[vase330]

Quick Tread Summary: Hope to save you reading entire thread to see the conclusion. What happened here is the car went lean due to a clogged fuel regulator. The Low Pressure Fuel Pump failed so had to have both replaced. The symptoms of the problem are detailed in the post. Certainly as violent as the explosions and accompanying jolts to the entire car were, they were scary, but nothing broke in the engine. The rest of the story is in the tread if you like to read through it.


Ok yes I have a Tune in it (Tune was off and on stock map) and had it flat-bedded to dealer with tune on.
No I did not abuse the car. I have all sorts of mods on, but I am FBO and no not taking anything off, I have no warranty.
Recently had HPFP, Turbos and fuel injectors all replaced and that was less than 3000 miles ago.
I am hoping against hope its not blown, but I fear the worst.
No it makes no sense at all. My car is immaculate, even smells new, but all that doesn't matter now. I changed oils religiously every 5K miles, and had inspection I service performed less than 2000 miles ago, and the car was running better than it has ever ran, intact better than the day I picked up in Munich on my ED. I didn't even feel the need to have the tune on any maps, and been running the Tune on Map 0 for the last few weeks. Ever since they installed the new Turbos, I have only ran Map 2 14.2psi on a few occasions. My car doesn't burn oil at all either or smoke and didn't have misfires so I am completely puzzled now.

I was seating in the car at Best Buy parking lot in Vienna, VA off of RTE 7 this evening, with engine idling after a lazy drive over from Arlington. I was talking to a friend when all of a sudden I hear this "thud" and a mild jolt under hood. I thought it was an odd misfire if that at all, it literally felt like something broke. Car kept running, but it was jolting enough I got a bit concerned. So I drove a small loop up and down the lot a hundred feet and back, just to make sure everything was fine. All seemed ok. I revved it a bit to maybe 4000 rpm couple times and it was very smooth as usual. I then pulled back parked still idling, then all of a sudden, I see the yellow half engine limp mode light come on, and almost before I could react, I got another clunk, thud, Jolt! then another jolt, and the engine just died. It was a strong enough jolt it felt like someone bumped my car in the back couple of times.

I let it seat for a couple minutes then tried to restart it, but all it did was turn over, spin a bit like couple seconds then shut down. It won't start. I did not delete the codes so dealer can see them, popped the hood, all seems intact, and whatever it was was inside the engine. My friend I was talking to immediately says, he thinks it might have broken crack bearing or thrown a rod. It happened to him and even though he was driving at moderate speed when it did, he thinks this feels like it. Tow truck guy shows up, I explain what happened he says crank main bearing or maybe rod broke. I am thinking its not the rod because it wouldn't have continued to run smooth and rev to 4000 rpm.

When we dropped off at BMW, the facility manager was there. I described the incident, and he says timing chain. I think not, I only have 32K miles, but he says no he has seen a few of these cars with just such an issue even with low miles it happens. My question now is anyone have a better idea? I will find out next week for sure, but for right now, it appears to have been really bad. Infact the second time was so violent I see an AC pipe popped out of its harness that holds it onto the front of the engine, and the whole car felt like a mildly violent bump in the back or hit from the side. Anyone experience this before??

[The Ghost]

If it happened at idle, I think that rules-out a lot of (worse) things. I think you have a good shot at it not being too bad.

Bearing, etc, won't spin at at no load, no rpm situation like that if you have fluids and not overheating. That being said, this is my first BMW too and have never had to diagnose a major issue like this.

Good luck!

[Slidewayz]

If you got a big 'jolt', then the car revv-ed smoothly before another bump, that doesn't sound like a blown engine. Usually once they pop, it either doesn't run at all or it barely runs and you can def tell the diff.

Sounds like a major suk tho, so gl.

[nitehawk]

I doubt the source of the problem stems from failed conrod or main bearings. These would give some warning such as a knocking noise that would progressively get worse over time. If you had improperly matched bearings from the factory, they would have failed long before, not at 34k miles.

Anyway, do keep us posted. I'm curious to know the dealer's findings.

[vase330]

Yeah it doesn't run anymore. I think I made a mistake and did nothing but drive around to see if anything was up after the first thud. Second time this happened there were two thuds in quick succession, and then it just died before I could finish saying oh shit. Tried restarting, it turned over for couple seconds seems to start and just died. I tried again, and then it just spun didn't start. All electrical power is there. Everything works except the engine.

What shocked me was how violent the thud was. Definitely something big or metallic broke inside the engine that I can tell you. What? I have no idea. I have had 5 3-series cars, all the last 5 models, this is the first time I have had something like this happen, and for once I am clueless as to what happened other than I know whatever it was was really bad. Just 3 weeks ago I drove this car about 1200 miles to Montreal Canada. This was my first drive since then. I have had the car parked since, but I have started it twice in between, just to get oil circulating while it sat in the garage.

