Dealer Blows my 4.8is engine!

[bcredliner]

Regardless of the miles on the engine you won't know how the engine was treated, if the engine was ever overheated, run low on oil, ever had the oil changed, held in a lower gear at 6500rpms for 5 miles etc., etc. If the engine comes from a salvage yard you don't know how the X5 was hit, it could have been hit in the front of the engine and the damage has not yet surfaced. I suggest that the replacement engine should half or less mileage on the engine as yours so there is less chance the engine has been compromised in some way. I would track the vin back to a dealer so I could get a copy of all engine related service records. I suggest a mileage guarantee rather than warranty, to the tune of 75,000 to 100,000 miles. I suggest you negotiate now while you have the leverage. Hold contacting BMW USA while you negotiate. If Dealer does give you what you want, then go to BMW USA and calmly and assertively explain what you are unhappy and what you think is fair. If the dealer doesn't come around tell him that you are going to contact BMW USA before you do and give them one last chance to do better.

[JCL]

Originally Posted by bcredliner

Regardless of the miles on the engine you won't know how the engine was treated, if the engine was ever overheated, run low on oil, ever had the oil changed, held in a lower gear at 6500rpms for 5 miles etc., etc. If the engine comes from a salvage yard you don't know how the X5 was hit, it could have been hit in the front of the engine and the damage has not yet surfaced. I suggest that the replacement engine should half or less mileage on the engine as yours so there is less chance the engine has been compromised in some way. I would track the vin back to a dealer so I could get a copy of all engine related service records. I suggest a mileage guarantee rather than warranty, to the tune of 75,000 to 100,000 miles. I suggest you negotiate now while you have the leverage. Hold contacting BMW USA while you negotiate. If Dealer does give you what you want, then go to BMW USA and calmly and assertively explain what you are unhappy and what you think is fair. If the dealer doesn't come around tell him that you are going to contact BMW USA before you do and give them one last chance to do better.

The OP has only owned this 2005 vehicle for a year. So there are seven years of use that he doesn't know about (accidents, overheated, low on oil, high revs) As long as the new engine runs well when it is installed, seems to me he comes out even.

What you are asking for in terms of lower miles, insurance warranties, etc, is betterment. Instead of trying to improve his situation, I think that the dealer should make the OP whole. Nothing more, nothing less.

Save the time contacting BMWNA. If the OP wants, he can call the Better Business Bureau. At least it is in their mandate.

[giodog2000]

Originally Posted by JCL

The OP has only owned this 2005 vehicle for a year. So there are seven years of use that he doesn't know about (accidents, overheated, low on oil, high revs) As long as the new engine runs well when it is installed, seems to me he comes out even.

What you are asking for in terms of lower miles, insurance warranties, etc, is betterment. Instead of trying to improve his situation, I think that the dealer should make the OP whole. Nothing more, nothing less.

Save the time contacting BMWNA. If the OP wants, he can call the Better Business Bureau. At least it is in their mandate.

How many of us would buy this kinda cars with an engine swap.
Seller: Oh , the engine swap was done by the dealer...
Buyer: great and why did they change the engine ....
Seller : oh , just cause they messed up an oil change....
Buyer: Right ....then the engine swap was a success ,,,let me give you 1k more for your X just because of that engine that comes from a junkyard that probably sat there for years .....

OP should ask for more than what he started with just because the value of his car MIGHT be affected and he should get as many parties involved in this situation.....For what he is going through, he should also be compensated in some way. I'm the aggressive type in these kinda things maybe , but I never walked away without being on top in situations like this, especially with BMW dealers.

[giodog2000]

To each his own , but this is not only a scratch mag we are talking about....I , personally , would call BMWNA right away and get them involved in this ASAP. If you wait til the job is done and something goes bad after the fact , BMWNA will not want to get involved ... Just guessing here!!!!!!

At least call them and ask for advice without name dropping and see what they tell you....

