Any BMW sleuths that can figure this out

Mick525i wrote: It sounds like you have finaly got someone who knows what they are talking about. If this turns out to be a faulty coil then I wouldnt let the "specialist" look at a BMW keyring...... Coils are a really common fault. Too much oil is not acceptable either..... What the hell is this "specialist" a "specialist" at...??? A comprerssion test is vital and will tell loads.... These engins are very strong and its most lightly something small..... inlet manifold, MAF, coil, or any list of sensors.. Any way looking forward to good news next Monday. Then go after the 2 g00bsh1ts that have looked at the car so far. Sounds like you are due money back my friend. Good luck. Mick

I am glad that this new engineer is saying that it is not as bad as the other langer stated. I have that on my 520, one guy reckoned my head gasket was gone. Spoke to another member here told him the symptoms and he agreed. He was going to do an engine replacement for me but when I got the car back I couldn't see teh same symptoms and he checked the car and confirmed it wasn't a head gasket.

Update on engineers visit

New engineer called today and I filled him in on everything that has happened so far.

His first inspection revealed that the engine was overfull with oil, the air filter was missing and that the "specialist" must be doing a lot of business with SnapOn tools (he found another screwdriver under the bonnet)

His first impression was that the engine may not be as bad as it sounds. There is a very bad misfire but he thinks it may not be a result of valve/piston collision. On monday the RAC are taking the car to his workshops. He says that the first step is to take out the plugs and do a compression test on each cylinder. If the readings are fine he will then start to investigate the misfire. Possibility of "coils" at fault here (i think that is what he said). Second step is to investigate the red oil warning light and fit a new pump if the engine compression checks out ok.

He said that he could not give me any real information until he has done the compression test. (does this make sense?)

His overall opinion is that I should not be thinking of a recon engine at this point as the noise does not replicate his experience of engines with valve/piston damage (the engine smooths out at about 1k rpm)

He will give me a full report by teatime on Monday.

Guess I will just have to wait and see.

Further update

Picked the car up from the garage. The "specialist" told me that the bad misfire at idle would settle down after a few miles!!!

The car was rocking all over at idle. as I drove down the road the oil warning light was flickering. When I lifted off the gas there was an almighty judder. A few hundred yards later the oil warning light came on permanently.

Called the RAC etc, etc, and they suggested taking it back to the garage but I declined and told them to take the car home.

I have called the garage. The guy said he had road tested it for ten miles and could not find any problems. (he must normally ride a rocking horse to have arrived at that opinion). Having tried the route of trusting in human nature I decided to change tack. I have asked him to come back to me tomorrow morning with suggestions for dealing with the problems. I also told him that I was getting an independant egineer to look at his work (I have done this and the engineer is coming tomorrow morning at 11am with full diagnostic kit etc, etc)

My opinion now is that the guy is a cowboy and he just wanted his loan car back and to get rid of me and the car.

He cannot be a good judge of character as he has got me completely wrong.

I will not throw money at the car, but I will throw money at making sure he does not carry on taking honest people for mugs.

Lessons to be learnt here, both for him and me

New update from BMW "Specialist"

I telephoned the BMW dealer this morning for an update. This mornings "story" is very much different from yesterday's. I will quote his words:

"car seems to be running much better, but still missing a bit. I think that this is a result of the valves hitting the pistons when the chain broke. I think that we should get away with this though. After a while things should settle down and you might be ok. I will drive it up the road in an hour and then give you a ring".

Now I know that my knowledge of modern engines is limited (I used to do all things mechanical on my cars up until about 1970, but I am giving my age away here) but I cannot understand how the engine run at all with a chain (presume he means camshaft chain) broken.

His statement this morning has filled me with dread. Can't quite imagine what he means by "the car is running much better now". Compared to WHAT I ask myself, an old cement mixer!!!!!

I guess I will have to wait and see!!!!!!

Thanks for being constructive daddy cool

The guy has not mentioned any prices. Just the fact that he will get the parts tomorrow and will let me know when the car is done.

Given that he has not mentioned prices prior to undertaking the work, I guess that he takes some of the blame for not diagnosing the original fault correctly. (maybe I am too much of an optimist). The bottom line here is that I dont (and never have) expected anything for nothing. I went to him for an opinion and ended up trusting him and letting him do the work.

If he is reasonable he will accept that it is not an option to just throw money at a car of this age. If the car had needed a recon engine I could have got a complete unit fitted with 6 months warranty (via www.247spares.co.uk ) for £1200. The specialist said that this was not neccessary and I accepted what he said (wisely or unwisely).

I can not alter the position I am in (£700 and 1 car down). I am prepared to put another £3-400 to get the car put right and if this is not enough I will go to Trading Standards.

I have learnt lessons from this.

On a brighter note I was recommended another specialist to take my wife's Z3 to for its 60k service (the Z3 is W reg special edition and is pristine). This new specialist has proved to be a really good guy. Went over the car with a fine tooth comb and it came back running like a dream. The service cost was £530 but included front and rear pads, windscreen wipers, airbag sensor, couple of bulbs, full written report AND valeted. Really good value I think. I can't really afford this car (but most of my good friends say I can't really afford my wife). Such is life!!!!!

I hope to resolve this issue in the next few days and will keep you all posted. Thank you all for your help so far (especially daddy cool & 540 V8)

Really great forum here. I intend to put some links to your site on some of my commercial web sites very soon