[carguy138]

Spun a rod bearing 6 weeks ago. Got pretty frustrated, put the car in the garage and now starting to think about what to do with it.

How it happened: Track day. Running an Accusump and still experienced oil starvation during a prolonged high speed left turn. Accusump provided oil pressure for 5-7 seconds, turn was 10-11 seconds long. Made it through two 20 minute sessions..

Did the cool down lap, did a lap around the garage and stalled when I pulled into my spot. Tried to restart and just went "click". Tried a few times, no luck. Waited 15 minutes and it started up but obvious rod knock under light revs. Shut it off immediately and got it towed. Only ran for maybe 10 seconds like this.

Oil filter filled with silver metallic bits and brass colored specs. I'm guessing the bearing spun when it stalled (or caused it to stall) and welded itself to the crank lobe.

I was hoping I could get away with swapping rod bearings but figuring that's probably not going to work at this point. Looked at used engines but they are a $4,000-5,000 crap shoot.

Now I'm looking at Miami Engines for a rebuilt long block. I'd pull my motor and swap everything over. Would also purchase a new oil cooler because if there are an metallic bits in there, I'll never get them out.

Anyone that's been through this have any advice? I'm the second owner and have maintained the utter hell out of this thing and it's immaculate. Wavetrac LSD went in 700 miles ago.

2011 335i xdrive, 6MT, M-Sport and 72k miles.

[anjuna]

pull yer eng
put on stand
yank yer oil pan
yank yer caps for rods
inspect the rod bearings - IF no issues, lightly tighten down the caps just to hold them in place.
yank yer mains
inspect yer main bearings
learn that ya fucked yerself either way.

Then, I would honestly take it to a machine shop that can very slightly machine out the damage to the rods, if there is any.

Also find a place that specializes in crank machining. I would look at keying your crank for keyed timing chain, because it's already out of the car and should be pretty "inexpensive" comparatively. Oh, and piston rings, etc. etc. etc.

Trust the shop - if they can clean up the crank, awesome. Run the bearings they suggest but also try to keep the correct tolerance for each clearance.

In the meantime, you're gonna want to pull the entire block apart - hot tank it and get it CLEANED. it would be advantageous to do a Oil Filter Housing change so that you can replace that gasket without worrying about a spun rod.

Essentially, anything that came into contact with this oil (even if it was for a short period of time - you mention accusump, which can definitely add to the chaos) should be removed, hot tanked (or generally cleaned like fuck) before being reused. I would NOT reuse an oil cooler, if you have an external one.

You can also work with a proper engine machine shop to blueprint all of this for you. It's gonna be a bit expensive though....

[rich_mane]

I was in the same boat last year. Bearings spun on two cylinders and seized up just the same. Wasn't tracking it though, it came after I did my oil filter housing gasket without priming the motor afterwards. I maintained it very well since buying it at 50k miles.

I ended up taking the bottom end apart in the car, and took off the rod caps to free the motor up. It was pretty bad damage to the crank and rods, definitely seemed unsalvageable. I sanded them down with crocus cloth anyway and slapped king bearings in it lol.

It lasted about 10,000 miles before it started to knock and I just parked it. I thought about pulling the motor and having it redone by a machine shop but didn't want to leave it down for too long.

So I went with a rebuilt motor from Miami engines. Used engines were still gonna be ~$4,000 it looked like and I didn't want to take a chance with any of them. Figured I'd go with one that had already been looked at and properly rebuilt. I was between Ghassan or Miami Engines but Ghassan seemed to have some negative reviews that kinda scared me off. I'm also somewhat local to Miami so if I really had to, I could just drive over there lol.

Did the swap myself back in november, 5,000 miles ago and have had zero issues. It's been running really well so far. Almost done with the tuning through Wedge.

I sent my old motor back as the core, and only got half of the deposit back because of damage to one of the cam journals (probably from running that thing 10k miles after spinning bearings lol) but I wasn't upset about it. I'm assuming that would have had to be replaced anyways if I tried to have the motor rebuilt at a machine shop, and probably would have cost a good bit finding a good head.

