[babyzoe]

Originally Posted by flipmode

[IMG][/IMG]

Few scrape marks I can feel with my fingernail, but nothing else stands out.....

I'm wondering if I should replace mines now.

335is getting rb ones installed at the shop and just added on entire coolant system replacement IE hoses, water pump/thermostat, even oil pan getting replaced.

Already got ******** on standby and trying to take care as much as I could while everything out.

[flipmode]

Originally Posted by FCobra94

Any tips/tricks not found in current how-tos you'd like to pass along?

Everything went well, I dropped the subframe and took it completely out. Made the job so much easier. There was no surprises for me. Just make sure you have a good torque wrench, that's all.

[BSM n54iS]

I'm getting ready for a turbo install in the coming months and I'm not considering doing the rod bearings at this time at all.

[B6T]

My engine shat out rod bearing #5 so I decided to do the bearings on my 80k replacement engine I bought. At least one of the bearings on the rod side (not the cap side) on the replacement engine was worn through to the copper. Obviously the bearings on my original engine were bad too.

So don't replace your bearings, remain in denial that they are a weak point, but don't come back complaining that you should have replaced them when you had the chance.

[trb1]

Originally Posted by BdSM n54iS

I'm getting ready for a turbo install in the coming months and I'm not considering doing the rod bearings at this time at all.

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1737521

[BSM n54iS]

Originally Posted by trb1

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1737521

How does your friend drive the car?

Y'all are starting to have me reconsider turbos and everything now...

[trb1]

Originally Posted by BdSM n54iS

How does your friend drive the car?

Y'all are starting to have me reconsider turbos and everything now...

Idk why these are go to questions. They’re arbitrary. If the platform didn’t have rod bearing issues, it really wouldn’t matter.

But that being said it was a daily with a stage 1 mhd flash. Nothing more until it went single turbo.

[BSM n54iS]

Originally Posted by trb1

Idk why these are go to questions. They’re arbitrary. If the platform didn’t have rod bearing issues, it really wouldn’t matter.

But that being said it was a daily with a stage 1 mhd flash. Nothing more until it went single turbo.

Not trying to start an argument, just wanting to dive a bit deeper to understanding the root cause.

I think the question is arriving from why are they failing, why are you saying this is a platform issue? It's not the s65 with a mechanical tolerance issue due to cold oil and thermal heat expansion not taken into account during the design/engineering of those rod bearings. That is a platform issue, I don't believe the n54 can be considered to be the same case. I understand these parts are wear items and will fail eventually, it's a moving mechanical component, but at 200k that would seem reasonable imo for dd cars. I mean treated as a dd car as well, not beaten on weekly etc, if you drive the car like a honda or toyata dd there is no inherent issue with the rod bearings right? That can't be said for the s65 b/c the minuscule tolerance exists there no matter what. But when you can find guys who beat on their tuned n54 and have like new rod bearings at high mileage what can be said or pointed to for those cases?

So it seems to come down to either user or just bad fucking luck. Is there anything that can be conclusively pointed to as the cause for failure at not an extreme mileage on the motor? Is there any possibility of the extreme wear we've seen occurring at colder climates with the owner pushing the car further than it should have been with too cold oil at the time? Not correct viscosity for climate, anything like that? I don't beat on mine at all, always warm up properly.. never above 3k rpm until I'm at 240* and even then very rarely am I going to 4-5k. 5k intervals max with Motul 8100 excess and proper maintenance at all times, that's just why I'm hesitant to say it is something I should be concerned about at 110k.

That said I'm starting to go into the health of my motor right now before I go any further with it. I ordered a compression tester and am looking for other ways to check anything else I can. Guess I should take some logs. I have no issues or codes to speak of right now, other than a super light amount of grey exhaust smoke at idle but I can't even see it in the mirrors or on decel, only if I'm standing out of the car looking

[BSM n54iS]

Also are you saying OP's bearings were shot? Because they looked acceptable and even coming from OP they could have lasted, was just good for him having the piece of mind knowing how long new ones will last plus some...

[mweisdorfer]

Originally Posted by BdSM n54iS

How does your friend drive the car?

Y'all are starting to have me reconsider turbos and everything now...

I will be replacing my turbos soon. I bought RB OEM billets. RB will be shipping them to me next week.

Vehicular DIY is soon to complete his video series on Rod Bearings and the oil pump crank/ chain etc.

I have all the parts to do this, I'm waiting to see the final video.

[BSM n54iS]

Originally Posted by mweisdorfer

I will be replacing my turbos soon. I bought RB OEM billets. RB will be shipping them to me next week.

Vehicular DIY is soon to complete his video series on Rod Bearings and the oil pump crank/ chain etc.

