Engine lubrication failure after OFHG replacement

[Ric in RVA]

Thread is still worth a read but it has a happy ending...
"Resolution to this stressful event is at hand.

The Dealer stepped up and took care of it.

Refunded the original cost of repairs and applied to clutch and core charge...a wash there.

Picked up the year warranty too.

I drove the car about 60 miles last night and it is so good to be back in my 135i!!!!"

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A warning to anyone doing an OFHG replacement. Those two big holes you uncover? If you drop something in the forward one the filter catches it. If you drop something into the back one you will likely lose a motor.

My 2011 n55 135i suffered a catastrophic oiling failure shortly after a OFHG replacement.

The car ran about 5 miles and 10 minutes in medium rush hour traffic on city streets after I picked it up before seizing.

The operating theory is that something plugged an oil squirter or a bearing main. We don't know what the actual blockage was but even something VERY small will close off an oil squirter and you will lose a piston. Engine will not turn by hand more than half a turn.

They are being very good about this and ordering and installing for me a similar mileage engine at no cost. I am very glad I had a reputable shop do this work as they are standing behind it, even though I am disappointed that in occurred. It is unfortunate that this happened but stuff happens. It is how you act in the face of adversity that shows your character and the dealer and the service manager stepped up. Class acts.

Loaner car and everything.

New engine has old vin with it and car had great service records. No record of Vanos being done so they will do those. Both engines are right at 60k.

So it will get:
New oil
New filter
New coolant

Swapping belts, pulleys, tensioners, plugs as those were all less than 8000 miles on them.

Swapping turbo. I am worried about what might be in the oil that could affect the turbo but I am going to ask them to warranty the turbo for oil related failure. If it is going to fail it should fail soon.

The engine has a one year parts warranty and I am asking the shop to commit to labor for a year in the event of engine failure.

While it is out I am inspecting clutch and pressure plate and replacing if warranted.

Thinking about replacing water pump and t stat while the engine is out.

Will inspect motor mounts.


What else would you inspect/ replace while out of car? Oil pan gasket? What other cheap parts that take a ton of labor to get to?

Does this engine R&R damage the value of the car? My gut is not very much since done by a professional shop for a known reason with documentation of old engine history....but I could be wrong.

I am also going to ask for the old engine back. At least pull parts off of it for spares and if the block is roached make a coffee table out of it.

Any thought on all this would be appreciated.

No reason to have any harsh words for the shop. Stuff happens. They are making it right. That is all that matters.

[velociti]

Wow. What a rollercoaster. Good on you and the shop, all things considered.

You know, it'd be a good time for a Pure turbo install...

[1and1]

valve cover & gasket seems like a sensible thing to do.
Dare I suggest the OFHG.....

At 60K miles it's probably worth it to do the clutch even if it appears to have more than half life remaining- you're there and labor is most of the cost for a clutch job.

For sure do the water pump & t-stat.

Look at, and probably do carbon cleaning of the intake runners

Inspect and perhaps swap injectors just for piece of mind. Ditto for plugs & coils.

Go ahead & service trans & diff? maybe trans mounts while up in there.
Coolant will of course be done, could do brake fluid also and have fresh shiny newness front to back....

At this point I really don't see any reason not to throw money at it and get as much refreshed as possible- get all those pesky maintenance things out of the way.

[zx10guy]

It might be overkill, but I would consider having the head and bottom end pulled apart to inspect the insides of the engine. This depends on how long you expect to keep the car. If you're going to drive it till the wheels fall off, I think it's going to be money well spent. Maybe even do something proactive like having the connecting rod bearings done and a thorough cleaning of any carbon deposits.

Having the receipts for what the shop did to backup your story and if you decide to tear down the engine for inspection I would think would prevent any monetary hit on the car. I would think providing receipts you had the engine torn down and inspected would actually make it a bit more attractive to some buyers.

[velociti]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

It might be overkill, but I would consider having the head and bottom end pulled apart to inspect the insides of the engine. This depends on how long you expect to keep the car. If you're going to drive it till the wheels fall off, I think it's going to be money well spent. Maybe even do something proactive like having the connecting rod bearings done and a thorough cleaning of any carbon deposits.

