Oil Cooler Busted/under carriage issue **Update: Another member with similar damage**

[991brothers]

Originally Posted by Yeoman

yeah really.. I don't know anyone in their right mind who would want the dealer to attempt a fix on an engine running with little to no oil over a brand new engine replacement.

Yeah I would not be happy with that

[rcclarke]

Any word on how much the repair will be? Looking through the thread, I didn't see any indication of how expensive this is...

Thanks,
Randy

[991brothers]

Originally Posted by rcclarke

Any word on how much the repair will be? Looking through the thread, I didn't see any indication of how expensive this is...

Thanks,
Randy

Its alot.

[YMB_F80]

Originally Posted by SuckaGDog

Are you talking about when you tried to leave that parking lot in your car at angle and the rear wheels just spun digging the front of your car into the ground? Because that wasn't a bump I saw the video lol.

Nope! I didn't scrape at all in that video. I angle pretty hard if the driveways allow me to. What happened was usually I would be able to to all the way down but because there was on coming traffic I had to stop halfway. But the F8x chassis is so stiff it just lifts up the rear. This has happened to me so many times but I've never seen it from the outside haha!

[anerbe]

Originally Posted by JoeFromPA

Let's assume .25-.5 miles to the gas station took 1 minute of travel with a car leaking oil and no warning lights.

My guess is that that would no tbe enough time for the car to both leak out enough oil to damage it running at a low engine speed/load, especially with no warning light.

I would assume you had pushed some aluminum fragments into the oil flow that got sucked into the engine causing it to fail, but the oil cooler goes to and from the oil filter - so I doubt a fragment went into it's flow and then bypassed the filter somehow...?

I'm really at a loss as to how your engine "blew" here. You stopped a car with no warning lights, it wouldn't re-start, and you drove it for maybe 1 minute under a light load while it was leaking oil which should not be enough time to seize up an engine (enough time to create some minor damage, maybe).

The inability to re-start still sounds to me like a fail safe from inadequate oil in the sump. A car will totally start iself with no oil in the sump unless it's prevented from doing so.

....again, wtf actually happened to your engine? IDK....

I agree - normally external oil coolers are directly after the engine to maximize heat rejection. From the cooler, the oil would need to go to the pan/filter/etc... before going back to the engine.

Just very surprising the vehicle with all it's computers/sensors didn't warn/shut off the engine when sensing the drop in oil pressure to prevent damage to the engine. Maybe it's the dealership seeing an opportunity for an expensive fix? Maybe the sensor system failed/not designed to support such a situation? Either way, good luck with your fix OP!

[991brothers]

Originally Posted by anerbe

I agree - normally external oil coolers are directly after the engine to maximize heat rejection. From the cooler, the oil would need to go to the pan/filter/etc... before going back to the engine.

Just very surprising the vehicle with all it's computers/sensors didn't warn/shut off the engine when sensing the drop in oil pressure to prevent damage to the engine. Maybe it's the dealership seeing an opportunity for an expensive fix? Maybe the sensor system failed/not designed to support such a situation? Either way, good luck with your fix OP!

This is what I get for buying the first year of the new model lol.
And thank you.

[W///]

Originally Posted by HadiF82

Well it did seize my motor and it happened. gotta move on.

If you would like ill load up pictures of the blown engine. Right now im on the road and will post it later.

I think for me personally, it's not a matter of whether the engine seized or not.

All you got was a Drivetrain Malfunction right? Which by then it was probably too late. You would think if the oil pressure went all the way down to kill the engine, there had to be some kind of other warning.

Either way, sucks to hear man. All the best with the repairs!

[991brothers]

Originally Posted by W///

I think for me personally, it's not a matter of whether the engine seized or not.

All you got was a Drivetrain Malfunction right? Which by then it was probably too late. You would think if the oil pressure went all the way down to kill the engine, there had to be some kind of other warning.

Either way, sucks to hear man. All the best with the repairs!

Thank you. The car will be fine. Yes, when we got to the dealer, the car wouldnt turn on, and all we saw on the idrive was the Drivetrain Malfunction. Lots of oil on the tow truck as well. No other warning. Very odd. As I said before, freak accident. But thankful no one is hurt and the only thing that needs heart surgery now is my car. Thank you W///

[JoeFromPA]

Yeah I'm still hoping we get more detail here. Engines seize when shit gets jammed into them or bearings fuse to the rotating surface. The OP reports shutting off an engine making no noise and then it doesn't re-start, and no warning lights while it was on.

To be clear, I'm not doubting OPs account. I'm just saying there's a gap between OPs account and "engine seized" that has not yet been explained.

Engine seizing, especially due to oil starvaton, is accompanied by:

- Bad noises such as screeching, rattling, and knocking
- Violent shaking
- Loud noises such as banging or "oh shit a rod just went through my block" sounds
- Warning Lights
- Shutting itself off

Not "oh look I'm leaking oil let me turn my car off myself which has no warning lights and is running fine" and then "dealership says engine is seized".

