So.. My car blew up

[sean8c4]

thast crzy

[BMRLVR]

Originally Posted by Radiation Joe

Ha! Sorry to hear about your loss.

M3Post morons to the rescue. Not surprised to see all the ignorant posts speculating on what happened. Sounds like your engine ingested some water after the wash. Hope you're back on the road soon.

If his engine did ingest water at the carwash it would most likely have hydro locked immediately and he would not have been able to drive a few miles. Also, the OEM Airbox is designed with water in mind and it would take a fire hose to get enough water in there to overcome the drains and make it in the engine. There is a slight possibility your synopsis is correct. If the engine ingested water and it caused a hydrolock of one hole which bent the rod enough that after a few miles it let go from the stress of being severely out of balance.

My guess is it was just a manufacturers defect....... sounds like a rod let go...... maybe a rod cap was under-torqued/over-torqued or there was a faulty rod cap bolt. I am sure if either of these are the case BMW is going to cover the repair under warranty and replace the engine with a new long block.

No worries James I am pretty sure that BMW is going to take car of you.

[phusion974]

Ouch sorry to hear that, maybe rod bearing failure...

[L4ces]

Sorry to hear the news and may your new miles begin at zero!

[KGB7]

Originally Posted by sean8c4

might be able to get the lemon law you should talk to your lawyer for sure

This has nothing to do with lemon law, and it wont be covered under lemon.

[Asiarush]

Originally Posted by sean8c4

might be able to get the lemon law you should talk to your lawyer for sure

Are you serious ??????

Lemon law has absolutely nothing to do with this !!!

[e92_m3]

Sorry for what happened.

Keep us updated man.

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by Malakas

This happened to a 2011 car?!?!? WTF?! I thought I was back on the Porsche forums reading about intermediate shaft bearing failures...

Good luck.

Either that or a nice case of oil starvation with a Gen I Cayman.

No fun at all OP. I hope this all gets sorted quickly. It certainly is a nightmare picture you've painted.

[Race_Doc11]

Best of luck and I hope it will end in your favour. Keep us posted of what BMW will say about the cause.

[sameh]

How long have you had your 2011 for? Whatever period it is I'm sure it's just enough to make living without your M feels like ugh. Keep us posted.

[SenorFunkyPants]

Originally Posted by Sean05

Edit: ok no mods but BMC filter... now im curious...

Hmm took out the BMW air filter and replaced it with an aftermarket one whose performance boost can only be provided by increasing the air flow by allowing larger particle sizes to pass through.
There is an out for BMW right there.

[ChrisK]

Originally Posted by Radiation Joe

Ha! Sorry to hear about your loss.

M3Post morons to the rescue. Not surprised to see all the ignorant posts speculating on what happened. Sounds like your engine ingested some water after the wash. Hope you're back on the road soon.

+1

[asw19]

I was thinking the same thing but I didnt want to make his heart sink with the theory. That being said I think it's highly unlikely an aftermarket filter would a) allow water in and b) Give BMW a reasonable reason to deny the claim. An air filter is hardly a significant aftermarket add on and the airbox itself would be designed to keep water out....probably without a filter at all.

OP out of curiosity was the engine running while you washed the car?

Either way you will be fine. You did nothing wrong by putting in a different air filter.

Originally Posted by SenorFunkyPants

Hmm took out the BMW air filter and replaced it with an aftermarket one whose performance boost can only be provided by increasing the air flow by allowing larger particle sizes to pass through.
There is an out for BMW right there.

[stefan]

Originally Posted by asw19

I was thinking the same thing but I didnt want to make his heart sink with the theory. That being said I think it's highly unlikely an aftermarket filter would a) allow water in and b) Give BMW a reasonable reason to deny the claim. An air filter is hardly a significant aftermarket add on and the airbox itself would be designed to keep water out....probably without a filter at all.

OP out of curiosity was the engine running while you washed the car?

Either way you will be fine. You did nothing wrong by putting in a different air filter.

Agreed. Furthermore, if it could be found beyond reasonable doubt that the filter was the cause for engine failure then you could likely go after BMC for damages.

But no, the filter is not the problem here.

[SenorFunkyPants]

Originally Posted by stefan

But no, the filter is not the problem here.

I agree its highly unlikely - but if BMW clock the aftermarket part then there is a significant chance that BMW would use it to invalidate the warranty at least WRT the engine, and be quite within their rights to do so.

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

Hi BMW Fanatic,

First I am sorry to hear about your misfortune and hope all will get resolved to your full satisfaction.

I know the BMW dealership in Calgary will treat you right and resolve this problem (speaking as an ex-Albertain).

I am sure you will stay on top of them as to what is found as the main cause. This will be important to you as to feedback for members here in the forum. You have a right to know exactly what went wrong and BMW does have the diagnostic tools as well as the knowhow to tell you precisely what went wrong here.

I consider this a safety issue, what if this would have happened in high traffic let us say on Highway 2 downtown going north or south in one of the centre lanes where I know people drive like idiots at 120 to 130 KM/Hr. You might not be here to tell us all about it with all the smoke that surrounded you at the time it happened.

So do insist of being told exactly what happened as I said BMW does have the means and the knowhow to tell you that and further more they owe it to to you. I recommend that you ask them to show you the evidence. By this I mean if it was a malfunctioning of the air intake mechanism (I assume there is some sort of a safety shut off preventing water entering into the air intake). Or if it was a blown head gasket or even a crack in the engine block etc. I don't like to speculate, however, I like to point out that you insist that they exactly report to you as to what caused all this and show you the defect or the defected component of your engine having caused this mishap.

Take care and I as many others here we look forward to your update.

Cheers,

Rolf-Dieter

[stefan]

Originally Posted by SenorFunkyPants

I agree its highly unlikely - but if BMW clock the aftermarket part then there is a significant chance that BMW would use it to invalidate the warranty at least WRT the engine, and be quite within their rights to do so.

I suppose you are correct. It's too bad as we generally have to enter the world of speculation at that point.

[mkPOTO]

keep us posted on the diagnosis, best of luck to you

[Cdnrockies]

Originally Posted by Rolf-Dieter

Hi BMW Fanatic,

First I am sorry to hear about your misfortune and hope all will get resolved to your full satisfaction.

I know the BMW dealership in Calgary will treat you right and resolve this problem (speaking as an ex-Albertain).

Take care and I as many others here we look forward to your update.

Cheers,

Rolf-Dieter

This.

I've had nothing but great service experiences with Calgary BMW and hope they take great car of your car too.

[Twinbo]

Tough break and I'm glad you weren't injured when the damage occurred.

Please keep us updated as to the cause and how your (and my) dealer treats you.

Best of luck

[disapr]

Unless I'm just missing it - Did the engine seize (stop running) or did you have to shut it off once you came to a stop? If it was still running, did you hear any odd sounds other than the initial clank?

Was this a drive through 'tunnel' type car wash or did you use the self wash station? How hard/long was the car driven before washing? Was it allowed to cool at all before being washed?

[Simbachinna]

Do You have to pay anything?