Class Action Lawsuit for Rod Bearing issue, LETS FINALLY DO THIS

[SVH]

Originally Posted by mjposner

As an attorney I read this with some interest. The problem as I see it is that the class is small, the risk is high so few decent class action lawyers would be interested. So unless you got a hybrid case (low hourly plus 20%) instead of the usual 33-40% it ,might be hard to find good counsel. This case would require a bank of at least 50-100k to fight, with large chunks going to experts. The other issue I see is how many of the 66 documented failures were on modified or tracked engines. From just watching the threads, many were and this excludes any recovery.

So if 50 non-modded victims want to pony up $1,500 each, I'll talk to my class action guy about filing in Florida Federal Court and see what shakes out.

My guess is that you will be buried in cost far exceeding $100,000 just getting this thing initiated and up and running. That 50 - 100 K is just a down payment. BMW has plenty of money to fight lawsuits and plenty of lawyers on hand....

[GRUESOM3]

We need someone with stupid money like the guy that thrashed his m6 with a sledge hammer to give us some money lol

[8k3]

Originally Posted by GRUESOM3

We need someone with stupid money like the guy that thrashed his m6 with a sledge hammer to give us some money lol

I have a huge pile of Monopoly money I won in a high-stakes game I'm willing to share.

[avantegardestyle]

Originally Posted by SVH

My guess is that you will be buried in cost far exceeding $100,000 just getting this thing initiated and up and running. That 50 - 100 K is just a down payment. BMW has plenty of money to fight lawsuits and plenty of lawyers on hand....

Sometimes it isn't about money, but about fairness and Justice.......no amount of money that BMW has, can fight against the public knowledge that they have made a car that is having bearing failure at different Millage under different conditions that no one so far has been ale to identify what is the real cause and a sure solution to the problem.....

[bkdore]

It would be nice if BMW did like Mazda did with the rotary a few years ago and offered a retroactive 8-year, 100,000 mile warranty on the engine. If the rod bearings problems truly are rare, then it would cost them very little. Seems that would be a reasonable thing to ask for in a lawsuit.

[MPowerZ32]

@avantegardestyle. ^^^Totally agree. Maybe getting news media involved to generate exposure on this issue will force BMW to do the right thing. Maybe Jalopnik?

[Rich150001]

Originally Posted by MPowerZ32

@avantegardestyle. ^^^Totally agree. Maybe getting news media involved to generate exposure on this issue will force BMW to do the right thing. Maybe Jalopnik?

Might be worth the OP reaching out to "Stuart Talley of Kershaw, Cutter & Ratinoff" who won the case for the 335i.

Source: http://www.bmwblog.com/2010/10/13/cl...urbo-chargers/

[Ecksman]

Subscribed.

[blue flowers]

Originally Posted by avantegardestyle

Sometimes it isn't about money, but about fairness and Justice.......no amount of money that BMW has, can fight against the public knowledge that they have made a car that is having bearing failure at different Millage under different conditions that no one so far has been ale to identify what is the real cause and a sure solution to the problem.....

That logic absolutely applies in many different legal scenarios - this might not be one of them though.

The issue has not been widely publicized, and does not appear to effect every single M3 which rolled out the factory. Compound that with the fact that there haven't been any reported incidents of injury or death directly as a result of the rod-bearing failure, and the fact that the recall expense may greatly outweigh the cost of litigation for BMW, and you have a situation where a small group of 50+ people are going to have a boat load of trouble getting any kind of traction.

Edit - that said, and my doubts aside, I'd sign on for this if it actually went forward.

[SSJVegita]

im down, lets get this done, let us know what we got to sign and or do

[bluesm3]

I'm down with this as well even though I don't own m3 anymore,I do however own a 08 m6 with 21000 miles and would like to see this issue taken care of..

[double yu]

I'm in! Can we at least get a petition going

[tailgate1234]

Originally Posted by M3414

Hello all,

(sorry I posted this in the engine subforum, I think it would get more attention here)

With all the bearing issues I have read on this forum, nothing has come to my attention about anyone filing a class action lawsuit against BMW or anything. This forum is a powerful tool in getting information from other E9x M3 owners and finding people with examples of failure due to rod bearings. So let's get on this, I will be presenting this case to attorneys the next couple of weeks to gauge their interest.
Again I would think an attorney's interest in the case would be examples of people suffering damages, particularly injuries, though I have not read anywhere on here about anyone getting hurt from their engine failing due to rod bearings, though it is a serious safety risk as I read in one thread a fellow member almost died from engine failing, so damages fellow M3 owners have suffered have been mainly financial.

Any advice, guidance, and support would be great. I would assume an attorney would not ask for money up front in a case like this this if they think it is a strong case, so no gofundme efforts just yet haha, but anyways I am willing to commit money of my own if it comes to it.

Bad news: if you read your sales contract carefully, it is highly likely that there is an arbitration and a no class action clause.

