[dmboone25]

Hey guys,

This is a strange and developing situation, but wanted all of you with M2Cs to hear about what has happened to my F80 in the last two days.

First things first - about the car. It is a 2017 M3 ZCP (DCT) with about 25,000 miles on the clock. The car has never been tracked or modified. No piggybacks, no flashes, nada.

I took the car down the street yesterday morning to grab a Monster at Speedway - the trip is about 2 miles there and back. It acted completed normal - no issues at all. A couple of hours later, I started it up to run to CVS and grab lunch. Upon starting the car in my garage, I instantly hear a strange, loud, ticking/clicking noise coming from under the hood. It's a sound I have never heard, and I have had the car for 2 1/2 years. I went ahead and drove it to CVS - which is about a mile and a half from my house. Made the sound the whole way there and the whole way back. Seemed to get louder under slightly higher RPMs/load. I don't think I ever went past ~3k RPMs. I decided to forgo lunch and came back home.

No check engine light, drivetrain malfunction, or any warning light came up on the dash. I went into iDrive and clicked the "check all systems" or whatever the relevant selection is. Came back "All systems ok". However, I am supposed to be driving a decent distance for the holiday weekend, so wanted to get it checked out by the dealer before the weekend. I was able to snag the last appointment yesterday and took it to my local dealer for diagnosis.

When I pulled into the drop-off area inside the service center, the shop foreman came over and said "that sounds like it could be something serious" - I am not mechanical at all, so I asked him what it could be? He said it could be a lifter or something "worse" but they'd have to take a look and see. I got put into a loaner and came home.

I didn't hear anything back yesterday, so traded texts with the service advisor this morning. She said they weren't sure what the issue was, but that it could still be a lifter or something more serious. I said, how serious? And she said, you might need a new engine. I was pretty confused at this point because that seemed like a large range from a diagnosis standpoint...so I just went by the dealer at lunch to see if I could talk to the foreman in person.

Apparently there's a lot of metal/shavings in the oil pan. And of course, the first thing he asked me was whether or not the car had a tune or aftermarket boost modifications - I told him no, and that he should be able to see that from the undisturbed CPU box in the engine bay...I mean, I have only had the damn hood up to add windshield wiper fluid. He said that it looked undisturbed to him, but that BMW was going to do more investigation on what went wrong...he said they would be most interested in the mapping and boost levels, to see if those have ever been altered from stock...and that he's almost 100% sure I will need a new motor.

The foreman said BMW is really confused, because the S55 apparently has a good reliability record, even on cars that have been tracked extensively. I am really curious to see how this plays out, since I am also really interested in the M2C.

[KevinM]

Well, that sucks. Sorry to hear. Let us know how it turns out.

[5.M0NSTER]

Wow, that sucks. Sorry to hear it, but at least it looks like the dealer and BMW are taking care of it. Based on what you described I doubt it's a lifter. Sounds to me more like rod knock. Something in the cylinder itself or in the bottom end of the block. I hope it's not but keep us posted.

Best of luck and I hope you get your car back in top shape soon.

[nomoracin]

Sorry to hear...hope they take care of everything!

[Poochie]

That sucks, it happen recently to member that had a Dinan stage 2 tune on his M4.

The dealer immediately passed the buck on to Dinan, on principal but they ultimately they had to replace the entire motor..

This sounds like your scenario, so a new motor is more than likely. And I wouldn't want a car that exhibits those tell-tale symptoms.

I believe you told me it's a lease and you have no mods, so you can breathe easy that they'll cover it but I would use this life-lemons situation to get me a M2 CS..

But that's just me


Engine warranty void by BMW, DINAN covers. https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1614332

[dmboone25]

Thanks for the replies guys.

It's a bizarre situation for sure - really looking forward to learning what happened. I can only guess that something failed that doesn't usually fail...

The service folks have been really good so far - they're essentially relaying what BMW is telling them. It sounds like another possibility would be for BMW to have the service guys tear the motor down further for additional diagnosis...we shall see...I don't really care about the long term situation for this particular car, since I am not going to keep it past the end of the lease.

