New M6 Owner - What do You think?

[VampyresM6]

Hey guys - very long time bmw owner here, primarily vintage (e21, e30, e34, etc).

Recently bought an XM Label Red and within 10 days had a full drivetrain failure (which is leading me to lemon it). Amidst the lemon process, I decided to buy an M6 Comp, saw one at a local lot and just fell in love with it - I really do not know much about it outside of being relatively familiar with the motor from my researching F10 M5 days.

Dropping the window sticker here and photo too!

Looking to spend ~$10K on a combination of preventative maintenance and some minor upgrades. For starters I'll be getting a blackstone oil analysis on the car to get a "pulse" on how it's doing, but feels great @ 49K miles.

I've heard quite a bit about the motors and the "common issues". I've been told rod bearings and valve stem seals are the best things to address first.

Wanted to hear from you guys what you feel should be addressed first, and additionally what you guys think should be my first and second performance upgrades

Thanks
- Vamp

[TinCanSailor]

Wow congrats, beautiful car and a nice spec for sure. The brakes will squeal but that is normal. I have over 100k on my brakes the wheels stay very clean and the stopping power is strong and can be startling if you are not ready. I use the nightvision for night time trips on the open road to help spot vehicles hiding that might be running radar/lidar. Combines with a good radar/lidar detector it has helped keep me ticket free.

If you plan on ecu tuning the car I'd suggest doing the bearings and at a minimum add forged rods. The hot v configuration of these engines doesn't lend itself to being run hard and they rods do not do well under heat soaked conditions.

[VampyresM6]

Originally Posted by TinCanSailor

Wow congrats, beautiful car and a nice spec for sure. The brakes will squeal but that is normal. I have over 100k on my brakes the wheels stay very clean and the stopping power is strong and can be startling if you are not ready. I use the nightvision for night time trips on the open road to help spot vehicles hiding that might be running radar/lidar. Combines with a good radar/lidar detector it has helped keep me ticket free.

If you plan on ecu tuning the car I'd suggest doing the bearings and at a minimum add forged rods. The hot v configuration of these engines doesn't lend itself to being run hard and they rods do not do well under heat soaked conditions.

Thanks for the kind words and the pro-tips, you think for a simple BM3 tune + downpipes + project gamma intakes and charge coolers i'd want to go for forged rods already?

[TinCanSailor]

Originally Posted by VampyresM6

Thanks for the kind words and the pro-tips, you think for a simple BM3 tune + downpipes + project gamma intakes and charge coolers i'd want to go for forged rods already?

I can only advise based on my own experience and or what I have witnessed. Yes 100% if you start doing BM3, downpipes etc. do the rod bearings and rods. You have many years of worry free but fun driving experiences. My bearings were done at 50k miles before any mods were done. at about 60k I did BM3 and downpipes by about 70 I was buying my first engine rebuild. I did a stock/oem like rebuild with a reputable engine builder. Drove the car for about for 2 years in stock config as it had a 2yr/24k mile warranty.

After that I started adding mods and it wasn't long before I was buying my second engine this time forged. I knew I was pressing my luck and had already priced out the parts from 5150autosport and was planning on sending my car to my indy shop when I deployed again. This car is my "daily" but it doesn't see a lot of miles and I don't ride it like a boy racer. The occasional 60mph to 150mph are the kind of drives I like. Heck my work has me gone for 6 months out of the year so my car spends a lot of time sitting cold in the garage. So, when I am home, I am not driving on the regs because my wife and I are out doing things, and we usually take her 550.

[VampyresM6]

Originally Posted by TinCanSailor

I can only advise based on my own experience and or what I have witnessed. Yes 100% if you start doing BM3, downpipes etc. do the rod bearings and rods. You have many years of worry free but fun driving experiences. My bearings were done at 50k miles before any mods were done. at about 60k I did BM3 and downpipes by about 70 I was buying my first engine rebuild. I did a stock/oem like rebuild with a reputable engine builder. Drove the car for about for 2 years in stock config as it had a 2yr/24k mile warranty.