[JPH704]

Originally Posted by blue flowers

That logic absolutely applies in many different legal scenarios - this might not be one of them though.

The issue has not been widely publicized, and does not appear to effect every single M3 which rolled out the factory. Compound that with the fact that there haven't been any reported incidents of injury or death directly as a result of the rod-bearing failure, and the fact that the recall expense may greatly outweigh the cost of litigation for BMW, and you have a situation where a small group of 50+ people are going to have a boat load of trouble getting any kind of traction.

Edit - that said, and my doubts aside, I'd sign on for this if it actually went forward.

It's not a small group. Only a small group of documented on a specific thread of this forum. I know of several that aren't on this forum that have had replacements. Browsing the members cars for sale on the forum you'll see several ads with engine replacements. None of those are mentioned or documented in the referenced thread. Even Paul walkers E92 M3 had knock. Gintani made a video of the tear down and put it on YouTube.
BMW has also replaced modified engines with bearing failure... Wonder why. Ironically many of the later 2011-2013 bone-stock models have reported bearing failure.

Problem is with crank clearance and castrol honey thick oil.

[bdaddylo]

I wish BMW would take care of us the same way they are for the N63 owners with the "Customer Care Package" aka BMW's voluntary recall which took BMW nearly 7 years to acknowledge the issue and step up to do something about their poor design. Our situation is a little different since only a percentage of the S65s have the bearing issue whereas all first generation N63s are affected. With that said, I'd be willing to settle for an 8 year/100k mile warranty.

[Ezio]

most high performance engines made today all have some sort of weak point IMO. You think those Lamborghini v12 engines are going to spin to 100k miles without any problems ? hell no

the rod bearing IMO is simply a part of the engine that can fail overtime due to wear and tear. I think if 5% of high mileage S65 or s85 fail at high miles is normal. when people are seeing failures at lower miles, thats when something is not normal.

I would be shocked if this case goes anywhere.

[regular guy]

Originally Posted by ellekz

My engine blew up on the Autobahn at around 150 mph. I couldn't see shit because of all the smoke and I'm pretty sure the people behind me didn't see anything either (looked in my mirrors, all I could see was literally only thick white smoke). All systems broke down (DSC, ABS, ...) and oil was spilling on the tarmac. I was lucky enough there was an exit to a gas station right then and there so I changed lanes (from all the way left) and let the car roll to the parking lot next to the gas station.
It was also kind of busy that day. People behind could've also been at risk (not seeing anything, oil spill, sudden braking, ...). I had to slow down and change lanes while not seeing anything behind me. Luckily nothing happened.

Today I learned that pushing in the clutch is a universal solution to all dangerous situations involving a blown S65 motor.

If smoke covered your window and you couldn't see: push in the clutch. That will clear it up.

If oil spilled on your tires and throws you into a spin: push in the clutch. That will decontaminate the tires and straighten out the car.

If oil spilled on your exhaust and the car catches fire: push in the clutch. That will immediately douse the fire.

If you're in a turn and the loss of power causes the suspension to shift suddenly and is about to throw you into a wall: push in the clutch. That will fix the handling and guide you to safety.

For the people behind you that were blinded by your billowing smoke: they need to push in their clutches too. That will clear the smoke and put a safety force field around their cars.

Man, just think of how many lives that could have been saved if people only knew about this simple safety feature of their cars.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by regular guy

Today I learned that pushing in the clutch is a universal solution to all dangerous situations involving a blown S65 motor.

If smoke covered your window and you couldn't see: push in the clutch. That will clear it up.

If oil spilled on your tires and throws you into a spin: push in the clutch. That will decontaminate the tires and straighten out the car.

If oil spilled on your exhaust and the car catches fire: push in the clutch. That will immediately douse the fire.

If you're in a turn and the loss of power causes the suspension to shift suddenly and is about to throw you into a wall: push in the clutch. That will fix the handling and guide you to safety.

For the people behind you that were blinded by your billowing smoke: they need to push in their clutches too. That will clear the smoke and put a safety force field around their cars.

Man, just think of how many lives that could have been saved if people only knew about this simple safety feature of their cars.

And when he had a DCT trans. ?

[regular guy]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

And when he had a DCT trans. ?

Yesterday another guy mentioned a built-in safety feature of the DCT to disengage. So those guys are already covered.

[4corners]

Even though my car now has 130000 miles on it, and has not failed so far, worrying about failure, sensitive to every sound like a driver in the lead on the last lap, the extra money I've spent on oil reports and diligent maintenance, equals pain and suffering.

[whats77inaname]

Might want to get S85 guys involved, too, as this defect isn't isolated to just our engine.

[M3414]

Talked to my attorney friend yesterday, he said no mom and pop shop law firm will take this case, its gonna take a lot of financial firepower to go after BMW, I reached out to the same attorneys that handled the n54 engines today ,left the attorney a voicemail