[uncle335i]

Hey guys,

Long time lurker of these forums. I finally picked up an 2014 335xi with about 190,000KM on it. I have been slowly chipping away at some maintenance items and figured that I may as well do the rod bearings as a preventative measure. It seems after about 160,000KM, anything is bound to happen to them, regardless if the engine has the "newer" S55 bearings in it.

I will be using King bearings and look forward to sharing some photos of what mine look like at 190K after an unknown service history. On that note, I did need to replace the valve cover due to a squealing PCV valve. Under the valve cover it looked very clean with no varnishing in sight, so I am hoping the bottom end looks like that. Who knows though until we get into it.

My question for those that have done rod bearing replacement : Is there a need for any aftercare after the job is done such as an oil change or is there a certain way to drive the vehicle ? I am under the impression that if there is a problem, I will hear the "problem" knocking away quite quickly.

Thank you for any input !

[Pussiwillow]

Alright so the time has come. Oil pan drain striped https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1893538

My thread I started. Several switched them out in the thread, I opted not to, something to check out if you wanna see the process etc

[harkes]

There is no "break in" needed for bearings. This only apply to piston rings. But taking it easy the first few 100 miles might be a good idea so a potential problem is not discovered at 7k rpm

[SuperLomi]

My plan is to do an oil change after 500-1000 miles just to clear out assembly lube, and make sure everything is copasetic. Otherwise I just take it easy for the first few hundred miles.



If you haven’t ordered bearing yet, consider getting bearings with the Calico coating. I got mine here: https://www.raceeng.com/c-6582-n55b30-bearings.aspx

[uncle335i]

Thank you for all the replies and information, especially the link to the forum post. I ordered king bearings but they wont be here in time. I will be using "Kolbenschmidt" standard bearings that I ordered from world pac at work. I am getting this job done on Wednesday so I will post up pictures of what the bearings look like after I get the old ones out !

[terryd5150]

Originally Posted by Pussiwillow

Alright so the time has come. Oil pan drain striped https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1893538

My thread I started. Several switched them out in the thread, I opted not to, something to check out if you wanna see the process etc

^^^ Thread highly-recommended. ^^^

[uncle335i]

Dropped the car off tonight, I will try to upload some photos of the old bearings when I can. I hope everything goes well and am super curious to see what the old ones look like. Here's to another 190'000KM ! .... hopefully

[uncle335i]

Here is a photo of the bearings on cylinder 6.... they all look like this. This looks pretty good to me and is almost unbelievable considering all the maintenance that was deferred on this vehicle. Not sure if the previous owners were anal about the oil change intervals or if the 2014 and up s55 rod bearings that are used in this engine are just better. At any rate, glad they are done and it gave me an opportunity to complete some other maintenance such as a brake job and new suspension hardware (Struts and control arms).

I know that this engine had the belt shredded and sucked into the crank as well but that was taken care of as soon as it happened. Looking forward to getting the car back. We are waiting on an oil pump bolt kit and then reassembly can take place.

View post on imgur.com

[uncle335i]

Just an update, have about 50km on the new bearings. I changed the oil filter once and no metal, running smoothly ! Car drives really well with the new struts and control arms.

[cfm56d7b]

Originally Posted by uncle335i

Just an update, have about 50km on the new bearings. I changed the oil filter once and no metal, running smoothly ! Car drives really well with the new struts and control arms.

Did you have a chance to do a compression test on each cylinder? At 190K kilometers, it might be a prudent next step.

[uncle335i]

Originally Posted by cfm56d7b

Did you have a chance to do a compression test on each cylinder? At 190K kilometers, it might be a prudent next step.

I don't think I'll get to that. Wouldn't be willing to put another engine in this car. Plenty of higher mileage n54's and n55's without compression issues as well.

[Tobz_au]

I was amazed at the amount of crap in the oil filter after my first oil change. I had a lot of crud in there, no metal though. Wondering if it’s the assembly lube, or as the car is getting so many oil changes it’s dislodging general crap from around the engine…

Also my bearings looked very similar to yours, I was surprised how good they looked