Timing Chain Guides - time to failure

[bcredliner]

Terminator,

Sorry to hear about losing your engine. Had to be traumatic. What now?

[TerminatorX5]

traded in '98 528i (210K miles, almost dead but still running) for '06 4.8iS (4.6 died on may 26 2012, i had 4.8 in my hands on june 10th, 2012), got 2011 335ix Mpackage for wife in december 2012...

i know, i know, i never learn - still stuck with the bimmers...

turning in the 335ix back to BMW (7 months lease with 2400 miles a month for $823/month)... looking for a replacement lease with comparable miles - she can easily put 2000 miles a month on her car...

[epdarks]

Originally Posted by TerminatorX5

...and the car sounded like a 1920 John Deere tractor for about 5 minutes before going KAPUT!!!

Term,

Did you drive it for 5 minutes after the chain guides had failed? Or just let it idle?

It seems like the only way to salvage these motors after chain guide failures are to shut it down quickly.

[TerminatorX5]

the message was: STOP THE ENGINE!!!!!!! NOW!!!!!!!

I was in the middle of traffic, I had to clear to a side street or something, while the car was coasting... once got to the side, i shut the engine off but that was too late... besides, it seems that when the chain jumped, it broke the housing, and at that point it did not matter if the engine was running (with its guts spilled) or not - it was dead... got rid of it, moved on... the nightmares sometimes chase me... but, what can i do...

I would suggest, if you are opening the engine for whatever reason, might as well install the brand new guides and move on...

[epdarks]

Thanks. That's what I'm afraid of too. No warning, and then complete failure.

Mine has just a TINY bit of chain noise on startup, but it might be the vanos. I am thinking about doing the guides as preventative maintenance but it's a big job. Also, my truck has new valley pan gasket, valve cover gaskets, and all new cooling system. Ripping into all of that to do the chain guides seems silly.

It's becoming an unfortunate part of owning a V8 BMW... knowing that you may need to pull over at any moment for a chain guide failure.

[TerminatorX5]

the only thing about this misfortune, i am glad it happened in the US - if it had happened in some remote jungles of Latin America or freezing steppes of Russia, that would be a major, major problem!!! on top of the failures itself, trying to recover myself (and the family) from a remote location, and also dispose of a vehicle that is foreign to the host country, as it is under diplomatic tags - can't abandon in the country, can't ship out as the car has to be in running condition, can't sell locally as it has to be cleared through the customs... tripple nightmare!!!!

[ukrcan]

Term,

Sucks about the car, was that the one you drove all around the world?

i am at 125K km i guess i should start saving up some monies for down the road..

[TerminatorX5]

yes, that one was the one i had taken with me on my assignments...

in Costa Rica it was so rare, that when i took it to change oil at the dealer, there was a bunch of mechanics that came out to look at the car... they told me, there are only about 5 4.6iS in the country, and they barely see them (X5 are visible, mostly 3.0i and d - they pay tax based on engine displacement)... Nevertheless, i've seen a lot of Range Rovers HSE Sport and Supercharged...


In Moscow, the iS barely got me into the "club" - the neighbors at my housing were driven in Bentleys, MBs, MayBachs... one neighbor stop saying Hello to me after he saw me change my own tires (from summer to winter) as he thought I was the Owner of the car, but since i changed the tires, i must have been just a driver, so there was no need to say Hi to me!!! hahahaha...


I really miss that car!!!!

I will need to make a "memorial" thread in its honor, as i was suggested by some folks here... just need some time to do so...

[ukrcan]

wow, that car did have some history...I agree memorial thread is a great idea

too funny about Moscow...But that doesn't surprise me, though...You are always judged by what you drive how you dress over there...

[TerminatorX5]

yeap... my boy was going to Anglo-American School in there, they would allow locals in school on paid basis, space available... so, some rich russians would send their kids in there, the academics are all in english, with french back up (Canadian embassy is a co-founder), so kids were getting some european education there, for at least $30K a year and up for older kids...

One time my wife went to pick up my boy, she was in a cab, old Mazda something... as she pulled in, the school security let her in... the driver of the cab was scared, there were black MBs, S600, black 760Li, A8s, X5s, G-Wagens, security details, guys with square chins, dark sunglasses, in suits... you know, like a POTUS visit!!! nope, just little kids were being picked up, taken home with their nannies... my wife was embarassed for showing up in a beat-up Mazda!!! hahahaha!!!!