Sounds like it might be overkill on an unmolested engine. Replacing plugs and coils, though, as well as checking the injectors, sounds like a terrific idea. And ditto on the carbon buildup -- I feel like there's no set answer on how often (if ever) N55 guys should be walnut blasting. I know it's nowhere near as often as the N54s need it, thankfully.

[Ric in RVA]

Originally Posted by velociti

Sounds like it might be overkill on an unmolested engine. Replacing plugs and coils, though, as well as checking the injectors, sounds like a terrific idea. And ditto on the carbon buildup -- I feel like there's no set answer on how often (if ever) N55 guys should be walnut blasting. I know it's nowhere near as often as the N54s need it, thankfully.

The old engine was very clean in the intake. We will see about the new one.

We are pulling valve cover, but not head.

Since other car had good oil change history I am not going to worry about crank bearings and let the one year warranty deal with that.

Swapping my HPFP, injectors, coils, plugs etc might be a good idea.

I think I am going to do the WP and tstat. Labor has to be near nothing since it is out of car.

Lots of good comments. THANK YOU!

[zx10guy]

My thinking is the engine is already out of the car. So the labor involved to do all of that doesn't have to be spent. Even if the engine hasn't been molested, you don't know what the driving habits of this person was. Did the person let the engine oil temps heat up before stomping on it? Did the person do regular red line sprints? And engines are mechanical. Things can fail due to some small imperfection which doesn't show up till many years/miles later.

Depending on the cost, I personally would consider having the engine torn down; again not down to all the individual pieces. But that's just me.

[velociti]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

My thinking is the engine is already out of the car. So the labor involved to do all of that doesn't have to be spent. Even if the engine hasn't been molested, you don't know what the driving habits of this person was. Did the person let the engine oil temps heat up before stomping on it? Did the person do regular red line sprints? And engines are mechanical. Things can fail due to some small imperfection which doesn't show up till many years/miles later.

Depending on the cost, I personally would consider having the engine torn down; again not down to all the individual pieces. But that's just me.

Yeah, fair points for sure. I'm on the cheap end of the spectrum and these motors seem fairly robust, so I'd be more conservative about it.

Vacuum lines might be another cheap and easy fix. $20 in 3.5mm silicon hose that you'll never have to replace, and seem to be a somewhat common failure point leading to decreased boost.

[chadillac2000]

I'm glad you feel so confident that the shop can perform an engine swap when they managed to destroy an entire engine swapping out a gasket many of us DIYers have done numerous times with zero issue. Godspeed sir.

And yes a replacement engine will certainly raise red flags come resell time.

[Ric in RVA]

Originally Posted by chadillac2000

I'm glad you feel so confident that the shop can perform an engine swap when they managed to destroy an entire engine swapping out a gasket many of us DIYers have done numerous times with zero issue. Godspeed sir.

And yes a replacement engine will certainly raise red flags come resell time.

I agree with the value. Wondering how much. I just want to be made whole.

This is not just a shop....It is an actual BMW dealership.

But we all know that there are various levels of techs who work on cars.

Who knows what is in there? Could be a bug, a bit of gasket, some dirt, who knows? Stuff happens. They stepped up. I am disappointed but not mad and certainly would trust a factory shop to do an engine swap. Heck they will use one of their fancy tables and just drop the whole front subframe down with the motor.

Either way you will notice I have not asked them to redo the OFHG on the new engine.........

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by 1and1

At this point I really don't see any reason not to throw money at it and get as much refreshed as possible- get all those pesky maintenance things out of the way.

I 100% agree. Do everything you can while it's out, they will probably appreciate the paid work anyway since they're eating the rest.

Glad to hear they're doing all that for you though, I'd make sure to stay on top of things and keep every bit of documentation you see. BMW NA will have your back in the event something happens down the line.

As for the value of your car, I had a similar thing happen to my last car and the value was definitely diminished. An estimator told me at least 10% of it's current worth was lost with an engine swap on the records, regardless of cause and how it was handled. People don't like to see things like that. So maybe talk with BMW NA about that issue, I don't think the dealer can really do much for you there.

[NorthernDancer]

I think you are on top of the situation and will be fine. I don't think the value will be reduced that much; this is not a E30 M3 afterall. I would rather buy your car with all/most maintenance records than some unknown 135 off Joes corner used car lot.