If there were any symptoms of trouble before tonight, I must have totally missed those, but that is unlikely. No lights or anything was on before. The drive over to Vienna was nice lazy evening drive. I always let it warm up first, then drove to vienna like the proverbial granny. No hard acceleration either, I wasn't going anywhere in particular, just wanted to get out a bit go back home or maybe catch a movie. Oil starvation issue came to mind, but I doubt that too. Like I said change oil every 5K miles since I have a tune. Even the spark plugs are all new installed about 4K miles ago. No rough idle, other than the occasional cold start stumble, the car been very strong and smooth. I was on map 0, so essentially stock.

[nitehawk]

That's really peculiar. I also doubt the problem is fluid related, since you have regularly changed your oil. If you coolant was low, you would have experienced overheating issues.

I'm also suspecting the timing chain as that can be the only item to fail so abruptly. I am unsure if the N54 block/head is an interference type - if it is, the thud could have been bent valves after the chain failing. I hope it's not that serious!

[R1000K3]

That sucks man, hopefully it isn't something major and you seems to take good care of the car.

Except for one thing. There is no benefit to start a parked car just to get oil circulation. The engine produces a massive amount of water (by condensation) at every cold-start and this will to some extent be trapped in the oil and not removed by heat as during normal driving. Just a small note for future caring.

Did I understood you correct the turbos were replaced after such low mileage? What was the reason and was it done recently? Perhaps the fail can be linked to the turbo replacement.

[Wedge1967]

Doesn't sound like a blown engine. I've been tuning for 30 years and have blown a few engines. The engine would have locked up, smoked, or would have made a hell of a lot more noise and you would have more than likely had oil on the ground and a hole in your block.

A few things could have happened with the timing chain. Let's just hope you didn't bend a valve.

So, the dealership knows you have a modified car. But if the modifications are not directly linked to or the direct cause of the failure, then it will be covered under warranty. My car is out of factory warranty and I have the 100k extended. I take my car in all the time with all the mods, but I put the car in map0 before handing it over to them. I know if I didn't the tech's would be out test driving it.

If you're worried about your warranty, I recommend reading the information at this link: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/conten...ty-intact.html

Make sure you stand your ground with the dealer. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be covered under warranty unless you're truly out of warranty.

[cn555ic]

Wow thats horrible...Subscribing to this thread big time as to what is the issue...Hope its nothing serious like engine blown.

[ajsalida]

I see you have a steptronic, could it have been tranny related? Also did you pop the hood after and see any fluids leaking? How about underneath? Exhaust pipe would likely have puked a bunch of smoke or steam at least if it really were a blown engine. Or holed the block/pan if a rod let go.

[Royal Flush]

Subbed for problem solvers

[ajsalida]

Turbo seizing up? Lotta things could have gone wrong without big engine internals letting go. Hell as I think about it even main serpentine accessory belt could have let go. I've had a fan come off (caught the shroud on a e36 m3) and thought I blew an engine. etc etc.

[Q4P]

As some others have mentioned, if this happened at idle then I doubt the engine blew... you would have heard the engine run very roughly or not at all, I've seen engines blow right in front of me and it's quite dramatic. I hope you get this worked out soon.

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

I dont think you blew the engine but there is a laundry list of things it could be. Did you check any of the codes thrown?

[TurboBullett@Ambient Thermal Management]

Originally Posted by vase330

Ok yes I have a PROCede in it, and had it flat-bedded to dealer with tune on.
No I did not abuse the car. I have all sorts of mods on, but I am FBO and no not taking anything off, I have no warranty.
Recently had HPFP, Turbos and fuel injectors all replaced and that was less than 3000 miles ago.
I am hoping against hope its not blown, but I fear the worst.
No it makes no sense at all. My car is immaculate, even smells new, but all that doesn't matter now. I changed oils religiously every 5K miles, and had inspection I service performed less than 2000 miles ago, and the car was running better than it has ever ran, intact better than the day I picked up in Munich on my ED. I didn't even feel the need to have the tune on any maps, and been running PROCede Rev 2 Map 0 for the last few weeks. Ever since they installed the new Turbos, I have only ran Map 2 14.2psi on a few occasions. My car doesn't burn oil at all either or smoke and didn't have misfires so I am completely puzzled now.

I was seating in the car at Best Buy parking lot in Vienna, VA off of RTE 7 this evening, with engine idling after a lazy drive over from Arlington. I was talking to a friend when all of a sudden I hear this "thud" and a mild jolt under hood. I thought it was an odd misfire if that at all, it literally felt like something broke. Car kept running, but it was jolting enough I got a bit concerned. So I drove a small loop up and down the lot a hundred feet and back, just to make sure everything was fine. All seemed ok. I revved it a bit to maybe 4000 rpm couple times and it was very smooth as usual. I then pulled back parked still idling, then all of a sudden, I see the yellow half engine limp mode light come on, and almost before I could react, I got another clunk, thud, Jolt! then another jolt, and the engine just died. It was a strong enough jolt it felt like someone bumped my car in the back couple of times.

I let it seat for a couple minutes then tried to restart it, but all it did was turn over, spin a bit like couple seconds then shut down. It won't start. I did not delete the codes so dealer can see them, popped the hood, all seems intact, and whatever it was was inside the engine. My friend I was talking to immediately says, he thinks it might have broken crack bearing or thrown a rod. It happened to him and even though he was driving at moderate speed when it did, he thinks this feels like it. Tow truck guy shows up, I explain what happened he says crank main bearing or maybe rod broke. I am thinking its not the rod because it wouldn't have continued to run smooth and rev to 4000 rpm.

