Hi guys,

Just experienced a catastrophic failuire... 6500 rpm 2nd gear and whoooof, clatter clatter and lots of smoke everywhere

Pulled over into a convenient lay-by, and noticed a large puddle of oil, and a trail about level with the centre of the passenger seat. Further investiation whilst waiting fro AA's finest, I could just make out some fragments of block on the lower RHS of the engine, oh and lots of oil.....so presumably either I've got a snapped con rod or lost a bearing cap.

Not looked any further tonight because its too cold outside!

Anyone heard of this happening on S50's? The car has 94k on it (with full BM history)....? I was under the impression the 3.0 S50's were pretty robust.

I'll assess the extent of things tomorrow. Meanwhile, I think I could do with a beer or 3...

Oh dear...dont tell me storie like that. Mines not going to see over 3.5k RPM now....thats quite unusual for them to pop.

Have you had any modifications??

HI there, thanks for the sympathy, no its totally standard. I was going flat out just about to change up to 3rd, no wheel spin, and the engine oil was nice and warm.

I've had the car for a year and its only had one previous owner (A Professor in fact), so am very surprised of this failure, the car is really straight and has been immaculately kept, which is normally a sign its not been abused (too much for an M).

I'll certainly talk to BM, but with the car being 10 years old......however, they changed my big brothers '96 528 block under warranty just last month so you never know!

I do have an RAC warranty with it, but I think that's linited to £500 max...so it maybe cheaper to change the engine myself, but I will investigate all avenues!!!

 dude,

Thats not good news!!!

feelin for you dude, that can be good.......

I hope you get it sorted out okay.... its strange why it went as it is the first I have heard.... the only time I have heard of this is from a missed gear.... like 5th to 2nd....

Unless the car has had some engine work in the past.... you never know with second hand motors.... they always seem to have secrets...

Ouch... that's going to make me even more worried about driving mine now !  I guess it shouldn't be too difficult to source a replacement engine, and it'll be a straight swap.

Post up some pics if you can, as others have said AFAIK this is a very very rare failure.

Steve.

Had a closer look today. but still can't find the hole, but found lots of block fragments!!  I think its tucked under the the inlet manifold. Not got time (or space) to look at it properly until I finish project 'Rusty Land Rover Discovery'. 

I did however speak to the local BM dealers, who also said this failure was unheard of....I had a glimmer of hope from them regarding help, but in the end they said the car is just too old for them to cover. Very courteous and sympathetic though (no laughter) - imagine the same conversation with other brands!!

Can't wait to try and find out the root cause, but just going to have to wait. In the meantime waiting for quotes for s/h engines to roll back in from all the web breakers  - and a cost for a short block from BM.

How much is common on the bottom end with the 2.8's? Also I will need a workshop manual, and todays search only found the Bentlley manual which covers the US M3, appears is a completely different engine (S50B30US v S50 B30...see http://www.bcw3design.com/m3/us_euro_faq.htm - http://www.bcw3design.com/m3/us_euro_faq.htm  )

Only really annoying thing is....adding insult to injury, I checked the tyres were is was brought on and off the recovery truck, and found a cut in the sidewall, so I will have to get on to the AA on that. (Can do without a further £100+ for another Mich Pilot)

mogart 1,

Firstly sorry to hear of your bad news........it's the first one I've heard of, I have to say, did you notice any oil leaks before or any tell tail signs before hand, oil light slow going off?? Did you ground the sump or put a stone through the oil cooler?? Wouldn't waste your time with a Bentley manual, the US M3 is nothing like yours with regrads to the engine. Go to ebay and buy a TIS CD rom, it's all on there.

Dave.

Thanks Dave, No , no warning at all...in fact checked the oil the day before and it was bob on the full mark after 4k miles! No oil light, light always went off immediately, can't see any obvious damage to cooler or sump....mystery....

