[akashkotecha]

Hey all, it’s been a while. I posted on here over a year ago when my g30 m550i ran into some issues.

Long story short, somehow two of the eight cylinders got scratched on the inside and essentially the car needed a new motor and it was out of warranty. I went through a whole process and a lot of back and forth with bmw Canada and they said the best they can do is $45,000$ CAD all in for a new motor and labor etc and they informed me that it could run higher than that once they start the process and find out if they need to swap any other parts etc. I sat on it for 6 months and was going to pull the trigger on it but they demanded I pay 45,000$ in advance and leave my car with them before they will even order the engine from Germany (No finance, no loaner car). I didn’t go through with it and drove my 750i and the m550 sat in my garage for a little over a year.

I ended up sourcing a used engine off a 2019 750i (same N63 block) as I needed just the core and all other parts were going to be from the m550. The engine was $14,500$ with 75,000KM. Did a full inspection and compression tests and it was sound. I got the engine replacement done by a local highly reputable BMW specialist shop and they estimated 6-9,000$ for the labor and extra parts. Upon starting the job they realized a lot of the lines and connectors were upgraded from 2018 onwards and to be safe I decided to get the new upgraded stuff to avoid leaks and issues further down (the integrity is compromised after removing and reinstalling hoses and connectors IMO).

During the process they found the front left CV shaft had damage($2,500$ part), the SZL module was bust (responsible for indicators and wipers, $2000 part, as if bmws even need indicators) and a couple other minor things.

I just got the car back yesterday and it drives like a beauty. The labor and extra parts cost $16,000. All in I spent 30,000$ cad to get this baby back on the road. It’s a lot of money but she’s my special baby so I had to fix her up. I wasn’t even wanting to get a different m550 as this car is sentimental to me.

Thought I’d share the experience on here with everyone.

[adhrp]

Wow...how many miles on your original engine when it failed?

[akashkotecha]

The original motor had 87,000km. No tune, pretty much stock besides a dinan exhaust. I heard knocking sounds and thought maybe it was rod knock. They tested the oil and there was no traces or metal or anything. Had to take the car apart and use a camera to check inside the cylinders to determine the cause. Car was still running but sounded horrible with the knock and was essentially a ticking time bomb.

[LogicalApex]

Glad it is all sorted. Yikes on the road and a new motor that young!

[akashkotecha]

It definitely wasn’t the most logical thing to spend that much to get it fixed but I’m well aware of the decision I made hahah it feels like getting a new car all over again. Been a year and 3 months since I last enjoyed it.

[Dasky_spas]

Originally Posted by akashkotecha

The original motor had 87,000km. No tune, pretty much stock besides a dinan exhaust. I heard knocking sounds and thought maybe it was rod knock. They tested the oil and there was no traces or metal or anything. Had to take the car apart and use a camera to check inside the cylinders to determine the cause. Car was still running but sounded horrible with the knock and was essentially a ticking time bomb.

Did the dealership do the camera analysis and look for metal traces or did you go to a bmw specialist shop? I have a 19 850 wth 23k miles, hearing a very pronounced ticking upon start, matched ticking with rpm. No tune or anything so I'm a bit concerned. Dealer downplayed the sound but seems off.

[Warp Ten]

Sounds like you made the best of an otherwise bad situation. Glad you had a good BMW specialist in your area. We have one in our area but not everyone does. Hope you get to enjoy it for a long time. --Bob

[JoeFromPA]

How on earth did you have a visibly scratched cylinder and it wasn't showing up in the oil?!?!

[akashkotecha]

Originally Posted by Dasky_spas

Did the dealership do the camera analysis and look for metal traces or did you go to a bmw specialist shop? I have a 19 850 wth 23k miles, hearing a very pronounced ticking upon start, matched ticking with rpm. No tune or anything so I'm a bit concerned. Dealer downplayed the sound but seems off.

So before the camera analysis they did test the oil and check the filter for traces of metal to determine if it’s rod knock and they found nothing.

This was done by the specialist shop, they then used the bore scope and checked the cylinders to find the scratches. The car was then put together and taken to BMW where they confirmed the issue but could not pin point what would cause that. Never had aftermarket parts except for the NgK sparks.

A lot of people suspected various different possible scenarios of where the noise could be from but it was a very unexpected thing that nobody guessed. The cad still ran fine but the noise got worse with time

[akashkotecha]

Originally Posted by JoeFromPA

How on earth did you have a visibly scratched cylinder and it wasn't showing up in the oil?!?!

No idea, I’m no expert and trusted what bmw and the shop told me. It was very disappointing as bmw was no help whatsoever.

[akashkotecha]

Originally Posted by Warp Ten

Sounds like you made the best of an otherwise bad situation. Glad you had a good BMW specialist in your area. We have one in our area but not everyone does. Hope you get to enjoy it for a long time. --Bob

Absolutely, typing this while in the car and it’s running smoother than ever with the new motor.

My 7 series has been quite amazing, only been in the shop for a busted air bag on the air suspension.

[Rocket455]

I thinks it's cool that you had the means and motivation to fix it; if you wanted it and could do it, why not? Cheers!

[Grimsbylander]

Originally Posted by akashkotecha

No idea, I’m no expert and trusted what bmw and the shop told me. It was very disappointing as bmw was no help whatsoever.

Your BMW dealer in Calgary is apparently as helpful as the one in Oakville, ON. Certainly not as extreme, but I have painting flaking off my 2018 540i and they now don't want to know me.

[akashkotecha]

Originally Posted by Grimsbylander

Your BMW dealer in Calgary is apparently as helpful as the one in Oakville, ON. Certainly not as extreme, but I have painting flaking off my 2018 540i and they now don't want to know me.

It was near impossible to get a hold of my rep, after months of trying to call and leaving voicemails I went in and spoke to him and re explained the whole situation.

He told me the engine was ordered from Germany. 2 weeks later he said it wasn’t ordered they need me to tow the car to the dealer before they can ship it.

I towed the car there and 2 weeks later called for an update and they told me that my rep has changed and I had to explain everything all over again only to find out that the engine still was not shipped and I had to pay a minimum of $33,000 upfront before they can ship it.

[23109VC]

This is the post that causes me to not get a tune! I still have two years on my certified preowned warranty …. $45k for a motor replacement … ouch!

[JoeFromPA]

I'm not an n63 expert, but there's a few things here about Ops experience that bear calling out:

- It is unknown what scratched his cylinder walls. They get scratched from metal falling into the cylinder either from something coming in the intake, valves breaking, spark plugs breaking, or rings breaking. The fact he was using non-BMW spark plugs introduces a few possibilities - a bad spark plug, something falling into the cylinder during spark plug replacement, etc.

- The story is that the cylinders are scored but not showing up in oil - either visually or in oil testing. This would be unusual.

- His engine is before they moved to plasma arc sprayed. I am unclear why the cylinder couldn't be repaired, but again, not an n63 expert.


......

Total engine replacement is only needed in very rare circumstances and it is unclear why it was necessary in this instance. I'm not saying it wasn't necessary; just that this does not fall into the traditional category of "n63 stories"

[xander_g]

Originally Posted by Grimsbylander

Your BMW dealer in Calgary is apparently as helpful as the one in Oakville, ON. Certainly not as extreme, but I have painting flaking off my 2018 540i and they now don't want to know me.

Budd's?