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Engine locked up! Need advice!

49K views 41 replies 19 participants last post by  KK640 
#1 ·
I have a 2013 650 gran coupe with 52400 miles... I was driving between 40-50 mph and it died. I pulled over and it literally just clicked 1 time when I pushed the ignition button.
It's at the BMW dealership and the service team called to tell me the engine is locked up and there is nothing they can do except replace it... I had a full service complete a few months ago (never missed a service) and it is just past warranty!

I need advice! I don't want to spend 23k for a new engine.
 
#2 ·
Do you know that the engine in your car was "recalled" by BMW because of numerous problems? There are more posts in the X5 and 7 series forums, because it uses the same V8 engine as in your car. Here's a link to one of the other threads that provides more info on the "Customer Care Package" aka recall:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=818825

You shouldn't have to pay for repairs to your engine even if it's outside of warranty. You should ask your dealer again about this "Customer Care Package" or contact BMWNA for more info: http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Content/ContactUs/Default.aspx
 
#3 · (Edited)
Do you know that the engine in your car was "recalled" by BMW because of numerous problems?
Wrong: The engine in a 2013 is the N63B44TU not the N63B44O0.

Here are the affected vehicles - N63 Customer Care Package", bulletin B001314:

N63 Powered:
F01 and F02 (7 Series Sedan) produced from 3/2009 to 6/2012
F04 (Active Hybrid 7) produced from 4/2010 to 6/2012
F07 (Gran Turismo) produced from 9/2009 to 6/2012
F10 (5 Series Sedan) produced from 3/2010 to 7/2013
F12 (6 Series Convertible) produced from 3/2011 to 7/2012
F13 (6 Series Coupe) produced from 7/2011 to 7/2012
E70 (X5) produced from 3/2010 to 6/2013
E71 (X6) produced from 7/2008 to 6/2014
E72 (ActiveHybrid X6) produced from 9/2009 to 9/2011
 
#4 ·
It's at the BMW dealership and the service team called to tell me the engine is locked up and there is nothing they can do except replace it... I had a full service complete a few months ago (never missed a service) and it is just past warranty!

I need advice! I don't want to spend 23k for a new engine.
First, I'd want to know why it locked up. Did it throw a rod, spun bearing, hydrolock? If it's a failure due to a lubricated part, and you've always done the recommended service, then you might get a goodwill replacement from BMW.

If you drove through standing water and locked-up the engine that way, you might have an insurance claim.

At that mileage, it had to be an extraordinary failure of something. It would likely be worth the money to have them investigate it.

And you can very likely find a used engine and have it installed for a mere fraction of the cost of a new one.
 
#6 ·
After 2 weeks of waiting, BMW has offered a discounted engine replacement of $31,200... this is more than the original cost they quoted me.

They stated that the engine oil was at 50% and that was the cause of failure. I never got any warning messages about the oil and was doing normal checks with the engine status. Local rep stated that the next service was due in 6835 miles as well. All my maintenance was completed at BMW dealership and this included oil top offs.
I have escalated to BMW customer care.

What else can I do? An engine should not seize like this...
 
#9 ·
After 2 weeks of waiting, BMW has offered a discounted engine replacement of $31,200... this is more than the original cost they quoted me.

They stated that the engine oil was at 50% and that was the cause of failure. I never got any warning messages about the oil and was doing normal checks with the engine status. Local rep stated that the next service was due in 6835 miles as well. All my maintenance was completed at BMW dealership and this included oil top offs.
I have escalated to BMW customer care.

What else can I do? An engine should not seize like this...
Meaning low on oil with only 50% remaining in the pan? That's not what caused the engine to seize. These engines have a large oil capacity and 50% is still a lot of oil. If this is what they are claiming I think you are in a good position to negotiate for a good will adjustment from BMW NA. The engine didn't suddenly start burning that much oil just as the warranty expired. If it is burning that much oil it was burning oil well before 50K miles and in addition to all of that your warning system is also faulty.

With that said, there is another reason the engine locked up and they have not found it yet.
 
