Did this job at 63k miles on my back with the car on jack stands, at 141k miles now so looks like I'll be doing it again this winter or at some point before 160k miles. Also, I'll defend M539, his knock turned out to be piston slap, his bearings turned out to be fine.
Better do them soon, I wasn’t taking a shot as m539 I was just saying anything can happen when a engine is apart , so it’s best to take any possibility of failure out of the equation
Thank you for the great video Nathan, love your no nonsense approach to this. The Alpina engine of M539 blew because he had steel cylinder liners installed since the Alusil coating on the cylinders was worn beyond specification. It resulted in one piston having insufficient clearing and it destroyed itself in the cylinder. When taking off the rod bearing caps, marking the installation direction with a permanent white marker may help to prevent tragic mistakes. The rod caps are made by breaking them off, they are unique to each rod. Planning to do this on my 260K mile M62, this video helps a lot, will for sure buy the ARP bolts, since a torque wrench that does degrees costs a fortune.
Agreed. My M62TU has about 50k on those bearings after a complete rebuild. I always do either one at the time or mark the rods like you say. Cant afford to put caps on backwards. Check clearance between rod caps too by feeler. I know its a pain in ass, but they do make the old angle/degree tools which i actually trust more. Its not always easy though to find a place to brace the little arm to prevent that tool from moving. Are these bolts Nathan's speaking of non TTY?
M539's Alpina engine blew up because of the block specs being way off from the machine shop. Not his fault at all and he redid it perfectly with a new block
I was under the same impression... That said, the imprint on the bearing will/should be an exact copy of the the squidged plastic strip on the journal... BMW TIS also instructs to take the measurements on the journal... 😋
As you mention not to bump the torque wrench, you aren’t supposed to take off bolts with them either like they’re breaker bars. 🤷♂️ great video, that plasti gauge changed the game when it came out
@@NathansBMWWorkshop I wouldn’t chance it with a 700+dollar torque wrench. just stay in practice that way you don’t take a shortcut and break something. Just limits risk, but you’ve more experience than I, I’ve always been told this very thing by Kent Blue, was one of the best engine builders around my area, unfortunately he past away few years ago. His right hand man and machinist said the same, Bill Johns. I still talk to him often. Several years before his passing he took up being a gunsmith.
I believe you use the plasti gauge with the old bearings to measure the current clearance. Only then you can be certain to choose the right RB with the updated clearance. Usually it’s the standard with the ACL bearings
"no margin of error" reminds me of working on ejection seats. No way to test them badboys. But,no one is gonna die if the rod bearings are wrong. Just cost a lot of money. I wish you made these vids 4 years ago. I would have bought an m5 instead of the e90 335. Need some vids on n63tu valve seals!
Hey what is the best bearings you think is best to use for longevity? Im thinking stock 702 703 since i already have and im at 130k And what do you think of the acl race series with additional built-in bearing clearance up to .025mm (.001")? Thank you man u been alot of help
I have a 2007 BMW M6 S85 engine with 24000 miles I am decided to change the rod bearing, i am going with BE bearings Do you suggest anything I should change as a preventive maintenance
I have an 2001 540i that I am gonna refresh the engine on, 193k, I’m gonna do all the seals, timing is already done, I want to do rod bearings, M62tu, is hard on that engine to do
The upper rod bearing will always wear more than the lower one because the upper one takes all the load on the power stroke, and also takes load on the compression stroke.
I’ve done thousands of rod bearings on BMW’s, not sure why they are so crappy, I’ve used carb cleaner on the threads then dry them out then I use lock tight and torque to 35-40 lbs, never had a problem of the last 30 years (buy a Toyota) $300 for rod bolts. LOL
Until you've had your head thrown back in these seats you can't appreciate the value. There are more important things in life than good gas mileage, yes it's worth it. You're driving an F1 car.
3.5 hours to get to the rod bearings?!?!?! Nathan you are a god d*** wizard. That is insanely fast to drop the subframe. Would have loved to see the subframe removal. At the rate you are going, she'll be back on the road by the end of the week.
I’ve never seen anything so stupid is BMW using the same plug on a 530 I and the dashboard for your blower if you switch your plug with your dynamic control with your AC they both fit
