[P7X]

Hey guys any ideas on what this noise could be. It happens on partial throttle between 2-4000 rpm. Have only noticed in the last couple days and in 1st and 2nd gear, sounds terrible. Check out the video, at the 28 sec mark is the best example of the noise.

Car has 128,000 kms running stock tune.

[MiniXP]

You're not going to want to hear this, but it sounds a little like my motor did when I had a spun rod bearing.

Can you take another video from a different spot, there's lots of background noise in that.

Pull your oil filter and see if you see any metal flakes in it. Mine was full of gold colored flakes.

Here's what mine sounded like:

[P7X]

There's def a similar noise :/..... but mine doesn't make any noise at idle or revving the engine, with no CEL or anything. Only at very specific range with in the rpms. Could be early onset.....?

[MiniXP]

Originally Posted by P7X

There's def a similar noise :/..... but mine doesn't make any noise at idle or revving the engine, with no CEL or anything. Only at very specific range with in the rpms. Could be early onset.....

Mine was in the same rpm range as yours, no noise at idle. I had the engine cover off in that video, so the idle noise is just he injectors being loud.

Mine came on pretty quick. I was doing a pretty hard pull on the highway and it started all of the sudden around 4k rpm. I drove it the few miles home, went to drive it to the shop in the morning and it sounded too bad to drive so I had it towed.

When the shop got it, they just pulled the oil filter and it was full of metal particles, at that point they said they could tear it down, but the labor wouldn't be worth it. I went with a motor from a salvaged car. I'll add a pic of what my oil looked like in a minute

[MiniXP]

I'm fairly convinced this was cause by the dealer 15k mile oil change interval that the previous owner followed. I only had 61k on the car.

[P7X]

Brutal man.

I just got back from the dealer and we went for drive and they said they don't know what the noise is. The car is going back in a couple days to actually see what's up and hope to god its not that ....

Oil was changed 8,000 kms ago

[bitcore]

I'm friends of MiniXP - his N54 in his 335i spun a crank-to-rod bearing and sounded exactly like this. Metal shavings were everywhere inside his motor, embedded in other bearings, on his cams, etc. It was terminal. We disassembled the motor down to the bare block in my garage to examine it and so he could salvage parts like the water pump housing, coolant hardlines for the turbo, etc. We didn't take too many close up pics other than the oil carnage. He may have with the parts at home.
Stop driving it immediately if you want any hope of saving it. You can try to replace the bearing set, but odds are if you've run it more than half a minute, it's totally done and can't be rebuilt without a lot of money. My guess is this video's worth of running was too much and the shavings inside the oil are thoroughly mixed with the engine and will sabotage the rest of your motors mating surfaces in short order, even after replacing the bearings from the bottom and a full drain and a few oil flushes. You need a full rebuild. I'd prepare for an engine swap or a replacement car.

Sorry dude, that's really awful.


Please keep this thread alive so others may learn of what can happen! Don't be embarrassed, it can happen to any of us, even without abuse. I have a 135i with an N54 also, 63K miles on it - I'm rather afraid it's going to grenade on me as well.

Edit: I really feel for you, that's such an awfully tragic and expensive piece of news to be hearing. MiniXP and I both are mourning your (supposed) loss.
Edit2: Stories like these build ammunition for recalls, class action suits, and public awareness - which is really the only way these days for the public to pressure manufacturers to increase quality standards to prevent this kind of thing happening to people in the future.

[P7X]

Would this not have triggered a CEL of some kind or indicate that the oil is low in anyway (currently at full, oil temp normal) and the car runs fine.

I find it strange that something that significant hasn't noticeably affected the car besides the noise obviously.

[MiniXP]

Originally Posted by P7X

Would this not have triggered a CEL of some kind or indicate that the oil is low in anyway (currently at full, oil temp normal) and the car runs fine.

I find it strange that something that significant hasn't noticeably affected the car besides the noise obviously.

I didn't have a CEL or anything. Oil level was fine, never went low.

I did find it strange that it didn't throw a code or anything. Didn't even have any shadow codes.

[maxgohan]

what could the computer check for to throw a code?
if the engine is running fine, computer won't throw any codes

however, if there was some sort of oil quality sensor, it might have picked up the extra metal shavings in the oil and threw a code, but i don't think that kind of sensor technology exists yet

having said that, do you have extended warranty or anything?

you should also consider taking a loss and trading it in, if possible....