Good luck with it though man! It sucks but once the new motor is in, it's so nice to have back. I still love this car even after it put me through this

[M-technik-3]

There is a used N55 in the classified section, no nothing about it but it's in CT for 3k. Sorry to hear your pain, did you speak with accu-sump?

[whyzee125]

Sorry to hear it! Definitely avoid Ghassan like the plague

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by whyzee125

Sorry to hear it! Definitely avoid Ghassan like the plague

Why? I read a lot of similar comments but no justification or explanations.

[whyzee125]

Originally Posted by TheMidnightNarwhal

Why? I read a lot of similar comments but no justification or explanations.

Tons of evidence that they do not even rebuild their engines at all, they just sell used engines as rebuilt. They don't honor their warranty. They keep customer cars for months and ignore their calls. The owner was involved in some legal allegations for sexual harassment, and more. Don't walk, RUN away from Ghassan.

[carguy138]

Thanks for the replies. Ended up going with Miami Engines for a longblock. Being built with a forged crankshaft, VAC coated bearings and ARP bolts for added strength/reliability.

[carguy138]

Originally Posted by rich_mane

I was in the same boat last year. Bearings spun on two cylinders and seized up just the same. Wasn't tracking it though, it came after I did my oil filter housing gasket without priming the motor afterwards. I maintained it very well since buying it at 50k miles.

I ended up taking the bottom end apart in the car, and took off the rod caps to free the motor up. It was pretty bad damage to the crank and rods, definitely seemed unsalvageable. I sanded them down with crocus cloth anyway and slapped king bearings in it lol.

It lasted about 10,000 miles before it started to knock and I just parked it. I thought about pulling the motor and having it redone by a machine shop but didn't want to leave it down for too long.

So I went with a rebuilt motor from Miami engines. Used engines were still gonna be ~$4,000 it looked like and I didn't want to take a chance with any of them. Figured I'd go with one that had already been looked at and properly rebuilt. I was between Ghassan or Miami Engines but Ghassan seemed to have some negative reviews that kinda scared me off. I'm also somewhat local to Miami so if I really had to, I could just drive over there lol.

Did the swap myself back in november, 5,000 miles ago and have had zero issues. It's been running really well so far. Almost done with the tuning through Wedge.

I sent my old motor back as the core, and only got half of the deposit back because of damage to one of the cam journals (probably from running that thing 10k miles after spinning bearings lol) but I wasn't upset about it. I'm assuming that would have had to be replaced anyways if I tried to have the motor rebuilt at a machine shop, and probably would have cost a good bit finding a good head.

Good luck with it though man! It sucks but once the new motor is in, it's so nice to have back. I still love this car even after it put me through this

When you swapped to the new motor, what else did you also swap? I went with Miami Engines as well and should have the new longblock in 3 weeks.

Looking at a new oil pan gasket, valve cover gasket, intake manifold gasket, oil/coolant lines, OFHG. Anything else you can think of? My thermostat/water pump only have 20k miles on them so just going to swap them over. No apparent issues with injectors, spark plugs or coils either.

Just wondering what else you did during the swap in terms of cleaning any debris out.

Also thinking about replacing the oil cooler in the wheel well in case there is any debris stuck in it.

[rich_mane]

Originally Posted by carguy138

When you swapped to the new motor, what else did you also swap? I went with Miami Engines as well and should have the new longblock in 3 weeks.

Looking at a new oil pan gasket, valve cover gasket, intake manifold gasket, oil/coolant lines, OFHG. Anything else you can think of? My thermostat/water pump only have 20k miles on them so just going to swap them over. No apparent issues with injectors, spark plugs or coils either.

Just wondering what else you did during the swap in terms of cleaning any debris out.

Also thinking about replacing the oil cooler in the wheel well in case there is any debris stuck in it.

They gave me a new oil pan gasket with the motor, and a new-ish looking valve cover was installed with a new gasket already which was nice.

I did the intake mani gaskets, exhaust gaskets, injector seals, ofhg, new vacuum lines and all the turbo lines as well as coolant hoses that looked old. I'd do the mickey mouse hose if you haven't done it already, I had recently replaced it after it burst at ~110k miles. I also had the water pipe off the block burst at some point as well so both of those were fairly new for me. Injector seals are important, you don't really want to be reusing them.

