Blown Engine

[slaughter.mode]

Overview:

• While punching the gas (7th > 4th gear @ 65mph) and letting off the accelerator a loud bang and oil spray came out the back of the car. Steering was also impaired, possibly from engine parts being blown out of the oil pan area.

Damage:

• Connecting rod in cylinder 1 has broken in half. The half that broke ejected out of the side of the oil pan and also caused the oil pump to burst out of the bottom of the pan.
• The steering motor was damaged by the oil pump bursting out of the lower part of the oil pan, causing parts of the circuit board to break apart. It also forced one of the plugs to pluggable into the steering motor. Didn't test to see if it worked, instead just replaced the assembly (minus tie rod ends) which I sourced from Straight Six Autoparts (used).

DME Codes:

Active Codes:

• 120408 - Charging pressure control: Switch-off as consequential reaction.
• 130E20 - Intake camshaft: Angle deviation with respect to crankshaft outside tolerance.
• 140001 - Combustion misfires, several cylinders: Fuel injection is switched off.
• 140010 - Combustion misfires, several cylinders: detected.
• 140101 - Combustion misfire, cylinder 1: Fuel injection is switched off.
• 140110 - Combustion misfire, cylinder 1: detected.
• 165014 - High pressure pump position sensor, plausibility, signal edges: Position implausible, substitute value active.
• 1C0102 - Oil-pressure control, plausibility, static: Pressure too low.
• 1C0301 - Oil pressure control valve: Jams in fully energized position (minimum oil pressure).
• 1C2002 - Motor oil pump: Pressure too low.
• 1FB801 - Check control message: Engine oil pressure! Stop.

Inactive Codes:

• 140011 - Misfire: Fuel injection deactivation.

Cause:

• TBD, engine still in car.

Engine/Performance Mods:

• Dinan Intake
• Eventuri CF Charge Pipes
• Mishimoto Charge Cooler
• Evolution Racewerks J Pipe
• AA Catless Downpipe
• AA Single Midpipe
• Remus Muffler
• Bosch Coils
• NGK SILZKBR8F8S Spark Plugs
• Mosselman Oil Thermostat
• Vargas Spinelock V2 + Crank Bolt Capture

Fluids:

• Engine Oil: Motul 8100 xcess Gen2 (5w40)
• Transmission: OEM BMW
• Differential: OEM BMW
• Charge Cooler: Redline Water Wetter + Distilled Water
• Radiator: OEM BMW
• Fuel: Pearson E85 (80-81% ethanol content per MHD ECA CAN reading)

Tuning:

• Jordan Tuned Full E85 (Stage 2+) Tune on MHD (active)
• Wedge Performance FlexFuel (Stage 2) Tune on MHD w/MHD ECA CAN (not active)
• XHP Stage 2 (Torque Punch set to 2) (active)

S55 Engine Sources:

• Straight Six Auto Parts (Oceanside, CA) - They have a handful of S55s on hand with moderate-high mileage. They have confirmed some engines are working and some they are unclear on. They do have a 30 day return policy if there's anything wrong with the engines. This is where I sourced my engine with 61K miles on it and it is running great!
• Ghassan - Stay away. Besides the bad forum reviews (here), a reputable builder I spoke to said he has seen their engines and they're always refurbished with cheap made-in-china gaskets and generally have damaged internals.
• Carbahn - A 1200whp capable, fully built street-able race engine ready to go with a warranty but also a 3 month (minimum) wait time (and that's if you have a supply connection to them from a shop). Without a shop it will definitely take longer. They still have yet to even respond to my first inquiry or voicemail.

Repair Shops:

• StudioRSR (I ended up having them do the work due to delays and cost (and then storage) of all the tools and items I'd have had to purchase. They did great work, no issues whatsoever. They also do same day Crank Hub upgrade service. Hit up Dillon if you need anything for your F8X/G8X/E9X/B58/etc. They also do sick ass roll cages and can track prep your car.

Blown Engine Pics/Videos:

Main damage, destroyed rod shot out of the oil pan and the oil pump blown out of place.

