s63tu stock engine rebuild - completed RKAutowerks

[TinCanSailor]

My apologies in advance for the length of the post but I sincerely hope this helps someone else that may end up where I was a few months ago. The bottom line upfront is I have had a tremendously positive experience that was vastly more cost permissive than the 23 year marriage ending the dealership offered

I am a long time lurker because many of you have blazed the trail through problems not many talk about in the M6 forums. I own a 2015 M6GC and I am pretty sure it spun a bearing back in March. The car was new to me by only a few months, it was a single owner and locally owned car with now carfax history. My wife owns a 550 m sport which we have put over 100k miles on so when this M6GC came up I searched the cars history but slipped on the common issues with the engine.

After the engine seized I had it towed to the dealership and they proceeded to give me all sorts of wild quotes ranging from 5000 dollars to just have them drop the engine to diag the problem up to nearly 60000 dollars for an engine swap. I checked with some local indy shops which have a great reputation among my gear head friends and colleagues but they were very upfront about their lack of depth in having performed this and not having a go to builder for engines. I do love and support my indy's for sure as they have helped with my F10 N63 on many occasions but the folks at RKAutowerks proved to have a significant amount of experience and handily beat the local indy's on cost as well.

The fact that I will be celebrating another anniversary with my wife, the love of my life, again in September is a sure sign of of confidence in my research and not only the value but time to value. Less than 2 whole work days for the engine swap, it took longer to ship it. My son and I towed it back and that was 17 hours. Raza and his team know these cars, they own and drive these cars and are passionate about help people with these cars.

My early searches lead me to some names commonly found in the s85 owners forums along with a few others. I was very close to sending my car to someone else but then noticed a very unusual comment that they had made to someone on instagram. By that point I had put one and one together and realized I had overlooked a great wealth of resources by not digging around in the F10 forums and after a few key word searches I stumbled upon RKAutowerks name which gave me some other data points to search on here and on google. I followed up with some folks on here and instagram and sincerely appreciate all that the owner community has blessed me with in terms of information.

A couple of months passed before I pulled the trigger but it was months filled with texts, calls and email and DM's with the folks at RKAutowerks, Mike and Raza. there was never any hard selling, never any rush rather they always urged patience, provided me with copious amounts of information before, during and after the deliver of my car.

Below are some pics through the process. If you have any questions I'll be happy to try to answer them. If you suspect your car might be headed down this terrible path then I implore you to take some time to talk to them while it is still holding oil in the pan. They ill ship an engine to your indy and I am sure they will help answer any questions your indy might have about the swap as I got a full education from Raza and Mike well before any money changed hands. If you stuck it out this far god bless ya

[SpeedProtocol]

Im glad I am in fort worth if I ever need them.

[TinCanSailor]

Originally Posted by Droner

Im glad I am in fort worth if I ever need them.

To think this could be done without having to ship either way, man that would have been great. I hope you see many miles of trouble free ownership but you have a great resource in your backyard should the need arise.

[TinCanSailor]

some after pics taken by Mike at RKAutowerks.

[TinCanSailor]

Here is a very brief first start video taken after the engine was installed.

[Sales@RKautowerks]

Thanks for the kind words! We were happy to do the swap and get your car back on the road. She's a beauty. Enjoy it!

-M

[OneExtra]

What have they done to make sure this issue doesn't happen again in another 50,000 miles or so?

Be interested to know what caused the issue and how its been resolved going forward.

[TinCanSailor]

Originally Posted by OneExtra

What have they done to make sure this issue doesn't happen again in another 50,000 miles or so?

Be interested to know what caused the issue and how its been resolved going forward.

The primary problem is with the rod bearings. As I understand it, the factory bearings didn't have enough clearance. The beings installed now, and my apologies for not having more info, do provide better clearance. I think i am also to start running 5w50 or 15w50 mobil 1 oil; I am waiting for clarification on that and will follow up. I am a practical person and understand everything has a failure point/meantime before failure. I am not tuning or modding the car so I likely won't see issues that folks pushing 700+hp on stock builds will see.

Below is a list of items in the stock rebuild but they do offer a forged engine option as well.

