Keep Sinking Money or New Engine?

[jcp240z]

Looked at the rebuilt engine and would have many questions. The internals (bearings, rings, pistons) are pretty much bulletproof if oil is maintained. On the BMW engines it is the seals and gaskets that are the issue. The ebay motor said they did all the internals. Since the block uses a Alumisil Harding process for the bores, are they qualified to redo it?
I just went through my motor, had it pulled and went through it all and replaced everything. I didn't do valve seals (not a issue on the M62 motors). Cost was about $6000

[Doru]

Originally Posted by trader4

If these cars are that bad, that at 100K you need new timing chains, new valve guides, all seals and O-rings are shot, etc, maybe they guy that said it's time for a different car is right..... I have a 35 year old MB sitting in the garage with 140K on it that hasn't had any of that done. I have a friend who drives a lot and he's gone through several Hondas, putting over 200K miles on them, with few problems too, never a new timing chain, valve guides, not even a new valve cover gasket.

Hi Trader4.
I don't think "the car is that bad".
I purchased mine with close to 100k miles on it at very low price. The car had issues, and I think the 1st owner didn't bother too much with maintenance. Bad maintenance = bad car, no matter which brand you chose.....
I knew what was waiting for me, but I believe most of the stuff I took care by now.

All's good

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by Doru

Hi Trader4.
I don't think "the car is that bad".
I purchased mine with close to 100k miles on it at very low price. The car had issues, and I think the 1st owner didn't bother too much with maintenance. Bad maintenance = bad car, no matter which brand you chose.....
I knew what was waiting for me, but I believe most of the stuff I took care by now.

All's good

First owner is normally under the BMW Free Maintenance Program AKA no maintenance since the ATF is life time and the oil change is every 15,000 miles.

[Ricky Bobby]

sounds like you're on the wrong forum.

BMW does recommend the 15k specs because they have to be able to offer a "no cost maintenance" plan for the life of the warranty. As opposed to Toyota who did a "toyota care" with 10k intervals for life of the warranty. It's all about competition.

I recommend 5-7k max OCI or once a year whatever comes first. Main reason why I won't be buying new bimmers used, the maintenance schedule is terrible. You think a brake fluid drain/flush is included on the 4 year 50k maintenance plan, even though its recommended every 2? Absolutely not.

Sure these Bimmers require more maintenance than a Honda CRV but if you actually drove one of those you would understand what falling asleep behind the wheel means....

[bcredliner]

Not saying it is not, but I am not convinced the problem is, valve stem seals. One reason is that you are not seeing oil smoke that often and even then it doesn't sound like it is severe. Another is that only one cylinder is problematic. I would be sure that valve seals need to be replaced, at least get a second opinion from a well recommended BMW Indy mechanic.

I think it is better to stay with the engine you have rather than purchase an engine without any history. Almost always better to deal with the devil you know rather than the one you don't know.

First I would have the engine checked for any error codes. Depending on the findings, I would have a compression, leak down and smoke test done and go from there.

[Ricky Bobby]

Originally Posted by trader4

Nobody forced BMW to offer a no cost maintenance program. That they chose to offer it, doesn't mean that somehow gives them the right to spec maintenance intervals that are irresponsible. For the record, I agree that I would change the oil at 7500 to 10K. But I don't buy that the gaskets all start leaking, the timing chain is kaput, etc on a car at 100K from changing the oil at 15K either.

Regarding the driving experience, that doesn't excuse building crappy engines that need a new timing chain at 100K miles. For the record, those Honda CRVs all went 200K with the original CV boots too. The way those, the air intake bellows, various seals, gaskets all fail reapeatedly on these cars, it sure sounds to me like BMW has some serious problems, probably with quality control of suppliers. It's almost like the supplier must be the brother in law of the CEO. But feel free to make excuses for them so instead of fixing those issues, they can just
keep doing the same thing and you all can have the wonderful BMW experience.

I have a pretty wonderful BMW experience, I have the I6. With a manual transmission. And its been well maintained by me since I picked up ownership at 59k miles, I have no complaints.

Most of my repairs are more age related than anything.