#7 · (Edited)
If you can show receipts for any oil, even going back over credit card transactions, or proof that you kept the oil level correct, then it possibly means there was a potential leak. or if you can prove the oil level measuring sensor is faulty. Engines do not drop 50% of oil for no good reason. But even so check the miles from the last service to the day when the engine seized, if it is not that high miles, consumption is not that high ie losing effectively 4.5ltr's.
The check oil light comes on at about 1 ltr to fill, the other thing to check and this is something they can do is check the cars recording of fault codes, they will know instantly if you have ignored oil warnings, but also if no fault codes then that suggests something else.
 
#10 ·
At that kind of miles you have a good case to say something was wrong, if they are saying even though there was a fault that caused the oil to leak and you ignored it then they have a case against you, but if no warning then that is down to them, again you need to get someone to read the fault codes stored in the ECU. If your car is at the dealers ask them for a print out, they should not have reset anything.
 
#11 ·
They stated the oil filter had shavings and the there was only 50% oil fill. Literally that is all they told me. Service manager escalated the issue but said the regional BMW rep denied any goodwill claims. After that, the service rep told me to call customer care and didn't seem interested. I have requested all my data pulls from the engine, all service logs and my entire maintenance file.

BMW customer care has opened a case and said they would follow up within 72 hrs.

I hope I don't need to lawyer up, but if I do, any recommendations?
 
#12 ·
I don't think they have done an adequate job in determining what happened to your engine. It looks to me like you had at least two separate things going on.

1) Your engine is using an excessive amount of oil for some reason. Your car was still under warranty when you went in to the dealership for service and an oil change at 49K miles. The oil capacity spec for the N63 engine is 9 quarts. If the service department is correctly reporting your current oil level at 50% this means you burned or leaked 4.5 quarts of oil in 3185 miles (700 miles per quart). An engine fault was responsible for your excessive oil consumption and it was present in your engine when you were still under warranty.

2) With that said, even if the oil was 50% low, you still had 4.5 quarts circulating in the engine which is close to the full rated capacity of most other car makes on the road. It's important that they found it but this alone does not explain your engine failure. Discovering metal shavings in the oil filter, however, is significant but that still needs to be traced to the source. The low oil did not cause the engine to lock up. In my opinion they are either assuming something and trying to prevent spending further time doing an engine teardown for a closer look inside or they know something they're not telling you. If it were me I would fight for this one.
 
#14 ·
If we assume that the oil level sensor was bad (it happens) then that means that he was burning a quart every 700 miles, which is actually within specs for an ///M car and older BMWs used to find that "within tolerances". I know the later V8s have oil burning issues because so many people drive in such a manner that RPMs never get high enough for the engine to properly break-in. Not their fault, it's the USA and how BMW engineers their cars to get good gas mileage. So it may still be within tolerances. It's also possible that the oil level was incorrect at the time of the last service.

The low oil could have caused issues including overheated oil which caused bearing failure(s) which caused the problem, but it really does seem that the OP did everything that he could to properly maintain the car, and there's not much he can do if the sensor is faulty.

It's definitely worth pursuing. If the OP is a BMW CCA member, he should ask the ombudsman to get involved as well.

Best of luck.
 
#15 ·
I am not a member of BMW CCA, is there value in joining? Sometimes these clubs are just social and I'm not familiar with BMW CCA.
There is definitely something more with my engine than has been disclosed. I have requested all the info about my car and will have it reviewed by another BMW rep. Unfortunately for me, there isn't another BMW dealer in the area. I'm looking for BMW certified/approved service centers and will get another view as well.
 
#22 ·
I am not a member of BMW CCA, is there value in joining? Sometimes these clubs are just social and I'm not familiar with BMW CCA.
Well, naturally there is a social element to the club, but they also have a well-regarded national magazine that often has interesting and informative articles. They're not a BMW mouthpiece (like the Audi club) so you'll get honest information and reviews from the magazine. In addition, you get new car and CPO rebates after being a member for a year, and the BMW CCA ombudsman will help you with issues like this.

So, yes, there is some value in joining, even if you skip the social stuff.
 
