N55 Rod bearing diy?

[lforter]

Does someone knows where I can get a good complete DIY for this job? any help is appreciated....

[bignickmetro]

i had to take info from several posts on here. i successfully replaced my bearings with the engine in car. 4 out of the 6 bearings were completely spun and just clanking around in there. here is the notes i had saved to use:

So just to outline some of the procedure.
attach engine support brace
unhook steering rack cable
unplug the oil level sensor, headlight level sensor
unbolt tie rods from knuckle (leave on with subframe)
unbolt control arms from knuckle
unbolt steering rack and remove passenger tie rod end (mark it with paint)
loosten belt then remove power steering pump 3 bolts
drop subframe and manuever it around the steering rack.
remove oil pan (push the bolts through a carboard. the bolts at the very back are kinda hard to get to. also you have to remove the little 10mm bolts that hold the dct cooler lines so you can squeeze them out of the way)
remove oil tray bolts and pickup tray (new O-ring)
put dct in neutral so you can rotate crank to access different rods.
remove oil pump nut and oil pump bolts and order a set of new stretch bolts from bmw
oil pan bolts are also stretch bolts
***Do not rotate the engine when the oil pump is out. That will tighten the oil pump chain and you will have a hard time reinstalling the sprocket nut. So make sure that the crank is aligned nicely for servicing the rod bearing at the cyl #1 before you touch the oil pump. Then reinstall the oil pump before moving to other cylinders.



the small bolts around the pan are 8nm +90 degrees, only the long ones at the back of the pan are 180 degrees

There is a bracket holding the o2 sensor wiring connectors that must be removed in addition to all the oil pan bolts. This is fairly obvious, but what is not obvious is there is one more bolt above that bracket that runs through the transmission bell housing and into the oil pan that must be removed. I got all the other bolts out and was confused for a bit why the pan seemed to be stuck until I noticed that last bolt.

PRIME ENGINE before you start it back up. unplug all your injectors and crank the engine for 10sec, 3 times.

[lforter]

Originally Posted by bignickmetro

i had to take info from several posts on here. i successfully replaced my bearings with the engine in car. 4 out of the 6 bearings were completely spun and just clanking around in there. here is the notes i had saved to use:

So just to outline some of the procedure.
attach engine support brace
unhook steering rack cable
unplug the oil level sensor, headlight level sensor
unbolt tie rods from knuckle (leave on with subframe)
unbolt control arms from knuckle
unbolt steering rack and remove passenger tie rod end (mark it with paint)
drop subframe and manuever it around the steering rack.
remove oil pan (push the bolts through a carboard. the bolts at the very back are kinda hard to get to. also you have to remove the little 10mm bolts that hold the dct cooler lines so you can squeeze them out of the way)
put dct in neutral so you can rotate crank to access different rods.
remove oil pump nut and oil pump bolts and order a set of new stretch bolts from bmw
oil pan bolts are also stretch bolts
***Do not rotate the engine when the oil pump is out. That will tighten the oil pump chain and you will have a hard time reinstalling the sprocket nut. So make sure that the crank is aligned nicely for servicing the rod bearing at the cyl #1 before you touch the oil pump. Then reinstall the oil pump before moving to other cylinders.



the small bolts around the pan are 8nm +90 degrees, only the long ones at the back of the pan are 180 degrees

There is a bracket holding the o2 sensor wiring connectors that must be removed in addition to all the oil pan bolts. This is fairly [...]

Thanks you...what rod bearings did you went for?

[Jeff9962]

Originally Posted by bignickmetro

4 out of the 6 bearings were completely spun and just clanking around in there.

Thanks for the write up, that's great information!

I damaged a rod bearing a little over a week ago in my N55 but two BMW mechanics that I trust have told me it's not a good idea to replace the bearings once you have a knock. They're worried about residual metal shavings getting embedded in the new bearings and causing a problem. I'm assuming with 4 of your bearings damaged that the motor was making quite a bit of noise. How many miles have you put on it since replacement? Just curious if you've had any more problems.

[bignickmetro]

Originally Posted by lforter

Thanks you...what rod bearings did you went for?

king std size bearings. CR222SV

[bignickmetro]

Originally Posted by Jeff9962

Thanks for the write up, that's great information!

I damaged a rod bearing a little over a week ago in my N55 but two BMW mechanics that I trust have told me it's not a good idea to replace the bearings once you have a knock. They're worried about residual metal shavings getting embedded in the new bearings and causing a problem. I'm assuming with 4 of your bearings damaged that the motor was making quite a bit of noise. How many miles have you put on it since replacement? Just curious if you've had any more problems.

there was a ton of metal shavings in my oil, it was really bad. honestly can't believe it was even running with 4 spun bearings i'm glad it didn't seize. my BMW mechanic said he would NOT rebuild it, only replace it with a low miles engine for about $9k. i thought it was worth a shot doing the bearings since i got the car for free and it is not my only vehicle. and the oil pan gasket was leaky so i would have to do it eventually which is most of the same work. oh you have to have a torque wrench that does angles so you can do the proper rod bolt torque.

i have about 500 miles on it now. crossing fingers. i wouldn't do this job if you had to rely on the car as a daily, if the crank is damaged it will just spin another one soon. it was about $240 in parts for the bearings and bolts plus $90 for an engine support bar(or use a hoist). i think a shop charges like 8 hours for just oil pan gasket change, they would probably add another 4 or so to do the bearings so big labor cost here if you aren't DIY.

[pearlpower]

Originally Posted by bignickmetro

there was a ton of metal shavings in my oil, it was really bad. honestly can't believe it was even running with 4 spun bearings i'm glad it didn't seize. my BMW mechanic said he would NOT rebuild it, only replace it with a low miles engine for about $9k. i thought it was worth a shot doing the bearings since i got the car for free and it is not my only vehicle. and the oil pan gasket was leaky so i would have to do it eventually which is most of the same work. oh you have to have a torque wrench that does angles so you can do the proper rod bolt torque.

i have about 500 miles on it now. crossing fingers. i wouldn't do this job if you had to rely on the car as a daily, if the crank is damaged it will just spin another one soon. it was about $240 in parts for the bearings and bolts plus $90 for an engine support bar(or use a hoist). i think a shop charges like 8 hours for just oil pan gasket change, they would probably add another 4 or so to do the bearings so big labor cost here if you aren't DIY.

Curious, any update?