[nolocontendere]

Mine were worn when they were replaced with around 65k miles or so. I would definitely replace these as preventative maintenance on all e46 m3s, regardless of whether one has a post bearing recall car

Not sure what the right replacement interval would be, but based on the wear I've seen I'd say every 50k on a street car and every other season on a track car

[Obioban]

Originally Posted by nolocontendere

Mine were worn when they were replaced with around 65k miles or so. I would definitely replace these as preventative maintenance on all e46 m3s, regardless of whether one has a post bearing recall car

Not sure what the right replacement interval would be, but based on the wear I've seen I'd say every 50k on a street car and every other season on a track car

Oil analysis is still showing mine to be fine. I'm doing them because I figure, at 130,000 miles, I'm half way to a full engine rebuild. Seems unlikely they'd go all the way to 260,000 miles, so now seems like a good time.

130,000 miles, ~4000 of which are track miles, hitting the rev limiter multiple times per day every day while street driving.

In other words, 50,000 seems too short of an interval to me.

[Mash3]

Subscribed.

70k miles now. Plan on keeping the car to around 150k.

[gobuffs]

The report from Blackstone on the oil I sent in.

"Your note said that this was a junkyard engine, but it certainly doesn't look it. Wear metals are nice and low compared to universal averages, which show typical wear levels for this type of engine after about 4,800 miles on the oil. Of course, the low wear could just be from a short oil run, but things look good from here. Sodium can show coolant, but without potassium we're betting it's a harmless sealant or additive. A little fuel showed up, which probably lowered the viscosity, but neither is typically too concerning. Seems okay as of sample date 7/26/12."

[RedM3/4]

Thanks for the update. Been a slow work week for me with closing out a project and can't kick off the next one until next week; tripped upon some other bearing threads and oil analysis results.
My point is that Blackstone doesn't seem to be sounding the alarm on this engine or other S54's that are clearly in trouble. Doesn't make them wrong, but makes one wonder if there is a better indicator of when the bearings are losing material. Yours don't look done/into copper, but obviously are to the point you'd want to know; want to plan replacement.

ADS

[gobuffs]

Yeah it is a bit disconcerting there wasn't any more metal in there. I wonder if oil filter tear downs will give more info? My dad is looking into a chip detector...not sure if that will help or not.

If I had a street car, I'd put bearings on a scheduled replacement along with the vanos hub. 40-50k would probably be my max for peace of mind. I'll accelerate that schedule on this race motor. I'll probably replace the vanos hub every 2 years and sell the old one (I have a cryo treated Dr Vanos hub in there now.