[991brothers]

Originally Posted by JoeFromPA

Yeah I'm still hoping we get more detail here. Engines seize when shit gets jammed into them or bearings fuse to the rotating surface. The OP reports shutting off an engine making no noise and then it doesn't re-start, and no warning lights while it was on.

To be clear, I'm not doubting OPs account. I'm just saying there's a gap between OPs account and "engine seized" that has not yet been explained.

Engine seizing, especially due to oil starvaton, is accompanied by:

- Bad noises such as screeching, rattling, and knocking
- Violent shaking
- Loud noises such as banging or "oh shit a rod just went through my block" sounds
- Warning Lights
- Shutting itself off

Not "oh look I'm leaking oil let me turn my car off myself which has no warning lights and is running fine" and then "dealership says engine is seized".

Im not sure what else you want me to tell you. We replaced the oil cooler. Added oil from the loss of the accident. The car wouldnt turn on. We did a compression test. No compression. My engine was starved from whatever created a leak from my oil cooler.












My new motor all ready to be placed back in. Picking her up Friday or Saturday.

[Erics4er]

I bet you'll be glad to finally get it back. Sorry to hear about the bad luck.

[991brothers]

Originally Posted by Erics4er

I bet you'll be glad to finally get it back. Sorry to hear about the bad luck.

Yes I am. Had a 328i for the loaner. Has made me really appreciate my M4

[brianeck]

Wow that was an incredibly (un)lucky shot with whatever you hit. 1 in a million, kid! Best of luck with the repairs and thanks for the pics and everything. . . I too will swerve even more aggressively from the ice chunks that inhabit the NY greater area roadways moving forward.

[991brothers]

Originally Posted by brianeck

Wow that was an incredibly (un)lucky shot with whatever you hit. 1 in a million, kid! Best of luck with the repairs and thanks for the pics and everything. . . I too will swerve even more aggressively from the ice chunks that inhabit the NY greater area roadways moving forward.

Im glad I posted this to warn other M3/4 owners of how bad it can get if something were to hit your oil cooler

[Hobbination]

Yep lesson is shut that shit off immedietly and pull over and inspect.

[991brothers]

Originally Posted by Hobbination

Yep lesson is shut that shit off emedietly and pull over and inspect.

Next time I will immediately* pull over and shut it off

As I said before. Could have been worse

[BMWM3Rules]

That sucks Sorry for your loss.

Seems like a dumb place for an oil cooler. In Minnesota there are always ice balls on the highway and sometimes you don't have time to go around it and it hits the underbelly of the car. Usually no damage but you would think there could be any debris on the highway that can do this as well.

[BMWM3Rules]

Also, with all the monitoring equipment the M has that it would be able to tell you the oil pressure was low and to tell you to pull over immediately.

[minn19]

Originally Posted by HadiF82

Next time I will immediately* pull over and shut it off

As I said before. Could have been worse

You keep saying that it could have been worse and a few posts back you said you were just happy to be alive. From your description of the accident, I think the worse possible outcome did happen. Curious as to why you keep saying the other statements.

[991brothers]

Originally Posted by minn19

You keep saying that it could have been worse and a few posts back you said you were just happy to be alive. From your description of the accident, I think the worse possible outcome did happen. Curious as to why you keep saying the other statements.

Yes I am happy to be alive. The worse outcome did happen? There was no body damage or suspension damage. From what I hear thats when the car is not the same. All theyre doing is placing a new engine in

Not sure why youre so hung up on what im saying about the situation. Most people would throw a tantrum and ive been pretty calm about this whole thing.

[minn19]

Originally Posted by HadiF82

Yes I am happy to be alive. The worse outcome did happen? There was no body damage or suspension damage. From what I hear thats when the car is not the same. All theyre doing is placing a new engine in

Not sure why youre so hung up on what im saying about the situation. Most people would throw a tantrum and ive been pretty calm about this whole thing.

Didn't mean to hit a nerve. I've barely posted in this thread so I'm not sure that I am hung up on anything. I just thought it was odd that you have moved from running over something you couldn't see while leaving a stoplight, to "happy I'm alive." That's all.

I would say replacing an engine that costs north of 20k in parts and labor is a pretty bad outcome. Could it have been worse...I guess it always could be.

[991brothers]

Originally Posted by minn19

Didn't mean to hit a nerve. I've barely posted in this thread so I'm not sure that I am hung up on anything. I just thought it was odd that you have moved from running over something you couldn't see while leaving a stoplight, to "happy I'm alive." That's all.

I would say replacing an engine that costs north of 20k in parts and labor is a pretty bad outcome. Could it have been worse...I guess it always could be.

What if i was on the freeway and the motor seized and someone rear ended me? What I should say for you is theres more to life than worrying about a machine that can be fixed so yes everyday I wake up im happy to be alive because ive lost loved ones due to car accidents or other freak accidents.

You have to have the right attitude about it. Yes it was a bad day for me when I found out, but later that night all my friends and I were joking around about it. Sometimes you just gotta laugh at something can be fixed and its part of the experience of life. No nerve struck. Just stating how I feel about it