I have all the parts to do this, I'm waiting to see the final video.

Ya I just saw his last video lol, one of the guys I was referring to as having pretty decent bearings for 200k.

You're doing your rod bearings along with turbo install you're saying?

Curious also are you running his external PCV kit or what OCC are you using? I'm wondering if bc I'm running this ECS catch can that plugs off the valve that is what is causing my smoking to start

[B6T]

Originally Posted by BdSM n54iS

That said I'm starting to go into the health of my motor right now before I go any further with it. I ordered a compression tester and am looking for other ways to check anything else I can.

Oil analysis should be able to pick up rod bearing issues. I think copper or other types of metals show up as the bearings start to wear into the risky regions.

[B6T]

Also... my best is that most bearing issues are going to be seen on 6MT cars.

[IllSic_Design]

Originally Posted by B6T

Oil analysis should be able to pick up rod bearing issues. I think copper or other types of metals show up as the bearings start to wear into the risky regions.

There's been quite a few cases where people have been doing oil analysis and nothing out of the ordinary, then bam worn bearings. Documented a few times on here at least.

[BSM n54iS]

Originally Posted by B6T

Also... my best is that most bearing issues are going to be seen on 6MT cars.

Why on mt?

[mweisdorfer]

Originally Posted by BdSM n54iS

Ya I just saw his last video lol, one of the guys I was referring to as having pretty decent bearings for 200k.

You're doing your rod bearings along with turbo install you're saying?

Curious also are you running his external PCV kit or what OCC are you using? I'm wondering if bc I'm running this ECS catch can that plugs off the valve that is what is causing my smoking to start

I'm thinking about doing the rod bearings. RB & I had a long conversation about it. He said to definitely plasti-gauge everyone of them. He also said to pull one cap off or two and see if there is excessive wear. You'd of course have to put new bolts up, if you did that. RB was of the opinion that one should look at their oil pressure, and if it was fine to leave well enough alone if pulling off a cap or two revealed little or no wear.

I do run 5w-40 year round & Vehicular DIY did say that having more clearance would be better for 5w-40.

I use a Mishimoto catch can. I'm thinking of getting a BMS and combining the two if I do the RB tapping & plugging the ports deal. You need a BMS & Mishimoto catch can combo for high & low pressure.

[flipmode]

Originally Posted by BdSM n54iS

Also are you saying OP's bearings were shot? Because they looked acceptable and even coming from OP they could have lasted, was just good for him having the piece of mind knowing how long new ones will last plus some...

I do feel my rod bearings looked decent with 140000 miles on them, especially when my car has never had an oil cooler on it as well. As for the history of my car, I bought it from the original owner at 118000 miles on it and it was completely stock for all of them. He supplied me with all the maintenance records and I felt he took very good care of it. As soon as I bought it, I went FBO running E85 for the next 22000 miles. Car ran strong but oil pan gasket was leaking very badly. I like working on my cars and decided what the hell, I will do my rod bearings while I have the oil pan off. I don't regret it at all, even though mine came out looking ok.

My take in all this, most N54 rod bearings will be fine and have no issues. For the few that do, i feel it comes down waiting to long between oil changes, or on tuned engines, timing corrections or knocks.

[BSM n54iS]

Originally Posted by mweisdorfer

I'm thinking about doing the rod bearings. RB & I had a long conversation about it. He said to definitely plasti-gauge everyone of them. He also said to pull one cap off or two and see if there is excessive wear. You'd of course have to put new bolts up, if you did that. RB was of the opinion that one should look at their oil pressure, and if it was fine to leave well enough alone if pulling off a cap or two revealed little or no wear.

I do run 5w-40 year round & Vehicular DIY did say that having more clearance would be better for 5w-40.

I use a Mishimoto catch can. I'm thinking of getting a BMS and combining the two if I do the RB tapping & plugging the ports deal. You need a BMS & Mishimoto catch can combo for high & low pressure.

Right on, let us know what you decide to do. RB is a good guy.

You're using the Mishimoto catch can meaning you are already running the external PCV kit of his and just haven't plugged the head ports yet? Or using Mishimoto on the high side currently?

[trb1]

Originally Posted by BdSM n54iS

Not trying to start an argument, just wanting to dive a bit deeper to understanding the root cause.

I think the question is arriving from why are they failing, why are you saying this is a platform issue? It's not the s65 with a mechanical tolerance issue due to cold oil and thermal heat expansion not taken into account during the design/engineering of those rod bearings. That is a platform issue, I don't believe the n54 can be considered to be the same case. I understand these parts are wear items and will fail eventually, it's a moving mechanical component, but at 200k that would seem reasonable imo for dd cars. I mean treated as a dd car as well, not beaten on weekly etc, if you drive the car like a honda or toyata dd there is no inherent issue with the rod bearings right? That can't be said for the s65 b/c the minuscule tolerance exists there no matter what. But when you can find guys who beat on their tuned n54 and have like new rod bearings at high mileage what can be said or pointed to for those cases?

