issue was rod bearings or crankshaft bearings? If its the rod bearings and they havent done too much damage, then its a pretty straight forward repair that shouldnt be too expensive (relatively speaking). If its the crankshaft bearings, thats more of an issue. If they scored the bearing end caps, your only solution for a reliable fix would be to replace the engine (crankshaft bearing end caps cant readily be bought separately, at least I couldn't find any). If its just the crankshaft that's scored, you could have it re-profiled and reinstalled. This would probably be on the expensive side though since its not an easy task to get it out. I wouldnt be surprised if getting the crankshaft out and re-profiled matched the cost of a replacement engine.

[apexit4]

Originally Posted by Soonerbilly

Well if you even THINK the bearings could be bad...stop driving now. Once the crank has to be turned the MAIN bearings are expensive as hell. Just went through all that. Rod bearings are fairly cheap though.

Agreed, if you suspect the issue is bearings then stop driving it immediately. Nothing good will come of driving it more and you could be making a simple repair (i.e. rod bearings) a more expensive one.

Soonerbilly, what happened to your engine and what did you end up doing to fix it?

[Pep423]

Originally Posted by apexit4

Car is running great, I'm very happy with my decision to do the engine swap. I've put about 6k miles on it so far without significant issues.

Did the dealer tell you whether they suspected the issue was rod bearings or crankshaft bearings? If its the rod bearings and they havent done too much damage, then its a pretty straight forward repair that shouldnt be too expensive (relatively speaking). If its the crankshaft bearings, thats more of an issue. If they scored the bearing end caps, your only solution for a reliable fix would be to replace the engine (crankshaft bearing end caps cant readily be bought separately, at least I couldn't find any). If its just the crankshaft that's scored, you could have it re-profiled and reinstalled. This would probably be on the expensive side though since its not an easy task to get it out. I wouldnt be surprised if getting the crankshaft out and re-profiled matched the cost of a replacement engine.

The dealer ended up seeking the assistance of the area BMW technical rep for the diagnosis. According to the dealer, the rep suspects it's the main bearings.

[apexit4]

Originally Posted by Pep423

The dealer ended up seeking the assistance of the area BMW technical rep for the diagnosis. According to the dealer, the rep suspects it's the main bearings.

Only one way to find out for sure, drop the subframe and oil pan to inspect the bearings. If you haven't stopped driving the car yet, you might want to reconsider. I'm looking forward to hearing what Soonerbilly went through with his issue. It seems he chose a different path than I did and I'm curious how the two compare in terms of cost.

[Pep423]

Originally Posted by apexit4

Only one way to find out for sure, drop the subframe and oil pan to inspect the bearings. If you haven't stopped driving the car yet, you might want to reconsider. I'm looking forward to hearing what Soonerbilly went through with his issue. It seems he chose a different path than I did and I'm curious how the two compare in terms of cost.

Unfortunately I need to drive it to work.

[SouthDiesel190]

To Mark M's previous point my car definitely sounds like a diesel but this is not the first, second, or even third time I've heard of a spun main bearing on this engine. When I was shopping some years back there was an M Sport at Enthusiast Auto Group that had the engine replaced by BMW under warranty at 30K some odd miles. So, how are y'all able to hear/tell a difference between spun main bearings and just normal, operating diesel sounds? I hear some knocking around a bit at start up but everything smooths out pretty quickly when she warms up a little bit

[apexit4]

Originally Posted by SouthDiesel190

To Mark M's previous point my car definitely sounds like a diesel but this is not the first, second, or even third time I've heard of a spun main bearing on this engine. When I was shopping some years back there was an M Sport at Enthusiast Auto Group that had the engine replaced by BMW under warranty at 30K some odd miles. So, how are y'all able to hear/tell a difference between spun main bearings and just normal, operating diesel sounds? I hear some knocking around a bit at start up but everything smooths out pretty quickly when she warms up a little bit

A mechanics stethoscope will help narrow down the location of a sound that sounds like a bearing issue. The only sure fire way to check is to drop the oil pan visually inspect the bearings.

If the bearing has failed, the sound it makes usually wouldn't go away, especially after the engine warms up (colder and thicker oil might mask some sounds a bad bearing is making). In my case, the only time I knew something was up was the sound the engine made at 3k rpm. It was a sound that was definitely off and different even for a diesel. That's also a reason why it was caught so late, I'm rarely outside of the car listening to the engine at that 3k rpm. It sounded fine when idling though.

[Juno01]

Originally Posted by apexit4

A mechanics stethoscope will help narrow down the location of a sound that sounds like a bearing issue. The only sure fire way to check is to drop the oil pan visually inspect the bearings.

If the bearing has failed, the sound it makes usually wouldn't go away, especially after the engine warms up (colder and thicker oil might mask some sounds a bad bearing is making). In my case, the only time I knew something was up was the sound the engine made at 3k rpm. It was a sound that was definitely off and different even for a diesel. That's also a reason why it was caught so late, I'm rarely outside of the car listening to the engine at that 3k rpm. It sounded fine when idling though.

Are you still parting out your old motor? I might be working on a motor soon that was hydro locked and has bent a rod among other things...

