[Knerr]

Headgasket was blown on stage 2 tune without E85 and the rod bearings were on a stock car with 94,000 miles which I had had for about 3 months when it spun.

The bearing spun right after I started the car after getting fuel- I started it, it bogged and died, I started it back up & knock knock.

[Ozzie335i]

Bad ass looking car there Knerr. Get the engine right and you'll have a keeper.

[Knerr]

Originally Posted by Ozzie335i

Bad ass looking car there Knerr. Get the engine right and you'll have a keeper.

Hey, thanks man! its a full 100% nothing untouched rebuild. The head and block machine work took the longest, but it should be done soon.

[feuer]

Originally Posted by Knerr

Hey, thanks man! its a full 100% nothing untouched rebuild. The head and block machine work took the longest, but it should be done soon.

Do you have rebuilt thread?

[Knerr]

Originally Posted by feuer

Do you have rebuilt thread?

Crap.. I threadjacked. Sorry OP.

I do not have a rebuild thread for it though, I am not the one doing the work so I'm unable to get pictures or talk about my experience. I do love making a good build thread though.. When I built my Subaru I had a pretty extensive thread on NASIOC.

[IllSic_Design]

I changed my rod bearings over X-Mas break as my mileage is up there and I have tracked the car and will be tracking it a lot more. Also added an oil pan baffle while I was in there. The bearings looked great, compared to what I have seen on here. Oh well, peace of mind...

220,727 miles
FBO+ making 475+ whp.

[iqraceworks]

I think that N54 rod bearing issues are pretty rare if you take care of the motor, change your oil when you are supposed to, and don't drive around with leaky injector(s) for years.

[feuer]

Originally Posted by IllSic_Design

I changed my rod bearings over X-Mas break as my mileage is up there and I have tracked the car and will be tracking it a lot more. Also added an oil pan baffle while I was in there. The bearings looked great, compared to what I have seen on here. Oh well, peace of mind...

220,727 miles
FBO+ making 475+ whp.

Don’t look good to me, 4, 5 and 6, very little left in them, showing wear and burn spots.
The oil baffle was proven to make things worse if I recall correctly. There is this guy with z4 that did extensive research and documented the oil pressure drops.
Find that tread.

[Vivek.]

Originally Posted by feuer

Don’t look good to me, 4, 5 and 6, very little left in them, showing wear and burn spots.
The oil baffle was proven to make things worse if I recall correctly. There is this guy with z4 that did extensive research and documented the oil pressure drops.
Find that tread.

Haven't seen the thread but I'd also be wary of adding internal engine parts that the originally engineers didn't deem necessary.

[IllSic_Design]

Originally Posted by iqraceworks

I think that N54 rod bearing issues are pretty rare if you take care of the motor, change your oil when you are supposed to, and don't drive around with leaky injector(s) for years.

For sure, but it is a possibility/does happen and I track my car as I said. Also, I bought the car with 116k on it(220k now), so who knows really how it was treated before I got it, it did have 2 mixed banks of injectors so.....

Originally Posted by Vivek.

Haven't seen the thread but I'd also be wary of adding internal engine parts that the originally engineers didn't deem necessary.

Originally Posted by feuer

Don’t look good to me, 4, 5 and 6, very little left in them, showing wear and burn spots.
The oil baffle was proven to make things worse if I recall correctly. There is this guy with z4 that did extensive research and documented the oil pressure drops.
Find that tread.

Thanks for the reply. I did think 4,5,6 were worn for sure, but not as bad as I've seen in some other threads. But definitely glad I changed them and it's all back and running fine.

I've seen and follow the Z4 thread, and asked him about it recently. He told me "Baffles don't solve the problem, but might help a tiny bit during braking. But again, it is not a solution."

Which is better than nothing in my book. Every little bit will help, especially since I am not going to put in an accusump or anything(yet?). And about not adding parts to the car that weren't there originally, uhmm this car probably wasn't intended to be tracked much if any from BMW when they built it, so I don't think it was much of a worry to them to keep oil around the pickup in long high-g corners. Like I said, every little bit will help. Thanks for the input though.

[feuer]

Originally Posted by IllSic_Design

For sure, but it is a possibility/does happen and I track my car as I said. Also, I bought the car with 116k on it(220k now), so who knows really how it was treated before I got it, it did have 2 mixed banks of injectors so.....





Thanks for the reply. I did think 4,5,6 were worn for sure, but not as bad as I've seen in some other threads. But definitely glad I changed them and it's all back and running fine.

I've seen and follow the Z4 thread, and asked him about it recently. He told me "Baffles don't solve the problem, but might help a tiny bit during braking. But again, it is not a solution."