S63 standard rebuild
Replacement of all wear items

Upper crank bearing
Lower crank bearing
upper guide bearing
Lower guide bearing
upper rod bearing green
lower rod bearing red
collar screw stretching m11
collar screw aligning m8
collar screw secondary m8
head bolts
head gasket
profile gasket 1-4
profile gasket 5-8
valve cover gasket 1-4
valve cover gasket 5-6
cyl 1-4 chain and rail
slide rail 1-4
upper slide rail 1-4
chain tensioner
cyl 5-8 chain and rail
guide rail
upper slide rail
chain tensioner
vanos bolts
central chain guide
upper oil pan gasket
lower oil pan gasket
front timing cover gasket
front main seal
rear main seal
dowel sleeve
oil return cover
Water pump seal
valve stem Seals

[OneExtra]

Originally Posted by TinCanSailor

The primary problem is with the rod bearings. As I understand it, the factory bearings didn't have enough clearance. The beings installed now, and my apologies for not having more info, do provide better clearance. I think i am also to start running 5w50 or 15w50 mobil 1 oil; I am waiting for clarification on that and will follow up. I am a practical person and understand everything has a failure point/meantime before failure. I am not tuning or modding the car so I likely won't see issues that folks pushing 700+hp on stock builds will see.

Below is a list of items in the stock rebuild but they do offer a forged engine option as well.

S63 standard rebuild
Replacement of all wear items

Upper crank bearing
Lower crank bearing
upper guide bearing
Lower guide bearing
upper rod bearing green
lower rod bearing red
collar screw stretching m11
collar screw aligning m8
collar screw secondary m8
head bolts
head gasket
profile gasket 1-4
profile gasket 5-8
valve cover gasket 1-4
valve cover gasket 5-6
cyl 1-4 chain and rail
slide rail 1-4
upper slide rail 1-4
chain tensioner
cyl 5-8 chain and rail
guide rail
upper slide rail
chain tensioner
vanos bolts
central chain guide
upper oil pan gasket
lower oil pan gasket
front timing cover gasket
front main seal
rear main seal
dowel sleeve
oil return cover
Water pump seal
valve stem Seals

Awesome thanks for the response

[Sales@RKautowerks]

Originally Posted by OneExtra

What have they done to make sure this issue doesn't happen again in another 50,000 miles or so?

Be interested to know what caused the issue and how its been resolved going forward.

The crank is not stock spec, we run our own clearances which is what helps avoid the bearing issue. The stock clearances are very tight. The increase in clearance combined with 15w50 is the most one can do to avoid being in this situation again.

The diagnoses of failure on this specific vehicle was a spin bearing.

-R

[Dwaynos]

Originally Posted by Sales@RKautowerks

The crank is not stock spec, we run our own clearances which is what helps avoid the bearing issue. The stock clearances are very tight. The increase in clearance combined with 15w50 is the most one can do to avoid being in this situation again.

The diagnoses of failure on this specific vehicle was a spin bearing.

-R

Would you mind sharing the clearances with us?

[Craze]

Are pistons and rings replaced?

[Chaman]

Originally Posted by Dwaynos

Would you mind sharing the clearances with us?

Just double the factory rod side clearance and you’ll be good.

[Dwaynos]

Originally Posted by Chaman

Just double the factory rod side clearance and you’ll be good.

I've already replaced my bearings but was just interested in the clearances they have.

[TinCanSailor]

3 months and running strong, not one hiccup and no remorse. Nothing but...

[Jägerelite_N54]

I am currently on the fence regarding a blown M6 for sale here locally with 34k miles. The resell value for this vehicle will be substantially higher than the cost im getting it for. Granted, the rebuild, ship and swap will play a massive role in the outcome of my investment. Ive always wanted an M6, but could never afford one. Now that i can get one at such an affordable price the reconstruction will be the largest investment ive made into a vehicle. Thanks to this post i have better insight into this platform and will be considering RK for the task. Hope to see myself rolling in an M6 soon, wish me luck.

[TinCanSailor]

Originally Posted by Jägerelite_N54

I am currently on the fence regarding a blown M6 for sale here locally with 34k miles. The resell value for this vehicle will be substantially higher than the cost im getting it for. Granted, the rebuild, ship and swap will play a massive role in the outcome of my investment. Ive always wanted an M6, but could never afford one. Now that i can get one at such an affordable price the reconstruction will be the largest investment ive made into a vehicle. Thanks to this post i have better insight into this platform and will be considering RK for the task. Hope to see myself rolling in an M6 soon, wish me luck.

Despite what happened to me nearly a year ago; Mine puts a smile on my face every time I go out for a drive. I was very blessed to be able to take the time to research before send my 6 off to RK. I had no doubts when I decided to send it and no regrets since receiving it back. I would consider getting an M6 convertible to add to my garage if I could get a great price on the car and still end up at a good price point with an RK rebuild. Give Mike or RK a call; I assure you that are not pushy sales people.

Keep us posted brother.