[P7X]

The car is CPO so if there's a major issue it should be covered but I have no doubt that if its a major repair / engine replacement there would be push back from the dealer.

[maxgohan]

just make sure you take off any mods (especially tunes)

the dealership will have a vested interest in making it right as they will be reimbursed from BMW Canada for any warranty work on CPO vehicles so i wouldn't expect too much push back...

[P7X]

I hope that is the case, we'll see... the car has a DCI on it.

[MiniXP]

Originally Posted by P7X

The car is CPO so if there's a major issue it should be covered but I have no doubt that if its a major repair / engine replacement there would be push back from the dealer.

You're lucky. I had no warranty.

I'd put the original intake back on if you have it. You're probably looking at close to a $20k repair if done at the dealer with a new short block, hopefully paid for by them. You want to do everything you can to make sure they can't back out of covering it.

[maxgohan]

i agree, the intake won't have any bearing but the less trouble you give em the easier it is for all

if you have the car, put the stock intake back on...

[idrift4wd]

Originally Posted by MiniXP

You're lucky. I had no warranty.

I'd put the original intake back on if you have it. You're probably looking at close to a $20k repair if done at the dealer with a new short block, hopefully paid for by them. You want to do everything you can to make sure they can't back out of covering it.

20k?

used n54 installed would be at most 5-6k. single turbo kit 8-10k. wheels and suspension for 4k. fuck the dealer lol

[MiniXP]

Originally Posted by idrift4wd

20k?

used n54 installed would be at most 5-6k. single turbo kit 8-10k. wheels and suspension for 4k. fuck the dealer lol

That's why I said at the dealert with new short block. Short block from bmw is around 12k. Labor at the dealer isn't cheap.

Used n54 with 50k was about 4k for me. About $800 in misc parts. Labor was 2800 at an indy. I did new turbos and clutch at the same time.

[bitcore]

Originally Posted by maxgohan

however, if there was some sort of oil quality sensor, it might have picked up the extra metal shavings in the oil and threw a code, but i don't think that kind of sensor technology exists yet

Unfortunately, oil sensors in this motor most likely would have no idea - the computer simply wouldn't know about this terminal condition and would be behaving as if everything was normal and allowing full power output. Knock sensors are tuned to not detect clanking and other noises, but very specific impulses that ignition knock/pinging have.

Did you open the filter to see if you had shavings? Shine a flashlight on the pleats, if it sparkles, you have a problem. We would love to see pictures.

If you did spin a bearing, and you keep driving it for a few hundred more miles or put any significant loads on the engine - other things and noises will start to quickly show up. You will gouge bearing surfaces, turbo bearings definitely won't like it and will get slack quickly and probably start leaking. Your oil pump vanes and seals will have grooves and it's pressure developing capability will diminish rapidly. I'm curious how VANOS would behave with an accumulation of metal particulates - it may begin sticking or seizing and your timing may get way out of whack - the DME would throw codes for those conditions. If it gets really bad, the most affected cylinder rod could seize on the bearing, break the rod, and send it though the side of the block.

Like un-caught stage 3 pancreatic cancer, it's looking at a death sentence if this is the case.
This is practically the worst thing that could happen to your car - insurance probably won't cover it since there was no accident, etc.


If you think you have a chance of a warranty claim, you need to do whatever you can to ensure your car is bone stock in that engine bay and exhaust. If BMW has anything that they could point to that could modify the stock behavior of the engine, it's within their legal bounds to deny warranty.

Edit: If I'm not mistaken, there is some bypass/leakage through our (and most, that I understand) oil filters, especially the older they get and more clogged they become. So it simply will not catch all of the shavings that are pumped through it. It's meant to be a particulate reducer over time - not a catch-all for a catastrophic event like this.

[P7X]

Update: as expected bearing is toast..... being rebuilt.

[Sgop335]

Originally Posted by MiniXP

I'm fairly convinced this was cause by the dealer 15k mile oil change interval that the previous owner followed. I only had 61k on the car.

Wow. How often do you oil change now?

[Cloud9blue]

OP, did you have this car since new? Any idea what oil has this car been using and what about the OCI?

Just wondering if this is an isolated incident or has something to do with the BMW ridiculously long recommended OCI.

[dbond]

There is a well known problem for N54 motor. High precision injectors tend to leak to the point of hydro locking one or several cylinders resulting in bearing failures or/and bent rods. I won't be surprised if this was the case in this failure. Pull out spark plugs, injectors and inspect for fouling from unburned gas.