[Bnagy4.8]

Agreed, all I ask is that I have what I went into the dealership in the first place which is a perfectly running car in every way shape and form. what I do expect is that the engine has at least a partial service warranty due to the issue of an engine that is foreign to the car. Or I expect to have full service records for the engine so that I can prove that the engine was treated just as fairly as that engine that I had received in the first place on paper. I will not accept an engine that has significantly more miles than my current vehicle and I will not accept any "as is" properties to a foreign engine being put into my car.

I do trust BMW Northwest but my concern is that if the engine blows after a year of driving it then my peace of mind that my previous engine would've never blown in this situation. There are a lot of "what if" questions but we will see how the end result plays out.

[jspdr]

Originally Posted by Bnagy4.8

Agreed, all I ask is that I have what I went into the dealership in the first place which is a perfectly running car in every way shape and form. what I do expect is that the engine has at least a partial service warranty due to the issue of an engine that is foreign to the car. Or I expect to have full service records for the engine so that I can prove that the engine was treated just as fairly as that engine that I had received in the first place on paper. I will not accept an engine that has significantly more miles than my current vehicle and I will not accept any "as is" properties to a foreign engine being put into my car.

I do trust BMW Northwest but my concern is that if the engine blows after a year of driving it then my peace of mind that my previous engine would've never blown in this situation. There are a lot of "what if" questions but we will see how the end result plays out.

Everyone is speculating here. I would not want to accept this offer for now until you find out your legal rights and options from your attorney and the dealer before accepting their resolution IMO.

[Bnagy4.8]

Originally Posted by jspdr

Everyone is speculating here. I would not want to accept this offer for now until you find out your legal rights and options from your attorney and the dealer before accepting their resolution IMO.

Unfortunately, unless I choose to press charges and file a law suit there is not much that my attorney says I can do. BMW is required to by law to bring my vehicle back to its original condition prior to me bringing my vehicle to the dealership for the oil change. BMW is required to get me an engine in good condition. According to the dealership they are searching for the engine block. All other components are going to be coming from my engine. My heads alone are $15k the blocks run about 6k used. So they will be checking out and stripping the used engine down to put my engine parts into this engine to keep it as original as possible.

My lower end is completely seized so this should be the fix. I can only hope that they don't try to pull a fast one with me. If they do then I will file charges and sue for damages.

Just trying to keep my head up.

[upallnight]

Make sure whatever they put in is a 4.8 engine and not a 4.4. Lots more 4.4's in junkyards then 4.8's.

Reminds of the time a fellow Lotus owner brought his Lotus to the "Dealer" to have engine work perform on it. His car came out minus the twin weber head and a Stromberg head was substituted in its place.

[bastereo]

In a shop setting, it is not standard practice to check the oil between filling it and starting the vehicle. Unless you are unsure how much oil the vehicle takes.
Working at a dealer you know vehicle D takes X quarts of oil. So you put in X quarts. Start the engine (run for 5 seconds and shut it down), then verify proper oil level.

You guys are way over the top with suggesting he should get a 100,000k warranty.
I would want a 1 year parts and labor but that is pretty standard
And getting a motor near or below current mileage should be do able (but those 4.8is engines are a rare beast)

But as has been pointed out both the used engine and his original engine (before this event) had unknown histories and you never know when something crazy is going to happen inside that engine.

BMW North America and the BMW dealer are two different organizations.
This BMW dealer could have hurt their reputation over this, but in my opinion they are trying to take care of it.
BMWNA in no way is going to take responsibility for this or loose any bit of BMW's reputation. The only thing they might do is call the dealer and see what is going on.

[bcredliner]

I have experienced where BMW North America called the dealer and disagreed on a major out of warranty issue and instructed the dealer to do otherwise. That was after all negotiations with the dealer had been exhausted and I still didn't think the dealer offer was fair or reasonable. This was not a dealer error situation.