Seeking a shop in the SF bay area for rod bearings

Howdy!

I recently purchased a 2001 M Coupe. The rod bearings are original and I'm looking to get them replaced per a bunch of recommendations from online resources. The previous owner of the car pointed me to Roadfly.

From http://www.mcoupebuyersguide.com/index.php/2010/06/buyers-checklist/, I see it should cost $800-1200. I just called my local BMW dealer and they quoted me 35 hours of labor ($5650 roughly) and then parts on top of that. So I'm looking for a good shop that thinks it won't be this hard.

I'm located in Palo Alto, CA.

It's far from a consensus that this fix is a must. True, there have been failures, but they are fairly rare on the Coupes. They were far more common on S54 M3s, and the leading theory as to the reason for this is the M3's higher 8000 rpm redline. This is also the reason BMW has cited for not including Coupes in the bearing recall. Also, I think most of the Coupe failures were 02s, not 01s. Chatter about this topic has dropped of to almost nil in the last couple years, which leads me to believe that most of the engines that are problematic have already let go. I have an 02, and I've decided not to pursue this fix.

Now having said that, if it helps you sleep better at night, then by all means, you should get this done. I can't help you with any shops in the SF area, but try bimrs.org for a list of respected shops.

Welcome to the Coupe world, and to the board. You're going to love it!


Kevin 368s #19

http://forums1.roadfly.com/preferenc....php?img=45881

Thanks for the suggestion - I ended up calling Dinan Service per a friend's recommendation. Their GM is a former 2002 owner and talked to me about what he thinks I should do.

Kevin 368s #19

http://forums1.roadfly.com/preferenc....php?img=45881

I'm waiting on Dinan to give me a quote. As far as I can tell, the guy there suggested a oil pressure test and making sure the oil pan is tight. (I believe)

I'll update here when I hear more.

In the meantime, here's the car: http://picasaweb.google.com/mlaroche/MCoupeFirstShots . It's in the condition that the previous owner left it. I have the stock rims, but for the time being I'm leaving the Fiskes on there.

I don't think I've ever seen those before. Good looking Coupe!

Kevin 368s #19

http://forums1.roadfly.com/preferenc....php?img=45881

There is a linkage between lead content and bearing failure of the '01 and '02 S54 motor. If you do a little bit of digging, you should be able to find out lots of information in the archives here. There was plenty of chatter on the topic, back in '03 and '04, when a few of the failures happened.

MLobo is correct, that the M3 S54s were allowed to rev higher, which may have been the cause of the failures. With a little arm twisting, BMW DID replace a few of the S54 bearings, under warranty, but I don't recall which owners, and what sort of fight they had to go through, to get the work done.

One way to get a general health of your engine is to talk to these folks (http://www.blackstone-labs.com/). They can do the Pb analysis. Based on their results, you can plan your maintanance a bit better. I have never used Blacksone, but I know a few that have, with good feedback. Talk to them about the proper process for obtaining a sample, and you will get a good snapshot of your engines health when the results are returned.

I know the owner of that coupe.
You've gotten yourself a good one there.
Just enjoy it for now and don't worry too much about the rod bearings.

Just my 2 cents.
Welcome to the coupe world (in the Bay Area specifically).

-GT

Thanks! Although the previous owner sold the car via a dealership, I did get a chance to meet him and talk for an hour and a half.

Kevin 368s #19

http://forums1.roadfly.com/preferenc....php?img=45881

As fun as it is to drive that thing, there are no roads around here that justify taking it out. Too many stop lights, too much traffic, etc. No cool mountain roads to explore!!! It's OK to go for a "show drive" every now and then, but thats not really my style, or what the car was built for! Counting the "gawkers" gets boring, pretty quick!

I'll probably put it on the market next spring, IF the economy is a bit better. No urgency, but I would rather see it find a home where it can get more use. I'll never forget the epic road trip across the country in a Cobra, but that was a once-in-lifetime event. Maybe I can sell the car to someone out west, so they can repeat the trip, in reverse!

I've got an '01 MC (also Cosmos & original owner) and after getting several analyses in a row with normal pb counts, I stopped worrying. I now have 53K on the clock and no probs - haven't even needed valve adjustments. Purty durn bulletproof and I still run it hard.

If you're ever looking for stock pipes, I've got 'em new and cheap.

John

John
'01 Triple Black M Coupe
368/368