Advice on my bmw ??
Discussion
Bought my car in July just over 5 grand (bmw 1 series 116i 08 plate) had no problems with it at all since then! Car was recalled by bmw on Monday 29th of jan, had it back 5 days then on Saturday broke down and just been told today the engine has gone, seized up and won’t go clockways ( what ever that means)
The car only had 70k miles on it also...
wondering what the best solution is going to be for me? 😫
The car only had 70k miles on it also...
wondering what the best solution is going to be for me? 😫
Is it a proper BMW expert that's saying it's seised or just a local mechanic?
My son had a 1-series which decided to 'seize' coming home from work. Got it towed to the local garage who advised it was locked solid and no oil in the sump. Cue for much finger-pointing - did you check the oil regularly etc.
I decided the cheapest solution was to phone round a few scrappies and eventually tracked down an engine, but the engine ref number was a coupe of digits different and while the scrappie felt it would fit no problems, I wasn't sure. I called up an independent BMW specialist who confirmed the replacement engine wouldn't work with the current ECU (which was helpful), but then asked why I was swapping it. Cue the tale of seized, no oil etc.
The said - 'possible, but more likely the oil feed to the cam chain tensioner has gone - they all do that sir - first off that's where you lost the oil. Then once the oil has gone the tension goes, the chain slips...but the ECU also detects no oil pressure and stops the motor'. So the motor can appear seized if the cam chain has slipped (or worse, broken), but often fixable - and this can be done with the motor in the car without taking any of the front of the body off (local mechanic reckoned he'd have to take the grill off, radiator out etc). If I recall correctly the fix was maybe £500 or so and I think that included a new cam chain. Ran a few thousand miles afterwards quite happily...but he'd lost confidence in it and sold it shortly thereafter.
Anyway - long rambling post to say unless it's a specialist BMW shop who are familiar with the cam-tensioner/cam chain issues then speak to one rather than just a general garage. If I'd listened to the local mechanic where the car got dropped off I'd have been doing an engine swap!
My son had a 1-series which decided to 'seize' coming home from work. Got it towed to the local garage who advised it was locked solid and no oil in the sump. Cue for much finger-pointing - did you check the oil regularly etc.
I decided the cheapest solution was to phone round a few scrappies and eventually tracked down an engine, but the engine ref number was a coupe of digits different and while the scrappie felt it would fit no problems, I wasn't sure. I called up an independent BMW specialist who confirmed the replacement engine wouldn't work with the current ECU (which was helpful), but then asked why I was swapping it. Cue the tale of seized, no oil etc.
The said - 'possible, but more likely the oil feed to the cam chain tensioner has gone - they all do that sir - first off that's where you lost the oil. Then once the oil has gone the tension goes, the chain slips...but the ECU also detects no oil pressure and stops the motor'. So the motor can appear seized if the cam chain has slipped (or worse, broken), but often fixable - and this can be done with the motor in the car without taking any of the front of the body off (local mechanic reckoned he'd have to take the grill off, radiator out etc). If I recall correctly the fix was maybe £500 or so and I think that included a new cam chain. Ran a few thousand miles afterwards quite happily...but he'd lost confidence in it and sold it shortly thereafter.
Anyway - long rambling post to say unless it's a specialist BMW shop who are familiar with the cam-tensioner/cam chain issues then speak to one rather than just a general garage. If I'd listened to the local mechanic where the car got dropped off I'd have been doing an engine swap!
What was the recal work that was done ? Did it have anything to do with the timing chain or tensioner in which case you need to be chasing the dealer to see if what was done resulted in this failure.
Be very careful if sourcing a second hand engine as the N43 2.0 petrol hasn't been one of BMW best efforts and lots have failed due to wear resulting in slipped chains.
Very expensive to rebuild and very hard to find good or sensibly priced second hand engine means you are not going to get an easy fix.
Be very careful if sourcing a second hand engine as the N43 2.0 petrol hasn't been one of BMW best efforts and lots have failed due to wear resulting in slipped chains.
Very expensive to rebuild and very hard to find good or sensibly priced second hand engine means you are not going to get an easy fix.
DM121 said:
been told today the engine has gone, seized up and won’t go clockways ( what ever that means)
I don't know anything about this engine but if they are saying it won't go clockwise then that suggests that it will go anti-clockwise which would mean it's not seized. Sounds like the timing chain and/or tensioner is slipped / broken and is jamming the engine when turned clockwise.rallycross said:
What was the recal work that was done ? Did it have anything to do with the timing chain or tensioner in which case you need to be chasing the dealer to see if what was done resulted in this failure.