#16 ·
If BMW is stating 700 miles per quart is with-in their oil consumption specifications that creates a real nuisance for their customers. BMW's are premium cars with a premium price marketed to successful, affluent or upwardly mobile prospects of which very few will be happy finding out they have to add oil that often. BMW additionally rubs salt in the wound by offering an accessory for your trunk which fits and secures a case of their oil so you can always have a supply of BMW approved oil available and ready to pour in.
 
#17 ·
Oil consumption sucks. 60k car and you need to care for spare oil in the trunk. My friend drives 13 cls550 v8 twin turbo 4matic , no oil consumption yet with 65k miles on the clock. Thinking of moving to the star. They should have extended warranty for engines at least to 75k miles to keep current owners with them.
 
#19 ·
My 2013 650, with 26K miles, I've driven 3000 mi in last year since purchase and added 1.5 quarts, so every 700 mi needing a quart is pretty excessive compared to my experience. I've not had my first dealer oil change yet, so I'm following the OP's process with interest just in case. I'm used to getting oil changes every year regardless of miles, and at 3K per year, I won't need a change for 3-4 years using BMW guidelines. I would never go that long, but I still might get a change this summer with only a total of 5K miles just so mine does not blow up like the OP's
 
#20 ·
We should stick together and try to make a lawsuit for warranty extension on engine due to high oil consumption. Customer care package they provide is a one time event. They do that while the car is still under the warranty, as soon after there is nothing. I have 54k on mine. So far injectors problem just after 2 years since they replaced them. Which is just after the warranty ( warranty is for 2 years), seat looseness, oil consumption. Other than that loving driving it.
 
#23 ·
I'm going to join BMW CCA today, thank you. The link is valuable as well... sounded familiar!

I spoke with multiple reps at BMW NA customer care and they are reviewing the situation. I was told to give them 5-7 days for a response.

I attempted to get my file from the local BMW service rep (maintenance records, ecu print outs, detailed explanation of my issue) and he told me "these are property of BMW" and did not give me anything. He told me to wait for customer care and "we will go from there". That seems shady to me... what is he hiding? They are for my car... why not give me the info?
 
#24 ·
Sorry to hear about your unfortunate situation Ewan123ner. First of all, you have all right to get your full service records from BMW. That BMW rep is telling you BS. Its your car and all data should be made available. For $31K I would have a lawyer on retainer juts in case. If your car was service at BMW no matter if it's out of warranty or not, they stand to be liable for damages if it can be proven they did something wrong. You do not have to use that dealership to full your service records but you can go to any other BMW dealership with your key and get full print outs. You are going to get the run around from BMW NA as they try and sort this out with the dealership but you want to be prepared to take it further if you are not happy with the outcome.
 
#25 ·
BMW has offered a reduced price of $15,500 to replace the engine, turbos and anything else. This is for a brand new engine with a 24 month unlimited mileage warranty.

I am waiting on BMW NA to follow up with me, the reduced price came from the local service center. I'm still not satisfied with the follow up and how this has been handled. I told them that I appreciated the offer, but still felt that it was unreasonable.
They still have not given me the data from my car and I believe it's because they are hiding something.
 
#27 ·
Everybody taking the owners' side which, I suppose, is understandable ... but ... something does not add up here.

If the engine seized because the oil level was low, one of two things are likely:

1. The low oil light came on and the owner ignored it and kept driving.

2. The low oil light sensor failed.

If BMW is denying warranty, I'm betting they are going with option 1.
 
#30 ·
When I got my new 2013 650 ix, I had about 2,500 miles on the car and the low oil light came on. I was about 5 miles from an auto parts store so I drove there and put in 2 quarts. I've checked it religiously since then, use a quart every 1,200-1,500 miles or so. Depends on how 'spirited' I drive.

"Showed green?" How did you check your oil after the engine locked up?
 
#31 ·
I wish I could have checked it afterward... but that wasn't possible. I checked my idrive weekly. The service rep confirmed the last time the idrive was checked and it was green. He would not tell me the date, but said it was a couple days before the engine failure. He told me the DCS data is proprietary to BMW. He read it to me, but would not let me see it.
 
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