Found coolant in the intake runners, not sure how/when since the factory and aftermarket charge cooler never leaked. Probably unrelated to the failure:


Found some sort of oxidation/gunk sitting under the valve cover with what appears to be water/coolant. Maybe spilling from fill? Not sure where this came from and not sure if it's any contributer to the carnage:


Steering motor destroyed due to the oil pump blowing out of the oil pan, resulting in broken circuit board and components:


Found lots of random bits when dropping the belly pan, springs are from the oil pump:

[MineralWhiteF80]

weird!! im definitely interested to see the outcome.

Which code happened first? loss of oil pressure or intake cam timing?

It's almost like the oil pump failed/broke/locked up. If the oil pump failed and the oil pump sprocket is connected to the HPFP via a chain, that causes the high pressure fuel pump to stop working, which caused inadequate fueling, which caused the misfire codes.

Guessing problems without seeing the car is fun.

[jlcolon2001]

Did you check the oil cooler? I have read is a failure point for our cars. Hope is something minor. Good luck bro.

[slaughter.mode]

Originally Posted by MineralWhiteF80

weird!! im definitely interested to see the outcome.

Which code happened first? loss of oil pressure or intake cam timing?

It's almost like the oil pump failed/broke/locked up. If the oil pump failed and the oil pump sprocket is connected to the HPFP via a chain, that causes the high pressure fuel pump to stop working, which caused inadequate fueling, which caused the misfire codes.

Guessing problems without seeing the car is fun.

It all happened just at once, that's the dump of codes I pulled after I pulled over. I'm going to get it jacked up and start the tear down tomorrow.

[MineralWhiteF80]

Originally Posted by Corn Mode

It all happened just at once, that's the dump of codes I pulled after I pulled over. I'm going to get it jacked up and start the tear down tomorrow.

even in a split second failure, one of the codes had to be first one to store from the list of codes. It might be helpful to know which occurred first because if oil pressure was initially lost causing the rest of the codes, that might point you in a different direction of inspection and troubleshooting, where as if intake timing was the first problem that caused everything else, then you might start looking somewhere else.

keep us posted!

[slaughter.mode]

Originally Posted by MineralWhiteF80

even in a split second failure, one of the codes had to be first one to store from the list of codes. It might be helpful to know which occurred first because if oil pressure was initially lost causing the rest of the codes, that might point you in a different direction of inspection and troubleshooting, where as if intake timing was the first problem that caused everything else, then you might start looking somewhere else.

keep us posted!

Gotcha. I checked the DME Error Code history and that's exactly how it shows with a single timestamp. I'll check with MHD to see if the list is the order (bottom first or top first or if any type of ordering is captured).

[OnlyGerman]

Not what I wanted to read while in the market for one of these lol

[slaughter.mode]

Tore down some basic parts and found some scary stuff. There's no oil in the charge pipe side of the charge cooler but the turbo side of the charge pipes (front turbo) is oily...then some other things:

Here's the DME codes that MHD read at the time of the incident:


Spark plug in cylinder 1 (front) of engine has oil (sad face) but the rest are fine:



Then I found this stuff sitting on the tray beneath the front most turbo...Looks like the bottom of a rod? That's what a shop told me. I am having a hard time understanding how that's possible with it still idling and able to turn on... it idles like crap but I guess that's possible?

[slaughter.mode]

Originally Posted by jlcolon2001

Did you check the oil cooler? I have read is a failure point for our cars. Hope is something minor. Good luck bro.

Yeah oil cooler is all good.

[slaughter.mode]

Originally Posted by OnlyGerman

Not what I wanted to read while in the market for one of these lol

Hah! Well I do have 107K miles, I've thoroughly enjoyed it and I have been running an aggressive E85 tune for about 30K miles. 30K of a Flex tune before that and the rest on a BM3 Stage 2 / MHD Stage 2+ tune. I'd say it's a pretty solid platform all in all.

[MJBO]

Originally Posted by Corn Mode

Hah! Well I do have 107K miles, I've thoroughly enjoyed it and I have been running an aggressive E85 tune for about 30K miles. 30K of a Flex tune before that and the rest on a BM3 Stage 2 / MHD Stage 2+ tune. I'd say it's a pretty solid platform all in all.

Yeah was going to say one car having an issue with no context (which you just provided) does not give remotely the full story.

General experience seems to indicate these are actually few solid cars.

[slaughter.mode]

Originally Posted by MJBO

Yeah was going to say one car having an issue with no context (which you just provided) does not give remotely the full story.

General experience seems to indicate these are actually few solid cars.

