BMW 3 Series (2012 - 2019)
328
Seized engine at 55000 miles spells disaster
I bought this car from a dealer with FSH at 42000miles. It has now done 55000. A couple of weeks ago the dashboard lights all lit up. I had it checked and it was discovered that the battery was faulty and needed replaced as this can cause lights to come on. I booked it in and kept driving for a week or so until it was booked in to change battery. It developed a whistling/whining noise which sounded like an alternator. Made sense it could be hence the battery not being charged.
Dropped car of at garage on Wednesday evening for battery change on Thursday. Got a call on Thursday saying the car wouldn’t turn over. They pushed it onto ramp and thought the starter had stuck. On inspection found the engine had completely seized. The oil filter was removed to find a lot of shrapnel and oil a nasty colour. Initial thoughts are that the oil pump stopped working, starving the engine of oil.
An engineering firm confirmed that they had seen this a number of times with that engine. Contacted BMW who were not in the slightest bit interested.
I am left with a car that I owe £10000 on and looking at a complete rebuild or new engine at considerable cost . On top of that, there is no guarantee that this will solve dash light problem as the garage thinks the engine management unit may well be fried by the battery problem.
This is the 6th BMW I have owned 3 of which were the 3.0straight six engines which were great. The others were 4 cylinder petrol engines which I didn’t keep long as I didn’t like them compared to 6 cylinders and this is my 1st turbo engine.
I used to love BMWs.
I will never buy another BMW and you should think very carefully too before spending a lot of money in what is supposed to be a quality make. Check out where BMW are now in JD power surveys. No surprise they are so far down
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About this car
Price | £24,255–£45,975 |
---|---|
Road Tax | A–J |
MPG | 35.8–134.5 mpg |
Real MPG | 74.4% |