Blown Engine...not blown, fine now
 

A couple weeks ago thick white smoke started pouring out of my exhaust pipes. The engine shut off and I managed to pull over to the side of the road. When I tried to start it again it would not crank at all...

So the day before I was set to leave the country I towed it to a family friend's shop. They do not usually work on bmw's so they recommended sending it to another shop (Autobahn Auto in Natick MA). I just returned from my B-school class in India to find the X5 back at my house...still dead.

So today I briefly talked to my family's friend and he said that the shop in Natick checked out the engine and basically said I need a new one along with some other "supporting parts." They do not do the work themselves however so I'm again looking for a new shop. They estimated the damage to be about $5-7k.

I don't know too many details yet; I'm planning to go to the shop tomorrow to find all that out.

I'm not sure what to do and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions. I read a few posts about an oil separator problem but other than that I haven't seen anything about a blown engine.

FYI its a 2001 3.0i with about 72k miles.

One idea I had was to fix it up as inexpensively as possible and trade it in at a dealership. - however my friend said that the engine must be replaced to get it to run.
I was also thinking about trying to sell it as is but I heard I will get next to nothing for it. Anyone know how much its worth with a blown engine.
The last option would be to fix it and keep it but I fear sinking $7k into it just to have it break down requiring more money.

Again any ideas would be appreciated ... as well as any rec's for shops / dealers to do the work.

Thanks
-Rob

I'm not sure what to do and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions. I read a few posts about an oil separator problem but other than that I haven't seen anything about a blown engine.
if the vent valve stuck open will cause valve cover gasket to lick and if it stuck closed will damage the engine.

White smoke indicates that coolant entered the combustion chamber. It could have been a head gasket, or a crack in the head or block, without seeing it or knowing more details.

BMW engines tend not to be tolerant of overheating; cooling system failures and overheating are often accompanied by major repairs ($$$)

While the oil separator issue is a possibility, it wouldn't be my first area of investigation.

One option is to buy a used engine from a wrecker.

Sorry but I don't know any shops in your area to recommend or point you at. I wouldn't go to the dealer for this, I would look to an independent shop with experience with BMW vehicles.

Good luck

I'm not sure what to do and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions. I read a few posts about an oil separator problem but other than that I haven't seen anything about a blown engine.

I don't know if this may help, but it is a start!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/00-01...em260206199215

... Thanks guys, I should have an update tomorrow morning.

get a used one from the junkyard , dump it in then get to a dealer right away and trade that sucker in !!

Something sounds wrong. Even if it was a headgasket failure and the block and/or cyl head surface warped, it would still at least turn over. Did they tell you what actually failed?

Headgasket failure or crack, then coolant goes into cylinder. White smoke ensures.

A non-compressible liquid in a cylinder tends to stop the engine from turning over ;)

Or, it could just be seized.

does this cause hydrolock? I thought a cracked head gasket just usually causes loss of compression (as compression bleeds between to adjacent cylinders). Sounds like something more serious, like a blown head.

I wonder how long the engine was running overheated and if this was the first time. My Nissans have been quite tolerant to this, sounds like BMW's are not.