Yeah I had a F80 and drove it to almost 200K with even more power and the same crank hub kit and it never had any issues. They are solid...my car just had a really bad day.

[slaughter.mode]

So I guess I'm getting a new motor. I'll rip this thing out and take pics when I can. I have E85 in the tank and have other concerns with how to get that out before it causes any harm to the fuel system.

AS far as motors, is Car Bahn the only place worth buying a built motor from? I ran across Ghassan but I also found a lot of questionable threads about that company...but the price difference is substantial ($18K vs $5-10K). Anyone have any experience with either?

[Suds]

LS swap.

Sort of joking, I know guys doing it on the E9x platform. But throwing a bone out there.

[bvrider1]

Not planning to run another 30k on E85 or is just due to the downtime until you get the new motor?

Originally Posted by Corn Mode

So I guess I'm getting a new motor. I'll rip this thing out and take pics when I can. I have E85 in the tank and have other concerns with how to get that out before it causes any harm to the fuel system.

AS far as motors, is Car Bahn the only place worth buying a built motor from? I ran across Ghassan but I also found a lot of questionable threads about that company...but the price difference is substantial ($18K vs $5-10K). Anyone have any experience with either?

[slaughter.mode]

Originally Posted by bvrider1

Not planning to run another 30k on E85 or is just due to the downtime until you get the new motor?

Yeah, this Car Bahn motor is going to take months and I am concerned with what E85 can do if it just sits for so long. I say I'm at half a tank, maybe just filling it full with some 91 will be good enough? Not sure.

[slaughter.mode]

Originally Posted by Suds

LS swap.

Sort of joking, I know guys doing it on the E9x platform. But throwing a bone out there.

Haha, hey-if I didn't love all the electronics and the addons I purchased that are attached to the DME, I'd consider it.

[TopJimmy]

Very sorry to hear.

It seems like Piston 1 took a crap on you, possibly from a spun crank hub (camshaft error). I know you have a spline lock but you didn't say you had a CBC on top. That means the crank bolt can still back out, causing the valves to tap a piston (the debris has part of the oil scraper piston ring). A backed-out hub bolt can also slip the oiling sprocket (oil pressure error) which also drives the vacuum pump, which drives the HPFPs (fuel pump error). There has to be a hole in your engine too, for the debris to have come through.

Stay away from Ghassan and E-bay…
Carbahn makes good stuff.

[slaughter.mode]

Originally Posted by TopJimmy

Very sorry to hear.

It seems like Piston 1 took a crap on you, possibly from a spun crank hub (camshaft error). I know you have a spline lock but you didn't say you had a CBC on top. That means the crank bolt can still back out, causing the valves to tap a piston (the debris has part of the oil scraper piston ring). A backed-out hub bolt can also slip the oiling sprocket (oil pressure error) which also drives the vacuum pump, which drives the HPFPs (fuel pump error). There has to be a hole in your engine too, for the debris to have come through.

Stay away from Ghassan and E-bay…
Carbahn makes good stuff.

I do have the CBC as well so I'm just going to go with too much sauce as the culprit. Carbahn seems the way to go. 25K+ job...phew. I need to sleep on this.

[Suds]

I am trying to figure out what I do to my 2019 M2c when it takes a crap. The track whore now has 20k total miles with over 8k track miles tuned.

Originally Posted by Corn Mode

Haha, hey-if I didn't love all the electronics and the addons I purchased that are attached to the DME, I'd consider it.

[TopJimmy]

Originally Posted by Corn Mode

I do have the CBC as well so I'm just going to go with too much sauce as the culprit. Carbahn seems the way to go. 25K+ job...phew. I need to sleep on this.

If you had a CBC then your hub was bulletproof. I agree on the too much sauce. Your $25K bite is cheaper than my $75K bite…I was at the drags on extra-hot Paul sauce, rear kicked out going for a 9.xx 1/4mi run, and I went into the wall, up and over. No HPDE insurance…

[M2_MEDUSA]

Originally Posted by TopJimmy

If you had a CBC then your hub was bulletproof. I agree on the too much sauce. Your $25K bite is cheaper than my $75K bite…I was at the drags on extra-hot Paul sauce, rear kicked out going for a 9.xx 1/4mi run, and I went into the wall, up and over. No HPDE insurance…

what???? when did this happen