[Z4M] Blackstone Oil Report --2nd High Lead

[Blind32]

Damn, I really need to do a blackstone report. Or is it better to not know

[seank]

Originally Posted by Shipkiller

Yes, now I understand your comment. I am still trying to figure out what prompted it.

You will come out ahead if you are only looking at this from a tangible value aspect and I suspect that’s the only way you will look at this. With that said, I do not understand WHY you bought a BMW Z4M instead of, let’s say, a Honda Accord V6. I am SURE the Accord will depreciate less than the BMW and you will defiantly have less out of pocket expenses with the Honda.

I look at it this way. I don’t freaking care about depreciation or residuals on ANY of my vehicles. I keep car based on non-tangible factors for the most part. I like the way the Z4M feels when I drive it. I like the Roadster because I like the way it feels. I drive my truck because I like the way it performs in the areas that I drive it. None of them were bought with respect to resale values.

WHS. I didn't know that he was looking to sell the car. If that's the case, he should go trade it in now.

[pcoppala]

Originally Posted by seank

WHS. I didn't know that he was looking to sell the car. If that's the case, he should go trade it in now.

I'm not. Several people have suggested I get rid of a "bomb" but sadly, I love my Z4MC and pawning it off on someone only helps my pocketbook but not my conscience. I'm going to fix the car, but I'm trying to determine how. Replacing the bearings on my old Toyota 2F doesn't intimidate me, but somehow replacing them on my S54 does.

I've heard horror stories about indie shops, and I don't think the dealership will install non-OEM parts. Any advice for shops in the Austin/San Antonio area? I'll even take it to Houston or Dallas if there's a more reputable place. I would guess most people would discourage someone with moderate skills to attempt this repair?

[seank]

Originally Posted by pcoppala

I'm not. Several people have suggested I get rid of a "bomb" but sadly, I love my Z4MC and pawning it off on someone only helps my pocketbook but not my conscience. I'm going to fix the car, but I'm trying to determine how. Replacing the bearings on my old Toyota 2F doesn't intimidate me, but somehow replacing them on my S54 does.

I've heard horror stories about indie shops, and I don't think the dealership will install non-OEM parts. Any advice for shops in the Austin/San Antonio area? I'll even take it to Houston or Dallas if there's a more reputable place. I would guess most people would discourage someone with moderate skills to attempt this repair?

I don't know your area, but any reputable shop that races will be very familiar with the job. It is less work than doing a head gasket on the s54. That being said, there isn't much that can be damaged to that motor, so you will have had the worst out of the way.

[Shipkiller]

seank is correct.

The biggest pain is to remove all the interference from under the car so as to be to able remove the oil pan. That is a big job. Plus, you have to have the steering angle sensor recalibrated and an alignment afterword, but I am not that sure about the alignment.

I thought about doing this myself in the garage but seeing just what has to come off the car.... screw it. Let someone who knows what they are doing and has done it before do it. Plus, I trust these guys. And they will let me watch...

[XMetal]

If they let you watch, then take plenty of pictures and videos

Sad to see such high lead reading on a relatively low mileage car. You got me worried now since I only have an easy 24k miles on mine. Might need to start doing oil analysis

[BIMMERGUY91]

This is the last thing I want to see Guess I should get an oil analysis too.

[mousitch]

I try not to overreact as these engines have been around awhile since the bearing recall in the older m3's. But its hard not to I admit. Ugh

[Shipkiller]

Originally Posted by mousitch

I try not to overreact as these engines have been around awhile since the bearing recall in the older m3's. But its hard not to I admit. Ugh

That statement is one of the best things I have heard on this board in a long time.

The S54 has only two weaknesses that I can determine. The Rod Bearings and the Vanos. The only way to tell with the rod bearing is to do an oil analysis. With the vanos, you just wait.
If this is all too much and you are losing sleep over ‘what might be’ then sell the car and get a Honda.
At the end of the day ‘it’s just a freaking car’, you can buy another one.

[bignosejim]

This is maintenance that can be planned and budgeted for. Just don't redline it very often and keep the revs below 4000 until properly warmed up. I still rev to about 7500 rpm regularly. I had a sample of 22 ppm then the next one's were around 8 ppm. I plan on using coated bearings when I do mine later this year or next. I do an oil analysis every oil change.

