Well, this just happened... [Spoiler: Blown Engine]

[ellekz]

I hope it's fine that I post it here, but I have sort of a funny story which I wanted to share. Sorry if I posted it in the wrong sub-forum, please move it if it is so.

So on Wednesday I bought an E92 M3 from a dealer (non-BMW) a little outside of town. The car was registered in June 2009. It had 47,000 miles on it, completely new brakes and oil, looked very good and the engine sounded pretty clean, no rod knocking or anything. I paid around $45,000 USD for the car in cash. Apparently the car was imported from the US in 2011 (I'm from Germany) but was converted to EU standards.
The dealership is located in a rather rich suburban town and seems pretty legit. Sells only BMWs and has a couple of X6M, M3s, etc., some of them have less than 4,000 miles on them.

The dealership took the car to the governmental inspection in the morning and at about 4pm I picked up the car and cruised at low to medium speeds to warm everything up, the oil temperature etc all seemed fine. I picked up a friend and after about 2 hours we got on the Autobahn to go south. We took little steps in increasing the speed.

After about 15min and at ~140-/150 mph the car more or less suddenly stopped increasing speed. At first I thought that maybe it's still sort of a US version speed limiter. About 5 seconds later you could hear a light blow (like a valve suddenly releasing pressure) and there was white smoke coming from under the hood. And I mean ALOT of smoke. I looked in the mirror and everything was literally white, you could barely see 10 feet far. All sorts of warnings kept popping up on the iDrive ("Engine fault", "Oil pressure too low/high [can't really remember]", "Cooling fault", "Electrical assists off"). I had no power steering and the car cut off the engine. I put on the hazard lights and put my foot slightly on the brakes and began going right to make a stop without endangering anyone else. Luckily there was a gas station right in front of us so we let it roll off there. We stopped, popped the hood to let the steam get out and the engine cool down. Meanwhile alot of oil was leaking onto the street from under the engine bay.

So I guess the car had the "rod bearing" problem coming up and basically I bought a turd, right before it actually blew up. We towed the car back to the dealership. They inspected it in their little workshop and said "at first look it seems like small engine damage that can be repaired". They're gonna tow the car to BMW on Monday to see what they say, but they're optimistic it can be "repaired". I don't believe it. Reading everything here, it seems like it's gonna need a new engine. I already lawyered up, just in case.



What do you guys think about this? Am I correct in assuming it sounds like the rod bearing problem and the engine being unfixable?

Thank you!

TL;DR
Bought an M3. Engine blew up less than 2 hours later. Rod bearing problem? Fixable?

Edit:
See Post #103 for funny follow up.

[thekurgan]

Looks like it actually threw the rod. I'd say unfixable, due to cost to repair; cheaper to find another engine.

[Ezio]

you bought someone else problem it looks like. sorry to hear

[V1.47fan]

Maybe it was a major oil leak from the oil cap...

[thekurgan]

Originally Posted by V1.47fan

Maybe it was a major oil leak from the oil cap...

Yeah, looking more close, that seal may have gone on the cap or it was grossly overfilled.

[ellekz]

Forgot to mention: Even though I didn't dip a stick to measure the amount of oil, I did check the iDrive and the indicator was a little under the Max-line. I know the iDrive can be a little off, but it seemed fine.

[aus]

Sorry to hear this. Any idea how many miles were in the US and how many were in Europe?

You probably already saw this, but here it is anyway: http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=786615

.

[Devant]

Originally Posted by thekurgan

Looks like it actually threw the rod. I'd say unfixable, due to cost to repair; cheaper to find another engine.

THIS. If you see a big hole in the oil pan, you'll know for sure.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by thekurgan

Yeah, looking more close, that seal may have gone on the cap or it was grossly overfilled.

Don't think so , from what OP is describing it's another one bites the dust !
So OP....feel realy sorry about your luck ,your situation is looking realy bad !
So again...Damn BMW has realy f@cked up with our bearings ?!?!
OP...Please keep us posted about your problem !

[thekurgan]

You know, look closely at the front bumper, does this look like a U.S. vehicle? Did the original owner replace the bumper with the Euro spec? Possibly EU->US->EU? Does the EU mandate NO reflectors?

[templarklimek]

I'm very sorry this happened to you, it's beyond unjust. I don't the laws in Germany if you have any legal recourse with a "as is" used care. I hope the dealer works this out with you. It's odd to me that a U.S. spec car made it all the way back to Germany. Perhaps it was a U.S. serviceman and he sold it.

Please keep us advise. BTW lived in a little town called Dexheim close to Mainz while stationed in Germany. I loved exploring your castles and history. Thank you for allowing me to live in your country.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by thekurgan

You know, look closely at the front bumper, does this look like a U.S. vehicle? Did the original owner replace the bumper with the Euro spec? Possibly EU->US->EU? Does the EU mandate NO reflectors?

