Road & Track blogger discusses BMW Rod Bearing Issue

[Green-Eggs]

Road and Track just posted a link to fantastic video review of the E92 M3 (S65 engine). They discuss the pro's, con's, driver's impressions, and the excitement the car brings.

This company (BE Bearings) worked with the actual company that makes the rod bearings for BMW ... to make new rod bearings ... that fix the clearance issues with this car.
-- Blogger @ Road & Track Online

About half way through, the discussion turns to the two biggest known problems with the S65: 1) Throttle actuators; 2) Rod bearings.

There are going to be people who are going tell you "I've had an M3 for 200,000 miles, and it's totally overblown -- the rod bearing issue.
Now, I've done so much research: video, documentation, and there are people on the forums that have torn this motor apart ... and the first thing
they found was ... oiling ... there was really, REALLY poor rod bearing clearance issues with this car.
-- Blogger @ Road & Track Online

The blogger didn't think the issue was overblown as some people think. He looked into the issue, talked to some experts, and made the same conclusion that rod bearing clearance, coupled with 10W60 weight oil, is a big issue, a big problem.

So there's the industry standard rod bearing clearance for engine manufacturing ... and this is where the M3 is ... it's one of the worst engines in history with rod bearing clearance ... and to top that off, you have 10W60 oil in here which doesn't flow.
-- Blogger @ Road & Track Online

The video features images of the data collected by m3post user "Regular Guy" and his pictures of his engine build, his web site, and his m3post bearing wiki. The Road & Track blogger showed the BE Bearings web site, and seemed rather impressed that RG and his friends took it upon themselves to have the custom bearings make -- which R&T says: "that fix the clearance issues with this car."

BMW had made a mistake in designing the rod bearings.

This company (BE Bearings) worked with the actual company that makes the rod bearings for BMW ... to make new rod bearings ... that fix the clearance issues with this car.
-- Blogger @ Road & Track Online

Fast-Forward to 21:30 in the video.

And that's the really fine print about this car ... that really suck balls.
-- Blogger @ Road & Track Online

[nholmes]

No mention of the poorly designed throttle actuators?

[Green-Eggs]

Originally Posted by nholmes

No mention of the poorly designed throttle actuators?

Yes, it mentions those too, around 19:30 in the video.

[Richbot]

Don't make the mistake of attributing one writer's opinion to an entire publication. His editor might have signed off on the story and video but that doesn't mean R&T as journalists have any more info than the average well informed forum bear.

[BzsBimmer]

Originally Posted by Richbot

Don't make the mistake of attributing one writer's opinion to an entire publication. His editor might have signed off on the story and video but that doesn't mean R&T as journalists have any more info than the average well informed forum bear.

While I agree overall with your statement, I also think that more media attention to the overall issue is one additional step to hopefully having BMW take this issue a bit more seriously and not just a case by case issue.

[Spoolin1]

I like how he mentioned that there is a class action lawsuit out on BMW over the bearing issues and how he mentioned that BMW knows they made a mistake. Does this mean if we ever have an issue with the bearings, even out of warranty and as long as we follow the regular scheduled BMW maintenance or better, that BMW will cover the repairs if we have a failure? This is the way it should be anyway. I was going to go ahead and purchase a warranty just in case but why if BMW knows of the issue and should fix them if something happens.

BTW, what is a good warranty company to use that will cover the drivetrain up to 100k miles and won't break the wallet?

[Dave07997S]

Not a bad video..but his whining about trivial bullshit was getting annoying. It was like he was complaining just to complain as if to give the video an objective view of the car.

Dave

[dparm]

Originally Posted by Spoolin1

I like how he mentioned that there is a class action lawsuit out on BMW over the bearing issues and how he mentioned that BMW knows they made a mistake. Does this mean if we ever have an issue with the bearings, even out of warranty and as long as we follow the regular scheduled BMW maintenance or better, that BMW will cover the repairs if we have a failure? This is the way it should be anyway. I was going to go ahead and purchase a warranty just in case but why if BMW knows of the issue and should fix them if something happens.

Until there is a ruling on the lawsuit, BMW is under no obligation to repair it for free unless the car is under warranty or reimburse anyone who already paid out of pocket.

[admranger]

Never mind...

[FogCityM3]

Good that the issue gets some press.

However, these quotes cannot be attributed to Road and Track, the magazine specifically states it's a link to a blogger, "Mark S":

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cult...oull-ever-see/

Attributing the quotes in such a way is a bit misleading.

Doubtful that BMW pulls any R&T advertising, as the opinions expressed in the video are clearly not R&T's

[Sellout]

Savage Geese = Road and Track? what is this, opposite day?

[bigjae1976]

Wait...so there is an actual lawsuit in the legal system for the rod bearings?

[E30M3Brill]

Originally Posted by Sellout

Savage Geese = Road and Track? what is this, opposite day?

Not mention the f-bombs... Kinda odd for R&T.

[Sellout]

Originally Posted by E30M3Brill

Not mention the f-bombs... Kinda odd for R&T.

He's a youtuber who had a supercharged BRZ back when I had an FRS. Took me a minute to figure out why he was familiar...

At any rate, he has nothing to do with Road & Track, they found his video and posted a link to it on their site.

[PandaM3]

Still... Pretty spot on review of the M3 as a second hand car.

But looks like he is a freelance/ independent journalist.

If BMW wants they can probably make R&T discretely take the link to the video down. However if that where to happen that would just further prove BMW's acknowledgement of the issue and their further cover up of it.

[Canalpine]

This video has nothing to do with, nothing associated with, or anything whatsoever to do with road and track except that they posted the link to the video, so quit quoting it like it's them. If you read what R&T actually wrote, it's just a random guy from YouTube who did a thorough review. Nothing more, nothing less.

[Green-Eggs]

My sincere apologies for not reading the full article when I was in a hurry to get out of town. I'm not familiar with R&T online, so it was an honest mistake. It won't happen again.

Hopefully the corrections to post #1 will be sufficient to allow people to talk about the substance instead of this side show.

[FogCityM3]

Given we haven't heard anything due to no one from NJ coming forward as part of the class, looks like it was DOA.

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthr...126924&page=11

Too bad, as was hoping for some independent info through discovery.

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

Wait...so there is an actual lawsuit in the legal system for the rod bearings?

[W Cole]

Originally Posted by Green-Eggs

My sincere apologies for not reading the full article when I was in a hurry to get out of town. I'm not familiar with R&T online, so it was an honest mistake. It won't happen again.

Hopefully the corrections to post #1 will be sufficient to allow people to talk about the substance instead of this side show.

Random question.. Do you happen to work at BE bearings or sell their products?

[roastbeef]

i watched the entire review and thought it was kinda "meh."

[Hujan]

Originally Posted by FogCityM3

Given we haven't heard anything due to no one from NJ coming forward as part of the class, looks like it was DOA.

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthr...126924&page=11

Too bad, as was hoping for some independent info through discovery.

Not true. The case is still pending.

https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/...ICA,_LLC_et_al

[bigjae1976]

Originally Posted by Hujan

Not true. The case is still pending.

https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/...ICA,_LLC_et_al

It is interesting.

So looks like BMW NA is trying to get the case dismissed at this point?