XeroK00L

http://www.autocar.co.uk/News_Article.asp?NA_ID=212801

M3 engines fail

BMW M3 owners are being left stranded after several incidences of exploding engines in the £40k coupé. Owners have contacted Autocar claiming that their M3’s 3.4-litre engine has blown due to con-rod troubles. One M3 driver we have heard of is on his third engine.

BMW admits that there is a problem, but it says that rather than a issuing a recall all M3s will have ‘quality enhancement’ work, involving con-rod bearing replacement, carried out when unmodified cars visit a dealership.

However, with early M3s now out of warranty you could be left with a big bill if your engine fails, although a BMW spokesman said that owners having problems will be dealt with ‘sympathetically’.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

i thought bmw already called in a lot of m3 owners to have their engine "fixed"?

or this is a new problem?

XeroK00L

Not sure. This is from one of today's headlines on this UK site. Should be new news, at least to the UK buyers.

mmarshall

Well, this policy, IMO, makes little sense..... like just about everything ELSE that BMW is doing these days.

For the amount and cost of man-hours and labor in the service bays involved in tearing apart an engine deep down enough into the block to replace rods and bearings, putting the whole mess back together again, and then just turn around and have something ELSE fail..... (many BMW shops charge over $100 an hour, and if it is warranty work, the factory eats the bill instead)....you might as well just order a whole new engine.....with the factory upgrades and strengthening....... simply drop it in with an engine hoist, connect the tranny, hoses, and couplings, and get it over with.

Sounds like they've put Chris Bangle in charge of warranty work, in addition to styling and design.

jet864

I agree the amount of work that will have to go into replacing connecting rods and/or bearings will be much higher than that which would go into replacing the engine. I met a guy who had an 02 M3 and something happened internally that obstructed the oil flow and fried his engine. Obviously at that point it's necessary to replace the whole thing, so why would it be so difficult to solve their own screw ups the right way? I know that BMW's very strict about not selling the M3 engine as a "crate" engine but if all the work is done in-house and they keep the deffective unit for testing/disposal, I don't see what the deal is.

James

chuckb

What are the chances of a dealer tearing an engine down to replace con rods and putting it all back together correctly without creating new probs? I would say slim to none. A crate motor(short block) would be the right thing to do for sure

<VENOM>

BMW sure knows how to put a bandaid on a bullit wound

What is con rods, I should know that but if it's anything like their discussing on M3forum where they remove the pan and go up from the bottom to replace the bearing then yeah that just 1 more thing that pissing the owners off, some more then other, the bearings can't withstand high revs

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

This has been out since at least August 2004. Here is a link about this connecting rod bearing as well as an explanation about the cause of the problem from the BMW forums.
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...d.php?t=249217