When we dropped off at BMW, the facility manager was there. I described the incident, and he says timing chain. I think not, I only have 32K miles, but he says no he has seen a few of these cars with just such an issue even with low miles it happens. My question now is anyone have a better idea? I will find out next week for sure, but for right now, it appears to have been really bad. Infact the second time was so violent I see an AC pipe popped out of its harness that holds it onto the front of the engine, and the whole car felt like a mildly violent bump in the back or hit from the side. Anyone experience this before??

An accessory on your serpentine or timing chain system may have seized up or a broken cam!

[vase330]

Here is what I know so far.

• Not Turbos - These are new barely 2000 miles on them. Never been pushed and besides the car was idling.

• Not transmission - car was parked when this happened both first time thud was herd and second time it "blew" and died.

• Not Fan - I checked everything is intact. There is nothing visibly out of place other than the popped AC tube which probably only popped off its harness on the block from the violent jolt that occured.

Whatever happened was inside the engine. The facility manager was there last night when I dropped off. He gave it a looking over, told me he suspects timing chain, and said its going to be expensive regardless. He's not a tech, but he told me he has seen this on another 335 and it was the timing-chain which also resulted in a messed up cylinder head.

Lets hope it didn't do that on my car, but am afraid the violent bang that shook the whole car doesn't sound good at all. I already know I have some major damage to contend with, just hoping it isn't something too expensive or something that will mean replacing the engine. I am out of factory warranty. Didn't get the extended warranty after last trip to dealer just before my warranty ran out, because they just replaced Turbos, HPFP, injectors and gave it a nice going over to make sure everything was good. Besides I have owned this car since day one and been maintained very well. I also only have 32K miles on it. What major thing could go wrong right? Yeaaaah, it just did, and am screwed now.

My car doesn't even consume any oil at all which is weird its the first BMW I have had that doesn't need topping off every so often. Now I have the car nicely modified, its a blast to drive, but I am having thoughts of selling it after the repairs. These BMWs are too damn unreliable. The last reliable tank like 3-series I had was the 1987 328e. The rest of them all had reliability issues, but to be honest the 335 been the most fun car I have had to date, but worst in terms of reliability. After this, I don't even think I would consider another N54 car. I flirted with buying the new X3 35i, but after this... no thanks.

[Turkeybaster115]

Originally Posted by vase330

My car doesn't even consume any oil at all which is weird its the first BMW I have had that doesn't need topping off every so often. Now I have the car nicely modified, its a blast to drive, but I am having thoughts of selling it after the repairs. These BMWs are too damn unreliable. The last reliable tank like 3-series I had was the 1987 328e. The rest of them all had reliability issues, but to be honest the 335 been the most fun car I have had to date, but worst in terms of reliability. After this, I don't even think I would consider another N54 car. I flirted with buying the new X3 35i, but after this... no thanks.

You know what I think? It probably was your tune.

[tibra1]

Here we go..let the trolling and tune bashing begin..

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Vase, I think another member had it correctly and even your SA believes its timing chain..that loud thud is tell tale sign of the valves getting banged all to hell.. Although I hope it isnt..I suspect it is

I just dont understand how the hell a timing chain "breaks" on a 32K mile car..WTF?,,I mean even timing belts are supposed to be good for 60K Miles..and we are talking about a piece of rubber..

Damn ..good luck..this has the potential to be bad.

[Brey335i]

Not sure of turkeybaster is serious, but if he is: GTFO troll.

We have guys on here who have modded their cars to the max with 100K miles with no problems. When something like this happens it's more the luck of the draw than tune related.

OP, let us know if the majority prognosis so far was right

[MilehighM3]

Does your car have a strong fuel smell? Possibly it's injector replacement related if so. Also, have you had vanos replaced in the past, like a bearing ledge or adjustment unit? Possibly an install/replacement related there as well. I've seen some head bolts shear on non turbos- using aluminum bolts, but nothing On the N54. If it is a sheared bolt holding a vanos adjustment unit to a cam, make sure no one has been in there before. Otherwise it's not on you. I take it you're our of warranty by time? BMW should be able to goodwill at least 50% of the bill if that's the case, hopefully your dealer can take care of you...

[OpenFlash]

OP- I think you can put your mind at ease as that doesnt sound like an engine failure. Definitely read the codes as that will give some idea as to what happened and what step to take next. The last thing I would diagnose it as, given your description is a rod, crank, etc failure. If that was the case, the engine would have made all sorts of obviously terrible noises when it cranked over. And it most certainly wouldn't have happened on a fully warmed up engine during idle conditions unless it ran out of oil. Ive never heard of a timing chain failure on this engine. The only chain related issue I've heard of was from a crankshaft pulley bolt coming loose. But the dealership won't need very much time to figure that out.

[cwn23]

If it was anything tranny related Shiv, why wouldn't the car turn over