[Surge709]

I just took my car to VAC motorsport in Philadelphia for them to replace the main bearings, rod bearings, and service the oil pump just to cover any possible fatal wear items and I have to say that I am impressed that the main bearings were "spotless" and needed no replacement. The rob bearings were in bad shape and I am glad I addressed them.

I know there is a debate about the need to address the main bearings and I thought that my car is the prime candidate as it has had a raised red line (now back to stock), lives almost every day bouncing off of it (when drifting), lives and drives in the NE where very cold starts are common, and has had track miles on it. It looks like, at least with my car, this preventative maintenance was a waste. Oh well.

On a separate note, I am having VAC rebuild the oil pump as they have seen issues with it before on other S62s. I am not sure if this is needed and would love to get some input purely for curiosity?

 

[Tj Hunter]

Rod bearings are worth doing, the main bearings are different then rod, and I do not believe that mains were ever an issue, just rods.

 

[vantaam5]

Main bearings survive 2 sets of rod bearings on the S62,not an issue on that engine at all.

I have never heard of oil pump shafts break on the S62,opposed to other bmw engines.
Know of two cases where the nut of the sprocket came loose.
Always use Loctite on the nut when I rebuild these engines and have zero issues.

 

[OC e39r]

I am doing the rod bearings before the next winter. Probably i will be around 125~130k miles then. Plus a new alternator, waterpump, under drive pullies and tensioners and maybe oil pan gaskets ( replaced at 65k and might leak again after an equal mileage interval ).
It might seem alot, but it is a fraction of the cost of replacing or rebuilding an S62. And I have no plans of selling the car.

 

[nightkrawler]

yeah dont waste your money with the oil pump, never go bad. also there is nothing inside the pump that is serviceable, nothing to "rebuild" so idk wtf they're talking about. i have one dissasembled in the closet at the moment, suppose i could take some pics.

 

[Surge709]

I am doing the rod bearings before the next winter. Probably i will be around 125~130k miles then. Plus a new alternator, waterpump, under drive pullies and tensioners and maybe oil pan gaskets ( replaced at 65k and might leak again after an equal mileage interval ).
It might seem alot, but it is a fraction of the cost of replacing or rebuilding an S62. And I have no plans of selling the car.

what underdrive pulleys are you running?

yeah dont waste your money with the oil pump, never go bad. also there is nothing inside the pump that is serviceable, nothing to "rebuild" so idk wtf they're talking about.

I ended up having them take a look at the oil pump and they found pieces of hard plastic in it. As this is not coming from the pump they think it's from the timing chain tensioner which could have ended up in a big engine boom. Am glad they looked into it.

 

[feeblebob]

Hence my plan to drop the lower oil pan to check, that sort of thing will only get sucked up and cause issues.

 

[OC e39r]

what underdrive pulleys are you running?

The stock ones, and most likely will stay OEM

 

[vantaam5]

I ended up having them take a look at the oil pump and they found pieces of hard plastic in it. As this is not coming from the pump they think it's from the timing chain tensioner which could have ended up in a big engine boom. Am glad they looked into it.

Very common to find the plastic bits of the guide rails on 100k+ engines..

 

[nightkrawler]

they may have found plastic in the pickup screen, not in the pump.

 

[Schuttsr1]

they may have found plastic in the pickup screen, not in the pump.

That's what I'm thinking as well. The screens on the sump should keep most the big stuff out and if it was small enough to pass into the pump the filter would catch it.

 

[Surge709]

they may have found plastic in the pickup screen, not in the pump.

Exactly, but still saved me from not noticing this at all

 

[Surge709]

Anyone doing Rod Bearings should look at this thread as this is something I regret not doing: BMW M3 Forum.com (E30 M3 | E36 M3 | E46 M3 | E92 M3 | F80/X) - View Single Post - Bimmerworld’s S54 Treated Rod Bearing Upgrade Kit

 

[bmwMcrzy]

Anyone doing Rod Bearings should look at this thread as this is something I regret not doing: BMW M3 Forum.com (E30 M3 | E36 M3 | E46 M3 | E92 M3 | F80/X) - View Single Post - Bimmerworld’s S54 Treated Rod Bearing Upgrade Kit

Its for the S54 & S65, no where in that post is the S62 mentioned.

 

[technician117]

Its for the S54 & S65, no where in that post is the S62 mentioned.

Also, in my reading of various threads on here, I thought the guru's mostly recommend using the OEM bearings versus coated bearings anyways. In addition, the OEM bearings can be had in a few sizes to accommodate small variations in crank journal sizes, allowing you to get the tolerances even tighter into spec.

 

[vics]

Guys; Want to be safe and proactive here as the car's just hit 240K miles (with original clutch) and 'the sky is falling' threads such as these concern me. That said, should I perform the rod bearing refresh now or do I still have some wiggle room left?

 

[Kelster]

Surely you jest. The bearings I took out of my S3 at 95K miles were uniformly at the end of their useful life. At the mileage you are talking about it would clearly be a case of being penny-wise and pound foolish. I guess it's possible that you were saying this tongue firmly planted in cheek.

 

[vics]

Surely you jest. The bearings I took out of my S3 at 95K miles were uniformly at the end of their useful life. At the mileage you are talking about it would clearly be a case of being penny-wise and pound foolish. I guess it's possible that you were saying this tongue firmly planted in cheek.

Don't ever call me Shirley

Nope I and numerous other long mileage beast owners just don't subscribe to these or other theories such as global warming
Change the oil often, take care the car, drive it like you stole it and live your life fearlessly.... there are far too many other things to worry about.
Cheers.

 

[nightkrawler]

Guys; Want to be safe and proactive here as the car's just hit 240K miles (with original clutch) and 'the sky is falling' threads such as these concern me. That said, should I perform the rod bearing refresh now or do I still have some wiggle room left?

i wouldn't touch them, if they were going to go they would have went a long time ago.

 

[rao]

Don't ever call me Shirley

Nope I and numerous other long mileage beast owners just don't subscribe to these or other theories such as global warming
Change the oil often, take care the car, drive it like you stole it and live your life fearlessly.... there are far too many other things to worry about.
Cheers.

The only problem I see here is that I can't like this post more than 1 time