Also put new plugs and a couple new coils in it just so I don't have to worry about em for a while. My water pump/thermostat were also pretty new so I kept them. Swapped all the other accessories over with no issue.

As far as the oil cooler goes, I had the same concern and honestly for 100% peace of mind you could replace it. But I ended up flushing it out with some pressurized oil (the shop I did the work at has a bulk oil tank with a dispenser) and just did that through both sides til I felt alright about it. Also filled the oil cooler through the lines before priming and starting the motor.

Good luck with it!

[carguy138]

Originally Posted by rich_mane

They gave me a new oil pan gasket with the motor, and a new-ish looking valve cover was installed with a new gasket already which was nice.

I did the intake mani gaskets, exhaust gaskets, injector seals, ofhg, new vacuum lines and all the turbo lines as well as coolant hoses that looked old. I'd do the mickey mouse hose if you haven't done it already, I had recently replaced it after it burst at ~110k miles. I also had the water pipe off the block burst at some point as well so both of those were fairly new for me. Injector seals are important, you don't really want to be reusing them.

Also put new plugs and a couple new coils in it just so I don't have to worry about em for a while. My water pump/thermostat were also pretty new so I kept them. Swapped all the other accessories over with no issue.

As far as the oil cooler goes, I had the same concern and honestly for 100% peace of mind you could replace it. But I ended up flushing it out with some pressurized oil (the shop I did the work at has a bulk oil tank with a dispenser) and just did that through both sides til I felt alright about it. Also filled the oil cooler through the lines before priming and starting the motor.

Good luck with it!

Awesome, thank you!

Considering that I'll be swapping everything over to the new block, I'm having a hard time not installing a bigger turbo (PS1, PS2, etc.).

If there was a complete one stop shop for a turbo/tune upgrade (like APR in the VW/AUDI world), I'd be doing it. Just don't want to deal with someone working out of their garage and hoping they know what they're doing. Overthinking it?

[Ozzie335i]

Go with PS2. Don't waste your time on PS1. As the motor is out the labor is the same.

[yupetc]

I rebuilt mine after an oil starvation event, took me 6 months, 4 of which are spent sizing up the tolerances and fitting different main and rod bearings. But ended up with a good build altogether. It's a lot of work, but the joyous weekend garage hours certain will become nostalgia in the future. And most importantly, I did the work on my own, and I've quadruple-checked everything when buttoning everything up, a real peace of mind using the forged components and knowing at least those shouldn't fail when I go all out. Sorry that you're having to go through the failed N55 festivities, but good luck and happy motoring.

[rich_mane]

Originally Posted by carguy138

Awesome, thank you!

Considering that I'll be swapping everything over to the new block, I'm having a hard time not installing a bigger turbo (PS1, PS2, etc.).

If there was a complete one stop shop for a turbo/tune upgrade (like APR in the VW/AUDI world), I'd be doing it. Just don't want to deal with someone working out of their garage and hoping they know what they're doing. Overthinking it?

I felt that, I wanted to upgrade mine but I ended up holding off on it because the cost was already getting up there haha. I won't mind spending a weekend installing it myself one day down the line.

I also just saw you have a 6MT, clutch and flywheel might be good to have done if you haven't already. I upgraded to a SMFW and stage 2+ clutch when I did this too, my OEM flywheel was pretty worn out.

But if you're truly considering putting a PS2 in it now, best time to do it is before the motor goes into the car for sure. As far as installing it goes, it really is just a direct replacement for the OEM turbo/manifold as far as I know, so nothing tricky on the install. And for tuning, just get with a reputable tuner like Wedge and I don't think you'll have issues with that. I'd assume they've done many PS2 tunes by this point and can get it dialed in remotely without issue. Just make sure you have the supporting mods to use a PS2 efficiently.

Never overthinking when it comes to these things haha gotta make sure it's all done right!

[flapeo]

Wouldnt go wedge for n55e tuning. Go twisted or someone that's known more for the n55 platform. It's a lot different tuning a n55 compared to the n54.