So it seems to come down to either user or just bad fucking luck. Is there anything that can be conclusively pointed to as the cause for failure at not an extreme mileage on the motor? Is there any possibility of the extreme wear we've seen occurring at colder climates with the owner pushing the car further than it should have been with too cold oil at the time? Not correct viscosity for climate, anything like that? I don't beat on mine at all, always warm up properly.. never above 3k rpm until I'm at 240* and even then very rarely am I going to 4-5k. 5k intervals max with Motul 8100 excess and proper maintenance at all times, that's just why I'm hesitant to say it is something I should be concerned about at 110k.

That said I'm starting to go into the health of my motor right now before I go any further with it. I ordered a compression tester and am looking for other ways to check anything else I can. Guess I should take some logs. I have no issues or codes to speak of right now, other than a super light amount of grey exhaust smoke at idle but I can't even see it in the mirrors or on decel, only if I'm standing out of the car looking

Rod bearings aren’t really wear items on modern cars. Technically they are, but they don’t catastrophically fail like some n54s do. Pull apart any modern vw/Audi engine and the rod bearings will look new as long as the oil was changed semi regularly (can’t say the same about piston rings though).

Here’s my thing. Go to a platform that DOESNT have a history of rod bearing issues. There’s never discussions about it. The only failures are oil pressure related. Nobody does them for preventative maintenance. It isn’t even a topic that people argue about.

This platform doesn’t have a widespread problem, but they do fail. They aren’t invincible, and i quite frankly don’t understand the denial.

For what it’s worth, the worst bearings I’ve pulled on an N54 have come from the autos I’ve done bearings on.

I’ve owned several Audi 2.7t engines. Pulled multiple apart. Never have to personally seen any REAL rod bearing wear. I’ve pulled apart 3 n54s now. All varying levels of maintenance. All had copper in at least one shell.

[mweisdorfer]

Originally Posted by BdSM n54iS

Right on, let us know what you decide to do. RB is a good guy.

You're using the Mishimoto catch can meaning you are already running the external PCV kit of his and just haven't plugged the head ports yet? Or using Mishimoto on the high side currently?

I'm running Mishimoto on the high side. I know, I know I should be running BMS on the high side. I didn't know that when I bought it 3-4 years ago. I bought it for efficiency. It hooks up right near the front of the engine. So, you don't have to take the cowl off to get to it. That's why I bought it. I didn't know that the Mishimoto filter is really fine vs BMS.

[mweisdorfer]

Originally Posted by trb1

Rod bearings aren’t really wear items on modern cars. Technically they are, but they don’t catastrophically fail like some n54s do. Pull apart any modern vw/Audi engine and the rod bearings will look new as long as the oil was changed semi regularly (can’t say the same about piston rings though).

Here’s my thing. Go to a platform that DOESNT have a history of rod bearing issues. There’s never discussions about it. The only failures are oil pressure related. Nobody does them for preventative maintenance. It isn’t even a topic that people argue about.

This platform doesn’t have a widespread problem, but they do fail. They aren’t invincible, and i quite frankly don’t understand the denial.

For what it’s worth, the worst bearings I’ve pulled on an N54 have come from the autos I’ve done bearings on.

I’ve owned several Audi 2.7t engines. Pulled multiple apart. Never have to personally seen any REAL rod bearing wear. I’ve pulled apart 3 n54s now. All varying levels of maintenance. All had copper in at least one shell.

According to vehicular diy the rod bearings on the N54 s65 have really tight clearances. The king bearings, that are STD, are set for .002. This gives slightly more clearance for thicker oil like 5w-40, which is probably better to run on a tuned engine IMO. More HP = more heat. A thicker oil will stand up better to higher heat. I believe the OEM clearance is .001.

[BSM n54iS]

Originally Posted by mweisdorfer

I'm running Mishimoto on the high side. I know, I know I should be running BMS on the high side. I didn't know that when I bought it 3-4 years ago. I bought it for efficiency. It hooks up right near the front of the engine. So, you don't have to take the cowl off to get to it. That's why I bought it. I didn't know that the Mishimoto filter is really fine vs BMS.

Dude I don't blame you at all these dam occ's can get confusing, I thought Turner had a great solution by plugging the pcv and deleting the flapper valve but my spidey senses are tingling and the more I read looks like that is NOT a good idea for a dd.... maybe for a track car. I just ordered RB's external kit and Mishimoto can and will convert the Turner can to high side