[Ric in RVA]

Originally Posted by Matticus91

As for the value of your car, I had a similar thing happen to my last car and the value was definitely diminished. An estimator told me at least 10% of it's current worth was lost with an engine swap on the records, regardless of cause and how it was handled. People don't like to see things like that. So maybe talk with BMW NA about that issue, I don't think the dealer can really do much for you there.

I'm thinking a free to me PE and a PPK would compensate me just fine....

[Tommm]

The cost to get the diminution of value will probably exceed any money you get. The good news is the longer you have the car, the less of a hit you will feel when you sell it.

Shyt happens, they are making you as whole as they can.

[Mr Rooty Von Tooty]

Cause and effect? How do you or the shop knows that this repair caused the failure of your engine? The repair and the failure may be just correlated and nothing else.

If I had been the shop, I would have torn down the engine to determine its failure. Even then, the cause might not be found.

I'd say you are very lucky the shop is replacing the engine. I wouldn't push it with them.

[Ric in RVA]

Originally Posted by Mr Rooty Von Tooty

If I had been the shop, I would have torn down the engine to determine its failure. Even then, the cause might not be found.

I'd say you are very lucky the shop is replacing the engine. I wouldn't push it with them.

I am getting the engine back and will let you know.

They certainly had the option to tear it down, but who know what happened. Tech might have said " I dropped something in there and I thought I got it all out" and they decided to R&R. Lots of reason for them to decide to take care of a long time customer.

I think the shop has done a great job taking care of the issue. I think they will do what they can to put me back in a pre loss condition.

New/ used engine is here. Monday I will inspect the engine and we will peek under the valve cover. See what needs to be swapped, etc.

I got service history.

Car was BSM on taupe with DCT, M sport, premium 2, loaded.

I have a vin too...anyone have a carfax available?

In service 8/2012
First oil change was long at 14873 8/2013
Second was 12/2013 at 19402 4529
Third was 12/2014 at 29830 10428
Fourth was 8/2015 at 36505 6675
last mileage entry at BMW was 45928 but no oil service.

No other engine maintenance done.

Thanks again for all the suggestions!!!

[captain slowly]

man, this car was definitely not owned by an enthusiast, given the long OCI intervals... Not sure I would want this

[Ric in RVA]

Originally Posted by captain slowly

man, this car was definitely not owned by an enthusiast, given the long OCI intervals... Not sure I would want this

I agree on some of those but I bet MOST BMW's get the full mileage between changes so the short ones are a good thing....and the long ones are probably within spec for the car. Not perfect though.

I think I'd rather have one that hadn't been modded. And this looks VERY stock. So that is good.

I found it searching and clicking on the google cached files.

Same color exterior! About 8000 less miles. I am good with that. Florida car.

[captain slowly]

yeah, I guess it is what it is. It would have been better if they gave you a remanufactured or new engine, but that's obviously not an option. Florida heat + 15k first oil change would make me want to fix and immediately trade the car in.

[WDE82]

A guy on the E46 Fanatics forums forgot to remove a paper towel from one of the holes on the OFHG and lost an engine that way. Honestly it's probably what happened.

[Mr Rooty Von Tooty]

Originally Posted by captain slowly

man, this car was definitely not owned by an enthusiast, given the long OCI intervals... Not sure I would want this

The intervals aren't terribly important. What's important is did he flog the crap out of it?

I have cars that are 60 years old and have engines in pristine condition, and they were serviced with non-synthetic oil. What the owners did do is they drove them with care. They of course opened them up from time-to-time, but they didn't treat them like a POS like many drivers do today.

[captain slowly]

Originally Posted by Mr Rooty Von Tooty

The intervals aren't terribly important. What's important is did he flog the crap out of it?

I have cars that are 60 years old and have engines in pristine condition, and they were serviced with non-synthetic oil. What the owners did do is they drove them with care. They of course opened them up from time-to-time, but they didn't treat them like a POS like many drivers do today.

I think we'll agree to disagree here. In an engine that runs 240-250F oil temps, which is known to destroy oil in less than 7,000 miles... and you run it twice that? I'll pass.