2010 5 Series BMW F!X 530d Touring
2010 5 Series BMW F!X 530d Touring
Author
Discussion

kellyjt077

Original Poster:

15 posts

38 months

Monday 22nd July 2024
quotequote all
Appreciate if any members can help. I advertised my BMW 530d estate and on a test run with a potential buyer, he asked me to put the car into Sport Mode. After a short distance smoke came out of the exhaust big time. The guys mechanic lifted off the engine cover and the engine was covered in oil. Drove it back and just managed to get it home. His mechanic said the engine had lost compression. When he took the oil filler cap off it was smoking. Engine has done 87,000 and has a full BMW main dealer history, last one at Harwoods BMW Basingstoke. The engine management light is on and the car will not start. Car is immaculate inside and the body work is OK. Can anybody tell me if it sounds terminal (probably) and where would you take it for scrapping. The Guy who came to view offered me £1,200 but I don't know if that's OK. Thanks in advance. BMW is 2010.

Edited by kellyjt077 on Monday 22 July 20:20

Sir Bagalot

7,089 posts

210 months

Monday 22nd July 2024
quotequote all
So at least two viewing then?

At any time was the bonnet up without you supervising? I mean could they have done something without you noticing? Did they do a compression test?

What does your mechanic say?

Funny he should still make an offer to buy it...... when I view a car I want a fully working one

Edited by Sir Bagalot on Monday 22 July 23:49

MajorMantra

1,701 posts

141 months

Monday 22nd July 2024
quotequote all
^^exactly what I was going to ask. Likewise could they have poured oil in the exhaust when you weren't looking? Google 'oil in coolant scam'.

kellyjt077

Original Poster:

15 posts

38 months

Monday 22nd July 2024
quotequote all
Thanks guys for your comments. I will be speaking with my garage tomorrow and if there are any comments I will post them.

kellyjt077

Original Poster:

15 posts

38 months

Monday 22nd July 2024
quotequote all
The engine was covered in oil as if a gasket or something had blown but I am no expert.

kellyjt077

Original Poster:

15 posts

38 months

Tuesday 23rd July 2024
quotequote all
Thanks again. Read the article of oil in the coolant and that is exactly what happened. That guy insisted he wanted to hear the engine from cold, asked questions with answers in my ad so clearly did not read it. Not sure what the outcome will be but if they are willing to buy the car then it must be fixable at a cost. Anyone had this experience?

BlindedByTheLights

1,999 posts

126 months

Tuesday 23rd July 2024
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I suspect they’ve poured oil everywhere and up the exhaust, and most likely unplugged a sensor which is why engine light is on. Report to police with their details

kellyjt077

Original Poster:

15 posts

38 months

Tuesday 23rd July 2024
quotequote all
Off to Aylesbury Police Station today. Thanks for your comment.

BlindedByTheLights

1,999 posts

126 months

Tuesday 23rd July 2024
quotequote all
kellyjt077 said:
Off to Aylesbury Police Station today. Thanks for your comment.
It’s unlikely they’ve done anything serious as they’ll want a cheap fix to bag a ‘bargain’. Get all the oil cleaned up and have a look through for anything unplugged, it’ll be somewhere fairly obvious. All the best with it.

Mabozza

744 posts

216 months

Tuesday 23rd July 2024
quotequote all
kellyjt077 said:
Thanks again. Read the article of oil in the coolant and that is exactly what happened. That guy insisted he wanted to hear the engine from cold, asked questions with answers in my ad so clearly did not read it. Not sure what the outcome will be but if they are willing to buy the car then it must be fixable at a cost. Anyone had this experience?
Whatever you do - do not re-engage with these scammers or sell your car to them. If you are not sure what you are looking for under the bonnet, get your friendly mechanic to take a look. As others have said, they have probably squirted oil in the engine bay and unplugged a sensor to make it look like some sort of engine failure, in the hope of beating your price down and 'doing you a favour to take it away' for you.

all the best

cobra kid

5,589 posts

269 months

Tuesday 23rd July 2024
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I don't think I'd join a forum then wait a whole year before posting.....my spidey senses are tingling.

kellyjt077

Original Poster:

15 posts

38 months

Tuesday 23rd July 2024
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Understand your comment. I am a decent person heading to my 77 years of age. Cheers John

Cupramax

11,002 posts

281 months

Tuesday 23rd July 2024
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There have been several threads on scammers doing this sort of thing, read the massive thread I’ve linked to on this subject below, hope you get sorted, but as said it’s probably nothing major, but get your car checked by a mechanic.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

kellyjt077

Original Poster:

15 posts

38 months

Tuesday 23rd July 2024
quotequote all
Update on my BMW. The AA man came and within 10 mins had worked out the damage done by my two potential purchasers. They had poured oil into the coolant and when we returned from a short test drive they had disconnected the injectors. The car is at the local garage which is 0.3 miles away where it will be attended to in the morning. A complete coolant flush for sure. Appreciate all your comments and maybe I should post more often. P.S. The police gave a crime reference number but said they could not investigate further as their acts were not witnesed.

MajorMantra

1,701 posts

141 months

Tuesday 23rd July 2024
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Glad you figured it out, sorry that some people are such scumbags!

BlindedByTheLights

1,999 posts

126 months

Tuesday 23rd July 2024
quotequote all
Glad it was a simple fix, absolute scumbags.