S85 Rod Bearings

December 12, 2014Performance Technic

An article written by Randy Yuan.

Recently there have been many threads sprouting up on M5board regarding the E60/61 M5 and E63/64 M6 cars having worn/spun rod bearings. Some bearings show minimal signs of wear of just the lead layer being exposed, but majority show heavy wear in that the deepest layer of copper is visible. Definitely if you are down to the copper layer it is time to change out the bearings. Many of these instances actually result in the owners replacing the entire S85 engine block due to metal shavings found in the oil or in worst case engines just completely failing to operate. It seems that having an F1 inspired engine comes with F1 tolerances. BMW had released a newer rod bearing supposedly with larger tolerances to help address these issues.

Taking oil samples and sending them to Blackstone Labs for an oil analysis is one way to check on the health of your engine. For me, my past two Blackstone reports came back clean, but my car's mileage was getting to be high at 83,000 miles so I decided to take preventative measures and approached Performance Technic to have my rod bearings changed out for WPC treated ones, which are not only stronger and more durable than OEM bearings, but also have reduced friction due to the treatment. Details on the treatment can be found here (http://www.wpctreatment.com/).

Even though the newer OEM rod bearings supposedly had larger tolerances, I wanted to play it extra safe by adding the WPC treatment.

In addition,I also asked PTech to use ARP bolts as they only require one torque instead of three in order to properly stretch the bolts. I also decided to install a new VANOS high pressure line and engine mounts. Leaking VANOS high pressure lines is another common failure for the S85 cars due to the line not having a proper bend to attach to the VANOS pump. A lot of the folks on M5board suggested swapping this line out with rod bearings while the car is apart so I decided to do the same. The engine mounts I also threw into the job since they would be easily accessible and my current ones already had over 80k miles of use. I basically vouched for a whole refresh of that engine bay area for preventative measures.

Some fellow M5 owners question me as to why I would change out my bearings when my Blackstone reports looked great. Three words: Peace Of Mind. Every few weeks I see a new thread appear on M5board regarding a rod bearing failure. Peace of mind trumps all in my book and the cost of a rod bearing job is much cheaper than having to buy a new engine God forbid the worst happens. It's important to me to do whatever I can to keep my engine running strong and healthy and preventative maintenance is the path I use for accomplishing that.

NASA Western States Championship

November 13, 2014Performance Technic

For the first time, the Performance Technic team competed in the NASA Championships held at Sonoma Raceway. This was the first year the Championships were to run on both coasts to allow most teams the chance to compete without the long haul to the mid west (Miller Motorsports Park in Utah). This is the biggest and strongest fielded event NASA puts on. The best drivers and teams come from around the country to fight for a national title.

We knew the competition was going to be potent. From drivers like Michael McAleenan in his S62 powered #3 E46 m3 to, of course, Tony Colicchio in his amazingly light #331 E36 M3, both last year’s champions in GTS4 and GTS3, respectively. After facing Colicchio in May with the #46 still in USTCC trim at Thunderhill, we had some work to do. The new 3-way MCS dampers needed some learning, as well as adding aero. The GTS class is very open when it comes to using aero devices and at the beginning of the season we were a bit lacking. “We’re fine in the slow speed stuff”, Matt Powers said after the 100+ degree race in May, “it’s really just mid corner to exit of all the high speed sections where we’re loosing out.”

Fast-forward to last weekend, our test days were complete, the car was ready and it was game time. Friday morning was warm-up, then qualifying. P2 on old tires in warm-up behind Colicchio was not a bad way to start. After throwing on some stickier Michelins, we headed out for qualifying and right away we had realized this was going to be an epic battle. Colicchio was the first across the line with a 1:40.521 then McAleenan sets a 1:40.903 and then Powers sets a 1:40.638; less than .4 separating the top three! Knowing that was the best the tire was going to give, all three come in to impound after lap 2. “The car feels balanced, that bar adjustment helped.” Powers told crew chief and motorsport director, Matt Medeiros, after the #46 gets back from dyno, “Our tires are going to take a lap longer at least to warm up though.” “Perfect, we’ll be strong at the end.” Medeiros states, matter-of-factly.

There are two heat/qualifying races, the first on Friday and the other on Saturday. Both heat races combine to set the grid for the main winner-take-all race on Sunday. The first heat race Tony elected to start on drivers’ right. Powers got a good start and ended up ahead going through turn 1, but Tony had his nose just inside the #46’s rear bumper into turn 2 and held it there through turn 3 as well, and Michael now looking to the inside of Colicchio into 3; finally the three cars are nose to tail over the top of the right hander 3A. A small gap opens behind the #46, but it only lasts until the bottom of the carousel (turn 6), where all three cars are now almost bumping into turn 7, down through the esses and into the very slow U-turn that is turn 11. By the end of lap 1, the top three have pulled away from the rest of the field. You could now hear the #46’s splitter scrape the entire way up turn one. Colicchio again gets a better run out of the carousel on lap 2, but Powers stays to the right to block an inside pass and the #331 looks to the outside, staying there until exit where he has to slide back in behind. The battling continues through the traffic they catch by lap 4. Sadly, on lap 6 when Powers stays to the inside to pass a lapped car exiting turn 2, Colicchio tries the outside and drops 2 wheels off to drivers left spinning off into the banking and very nearly flipping the #331. Powers takes P1 by 6.2 seconds over the #3. We would hear later that night that TC’s car was out of the event.

Heat #2 was less eventful, with Michael pulling out to an early lead because of a Vanos problem on the #46. Getting through traffic Michael, too made a mistake dropping 4 wheels off, allowing the #46 back by to take the win by less than a half second.

The main race was then upon us, 11:30am Sunday morning. The team stayed up late the night before, fixing the Vanos and running test after test to make sure it would not fail again. The track was hot and our set-up changes worked. A good start from Powers and the #46 sets sail. Forty Five minutes later as the checkered flies, a 47 second gap, and the Performance Technic team are National Champs.

We thank our supporting venders and sponsors, WheelDude.com, SpeedFreaks, Bimmerworld, Dinan, Brembo, Ground Control, Epic Motorsports, TC Design, BMW Concord, MCS, AKG, Vorshlag, Griffin Motorwerke, RevoZport and OS Giken. We would like to especially thank Tony of TC Design for inspiring us to race with NASA GTS this season. There is no doubt the weekend would have been much more challenging had the Friday race gone differently for the #331 E36 M3. We are grateful to race with such immense talent and hope to continue to do so.

Below are more photographs for your viewing pleasure.

5th Year Anniversary Open House

October 14, 2014Performance Technic

This past Sunday, we celebrated our fifth year being in the business. Even with the heat wave, many people came out and showed their support. We had many vehicles attend such as Marco's 1M3 Clone on display along with our latest project with Teague and his race car build for the Alisa Ann Rich Burn Foundation. We want to thank AARBF, One River Media, and everyone who attended our Open House. Below, are photos from the event.

Contact Us

Blog