[Rialas]

After my many woes with this 335i of mine, it seems to be at last fixed and running as a 335i should.

Check light after check light, and after suspecting bad fuel, bad injectors, coils etc etc, and eventually total loss of compression on cylinder 5, the only option I was prepared to entertain was a replacement engine. I didn't want the existing engine rebuilt or even opened.

Steve and Edd at a1bn came to the rescue with a second-hand engine from a reputable source, a known car, with low mileage and peace of mind.
Runs perfectly.

Smooth and quick, but more importantly not one single check light limp mode.

I wanted to start a new thread with a bit of positivity as I've understandably been very negative about this car.

Onwards and upwards.

Thanks guys.

[Phil325i]

Glad to hear it. Did you get to the bottom of what caused the loss of cyl 5 compression?

[Rialas]

Originally Posted by Phil325i

Glad to hear it. Did you get to the bottom of what caused the loss of cyl 5 compression?

Not really.
I opted not to find out or care.

The deal was that I give the engine part-ex, and I got an engine complete with lower mileage turbos etc.

Just wanted to start afresh

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by Rialas

After my many woes with this 335i of mine, it seems to be at last fixed and running as a 335i should.

Check light after check light, and after suspecting bad fuel, bad injectors, coils etc etc, and eventually total loss of compression on cylinder 5, the only option I was prepared to entertain was a replacement engine. I didn't want the existing engine rebuilt or even opened.

Steve and Edd at a1bn came to the rescue with a second-hand engine from a reputable source, a known car, with low mileage and peace of mind.
Runs perfectly.

Smooth and quick, but more importantly not one single check light limp mode.

I wanted to start a new thread with a bit of positivity as I've understandably been very negative about this car.

Onwards and upwards.

Thanks guys.

Your welcome Kosta... this one's been a hard one to deal with with some head scratching symptoms.

In a nut shell we had issues early on but managed to kind of steer around them to a degree, but there were issues. Ws had 2 plugs that were nigh on welded in situ (No1 and No5) or thats what it felt like we've seen this before and usually see this when some one has gunned the plugs in... WHY you've got an ally head plugs and plugs who's threads are made of a different material so you need care when removing/replacing plugs so why gun them in. We actually no word of a lie employed an ex main BMW dealer teech who we caught doing this is on a service a few years ago. He was swiftly hauled up re this asit should never cross anyones mind to go down this route ever.. but it seemed routine... it may of been in his mind not in ours.. its not the done thing.. so he went.

Anyway we got No1 out after some care eventually on another visit No5 came out.

But cutting to the main point the car started showing issues real issues that got us looking we had potentual issues re injectors (and injectors these days are becoming a bit of a pain as if left unattended or left with faults too long they can create issues that are beyond salvage) but after going down this route and scoping we realised that perhaps there was something more going on but injectors were in terms of issue present and strongly suspected as contributary.

Smooth running via diagnostic in this case made a case for itself but in the end sometimes you know you have to resort to old fashioned methods, the theory was to do a compression test. No1,2,3 and 4 were within spec, No6 was too No5 no compression. Well there is your answer. Kosta#s mentioned fuel, its a ninteresting one as we had several cars that had issues and symptoms came about after oddly enough filling up(I done a post on it some time ago where we resorted to repalcing injectors on some cars as these symptoms took place directly after re fueling) which I'd of said was fewaky to say the least, but when we had 3 cars within a week with the said same symptoms all London cars too it makes you wonder.

Was fuel the match ot the fuel that started the flare up of issues we all had withthe car well its always been on my mind that in 2 cases once Kosta had filled upi left the petrol station in a short speace of time issues took place EML lights on...... but whatever the case Kosta was left with some thinking re what to do, does he sell the car as it was, look at pulling the sick engine apart and re building where necessary or go for the most straightforward option in the scheme of things and that was out with the old in with the nearly new.

We talked about it etc. Kosta needed to go and think quite rightly re options. But Kosta chose the option to leave us to find a replacement engine nad he'll have a look around too.

Indeed Kosta found one himself but quickly discovered the merky world of breaking cars and parts. Its oh so easy to get burn't when looking.

I was aware of a low mileage 135i that was in the process of being trasnfered from the insurance company to one of our trusted breakers, Kosta was aware of the fact that I knew of an engine and I was keeping an eye on things as a back up I had a second choice just in case. But the lower mileage option which was option 1 was the engine we sourced and is now in Kosta's car.