[StickMon]

Just ordered the collection kit.
Changed my oil yesterday, and as I was pouring the catch pan into old oil containers for recycle I noticed that the sludge in the bottom of the pan had sparkly swirls of glitter in it.

I checked the filter and looked inside the oil fill, and I don't see any glitter.
Need to get a new pan. I've been using this one for at least 10 years on 5 different cars.
The glitter is probably from the Camry that my Daughter drove 70 miles with no oil in it, after Jiffy Lube drained it and forgot to refill it.

2 days later she tells me that there's been a red light on her dash since she went to Jiffy Lube and wondered if that was normal. Car ran fine for about another 6 months before she wrapped it around a pole and totaled it while texting. (She's fine. Well ...not injured.)

[pcoppala]

Well I finally bit the bullet and bought a new set of bearings. I swapped them out this weekend. I initially set to buy the BW treated set, but I had terrible customer service. They were back-ordered for over a month, and BW kept calling me to push out the expected delivery date. This forced me to keep rescheduling the garage time. After the second extension, I was fed up and I cancelled my order. I ended up ordering a similar (maybe they're the same) set from Epic Motorsports. They had them to me the same week.
While I was at it, I also put in the ARP rod bolts and used a stretch gauge to measure the clamping force. This method seemed to work pretty well. Only time will tell.

Here's a picture of the work space.


...and sadly here are my bearings. I think it's safe to say they're original to the car which means they have a paltry 36k miles on them.

Cylinder 1 on Left to Cylinder 6 on Right. Rod side is upper and cap side is lower.
You can see the rod side of the bearings are pretty worn.

I only use the Castrol TWS Motorsports oil. I'm always careful to keep it below 3500 rpm until the oil is up to at least 190F. Maybe the PO drove the car hard?

[XMetal]

Wow...looks like you did the right thing by replacing those bearings. I'll be doing my 1st Blackstone analysis this week with only about 28.5k on my '08. Wish me luck

[StickMon]

I just sent in my second sample today at 98.5k miles.
First one at 93k came back clean. Fingers crossed.
Good call with the ARP rod bolts and stretch gauge.

[Shipkiller]

There is a reason the Bimmerworld (BW) are on backorder. The bearings that BW uses are not manufactured any more.

BW had a supplier for the BMW Motorsport Racing Bearings that were only available in Europe and then they sent them to WAC for treating. BMW has discontinued the manufacture of those bearings. The last five sets BM had were sold in Sept. or Nov. Two of those sets went to my buddies shop here in Va Beach.

Now BM is trying to find a bearing supplier of an bearing (other than OEM bearings) to test and see if they are better than the OEM bearings.

It sounds like BW corporate is not talking to sales or there are issues behind the scenes we will not know about. I might be able to find out.........

Of course BW is not going to tell you (the consumer) all of this information because if handled properly, you (the consumer) does not need to know this. It looked like it was not handled properly.

[pcoppala]

I was told the Epic Motorsports Bearings received the same type of treatment as the BW bearings did. Does Epic not use the European Motorsports bearings? Why are they not having supply problems?

I assumed they were the same since they use oddly similar images on their websites:

BimmerWorld


Epic Motorsports

[Shipkiller]

I would 'assume' that Epic uses OEM bearings and has them treated by WPC.

What was explained to me is that, the BMW Motorsport bearings were only available in Europe and not imported by BMW to the US. (There are MANY BMW parts only available in Europe and not available in the US. M3 CSL parts are just one example. Not sure why BMW does this.) Bimmerworld (BM) had a supplier who could get the Motorsport bearings, import them into the US cheaply for BM. Now the BMW Motorsport bearings are not being produced and the supply has dried up. James Clay (BM) has been searching for a non-OEM bearing that will give better performance than the OEM bearings. I am going to assume they still have not found one....

What I think is that at this point in time, your only choice is the OEM bearings and have them treated by WPC (Epic) or coated (Randy or VAC).
If you need bearings, you need bearings...