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      12-18-2013, 12:47 PM   #1
Finnegan
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S54 Bearings

Looks like there is a buy going on for treated (not coated) bearings. Basically a micro peening method used to treat the bearings.

I'm sure there's a lot of debate over whether this treatment is valuable or not. Worth a look as I'm not sure this treatment has been tried before with our bearings, and it's good information to have for future consideration. Plus if you're considering replacing your bearings anytime soon, you might want to take a look at this before the 31st of this month. Interesting concept to say the least. And a pretty big debate on ARP bolts as well on that thread.

http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showp...&postcount=235
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      12-18-2013, 01:09 PM   #2
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Yeah, i've been following this. Being a bit new the the S54, is this a maintenance item y'all do "just in case"? I know they are prone to failure, but is going through all this a good preventative step?
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      12-18-2013, 01:16 PM   #3
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At some point, I think all S54 bearings will need to be replaced. The question is, when?

The only real way to know is to run a used oil analysis. Blackstone provides free kits to do this. If the lead levels are creeping up or high, you're going to want to replace the bearings now. If the oil analysis looks okay, you can wait and you just keep an eye on it over time. There's really no mileage recommendation.

That said, if the car is tracked, used oil analysis should be done consistently. IIRC 40-50 track days pretty much ensures it needs to be done. But the only way to know for sure is testing.
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      12-19-2013, 09:43 AM   #4
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I ordered already, and will be going with ARP bolts for extra peace of mind since I'm now supercharged. Luckily I have a friend that has done rod bearings before on the S54 and when I spoke to him the other day, he said he had no problem helping me out; that he felt confident in swapping out my bearings for me.
The consensus is to do these as preventative maintenance before 80k miles, especially if the car has been tracked. If I had to put a number to it, I think I've tracked my own car about 25-30 times total since taking ownership in July of 2010 (with the car having 19k miles at the time). I'm currently nearing 55k miles, so I plan on having the rod bearings done next summer of 2014. I should be around 65k miles by then.
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      12-19-2013, 11:27 AM   #5
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sounds like this is probably not a "do it yourself" thing -having someone thats done it helping is key...have you done the blackstone test that Finnegan recommends? I just ordered an oil change kit and will be checking...
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      12-19-2013, 12:29 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bjbstewart View Post
sounds like this is probably not a "do it yourself" thing -having someone thats done it helping is key...have you done the blackstone test that Finnegan recommends? I just ordered an oil change kit and will be checking...
This is what it looks like:

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      12-19-2013, 01:24 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Finnegan View Post
Basically a micro peening method used to treat the bearings.
I'm wondering how you can harden lead?
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      12-19-2013, 01:34 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by exdos View Post
I'm wondering how you can harden lead?


I don't think the goal is to "harden" but rather to modify the surface properties. The larger thread has more info. And here's a video on the process. . Thread and buy seemed like something folks might want to know about. If nothing else the OEM vs. ARP bolt discussion is "interesting" .

Last edited by Finnegan; 12-19-2013 at 01:51 PM..
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      12-19-2013, 08:06 PM   #9
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Does the arp bolt kit work for our s54?
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      12-19-2013, 10:00 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kgolf31 View Post
This is what it looks like:

I'm not sure I get what Blackstone is saying. You cut your oil change interval in half and lead drops to approximately by half, respectively...and they are saying that it looks OK? The mileage to lead measured ratio are pretty similar between your last two analysis. What makes one analysis OK and the other not so good?
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      12-20-2013, 12:03 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by XMetal View Post
I'm not sure I get what Blackstone is saying. You cut your oil change interval in half and lead drops to approximately by half, respectively...and they are saying that it looks OK? The mileage to lead measured ratio are pretty similar between your last two analysis. What makes one analysis OK and the other not so good?
I think they are saying that there is excess material left over from last change, so values should be lower than that.

We will see next change.
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      12-21-2013, 05:09 PM   #12
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I just sent my PayPal payment today. Seems like a no-brainer - I'm sure if I never install the bearings I can sell them for what I paid.
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