Thing is you have to say for a barely 6 year old car this was not good news. We are seeing now some issues that are more deep routed than you'd like to see on a car that to be fair in an owners mind are still very youthful.

But there's light sometimes if you can go trhough some pain at the end of the tunnel though whichever route you take financially it can sting. On this one there was no easy way to go forward. But Kosta's happy he's got his car back as reported it is smooth. Indeed once all dressed up fittted and check via diagnostic the car fired up on the button and settled down to a loely smooth idle no issue nothing whatsoever which I can only was I was really pleased to report.

Glad your ahppy Kosta nad glad you can close the book on the old and move forward withthe new

Originally Posted by Phil325i

Glad to hear it. Did you get to the bottom of what caused the loss of cyl 5 compression?

We will its an exchange engine we can't quite make out on the scope pics what has taken place but and it is a bit of a theory we strongly feel that as the plug on this sylinder was so damn tight and once removed also noted as dirty and a little wet we were or are going to see something sinister in No5 given the opportunity to pull it apart.

As far as we can see when faced with no compression and trust me it barely registered on the gauge your looking at a damaged valve whether burnt or non closing we could see just that the valve appears to be in the correct place i.e. closed where required difficult to 100% say if its burnt, doesn't appear to be holed but when you look at the piston area from what I saw (and it needs to be confirmed for sure the piston on No5 has sustained some sort of event. But only removing the head will reveal all. But as its on paper an exchange unit its not exactly cricket at this stage for us to pull the thing apart but I would love to see what greets us given the opportunity and it may well present itself to us that we might be able to remove inspect.

But on these new engine something we are seeing is issue re injectors etc. Not saying in everycase things spiral but if you sniff an issue and its directed at a possible injector for instance trust me deal with it don't let it linger if you can

Originally Posted by Rialas

Not really.
I opted not to find out or care.

The deal was that I give the engine part-ex, and I got an engine complete with lower mileage turbos etc.

Just wanted to start afresh

Said it earlier it was a call you and you alone had to make but pleased the car runs like a dream now the guys said it was really smooth right from the word go. But admire your process re thought and logic all I can say is wish all my customers were like you.


Anyway some pics now Kosta's not seen these yet and forgive me for not having a decent step by step set which I usually try to do but time din't allow me to fully complete..




for a few days the end ramp was Kosta's car home we planned to remove repalce the engine in stages over time and combine it with other pre booked work which we had and on paper we technically couldn't book Kosta in for some time. But we make space where we can if you follow me.

So the process began by removing top covers etc



in the meantime the donor engine arrived on a pallet and was quickly placed on an engine stand for inspection and wiring harness and other ancellery transfer.






We chose to have the manifold off to have a look inside (perfect time for a walnut blast -Kosta was offered this but understandably costs etc. had to be managed) but to be fair the ports didn't look to bad one of the better one's. Circumstances can change and I was gifted time wise with a few appointment changes which meant we chose to hit Kosta's car hard re hands on deck so over a 2 day period that's what we did hit the car hard and Kosta wasn't I don't think expecting the car to be tackled so quickly but at times I had 3 guys on it solid

Before you know it when I came over later I was greated with this




oh and this




Kosta's old engine on a pallet

and the process of carefully re fitting takes place



and you may question why going in rear end facing sideways was the way to go well it was purely space when this was done the engine could be spun with out any issues 90 degrees and simply dropped in to postion with out drams logic say straight in but it was just easier re placement on this particular lump and boy for a modent engine it felt heavy to go this way.

And a day or so after I had a chance to do some photo's the cars being pushed engine in place over to the diagnostic bay for tests and final cover fitting ready for the first firing




and the rest is history..

[Rialas]

Thanks Steve, likewise, I wish all specialists were like you.

And thanks for all that info and photos.

Glad it's all good now.

Still not sure whether to get some sort of warranty for it after what I went through. I'll have a little think on that, but it might be piece of mind with these complex cars.

One good thing that came out of this saga, was the necessity to get myself another car whilst I decided what to do with the 335i.
The Z4 is fantastic, just had the wheels refurbed and paint detailed I'll be using it as my main car, and the 335i when I want to get somewhere fast.

Thanks again, speak soon.

[imy]

Great result! I know how good the feeling can be after getting a car back which had had so much work done...

Regarding warranty I am unsure if you could coverage with an engine change although I may be wrong on this...