OP was saying car was "completely converted" to Euro/Spec in 2011 !
BTW....never saw here an ///M3 with reflectors in front bumper .

[thekurgan]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

OP was saying car was "completely converted" to Euro/Spec in 2011 !
BTW....never saw here an ///M3 with reflectors in front bumper .

Yeah, I never figured having extra reflectors was a bad thing, but maybe in the EU, style is everything

[aussiem3]

What's wrong with the ///3s in NA ... A NA car blowing up in Europe. This goes to say more that just an issue with the bearings ... would help if we can know which state this car is from. This should be recorded as a NA car blow up.

Given that car may not have been driven at high speed and suddenly pushing on the autobahn at top speed might have caused it to give ...

[aussiem3]

Originally Posted by thekurgan

You know, look closely at the front bumper, does this look like a U.S. vehicle? Did the original owner replace the bumper with the Euro spec? Possibly EU->US->EU? Does the EU mandate NO reflectors?

All our Australian cars are euro-spec and don't have reflectors on the bumper.

[thekurgan]

Originally Posted by aussiem3

All our Australian cars are euro-spec and don't have reflectors on the bumper.

Lucky bastids

[ellekz]

Any idea how many miles were in the US and how many were in Europe?

Unfortunately, no.

So OP....feel realy sorry about your luck

I'm very sorry this happened to you, it's beyond unjust.

Thank you guys

I don't the laws in Germany if you have any legal recourse with a "as is" used care. I hope the dealer works this out with you.

A dealer has to give a warranty of 12 months. Whatever happens in the first 6 months, it has to be assumed the damage has existed prior to the purchase. Between the 6th and 12th month the seller has to provide proof the damage existed before.
Now the dealer has to provide either another comparable vehicle or have the damaged one fixed in a way that doesn't lower the vehicle's worth (a new engine would actually increace the vehicle's worth). It's up to the dealer to give the money back. However, if he fails to fix the car in a specified time frame or can't properly fix the damage after (I think) three times, you can sue him to give you your money back.
For now, he's bringing the car next week to BMW so they can assess the damage and see if/how it can be fixed and at what cost. My lawyer is on it, so the dealer doesn't screw me. I'm just a little sad that I only got to drive my dream car for less than 2 hours and now have to wait weeks before having it fixed or getting my money back to buy a new one

It's odd to me that a U.S. spec car made it all the way back to Germany. Perhaps it was a U.S. serviceman and he sold it.

This is actually not that uncommon. A somewhat decently speced E92 M3 cost about 90,000 EUR, which is over $120,000 USD. Buying a brand new US car and having it re-imported, re-speced for EU, taxes, papers etc. could still be cheaper than buying it here. So I guess a lot of people did just that. In this case, could've also been just a US soldier stationed here though.

BTW lived in a little town called Dexheim close to Mainz while stationed in Germany. I loved exploring your castles and history. Thank you for allowing me to live in your country.

Uhm... you're welcome?

would help if we can know which state this car is from.

Unfortunately, I have no information on that. Is there some sort of US-based service or resource to check the VIN that could maybe provide a little bit of US history about the car?

Given that car may not have been driven at high speed and suddenly pushing on the autobahn at top speed might have caused it to give ...

Well, the car was imported in 2011 and the owner between 2011 and 2014 was living in Munich. I doubt he never drove the car at higher speeds on all these Autobahns.

[aussiem3]

Originally Posted by thekurgan

Lucky bastids

[aussiem3]

Originally Posted by ellekz

Well, the car was imported in 2011 and the owner between 2011 and 2014 was living in Munich. I doubt he never drove the car at higher speeds on all these Autobahns.

May be I didn't read your original thread properly ... I assumed you were the first owner since the car was made EU-compliant. A 2009 cars - two years in NA, and then three years in Germany - don't know how many miles were done to both stints. Now this will make it even harder to ascertain exactly when and if at all the bearing failure happened.

Either way, hopefully this will be resolved to your complete satisfaction. Good Luck!

[BPMSport]

Sorry that happened OP. Better sooner than later on a new purchase. Unfortunately we are going to see more and more of these, particularly on the models fitted with the superseded bearings. Good luck with getting it resolved.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by thekurgan

Yeah, I never figured having extra reflectors was a bad thing, but maybe in the EU, style is everything

Call EAS my friend,they will fix that for you !

[thekurgan]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Call EAS my friend,they will fix that for you !

No, the only solution is the Euro bumper for me, I'm not a fan of the painted reflectors, too ricey for my taste.