The TIS CD's do they really have all the neccessary data? I got one a while back, and ended up chucking it because it was very light on any info at all...unless I got ripped off with a 'light' version. The only thing there was was a kind of diagnosis routine, which was totally dumbed down  and all the pictures were just generic bmw's......

http://www.quarrybmwspares.co.uk/index.html - http://www.quarrybmwspares.co.uk/index.html

The above breakers have a 3.2 engine,ecu & gearbox for about £3000.

Hi  Mogart

Sorry to hear about your problem

My heart goes out to you as i had a bottom end blow about 18 months ago on a 99 volvo S70 T5 took me 3 months to rebuild the engine and get it back running like a watch.

Anyhow back to your problem

I have seen a few 3.0 engines on ebay going for not bad money and i have even seen blocks, heads for sale on there too if you have time and patience you can probably pick sommet up cheaply.

Goodluck.

Leigh

96 3.2 Evo coupe

Mogart 1,

Don't be tempted to fit anything other than a 3.0 litre, it is the engine with the least issues, it's also the engine the next buyer will expect to see under the bonnet....besides the loom is different to any of the twin vanos engines.

As far as the TIS goes, they can seem a bit lightweight on first look, but dig around a bit, make sure you only highlight one item at a time as it has a few querks, but believe me I've rebuilt these things using every source of information there is and the TIS is the one. One thing I would recommend is to take the time to talk to the likes of molsey motorsport, if you get him (Nigel) when he has a moment he really is the font of all knowledge, but his time is limited so I'd ring only when you have something specific to talk about.

Best of luck though. A word to the wise though don't treat all BMW 'experts' advice with the same level of confidence, there really are a few out there who don't know their onions quite as well as they think.

Dave.

Dave, yes absoluely right, fitting anything else will be a whole load more work, and will probably devalue the car, it does seem there is quite an availablity of er...pre owned or er..'cherished' engines out there, which is a relief. I remember looking only a couple of years ago and they were mega bucks. Think I have found a good 'un at a reasonable price, but I'll let you know when I've checked it out!!

Mogart 1,

A couple of things, before you buy, I would advise taking a compression tester with you and check for compression readings across all cylinders, don't worry about figures too much, just make sure all six measure around the same. If you can't do that I'd at least take the intake trumpets off, it's a small job and check the condition of the throttle butterflies. Expect to see a little black build up around them but not too much, again look for consistency across all six, open them up and take a torch to the inlet tracks and look for cleanish combustion. Next remove the plugs and check for colour and consistency then finally check the dipstick for colour of the oil, even if the sump has been drained you'll get some info from the colour of the oil still on it. Remember fully synthetics (which all M3's should run don't break down and produce the black hydrocarbons a normal oil will), so if the dip stick is very black, chances are there is something else going on. If the oil is still in it, drain it and take a long look at it.

These are few small things to do that will give you the opportunity to check out the story behind the engine without too much effort, as I said though take a chance to look at a couple of engines to get an idea of what is normal. If the donor car is still available, ask them to put the battery back in the car to check the mileage, being careful to check it's the right pod and engine for the car. Or ask to borrow the instrument pod, leave a small deposit if necessary, take the pod home and plug it into your loom and once you've checked out the mileage, go through the tests which show the chassis number to check the you've got the right pod for the right engine, (All you have to do is hold the mileage trip button and turn your ignition key to the first position and the instruments will go through a check cycle, in which you'll see the last 5 or 7 digits of the chassis number).

Best of luck, remember most breakers dont' really know these M cars from a diesel transit, so take the time to find out yourself. Don't rely on their say so.

Dave.

Thanks Dave, think I've found  one at a sensible price, i'll heed your advice. I'm just on 2 minds whether to put in new shells and pistons rings, as components they are not too dear, its just the risk of splitting the head..might be best left alone if its sound at the moment.....i'll have a spare head!