Be very careful if sourcing a second hand engine as the N43 2.0 petrol hasn't been one of BMW best efforts and lots have failed due to wear resulting in slipped chains.
Very expensive to rebuild and very hard to find good or sensibly priced second hand engine means you are not going to get an easy fix.
Went into loyds today and all they done was ignition coils and re programming, my local mechanic said would have nothing to do with itBe very careful if sourcing a second hand engine as the N43 2.0 petrol hasn't been one of BMW best efforts and lots have failed due to wear resulting in slipped chains.
Very expensive to rebuild and very hard to find good or sensibly priced second hand engine means you are not going to get an easy fix.
tvrolet said:
Is it a proper BMW expert that's saying it's seised or just a local mechanic?
My son had a 1-series which decided to 'seize' coming home from work. Got it towed to the local garage who advised it was locked solid and no oil in the sump. Cue for much finger-pointing - did you check the oil regularly etc.
I decided the cheapest solution was to phone round a few scrappies and eventually tracked down an engine, but the engine ref number was a coupe of digits different and while the scrappie felt it would fit no problems, I wasn't sure. I called up an independent BMW specialist who confirmed the replacement engine wouldn't work with the current ECU (which was helpful), but then asked why I was swapping it. Cue the tale of seized, no oil etc.
The said - 'possible, but more likely the oil feed to the cam chain tensioner has gone - they all do that sir - first off that's where you lost the oil. Then once the oil has gone the tension goes, the chain slips...but the ECU also detects no oil pressure and stops the motor'. So the motor can appear seized if the cam chain has slipped (or worse, broken), but often fixable - and this can be done with the motor in the car without taking any of the front of the body off (local mechanic reckoned he'd have to take the grill off, radiator out etc). If I recall correctly the fix was maybe £500 or so and I think that included a new cam chain. Ran a few thousand miles afterwards quite happily...but he'd lost confidence in it and sold it shortly thereafter.
Anyway - long rambling post to say unless it's a specialist BMW shop who are familiar with the cam-tensioner/cam chain issues then speak to one rather than just a general garage. If I'd listened to the local mechanic where the car got dropped off I'd have been doing an engine swap!
I’m going to phone some specialists tomorrow to get there opinion! Only had my local mechanic look at it! And it was also saying it had no oil even when we had put some in so fingers crossed! Thank you! My son had a 1-series which decided to 'seize' coming home from work. Got it towed to the local garage who advised it was locked solid and no oil in the sump. Cue for much finger-pointing - did you check the oil regularly etc.
I decided the cheapest solution was to phone round a few scrappies and eventually tracked down an engine, but the engine ref number was a coupe of digits different and while the scrappie felt it would fit no problems, I wasn't sure. I called up an independent BMW specialist who confirmed the replacement engine wouldn't work with the current ECU (which was helpful), but then asked why I was swapping it. Cue the tale of seized, no oil etc.
The said - 'possible, but more likely the oil feed to the cam chain tensioner has gone - they all do that sir - first off that's where you lost the oil. Then once the oil has gone the tension goes, the chain slips...but the ECU also detects no oil pressure and stops the motor'. So the motor can appear seized if the cam chain has slipped (or worse, broken), but often fixable - and this can be done with the motor in the car without taking any of the front of the body off (local mechanic reckoned he'd have to take the grill off, radiator out etc). If I recall correctly the fix was maybe £500 or so and I think that included a new cam chain. Ran a few thousand miles afterwards quite happily...but he'd lost confidence in it and sold it shortly thereafter.
Anyway - long rambling post to say unless it's a specialist BMW shop who are familiar with the cam-tensioner/cam chain issues then speak to one rather than just a general garage. If I'd listened to the local mechanic where the car got dropped off I'd have been doing an engine swap!
rallycross said:
What was the recal work that was done ? Did it have anything to do with the timing chain or tensioner in which case you need to be chasing the dealer to see if what was done resulted in this failure.
Be very careful if sourcing a second hand engine as the N43 2.0 petrol hasn't been one of BMW best efforts and lots have failed due to wear resulting in slipped chains.
Very expensive to rebuild and very hard to find good or sensibly priced second hand engine means you are not going to get an easy fix.
It was ignition coils, unrelated unfortunately! But my car is a 1.6 petrol not 2.0, or does that not make a difference with what your saying? Be very careful if sourcing a second hand engine as the N43 2.0 petrol hasn't been one of BMW best efforts and lots have failed due to wear resulting in slipped chains.
Very expensive to rebuild and very hard to find good or sensibly priced second hand engine means you are not going to get an easy fix.
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