BMW 3 Series E90 Oil leak
Discussion
Hi All
I'm in a bit of dilemma at the moment and really could do with some advice.
I purchased a 320i E90 back in 2013, the car was registered late 2005. Lovely car and it runs really well, however it did suffer with a few oil leaks.
I had to spend over £1500 in the first two years to repair two serious oil leaks, a third oil leak in the sump gasket area was deemed as not critical and so I thought I'd leave that for a later date.
I kept a 5 litre engine oil in the boot and would top it up once or twice a month, usually lasting me about 5 to 6 months.
I kept doing this for well over 5 years as I could never be bothered to spend £400 - £500 getting it repaired as the sump gasket on these cars is buried deep below the engine and was therefore a very laborious task hence the high quotes from the garage.
To cut a long story short, recently I've had issues with traction control kicking in when turning left or right as the wheel shafts had gathered a lot of rust and the sensors were picking up this rust and traction control would cut the power, on top of that I also noticed I had to top up oil more regularly. I also started to notice white smoke in the rearview mirror when taking off from a stopped position.
The garage gave me a good quotation on getting the sump gasket leak fixed so I went ahead with it, however the car is still losing oil so I took the car back to the garage and the chap confirmed that there is no oil leaking that he could see, however it's the engine that's burning the oil through the exhaust.
He said to fix this is going to be very expensive as he has to rebuild the engine.
The other option is to replace the engine with a reconditioned one.
The quotes he's received from his suppliers for a reconditioned engine is roughly £2000 and he will charge an additional £550 for his labour.
I'm now wondering what to do, do I keep this car as I have spent quite a bit of money on the audio system and the car itself is in a very good nick inside and out.
Or do I trade it in and buy a Golf? I drove my mates diesel 2018 Golf and it felt like a little toy, seriously the steering wheel feels so loose and theres no connection to the road, it's like I can't feel the tyres on the road, as if I'm gliding on water, a s
t experience if I'm honest.
Also drove a brand new Tiguan for hours, and then jumped into my car and that's when I realised just how awesome my car feels to drive.
The other option is to buy an F30 3 series but I'm also weighing up the costs of maintaining a BMW as it's not cheap and god knows what kinds of issues I'm going to have with the next one.
Ford Focus is also an option.
Do I spend £10k on another car or spend £2.5k getting the E90 fixed?
What are your thoughts?
My other concern with the reconditioned engine is what if this all happens again? The mechanic told me that the reconditioned engine will have addressed the flaws of the earlier engines so it should not suffer the same fate.
I guess if I knew for sure that the reconditioned engine wouldn't give me any grief then I wouldn't hesitate to spend the money on the current car.
Would appreciate some feedback on this chaps.
Thank you
I'm in a bit of dilemma at the moment and really could do with some advice.
I purchased a 320i E90 back in 2013, the car was registered late 2005. Lovely car and it runs really well, however it did suffer with a few oil leaks.
I had to spend over £1500 in the first two years to repair two serious oil leaks, a third oil leak in the sump gasket area was deemed as not critical and so I thought I'd leave that for a later date.
I kept a 5 litre engine oil in the boot and would top it up once or twice a month, usually lasting me about 5 to 6 months.
I kept doing this for well over 5 years as I could never be bothered to spend £400 - £500 getting it repaired as the sump gasket on these cars is buried deep below the engine and was therefore a very laborious task hence the high quotes from the garage.
To cut a long story short, recently I've had issues with traction control kicking in when turning left or right as the wheel shafts had gathered a lot of rust and the sensors were picking up this rust and traction control would cut the power, on top of that I also noticed I had to top up oil more regularly. I also started to notice white smoke in the rearview mirror when taking off from a stopped position.
The garage gave me a good quotation on getting the sump gasket leak fixed so I went ahead with it, however the car is still losing oil so I took the car back to the garage and the chap confirmed that there is no oil leaking that he could see, however it's the engine that's burning the oil through the exhaust.
He said to fix this is going to be very expensive as he has to rebuild the engine.
The other option is to replace the engine with a reconditioned one.
The quotes he's received from his suppliers for a reconditioned engine is roughly £2000 and he will charge an additional £550 for his labour.
I'm now wondering what to do, do I keep this car as I have spent quite a bit of money on the audio system and the car itself is in a very good nick inside and out.
Or do I trade it in and buy a Golf? I drove my mates diesel 2018 Golf and it felt like a little toy, seriously the steering wheel feels so loose and theres no connection to the road, it's like I can't feel the tyres on the road, as if I'm gliding on water, a s
t experience if I'm honest.Also drove a brand new Tiguan for hours, and then jumped into my car and that's when I realised just how awesome my car feels to drive.
The other option is to buy an F30 3 series but I'm also weighing up the costs of maintaining a BMW as it's not cheap and god knows what kinds of issues I'm going to have with the next one.
Ford Focus is also an option.
Do I spend £10k on another car or spend £2.5k getting the E90 fixed?
What are your thoughts?
My other concern with the reconditioned engine is what if this all happens again? The mechanic told me that the reconditioned engine will have addressed the flaws of the earlier engines so it should not suffer the same fate.
I guess if I knew for sure that the reconditioned engine wouldn't give me any grief then I wouldn't hesitate to spend the money on the current car.
Would appreciate some feedback on this chaps.
Thank you
Hi Helix
Thanks for your input, my instincts tell me exactly that which is why I have ready £9k to buy another car.
Preferably a Golf, I know I said I dislike the drive, but right now I need a car that will get me from A to B as I have a two year old. I do, however, like the look of the Mark 7 Golf's.
I will wait to hear some more thoughts from other members, but I have a feeling most are going to agree with you.
Even I agree with you, and also disagree and therein lies the bloody problem.
I guess I can always buy a BMW in the future
Thanks for your input, my instincts tell me exactly that which is why I have ready £9k to buy another car.
Preferably a Golf, I know I said I dislike the drive, but right now I need a car that will get me from A to B as I have a two year old. I do, however, like the look of the Mark 7 Golf's.
I will wait to hear some more thoughts from other members, but I have a feeling most are going to agree with you.
Even I agree with you, and also disagree and therein lies the bloody problem.
I guess I can always buy a BMW in the future
I'd agree too - when I asked my BMW Indy (ex-Sytner) about replacements for my E46 325ti a couple of years ago he told me to stick to 6 cylinder ones, preferably petrol.
So I have!
But a mate of mine bought an E91 320i recently, and he's having all sorts of issues with it using oil and smoking.
Looks like I got some good advice!
So I have!
But a mate of mine bought an E91 320i recently, and he's having all sorts of issues with it using oil and smoking.
Looks like I got some good advice!
Mr Tidy said:
I'd agree too - when I asked my BMW Indy (ex-Sytner) about replacements for my E46 325ti a couple of years ago he told me to stick to 6 cylinder ones, preferably petrol.
So I have!
But a mate of mine bought an E91 320i recently, and he's having all sorts of issues with it using oil and smoking.
Looks like I got some good advice!
I ignored my own advice and bought a 2007 320i SE for 1500 quid 3 years ago as they were a £2500-3000 car then. Seemed OK, did the timing chain, fixed the oil leaks - noticed it would puff out a bit of blue smoke after being left to idle for 2 mins............away you go.So I have!
But a mate of mine bought an E91 320i recently, and he's having all sorts of issues with it using oil and smoking.
Looks like I got some good advice!
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