Just one question on synthetics though I had heard that these were not encouaged for M3's due to being 'too thin'

BTW I've located the hole, appears to be around no 4 pot, part of the con rod is visible in the gap, clearly too far out of line to be attached to the crank!! Tried to take some snaps but no real succes, I'm afraid you'll have to wait until it comes out to see the real gory bits!

 Nice one dude!

Hey I was thinking the only weak spot on the M3 3L is the crank bolts.... as a road going motor they are normally okay. but I have heard that the racing boys use Titanium crank bolts....

But even still it shouldnt have gone pop....

You are okay using synthetic oil... it is the best for the motor. Just use a 10W40 or 5W40 and you will be kool & the gang

mogart1,

if you engine falls through I know of one for £1500, still in car and can be run, it in the North East.

bhp555, that thing you suggested with the mileage counter displaying the VIN and other details is pretty neat. But, what are all the other numbers? There are about 7-8 sets of numbers, does anyone know what they all mean?

encomium wrote: bhp555, that thing you suggested with the mileage counter displaying the VIN and other details is pretty neat. But, what are all the other numbers? There are about 7-8 sets of numbers, does anyone know what they all mean?

Darren,

I think it tells you the service intervals and when the service lights were reset

Engine ordered today, checked out good, get it delivered next Friday, praying it doesn't get mullered on its way out. That just gives me time to clear up my garage and make it hospital clean. My baby needs the best possible care!!!

(BTW I think £1500 is way too much now, unless thats with g/box and loom, these engines have come down loads in the past couple of years) Seems to be quite a surplus of written off cars vs demand at the moment, I guess the economy of repairs means that more and more are getting written off by insurers and there are still loads of cars in use on the road. Now is the time to stock up on spares for the future me thinks.

Re-manufaturing the engine does not seem to be an option, talking to a contact in the trade, some of the larger firms have had a go and got problems, so they won't touch them now. Not sure what this means for the future - BMW prices are simply not econmically viable...its cheaper to buy another car already....and that means you get a complete set of spare parts too!

Anyone see the e36 on ebay with 'knocking bottom end' at £133k that's the first i've heard gone sick like that.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4522703276&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1& ;item=4522703276&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

can of worms or bargain????

mogart1 wrote: Seems to be quite a surplus of written off cars vs demand at the moment...

I guess partly because you can pick up a tatty M3 for under £5k now, so the following train of thought probably happens a lot...

"wikked thats well cheap im guna sell mi nova and get an m3... my new bimma da best car eva its so fast... why am i leaving this roundabout backwards... oh the car's wrapped round a lamp post"

Steve.

SundayJumper wrote: mogart1 wrote: Seems to be quite a surplus of written off cars vs demand at the moment... I guess partly because you can pick up a tatty M3 for under £5k now, so the following train of thought probably happens a lot... "wikked thats well cheap im guna sell mi nova and get an m3... my new bimma da best car eva its so fast... why am i leaving this roundabout backwards... oh the car's wrapped round a lamp post" Steve.

LMAO!!! Is that after the £2.5K they are paid out for the insurance as well

Hi encomium,

The numbers are:

#1. Part Number - 6 digits

#2. Code number - 5 digits (Internal coding plug#)

#3. K Number - 4 digits

#4. Chassis Number - 5 digits. This is the one, if it's differnet from your chassis number you've got the wrong instument pod!!!!!!

#5. software version.

#6. Revision Index - 2 digits.

These are the unlocked tests.

Dave.

.....I should have said the first reading actually says "tESt 01", so there are only the 6 above...

Dave.

SundayJumper wrote: mogart1 wrote: Seems to be quite a surplus of written off cars vs demand at the moment... I guess partly because you can pick up a tatty M3 for under £5k now, so the following train of thought probably happens a lot... "wikked thats well cheap im guna sell mi nova and get an m3... my new bimma da best car eva its so fast... why am i leaving this roundabout backwards... oh the car's wrapped round a lamp post" Steve.

I laughed my socks off when i read this!!! It's what I was trying to say, but I was a little too reserved. Spot on Steve!