After that I started adding mods and it wasn't long before I was buying my second engine this time forged. I knew I was pressing my luck and had already priced out the parts from 5150autosport and was planning on sending my car to my indy shop when I deployed again. This car is my "daily" but it doesn't see a lot of miles and I don't ride it like a boy racer. The occasional 60mph to 150mph are the kind of drives I like. Heck my work has me gone for 6 months out of the year so my car spends a lot of time sitting cold in the garage. So, when I am home, I am not driving on the regs because my wife and I are out doing things, and we usually take her 550.

Thanks again for the tips. Looking into getting that work done right now. I've heard rod bearings usually are in the $2-3.5k range for labor but somehow have been getting quoted $8-10k.

[TinCanSailor]

Originally Posted by VampyresM6

Thanks again for the tips. Looking into getting that work done right now. I've heard rod bearings usually are in the $2-3.5k range for labor but somehow have been getting quoted $8-10k.

Happy to help. Bearing themselves are about 500 dollars. The labor involved is the real killer as the front assembly has to be dropped. It can be done with the engine int he car but requires a support brace/beam on top of the car to support the weight of the engine being in.

If you do the bearings ya might as well do the rods while the car is disassembled as a lot of the labor is repeated to do the rods later. If you send the car to a shop that has done these a lot labor should be very easy for them to quote.

[VampyresM6]

I thought you could only do the bearings from the bottom, but if you wanted to go rods you'd have to go from the top? Is that not true? Would you be able to do both rods and bearings going in from the bottom?

[TinCanSailor]

Originally Posted by VampyresM6

I thought you could only do the bearings from the bottom, but if you wanted to go rods you'd have to go from the top? Is that not true? Would you be able to do both rods and bearings going in from the bottom?

yep from the top. I am so used to seeing it upside down that it had me thinking bottom.

[MTiz]

Originally Posted by TinCanSailor

yep from the top. I am so used to seeing it upside down that it had me thinking bottom.

Did you do rods and pistons because your engine blew, or just preventatively? Blowing up on just a downpipe and tune is pretty disheartening

[TinCanSailor]

Originally Posted by MTiz

Did you do rods and pistons because your engine blew, or just preventatively? Blowing up on just a downpipe and tune is pretty disheartening

Well, because 2 engines blew. But on the 2nd one I was already in the process of buying parts and coordinating the work. On 4th of july in 2023 I was on a large stretch of road in Mexico and doing a 060 to xxx run and it gave out. Not my favorite 4th of July memory

After that I bought a forged engine. There were holes big enough to stick an arm through.

[machareus]

Congrats!

[VampyresM6]

Originally Posted by TinCanSailor

Well, because 2 engines blew. But on the 2nd one I was already in the process of buying parts and coordinating the work. On 4th of july in 2023 I was on a large stretch of road in Mexico and doing a 060 to xxx run and it gave out. Not my favorite 4th of July memory

After that I bought a forged engine. There were holes big enough to stick an arm through.

Oof! Mind me asking where you bought your Forged Engine from? Was it RK's?

[VampyresM6]

Originally Posted by machareus

Congrats!

Thank you sir!

[TinCanSailor]

Originally Posted by VampyresM6

Oof! Mind me asking where you bought your Forged Engine from? Was it RK's?

It was. I'd buy a 3rd or send my car to him again without hesitation.

[Mdriv3r]

Originally Posted by VampyresM6

Hey guys - very long time bmw owner here, primarily vintage (e21, e30, e34, etc).

Recently bought an XM Label Red and within 10 days had a full drivetrain failure (which is leading me to lemon it). Amidst the lemon process, I decided to buy an M6 Comp, saw one at a local lot and just fell in love with it - I really do not know much about it outside of being relatively familiar with the motor from my researching F10 M5 days.

Dropping the window sticker here and photo too!

Looking to spend ~$10K on a combination of preventative maintenance and some minor upgrades. For starters I'll be getting a blackstone oil analysis on the car to get a "pulse" on how it's doing, but feels great @ 49K miles.

I've heard quite a bit about the motors and the "common issues". I've been told rod bearings and valve stem seals are the best things to address first.

Wanted to hear from you guys what you feel should be addressed first, and additionally what you guys think should be my first and second performance upgrades

Thanks
- Vamp

Nice setup. Its got all the right options
You can ask these guys about bearings. I did them on my previous SC E92 M3 before. Peace of mind service + my blackstone oil analysis had a lead level increase after super charging.

