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New engines must satisfy conflicting customer requirements of higher performance and better fuel economy. These requirements have led us to more sophisticated analyses of crankshafts which must withstand higher gas forces and higher speeds while reducing their contribution to total engine friction. To face this challenge, the designer needs improved tools to predict friction, dynamic response and durability. It is the problem of crankshaft durability prediction that will be addressed in this paper. A new crankshaft durability assessment tool has been developed by RENAULT, based on a completely 3-D mechanical analysis. Each step of ‘classical’ durability assessment has been improved. Load calculations include rotating external bearing loads, torsional vibrations and internal centrifugal loads. Stress calculations involve initial 3-D FEM analysis followed by a local BEM fillet zoom technique.