Are rod bearings a maintenance wear item for those who run a tune?
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E63 AMG
Are rod bearings a maintenance wear item for those who run a tune?
Having an interesting conversation with my BiL. He claims that I will eventually have to replace my rod bearings because of the tq I'm pushing on this engine. Obviously, using good quality oil and changing it every 5k. I don't know much about that aspect of when it comes to vehicle maintenance, even more so with this car(i've only owned it for 4 months). Curious what the hive thinks?
Last edited by CZ 75; Dec 17, 2022 at 03:55 PM.
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2015 CLS63 S AMG
Lol is your BiL a BMW guy? Lol this isn't an e90 M3, M157 motors can take being tuned and have a solid bottom end. Now, I'm not saying that there haven't been failures in these motors but, it's not because of wear on the bottom end because of the TQ. They're made to push that kind of power, just make sure ignition is good and it's being oiled properly.
Having an interesting conversation with my BiL. He claims that I will eventually have to replace my rod bearings because of the tq I'm pushing on this engine. Obviously, using good quality oil and changing it every 5k. I don't know much about that aspect of when it comes to vehicle maintenance, even more so with this car(i've only owned it for 4 months). Curious what the hive thinks?
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2014 E63S; AMS 100 octane ECU dyno tune; EDOK TCU tune; BB intakes; sprintbooster
Having an interesting conversation with my BiL. He claims that I will eventually have to replace my rod bearings because of the tq I'm pushing on this engine. Obviously, using good quality oil and changing it every 5k. I don't know much about that aspect of when it comes to vehicle maintenance, even more so with this car(i've only owned it for 4 months). Curious what the hive thinks?
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E63 AMG
Lol is your BiL a BMW guy? Lol this isn't an e90 M3, M157 motors can take being tuned and have a solid bottom end. Now, I'm not saying that there haven't been failures in these motors but, it's not because of wear on the bottom end because of the TQ. They're made to push that kind of power, just make sure ignition is good and it's being oiled properly.
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poop
Lol, rod bearings are what BMW guys have to deal with, we just get a little oil in some of our sensors
It doesn't matter if you're running 50 horsepower or 850, it should never be a metal or metal contact bearings. If there is, it's a matter of minutes before they fail.
I've never heard of any bearing failures with an m157 or any Mercedes to date
It doesn't matter if you're running 50 horsepower or 850, it should never be a metal or metal contact bearings. If there is, it's a matter of minutes before they fail.
I've never heard of any bearing failures with an m157 or any Mercedes to date
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E63 AMG
Lol, rod bearings are what BMW guys have to deal with, we just get a little oil in some of our sensors
It doesn't matter if you're running 50 horsepower or 850, it should never be a metal or metal contact bearings. If there is, it's a matter of minutes before they fail.
I've never heard of any bearing failures with an m157 or any Mercedes to date
It doesn't matter if you're running 50 horsepower or 850, it should never be a metal or metal contact bearings. If there is, it's a matter of minutes before they fail.
I've never heard of any bearing failures with an m157 or any Mercedes to date
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On the shoulder
Lol, rod bearings are what BMW guys have to deal with, we just get a little oil in some of our sensors
It doesn't matter if you're running 50 horsepower or 850, it should never be a metal or metal contact bearings. If there is, it's a matter of minutes before they fail.
I've never heard of any bearing failures with an m157 or any Mercedes to date
It doesn't matter if you're running 50 horsepower or 850, it should never be a metal or metal contact bearings. If there is, it's a matter of minutes before they fail.
I've never heard of any bearing failures with an m157 or any Mercedes to date
It's too true! The BMW community has to replace rod bearings on basically all of the M cars, until the more recent motors (2014+).
But, it seems like all of them have some sort of fatal flaw (similar to the oil in sensors on E63). For the F8x M3/4, rod bearings are fine and can handle a ton of power, but instead you have the crank hub problem, where the crank hub bolt can work itself out and grenade the motor. So, now you are seeing used car posts for those M3s advertising "crank hub fix already done." The pricing on that crank hub fix varies wildly... I've seen quotes from $2,500 all the way to $7500, but the most common is between $5-6k.
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22' Mercedes GLE450, 16' E550 4matic (stage 1 ECC tune, Morendi TCU tune), 09' 911 turbo
Having an interesting conversation with my BiL. He claims that I will eventually have to replace my rod bearings because of the tq I'm pushing on this engine. Obviously, using good quality oil and changing it every 5k. I don't know much about that aspect of when it comes to vehicle maintenance, even more so with this car(i've only owned it for 4 months). Curious what the hive thinks?
He must be working on a lot of BMWs lol, Naaaa rod bearings shouldn’t be a concern on this engine. There are many 157/278 motors running stupid numbers with no issues. This usually becomes and issue when a manufacturer uses very tight tolerance like BMW does.
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E63 AMG
No, he's never worked on bimmers. Dude's very knowledgable but doesn't really know much about the effects of tunes on vehicles so he was throwing some assumptions out there. Myself, I know a lot less than him(he's a diesel mechanic) so I told him that I'd ask MBworld. Shared this thread with him yesterday and he conceded lol.
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2023 E63S Wagon
The bearings might not be a concern
But the rods are! The nannies don't seem to protect the engine as well on (aggressively) tuned cars when there is ping, knock, bad gas, bad spark, older plugs, any worn ignition items, rods like to give it up.
If you are tuned it is imperative to keep everything running tip top. And if you fill with less octane or bad gas don't WOT until it's all perfect again.
And find a safe tuner. Tuners that wring out that last 20-40HP for the dyno-war win are putting things too close to the edge so when something does go "wrong" (old plugs, bad coil, bad gas, tired fuel pumps) it's not pretty.
Stay safe out there!
But the rods are! The nannies don't seem to protect the engine as well on (aggressively) tuned cars when there is ping, knock, bad gas, bad spark, older plugs, any worn ignition items, rods like to give it up.
If you are tuned it is imperative to keep everything running tip top. And if you fill with less octane or bad gas don't WOT until it's all perfect again.
And find a safe tuner. Tuners that wring out that last 20-40HP for the dyno-war win are putting things too close to the edge so when something does go "wrong" (old plugs, bad coil, bad gas, tired fuel pumps) it's not pretty.
Stay safe out there!
Last edited by I.T. Guy; Dec 21, 2022 at 01:04 PM.