Id suggest preventatively changing the turbo coolant lines to silicone. There is a diy on here. If you have time, maybe flush your DCT transmission fluid. Be careful with that though… use the proper fluid and make sure directions are followed correctly.

I have done a couple oil analysis, its been awhile. Fortunately, they were okay.

Also consider flushing or changing the other fluids.


About rod bearings, does the S63TU have the lead coating on the bearings? Bc with the e92 M3 08-10 had copper lead bearings. Then BMW switched the bearings to tin for 10-13 or so. This made it difficult to track bearing babbit, as lead wouldnt show up on analysis.

The forum here sent new measurements to BE-Clevite and the company started making increased tolerance bearings. And they worked . I installed those with ARP rod bolts. So props to bimmerpost for all that 👍.

Feel free to search on here, I have a rod bearing post on m3post with my bearing pictures and I believe I uploaded an oil analysis also.

Nice car man. Enjoy it!!!

[VampyresM6]

Originally Posted by Mdriv3r

Nice setup. Its got all the right options
You can ask these guys about bearings. I did them on my previous SC E92 M3 before. Peace of mind service + my blackstone oil analysis had a lead level increase after super charging.

Id suggest preventatively changing the turbo coolant lines to silicone. There is a diy on here. If you have time, maybe flush your DCT transmission fluid. Be careful with that though… use the proper fluid and make sure directions are followed correctly.

I have done a couple oil analysis, its been awhile. Fortunately, they were okay.

Also consider flushing or changing the other fluids.


About rod bearings, does the S63TU have the lead coating on the bearings? Bc with the e92 M3 08-10 had copper lead bearings. Then BMW switched the bearings to tin for 10-13 or so. This made it difficult to track bearing babbit, as lead wouldnt show up on analysis.

The forum here sent new measurements to BE-Clevite and the company started making increased tolerance bearings. And they worked . I installed those with ARP rod bolts. So props to bimmerpost for all that 👍.

Feel free to search on here, I have a rod bearing post on m3post with my bearing pictures and I believe I uploaded an oil analysis also.

Nice car man. Enjoy it!!!

Thanks a bunch man, super helpful comment. I'm certainly going to change the rod bearings just to be safe but im currently struggling to find the best brand. I'm seeing that MAHLE is decently respected for Rod Bearings, maybe TinCanSailor has a suggestion?

[Mdriv3r]

No problem and your welcome. Its a great looking vehicle with several great options, the best options actually…

Sorry for the situation with the XM. Please keep us updated on the details if you don’t mind.

For rod bearings, I’ll leave that answer to the guys on here. You can check the M5post forum also. There will be more information there.

About oil analysis… If someone could chime in on the tri-layer composition and confirm the most superficial layer of the rod bearings are lead….???

This is what I used to check on my m3. They definitely had bearing babbit, which I noticed after the change, as there was quite a bit of copper showing on several of the original bearings.

Tincansailor has a lot of experience with this engine. I’d definitely ask him for sure.


From personal research, I have read some change the bearings early for peace of mind and others suggest to run good oil with frequent oil changes.

Personally, at present, I do the frequent oil changes. I also use ceratec, but that is only added every 25k-30k miles. I also use good oil. Liqui Moly Leichtlauf 5w-40. Make sure to use a BMW approved Long Life certified oil. There is a list on here somewhere. There are several oils that are approved, so do some research. BMW Twin Power Turbo is good oil, repackaged Shell Helix ultra, but at the lower weight, I was burning some of it. This was likely bc my tune and mods. Less of an issue with 5w-40. Again research this on here and M5post, there are several discussions.

What I can say is is that this problem was much more well documented and common in the S65 / S85 engines.

[TinCanSailor]

My engine builder made that decision for both of chose these. I do not recall what they used in each but my oe equivalent stock rebuild did have different bearings than my forged engine as I decided to build towards more power. I would hit up the folks at 5150Autosport as they sell to a lot of the prominent engine builders. They have OEM+ to High Performance parts and kits for these engines. They are very active in the BMW community and others.