Which is better than nothing in my book. Every little bit will help, especially since I am not going to put in an accusump or anything(yet?). And about not adding parts to the car that weren't there originally, uhmm this car probably wasn't intended to be tracked much if any from BMW when they built it, so I don't think it was much of a worry to them to keep oil around the pickup in long high-g corners. Like I said, every little bit will help. Thanks for the input though.

If I remember correctly it has been documented that is actually worse with the baffle as slows down the oil back into the pan. You need to re read that tread again. I’m assuming it’s a VAC part. People modify it to make it ok. As is isn’t good as far as I remember. 4, 5 and 6 look like on engines I have worked that suffered oil starvation from belt debries clogging up the sump. Don’t get me wrong but I don’t think those would last a session in advance group. I been tracking my 335i since 2010 and blew up 2 engines. Be happy you replaced them before they spun.

[Vivek.]

Originally Posted by feuer

If I remember correctly it has been documented that is actually worse with the baffle as slows down the oil back into the pan. You need to re read that tread again. I’m assuming it’s a VAC part. People modify it to make it ok. As is isn’t good as far as I remember. 4, 5 and 6 look like on engines I have worked that suffered oil starvation from belt debries clogging up the sump. Don’t get me wrong but I don’t think those would last a session in advance group. I been tracking my 335i since 2010 and blew up 2 engines. Be happy you replaced them before they spun.

How long have your engines lasted tracking and do you know of anything you could've done differently to prolong their life?

[feuer]

Originally Posted by Vivek.

How long have your engines lasted tracking and do you know of anything you could've done differently to prolong their life?

Original lasted 8y but for probably 5y wasn’t modified. The used replacement lasted 2y. Accusump or external oil pump that will move oil from one end to another of the oil pan. Also, better cooling, and no, I’m not talking about oil cooling. Aluminum coolant radiator is a must if you are serious about tracking. Of course, good quality and fresh oil.

[JuniorB]

Those upper bearings are normal wear, I done mine at 60k, and found the uppers in the same condition. The uppers wear more than the lowers, there are threads out there with the same information.

[syn909]

IllSic_Design What rod bearings did you end up using?

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by iqraceworks

I think that N54 rod bearing issues are pretty rare if you take care of the motor, change your oil when you are supposed to, and don't drive around with leaky injector(s) for years.

Interesting, more than 2 times my mileage and they look like that I guess I'm good for a while lol.

[feuer]

Originally Posted by TheMidnightNarwhal

Interesting, more than 2 times my mileage and they look like that I guess I'm good for a while lol.

Mileage has very, very little to do with it.

[IllSic_Design]

Originally Posted by syn909

IllSic_Design What rod bearings did you end up using?

King GPC coated bearings

Originally Posted by feuer

Mileage has very, very little to do with it.

Yup, and note that my car has a lot of highway miles, so technically I'd say it's more like 100k on it since highway miles are not that stressful. I do drive the car hard though and sometimes track it, but have done OCD like maintenance on it for the 100k I've had it

[zomski101]

Car has 235k miles and I'm planning to replace the turbos, so might as well replace oil pan gasket, so might as well replace rod bearings or maybe not?
Seems like people choose King bearings and I saw that ecstuning sells a kit, are they the ones to get? They also have a kit that comes with acl bearings and VAC has a set of their own coated rod bearings. I just want a set of bearings that will get me to 500k miles, maybe I'm being too optimistic.

[iqraceworks]

Originally Posted by zomski101

Car has 235k miles and I'm planning to replace the turbos, so might as well replace oil pan gasket, so might as well replace rod bearings or maybe not?
Seems like people choose King bearings and I saw that ecstuning sells a kit, are they the ones to get? They also have a kit that comes with acl bearings and VAC has a set of their own coated rod bearings. I just want a set of bearings that will get me to 500k miles, maybe I'm being too optimistic.

If that's your goal.....might as well pull the entire motor, and replace the crank bearings as well. And the rings, and everything else that will fail....

[Zakov335i]

My N54 07' 335i now has 195 miles on it, running stage 2, and still factory bottom end. Just take care on your oil change, don't go WOT when engine is still cold, and should be OK.

[Saif2018]

Originally Posted by zomski101

Car has 235k miles and I'm planning to replace the turbos, so might as well replace oil pan gasket, so might as well replace rod bearings or maybe not?
Seems like people choose King bearings and I saw that ecstuning sells a kit, are they the ones to get? They also have a kit that comes with acl bearings and VAC has a set of their own coated rod bearings. I just want a set of bearings that will get me to 500k miles, maybe I'm being too optimistic.

235k miles, that's some serious mileage 💪

Is there even a N54 that has 500k miles in existence? 😳