[Soonerbilly]

HAHA!!!!! Now that's funny APEX....didn't even remember you were the OP.

[apexit4]

Originally Posted by Soonerbilly

HAHA!!!!! Now that's funny APEX....didn't even remember you were the OP.

Yeah, I've been replying to many other threads on the general E9x forum side and throwing the OP term around there quite often. Must have been on auto pilot typing that response

[chuckn0rr1s]

Originally Posted by apexit4

With regards to the issue at hand, turns out the noise is the front main crankshaft bearing. The sound the car was making sounded like a connecting rod bearing was quite worn or spun. So we took the oil pan off to inspect the connecting rod bearings and.......they looked good as new. So the next step was to inspect the main bearings and that's where we found the issue. It looks like the previous owner might have ran the engine low on oil and spun the main bearing. They tried to remedy the issue by replacing all the connecting rod bearings and fitting what we think is an oversized main bearing to silence the issue and get rid of the car. Unfortunately the rod knock could only be heard when the engine was revved past 2.5k rpm so I never heard it when I bought the car. According to my mechanic they did such a shitty job of fixing the issue that the noise went away for a few thousand miles before coming back.

So, now I'm faced with the dilemma of how to fix the issue. We are having a BMW engine guy come and inspect the crankshaft for any scoring before proceeding. There are four options at this point:

1) if the crankshaft isn't badly damaged we might be able to carefully polish out the imperfections and fit new bearing and end caps. This will be tough to do with the engine still in the car.
2) if the crankshaft is damaged, it will need to be removed. I've been told that to do that the engine has to come out
3) buy a new engine and do a swap. I've already been on Copart looking for donor vehicles. My mechanic can source me a warranties engine for a bit under 4K and there are only two available in the US
4) slap on some oversized bearings, sell it to Carmax and let them deal with the issue

I'm really hoping option 1 works out as I love the car. If it wasn't a true M Sport and all the maintenance I did on the top end of the engine this past year, I'd get another 335 and start over.

You want to buy my totaled 335d msport? Rear end damage only

[apexit4]

Originally Posted by chuckn0rr1s

You want to buy my totaled 335d msport? Rear end damage only

I had the issue about half a year ago. I've since put a new motor in it. That being said, if it was stupid cheap I'd probably go for it. Insurance still want $5k for it? Any idea on which auction house they'll try to sell it at?

[chuckn0rr1s]

Originally Posted by apexit4

I had the issue about half a year ago. I've since put a new motor in it. That being said, if it was stupid cheap I'd probably go for it. Insurance still want $5k for it? Any idea on which auction house they'll try to sell it at?

Insurance still wants $5k for it. they won't budge. I just realized this thread was old...

[apexit4]

Originally Posted by chuckn0rr1s

Insurance still wants $5k for it. they won't budge. I just realized this thread was old...

Yeah, it's a little old but has some new activity. It appears there's another member who's going through the exact same thing that happened to me. I had some extra crankshaft bearings end caps from my old engine so he's going to try and replace his bad one with one of my new ones. Crossing my fingers it works out for him.

[Soonerbilly]

Hell....I got some too PEP if the ones from APEX don't workout.

[Pep423]

Originally Posted by Soonerbilly

Hell....I got some too PEP if the ones from APEX don't workout.

Bearing caps? Do you have #1?
Seems whether the caps are interchangeable is a question. My shop says yes so I guess we'll find out in a few days?

[Pep423]

Originally Posted by chuckn0rr1s

You want to buy my totaled 335d msport? Rear end damage only

How much and how many miles?

[Soonerbilly]

Originally Posted by Pep423

Bearing caps? Do you have #1?
Seems whether the caps are interchangeable is a question. My shop says yes so I guess we'll find out in a few days?

I do....bought an entire blown motor for parts.

[Pep423]

Originally Posted by Soonerbilly

I do....bought an entire blown motor for parts.

Can u send some pics of #1?
What happened to the motor?

[Soonerbilly]

Its at my buddies shop.....ill try to run over and get a pic tomorrow.

[apexit4]

Originally Posted by Soonerbilly

Its at my buddies shop.....ill try to run over and get a pic tomorrow.

Any info on what happened to the motor?

[Soonerbilly]

The one I bought was from an X5....#6 rod/piston broke....hole in block.
Got it for 500.....with everything included. Me and my buddy both have 2011 335d's so we figured it was good to have parts around.

[Soonerbilly]

Hey PEP....headed over now to get pics of that #1 Cap.....need anything else?

[Pep423]

Originally Posted by Soonerbilly

Hey PEP....headed over now to get pics of that #1 Cap.....need anything else?

Thanks for the pics. Let's see what happens with the cap I got coming this week. I should know by end of the week the results of cap and main bearing replacement.

[ground_zero]

I'm sorry you guys had to go through this, I had mine for 3 months or so and only put 2k miles on it and already want to change the sooty oil, When I took delivery the oil looked great but after this short of a time it's REAL dirty.

[apexit4]

Originally Posted by ground_zero

I'm sorry you guys had to go through this, I had mine for 3 months or so and only put 2k miles on it and already want to change the sooty oil, When I took delivery the oil looked great but after this short of a time it's REAL dirty.

What do you mean it looked very dirty? If you're worried about the state of the engine, send out an oil sample to Blackstone Labs. Their service is top notch and really affordable.

[robnitro]

It's normal for a diesel to turn the oil black in a short time. If you aren't smoking or getting bad mpg, I really doubt you have excessive soot.

[apexit4]

Originally Posted by Pep423

Thanks for the pics. Let's see what happens with the cap I got coming this week. I should know by end of the week the results of cap and main bearing replacement.

Any updates on whether the replacement end cap helped resolve the issue?

[Pep423]

Originally Posted by apexit4

Any updates on whether the replacement end cap helped resolve the issue?

Not yet, shop ordered the main bearing through a dealer but it came from Germany and today I found out it has been on customs hold since last Tuesday.

Iv been trying to get some info from FedEx as to exactly what the hold up is but haven't heard anything back yet. Will try calling tomorrow.

I'm in the industry and "bearings" are kind of a delicate item as far as US Customs is concerned. They may be thinking it's ball bearings and of course since the govt was shut down I'm sure this got pushed to the back of line.

[apexit4]

Originally Posted by Pep423

Not yet, shop ordered the main bearing through a dealer but it came from Germany and today I found out it has been on customs hold since last Tuesday.

Iv been trying to get some info from FedEx as to exactly what the hold up is but haven't heard anything back yet. Will try calling tomorrow.

I'm in the industry and "bearings" are kind of a delicate item as far as US Customs is concerned. They may be thinking it's ball bearings and of course since the govt was shut down I'm sure this got pushed to the back of line.

I had the same issue with getting bearings and having them clear customs. It took almost 3 weeks between the time we ordered a set and when they finally arrived. I was amazed that there were so few in the country. At the time we placed the order we couldnt even source a complete set from anywhere in the country. Wonder if they will stock more in the US now that there is an uptick in bearing issues on some of these engines....