BMW engine grenaded issues

[CSLmarson]

Hi all,
My friend is currently in the south of France on holiday,
His BMW X1 blew up half way there and he had it towed home to a specialist who informed him the engine is caput and it needs a new one.
The car is worth about 15k at best and the new engine fitted is 12k.
The car is out of warranty and was over due a service so any love from bmw is out the window.
The insurance are not interested.

What are his options?????

[Earthdweller]

Bugger

Sell it as a non runner .. for not a lot

Or

Fix it

I’d suggest looking at a 2nd hand engine from a breaker, there must be plenty around now depending on which engine it is and get a local garage to fit it

Can’t see a 2nd hand one costing anything like £12k

Then either keep it or flog it

[Matt Cup]

I’m assuming it’s the 20d lump.

Could give these guys a call and see what they have to say.
N47’s seem to be their bread and butter.


https://m.facebook.com/AdcBmw

[996TT02]

Do people really ever buy new engines for non-near-new cars?

1) Used engine
2) Whatever broke is generally fixable, leaving lots of change from 12k

[ChocolateFrog]

996TT02 said:

Do people really ever buy new engines for non-near-new cars?

1) Used engine
2) Whatever broke is generally fixable, leaving lots of change from 12k

You'd have to be an idiot.

Whenever I've changed a engine I've had plenty of change from £500.

[vaud]

Plenty of X1 engines on ebay for <£2k. Suggest he googles to find a local BMW Independent and talk to them.

[itcaptainslow]

ChocolateFrog said:

996TT02 said:

Do people really ever buy new engines for non-near-new cars?

1) Used engine
2) Whatever broke is generally fixable, leaving lots of change from 12k

You'd have to be an idiot.

Whenever I've changed a engine I've had plenty of change from £500.

Buying an A-Series engine from a scrapper and fitting it yourself is a bit different to getting a garage to source & fit a unit they have to warrant, being fair.

[Cockaigne]

itcaptainslow said:

Buying an A-Series engine from a scrapper and fitting it yourself is a bit different to getting a garage to source & fit a unit they have to warrant, being fair.

get them to fit engine, sell to WBAC and buy a car with warranty. Will be a lot cheaper than 12k loss.

[vaud]

itcaptainslow said:

Buying an A-Series engine from a scrapper and fitting it yourself is a bit different to getting a garage to source & fit a unit they have to warrant, being fair.

True, but it's not going to be 12k.

[itcaptainslow]

vaud said:

itcaptainslow said:

Buying an A-Series engine from a scrapper and fitting it yourself is a bit different to getting a garage to source & fit a unit they have to warrant, being fair.

True, but it's not going to be 12k.

Agreed. Be interesting to know why this particular engine has let go and if there’s an inherent issue to the engine, meaning a secondhand unit could be fraught, or if it’s pure bad luck. Knowing the reason for the failure might guide the corrective action.

At least the car is back in the UK, rather than abroad - makes dealing with the situation a bit easier!

[vaud]

itcaptainslow said:

Agreed. Be interesting to know why this particular engine has let go and if there’s an inherent issue to the engine, meaning a secondhand unit could be fraught, or if it’s pure bad luck.

OP mentioned that it is "overdue a service"... could be 1k miles, could be 20k miles...

[Grumps.]

ChocolateFrog said:

996TT02 said:

Do people really ever buy new engines for non-near-new cars?

1) Used engine
2) Whatever broke is generally fixable, leaving lots of change from 12k

You'd have to be an idiot.

Whenever I've changed a engine I've had plenty of change from £500.

You don’t seem to have much luck with engines.

I suspect even a second hand engine for his car is a load more than £500.

[whatmoretyres]

If it helps, we needed a mini diesel engine and because of well know issues, running spare engines were between 3&5k. You then had removal and refit costs on top, another £500 if it took the turbo too.

I’d be very surprised if you could get anything at all for £500!

[littleredrooster]

ChocolateFrog said:

You'd have to be an idiot.

Whenever I've changed a engine I've had plenty of change from £500.

I think you may have missed zero off the end, given that a) it’s a BMW with lots of borked motors, b) it’s now 2023 and c) the OP seems to be relying on something other than diy.