[Soonerbilly]

Mine was making intermittent knocking sounds. Was thinking it was an injector going out( hoping for the best ). It turned out to be a spun rod bearing ( #6 ). Pulled the motor, had the crank turned and ordered the oversized bearings. Rod bearings were right at 100 bucks. 150 to turn the crank. The oversized main bearings were 100, BUT the block side bearings had to be sourced from BMW because all 3 sets I bought aftermarket the oil holes didn't line up AT ALL. 6 halves plus the center thrust for about 230ish. All assorted seals and gaskets were about 450. So I'm right at about a grand for the rebuild. Still contemplating aftermarket Cams and valve springs from COLT/Whitbread performance. That would be another 900. If you have any other questions APEX feel free to ask.

[apexit4]

Originally Posted by Juno01

Are you still parting out your old motor? I might be working on a motor soon that was hydro locked and has bent a rod among other things...

Yeah, I'm still parting it out. There's not too much left though. Are there any parts in particular that you need?

[apexit4]

Originally Posted by Soonerbilly

Mine was making intermittent knocking sounds. Was thinking it was an injector going out( hoping for the best ). It turned out to be a spun rod bearing ( #6 ). Pulled the motor, had the crank turned and ordered the oversized bearings. Rod bearings were right at 100 bucks. 150 to turn the crank. The oversized main bearings were 100, BUT the block side bearings had to be sourced from BMW because all 3 sets I bought aftermarket the oil holes didn't line up AT ALL. 6 halves plus the center thrust for about 230ish. All assorted seals and gaskets were about 450. So I'm right at about a grand for the rebuild. Still contemplating aftermarket Cams and valve springs from COLT/Whitbread performance. That would be another 900. If you have any other questions APEX feel free to ask.

That came out to a surprisingly cheap rebuild. Sounds like you saved a lot by doing the work yourself as well.

You said "The oversized main bearings were 100, BUT the block side bearings had to be sourced from BMW because all 3 sets I bought aftermarket the oil holes didn't line up AT ALL". Are you talking about the bearing end caps or the actual bearing themselves for the block side? Who was the aftermarket manufacturer?

Also, any ideas on what caused your rod bearing to spin? From what you are saying I gather that the bearing damaged the crankshaft and not the rod itself.

[Soonerbilly]

Actual bearings themselves had to be purchased from BMW, took 3 weeks to get. The wrong holes were MAHLES Kolbenschmidts and Relictecs I believe. NO IDEA what caused the issue, and the intermittent part really had me chasing my ass for a while until I just decided to pull it and dive in. Rod was damaged and the crank was scored some as well. My buddy has the same car ( doing the deletes and stuff on his is what made me get one, nothing quite like the power to fuel mileage ratio ) and we had bought another motor for parts or I would have needed another rod.

[apexit4]

Originally Posted by Soonerbilly

Actual bearings themselves had to be purchased from BMW, took 3 weeks to get. The wrong holes were MAHLES Kolbenschmidts and Relictecs I believe. NO IDEA what caused the issue, and the intermittent part really had me chasing my ass for a while until I just decided to pull it and dive in. Rod was damaged and the crank was scored some as well. My buddy has the same car ( doing the deletes and stuff on his is what made me get one, nothing quite like the power to fuel mileage ratio ) and we had bought another motor for parts or I would have needed another rod.

Yeah, we ordered the bearings from BMW too and they also took 3 weeks to get here. I thought it was odd since most parts shipped from Germany took only a week for us to get.

I did learn something interesting though. It seems that if the dealer has to ever replace a bearing on a customers engine, they will usually only do the ones that are faulty (unless the customer requests all of them to be done). We found that while there were some in stock in a few dealerships, they were in odd numbers and usually didnt have matching lower/upper bearings in the same quantities.

Interesting to see that Mahle bearings didnt match up. I know they make some of the OEM parts for BMW (like the actual piston) and find it surprising you couldnt use them.

[apexit4]

Originally Posted by Pep423

Unfortunately I need to drive it to work.

I'd suggest finding a different means of transport. You run the risk of getting metal shavings in other components that really shouldnt see them. You may be able to get away with an approach like Soonerbillys if you dont do any more damage. If the shavings seize the oil pump or get get other components, you might be looking at a complete rebuild.

If you really cant stop driving it, formulate a plan ASAP on getting it diagnosed and fixed based on whats wrong. You're working on borrowed time otherwise....

[Pep423]

Originally Posted by apexit4

I'd suggest finding a different means of transport. You run the risk of getting metal shavings in other components that really shouldnt see them. You may be able to get away with an approach like Soonerbillys if you dont do any more damage. If the shavings seize the oil pump or get get other components, you might be looking at a complete rebuild.

If you really cant stop driving it, formulate a plan ASAP on getting it diagnosed and fixed based on whats wrong. You're working on borrowed time otherwise....

So iv decided to drop the car off tomorrow at Fluid Motor Union for a second opinion and will rent a car to get to and from work for a few days.

Will update after i hear back, no earlier than Monday I suspect.

[apexit4]

Originally Posted by Pep423

So iv decided to drop the car off tomorrow at Fluid Motor Union for a second opinion and will rent a car to get to and from work for a few days.

Will update after i hear back, no earlier than Monday I suspect.

Sounds good. Keep us posted on the diagnosis and what you plan to do to fix it. Here's hoping to it being a small issue

[Pep423]

Originally Posted by apexit4

Sounds good. Keep us posted on the diagnosis and what you plan to do to fix it. Here's hoping to it being a small issue

Omg if this turns out to be something small (comparatively speaking) I will be ecstatic!

[Juno01]

Originally Posted by apexit4

Yeah, I'm still parting it out. There's not too much left though. Are there any parts in particular that you need?

PM sent

[apexit4]

Originally Posted by Juno01

PM sent

Replied!