New Member - E92/S65 Curious

[Stamos]

Hello, new member here, but not new to the BMW world.

I've previously owned multiple M cars on the E30, 36 and 46 platforms.

I'm seriously considering buying a 2013 E92 competition package car with 64k miles on it, but after reading and watching a handful of videos regarding the #1 main bearing failure at a variety of miles i'm second guessing my purchase consideration.

The vehicle I'm considering had the rod bearings replaced with the BE v2 units at 55k and is not tracked. (DCT trans)

Is the main bearing failure rate something to truly be concerned about with non-track use drivers or does that not factor into the failures given the most likely root cause of the #1 main bearing failure is too high tension from the double chains?

Thanks in advance!

[Redd]

Mains failures are exceedingly rare even on supercharged cars, rarer still on NA cars. It's been played up recently as some YouTubers put up videos. It's not something I would even worry about. More so on the 2013 unit you're looking at which is low mileage.

[Stamos]

Originally Posted by Redd

Mains failures are exceedingly rare even on supercharged cars, rarer still on NA cars. It's been played up recently as some YouTubers put up videos. It's not something I would even worry about. More so on the 2013 unit you're looking at which is low mileage.

Thanks.

I appreciate the insight.

[Stamos]

PFA

[Honda]

Originally Posted by Stamos

Hello, new member here, but not new to the BMW world.

I've previously owned multiple M cars on the E30, 36 and 46 platforms.

I'm seriously considering buying a 2013 E92 competition package car with 64k miles on it, but after reading and watching a handful of videos regarding the #1 main bearing failure at a variety of miles i'm second guessing my purchase consideration.

The vehicle I'm considering had the rod bearings replaced with the BE v2 units at 55k and is not tracked. (DCT trans)

Is the main bearing failure rate something to truly be concerned about with non-track use drivers or does that not factor into the failures given the most likely root cause of the #1 main bearing failure is too high tension from the double chains?

Thanks in advance!

Main bearing failure is very rare. But so far from most of what failed on was on 2011+ years. If you want to have the BEST peace of mind look for 2008-2010 model

[Stamos]

Originally Posted by Honda

Main bearing failure is very rare. But so far from most of what failed on was on 2011+ years. If you want to have the BEST peace of mind look for 2008-2010 model

Hmm, that seems directly contrary to the poster above.

[BIGW0RM]

Originally Posted by Stamos

Hmm, that seems directly contrary to the poster above.

I would get the newest year you can on a E92. I had two E92 M3's 2011/2013 with mods and my 13 was supercharged for a short time. I had zero issues with bearings. At least that I was aware of.

[WedgeSalad]

Mains only really fail on 2010+ (or 2011 i cant remember) models because they changed the material of the main bearing that year. They moved away from lead based bearings, unfortunately they weren't as reliable.

[Honda]

Originally Posted by BIGW0RM

I would get the newest year you can on a E92. I had two E92 M3's 2011/2013 with mods and my 13 was supercharged for a short time. I had zero issues with bearings. At least that I was aware of.

I disagree with this post.

[BIGW0RM]

Originally Posted by Honda

I disagree with this post.

I disagree with your disagree.

Either way you would most likely want to replace the rod bearings in ANY of those years. So you might as well get one with the most recent technology.

[pbonsalb]

I drove my 08 E90 to 110k miles, but changed the rod bearings preventatively at 60k. The car was NA but highly modded with an 8600 rpm limit. The guy I sold it to sold it at 130k last year. Great car, lots of fun, got more attention than my current F90 M5 but I wanted newer and more comfortable and faster and auto and AWD. Main bearing failure, at least when I sold in 2021, was rare. Never any guarantees with a 12-16 year old car, however.

[Honda]

Originally Posted by BIGW0RM

I disagree with your disagree.

Either way you would most likely want to replace the rod bearings in ANY of those years. So you might as well get one with the most recent technology.

Do more research... I can tell you have no clue on e92 M3 platform

[BIGW0RM]

Originally Posted by Honda

Do more research... I can tell you have no clue on e92 M3 platform

lol. Ok pal.

[dizz81]

I owned an 11 E92 for almost 8yrs and hands down best car I've owned to date.
Short list history with that car:
bought it with 33k miles
added ESS VT625 kit at 67k miles with eisemann(sp?) exhaust
added x-pipe and replaced bearings at 72k (ish), didn't need it but I wanted to play it safe
replaced clutch (just because power added) around 87k miles
replaced water pump 92k miles (super easy did it myself)
replaced both O2 sensor 98k miles
replaced TA's 108k miles

That's it. Sold the car at 108k miles because I was in the military at the time and didn't want to ship two cars to hawaii.
Regret it every day, should have just stored it somewhere.

From what I understand (as of last year), now two additional owners later it's still running around.

One thing I've always noticed on any forums is people tend to blow shit WAY out of proportion. If the car you're looking at has already had it's bearings replaced and it's optioned how you want it. I say why not and go for it. Hell if it wasn't a DCT I might actually consider it myself lol.

[Stamos]

Thanks for the replies everybody.

I purchased the car. Clean, clean, clean and drives perfect. Large binder of receipts (including rod bearing replacement).

Drove it home 5 hours with no issues.

Looks like it may need a valve cover gasket (slight seepage), but that's it.

Seeing that main bearing failure issue is a small percentage of vehicles overall I'm pretty confident it'll be ok with my limited driving and great maintenance.

[Redd]

[dizz81]

Originally Posted by Stamos

Thanks for the replies everybody.

I purchased the car. Clean, clean, clean and drives perfect. Large binder of receipts (including rod bearing replacement).

Drove it home 5 hours with no issues.

Looks like it may need a valve cover gasket (slight seepage), but that's it.

Seeing that main bearing failure issue is a small percentage of vehicles overall I'm pretty confident it'll be ok with my limited driving and great maintenance.

Awesome!

Can't wait to see the pictures

[4JawChuck]

Originally Posted by WedgeSalad

Mains only really fail on 2010+ (or 2011 i cant remember) models because they changed the material of the main bearing that year. They moved away from lead based bearings, unfortunately they weren't as reliable.

2013 e82 128i N52 rear main bearing failure, aluminum bearings on mains but rods were lead so I believe they had been replaced previously.

Around 80 000 kilometres when it happened, clearances were ridiculously tight around 0.0015”.