Sad News Fellas...
 

She cannot be sold. Got a unfortunate diagnosis today. My oil analysis came back, I have copper in the oil. I have so much torque, I fried the rod bearings.

M3, M4 and M5’s have this same issue.

This is what I’ve been telling you guys all along. You don’t just slap a kit on. I went over my M54 with a fine tooth comb, and still was not able to predict all that could go wrong.

I need Prayer!

Happy....

So pull the engine and replace the conrod bearings..Which I think you can do without pulling the head. If you DO pull the head you can swap out piston rings with the updated Mahle rings.

So I don’t have to pull the engine, (thank you Jesus)! But, the front diff has to come out, (ouch). It’s almost 22hrs of labor and about $3500 for the repair.

I believe they are going to use high performance bearings, and while down there drill and wire the oil pump nut.

Hey Buddy. Glad to hear you've figured out an option. If I remember right you have a vortec supercharger right? Are you having to really spool that up to get the power and torque you want. I bring this up because I am building a twinscrew 1.6L replica of the Ess Kit. I have the Ess Stage 2 software and another forum member (joint project) is tweaking that software for the build. Its been a slow project. Life has gotten in the way often. I will do a seperate thread with all the details, but I have a 1.6 lysolm S/C already, just making brackets, etc. I have an intercooler and plan on running meth/h20 injection. Anyways, I"m hoping that maybe the difference in the nature of how the units build boost might spare me from a similar fate(if high rpms plays a role). By virtue of the pulleys I have to work with, I have estimated about 10-12 psi, which is maxing it out I know on stock internals and pump gas, etc. Let me know your thoughts.

Maaaaann it’s been awhile.

Did you hear the sound clip? (Tuning the Aquamist)

That was for you!

It’s been a journey, I’ve been running 10lbs of boost, and it’s in my opinion it’s really beat the truck up.

My Aquamist is very efficient, really keeps things cool. But the setup has really pushed my M54.

Man, so sorry to hear that. What afr are you running under boost? Not that your problem is related to a shattered piston or anything afr related - just curious.

Pay attention to which bearings show wear when you do the teardown. It will tell you whether is a load, rpm, or piston rocking issue.

Fwiw, the n55 runs like 10 psi of boost on cast pistons with a similar compression ratio.

Sad News Fellas...
 

So, the power is always there. There is really no way to spool it because the belt spins it. However, I can stay in gear 3800 rpm - 4200 rpm and lay into, which I guess gives you a spooling effect.

The power and torque in my opinion, behaves like it’s stock. It’s just REALLY amplified. So I feel like the internals with Vortech take less abuse. I cannot comment on the ESS, because I haven’t had any experience with that type of blower. All I know is that kit tops out at 575hp and the RMS tops out at 775. I don’t even want to know what it would cost to build a M54 that can take that kind of power reliably.

I’ve always liked everything about Vortech. The sound is amazing and the way it takes your factory power and simply amplifies it is a plus.

My situation with the rod bearings is probably a few things, not warming the truck properly to get oil to the bearings, using 5-30w instead of 5-40w, and redlining. I am addicted to the sound that truck makes near redline when the blow off happens between gear shifts.

I highly recommend that you do not push the boost past 10lbs. 10lbs, meth injection, and a good tune should get you 400hp. That’s a lot for a stock M54 in my opinion.

I think anytime you change the way something’s been operating for years, especially when it’s aged you are bound to come across some issues.

Get oil analysis done regularly. Plugs are changed at like 15k, oil changes, I think it’s either 5k or 7k. The oil analysis will help with that. One of my earlier post about trying to find a place to sell this truck, I mentioned the maintenance this truck requires. I’ve been doing it now for 20,000 miles and..... I don’t know, maybe I’m getting too old for all this.

Haha! Yes I totally heard the Aqua mist video! ;)...... and so did my neighbors! :rofl: Where you able to monitor your charge temps with the Aqua Mist? I have been looking at the Snow Performance Kit. My software came off an e39 that was walking from E39 M5's and keeping pace with E60 M5's. He was claiming about 450 whp, and by the videos, and knowing who he is, pretty much confirmed that.

What you say about wear and tear seems true when you are adding that kind of stress/power. Let me know if you want your rod bearing coated. I'm out of the loop on the DLC, teflon, options, etc. But I can get you a discount from Calico Coatings. That my just be just extra cash you don't want to spend as you are already upgrading. Dude, you should keep her, which honestly is one of the nicest m54 manual performance builds to grace this forum, period. I bet you 'can' break all four loose especially with the 4.10 gearing!:wow:....but your drivetrain might hate your ass!

You have to make a couple videos for me! I want to see your set up and how your monitoring everything.

Yeah, with 285’s up front and 325’s in the rear, she may get a bit upset with me. LoL..

I’ve been holding the dsc button for 10 seconds though, and when it’s completely disengaged it seems my response is a bit better.

JMHO...