More interested in what went wrong and applicability to the S55 overall.

[arciga18]

I just Hope your loaner didn't suck.

Bill Jacobs appears to be treating you pretty good

[ChrisK]

Originally Posted by dmboone25

Thanks for the replies guys.

It's a bizarre situation for sure - really looking forward to learning what happened. I can only guess that something failed that doesn't usually fail...

The service folks have been really good so far - they're essentially relaying what BMW is telling them. It sounds like another possibility would be for BMW to have the service guys tear the motor down further for additional diagnosis...we shall see...I don't really care about the long term situation for this particular car, since I am not going to keep it past the end of the lease.

More interested in what went wrong and applicability to the S55 overall.

Shavings in the oil - Sounds like a bearing took a crap from oil starvation.

Sorry to hear this, but BMW will take care of it.

[Tag]

Good thing it's a lease! The only question now is what will you be getting once your lease ends?

[Project_F87]

Hope everything turns out alright dude

[dmboone25]

Got a no update “update” on Friday - the BMW field engineer was out to look at the M3 but no details or whatnot on what they found. Hoping for more info after the holiday!

[DelGriffith]

Any news on this ^^^ ?

[arciga18]

This thread is on my watch list too mostly because I'm local .


Is the field engineer that came out called "Doc"?

[dmboone25]

Sorry guys - I apologize for the delay in posting. I am out of state for work.

The car was completed today, and my lady picked it up for me. The repair at the end of a day was a lifter and rocker arm. Nothing else of importance.

My fiancé says that there’s no weird noise and that the car feels as normal as she can tell...she doesn’t drive the M3 much but it seems like it’s back to normal.

I cannot fill in all the blanks because I’m not there and because the communication was so atrocious. I have been on a blind roller coaster for the last week and half and I’m going to lie - it’s left a bad taste in my mouth. In terms of the M3, I won’t see it for a couple more weeks, so we shall see how it goes.

Transparency and trust are important in the service industry, and I am not impressed with how this went. It ended up being “not that big of a deal” but the dealer did a poor job with updates and details. BMW didn’t bother reaching out either, even though I am an 8 time customer. I don’t know how this will affect my next purchasing decision, but it will certainly be a factor.

[dmboone25]

Originally Posted by arciga18

This thread is on my watch list too mostly because I'm local .


Is the field engineer that came out called "Doc"?

I wish I could say. I was in the dark the entire time - I still don’t know what the field engineer found or determined. It’s pretty disappointing.

[BroDoze]

Isn’t this the second failed lifter story very recently?

[Poochie]

Originally Posted by dmboone25

I wish I could say. I was in the dark the entire time - I still don't know what the field engineer found or determined. It's pretty disappointing.

I know how you feel; I had sort of a persistent issue that required many service visits to correct; it turned out the Master Technician they assigned determined it was the 'Oil Pressure Sensor.'

I was extremely curious about the Five Ws such as; what parts did they replace, exactly, how did they diagnosed this as the problem, did they also changed the required, gaskets, crush-washer, oil, upon draining, for replacement, etc.

However, when I received the vehicle back, the repair invoice succinctly noted "oil sensor replaced" (the end).

The service advisor just parroted what was already aptly stated, so she wasn't any help in quenching my inquisitive mind.

I'm guessing dealers figure most consumers just want their vehicle repaired and couldn't care less about underlining issue, so SAs doesn't bother wasting their time on lengthy, detail explanations.

You should be grateful they actually addressed the issue and didn't try to blame it on something unrelated, such as 'user-error.'

In my humbling experiences with major warranty claims, there is a 50/50% chance of them covering it or passing the buck to someone or something else.

[Transfer]

It's a lease and under warranty. Don't hesitate to continue to enjoy the hell out of any way you see fit, within the terms of warranty of course. Give it a good stress test when you get home. If it grenades then it has declared itself. If all good then enjoy it!

[buckybadger]

You got a bad batch, my s55 is solid and I've thrashed it few times, no issues.

Touch wood.

Hopefully dealer can sort it out.