The I6 BMW's are historically pretty solid, although they have weak points. The V8's are the ones with gaskets, timing chains, etc problems, and obviously the auto trans could be great or have a shorter life, although I can't comment on it.


Bottom line is most of these threads nowadays are people who are 3rd, 4th, 5th owners of these vehicles and its sad but when you go through that many owners without much maintenance history more often than not you have these kinds of issues.

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by trader4

Nobody forced BMW to offer a no cost maintenance program. That they chose to offer it, doesn't mean that somehow gives them the right to spec maintenance intervals that are irresponsible. For the record, I agree that I would change the oil at 7500 to 10K. But I don't buy that the gaskets all start leaking, the timing chain is kaput, etc on a car at 100K from changing the oil at 15K either.

Regarding the driving experience, that doesn't excuse building crappy engines that need a new timing chain at 100K miles. For the record, those Honda CRVs all went 200K with the original CV boots too. The way those, the air intake bellows, various seals, gaskets all fail reapeatedly on these cars, it sure sounds to me like BMW has some serious problems, probably with quality control of suppliers. It's almost like the supplier must be the brother in law of the CEO. But feel free to make excuses for them so instead of fixing those issues, they can just
keep doing the same thing and you all can have the wonderful BMW experience.

People that buys a new car normally do not keep the car beyond the warranty period. The free maintenance program is just a marketing ploy by all the car makers to attract car buyers. If you change the oil every 3,000 miles or 7500 mile you would have change the oil 5 times or twice before the free 15,000 miles maintenance kicks in. BMW is just hoping the car last beyond their warranty period with their free maintenance. After that they don't give a rat ass about the car since it will be "Out of warranty". Try asking a BMW dealer to do a transmission fluid change and they will tell you the ATF is "Life Time". You couldn't even pay them to do a ATF change.

It's call plan obsolescence. BMW make their money from selling new cars. If cars last as long as refrigerators all the car maker will only be building cars to replace cars that are no longer operational. Do you buy a new refrig every 5 years? We have a Sub Zero for the last 15 years and if it broke down we will get it fix since they offer a 10 years warranty on their frig.

[Jungerishere]

Not exactly comparing apples to apples. There is reason why Honda doesn't make V8s in passenger cars. Honda's main objective is to make reliable and economical cars while BMW is performance and luxury. Honda I4 in CRV only makes 130 to 150 HP and requires timing belt change at 80k miles using old school technology but reliable. BMW V8s are bit more complex and is built for performance and efficiency. And as component become more complex, there are more parts and more parts to fail.

Originally Posted by trader4

I have a friend who puts 200K plus mileage on Honda CRV's, been through 3 of them, just followed manufacturer's maintenance guidelines. No new timing chain, no leaking oil seals, no shot valve seals with $5K to $6K bill. The engines were still running fine when he got rid of them and the car cost half what the BMW costs. This isn't something radical, something new. Car manufacturers should know how to make a V8 engine.

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by Jungerishere

Not exactly comparing apples to apples. There is reason why Honda doesn't make V8s in passenger cars. Honda's main objective is to make reliable and economical cars while BMW is performance and luxury. Honda I4 in CRV only makes 130 to 150 HP and requires timing belt change at 80k miles using old school technology but reliable. BMW V8s are bit more complex and is built for performance and efficiency. And as component become more complex, there are more parts and more parts to fail.

Honda hasn't used a timing belt for the CRV since 2001. With the model 2002 year CRV Honda went with a timing chain.

[thrillcat]

Originally Posted by trader4

So performance and luxury means the CV boots should rip at 50K, while Honda last 3X+ on a car that costs half as much? That the window regulators should break, with the windows crashing down, breaking into bits? I've gone through 3 window regulators on this X5.

I went through 3 CV boots in an '84 Ford Escort in high school.

I had an '82 Buick Skylark that I had to slide over to the passenger seat, roll down the window, and use the outside door handle to open that door to get out because of the various door handles and window cranks that were broken.

I had to replace my alternator on an '84 Buick Somerset Regal.

My '00 Chevy Blazer needed a new fuel pump before 100K.

My '10 Jeep Commander needed a new battery at 44K.

Problems like this are not exclusive to BMW's, either.