Blown Engine

[JShow]

I am in Savannah GA. My 2011 M3 42k engine seized. Copper in the oil. Not sure how bad yet. May need a full rebuild. So I am looking for a place on East coast to rebuild engine or sells rebuild engines. Worst case a top machine shop to do the machine work if we can save the motor. Recommendation?

[DrFerry]

Sorry to hear your S65 motor is seized up. I have personal experience with the business at the first link below. I think the other two are worth calling as well. If the crank is damaged a new one will need to be sourced. Could always get a 4.2L or 4.4L stroker from Carbahn too. Let us know what direction you decide to go in.

https://trueautomotive.com/lawrenceville/

https://buckhead-imports.com/bmw-engine-repairs/

https://www.ebay.com/itm/22260224395...mis&media=MORE

[djsilverjohnson]

I had True Automotive in Lawrenceville do rod bearings and a few other items on my wife's E93 convertible. I was very impressed with the facility and the staff. You may come out ahead financially by purchasing a used engine and having the main and rod bearings replaced before having it installed. I would talk with True Automotive and find out their recommendations. I only know one mechanic in Savannah (RMS Automotive) I would trust with her car, but he's a one man band and I wouldn't throw a big job like this at him. I did have him swap out the plastic Vanos covers for the aluminum replacements.

[Vedubin01]

Miami Engines is a BMW engine builder in Miami. Not that far away

[lauz]

My s65 is on the rebuild site at emegatronic right now. Will update you nect month when i will receive it. I know he hasa 6 months delay right now.

[nrubenstein]

Seized engines from later year M3s are likely main bearing failure. Unfortunately, that trashes the block.

[Assimilator1]

Originally Posted by JShow

I am in Savannah GA. My 2011 M3 42k engine seized. Copper in the oil. Not sure how bad yet. May need a full rebuild. So I am looking for a place on East coast to rebuild engine or sells rebuild engines. Worst case a top machine shop to do the machine work if we can save the motor. Recommendation?

Sorry to hear about your engine .
We would be interested to know what happened to your old engine if you have it stripped down.

[DRLane]

Originally Posted by nrubenstein

Seized engines from later year M3s are likely main bearing failure. Unfortunately, that trashes the block.

What’s your source here?

[e46IX]

Originally Posted by DRLane

What’s your source here?

There's a theory that 2011 MY's are more susceptible to main bearing failures, I heard from a couple different people now.

Myself included, I had an 11.75 E90 that seized #1 main bearing. Block was scrap, since no one makes oversized mains.

[DRLane]

Originally Posted by e46IX

There's a theory that 2011 MY's are more susceptible to main bearing failures, I heard from a couple different people now.

Myself included, I had an 11.75 E90 that seized #1 main bearing. Block was scrap, since no one makes oversized mains.

I’m not qualified to speak on rates, but I don’t believe there are any credible sources citing specific years as more or less susceptible to rod bearing failures let alone main bearing failures.

Purely anecdotal. If mains have a tolerance problem you’re likely SOL.

[pbonsalb]

Would need to read more about the theory. Might just be old news about the change in bearing material due to EU lead rules that went into effect sometime in 2011. General consensus is that clearance is at the very tight end of the range for all production years. There are alternative theories like abusive owners, too thick oil, sulphur in the gas, but support for any of them seems limited.

[nrubenstein]

Originally Posted by DRLane

I’m not qualified to speak on rates, but I don’t believe there are any credible sources citing specific years as more or less susceptible to rod bearing failures let alone main bearing failures.

Purely anecdotal. If mains have a tolerance problem you’re likely SOL.

Robert Collins believes that the bearing material change is the issue. Whether you believe he's a credible source or not is up to you. What I saw when I was researching was that for the most part, main bearing failures seemed to be concentrated in supercharged copper bearing cars, and all over the place in aluminum bearing cars. Also, it's worth noting that the S65 has an insanely long snout, thanks to the 5 rows of chains.

I can tell you that my 2011 had a main failure.

As a general rule, any time someone says their engine "seized," I figure it's probably a main. The engine just quietly locks up hard with little to no noise, no warning, and no obvious issues other than a heck of a lot of glitter in the oil.

Rod bearing failure usually has different symptoms. You know, knocking and / or a window in the block. Rod bearings don't usually fail quietly.

[Robocop305]

I think all model years have the same Main bearing. The only bearing that changed were the rod bearings. I never heard anything else.

[nrubenstein]

Originally Posted by Robocop305

I think all model years have the same Main bearing. The only bearing that changed were the rod bearings. I never heard anything else.

You are wrong.

[tdott]

Originally Posted by Vedubin01

Miami Engines is a BMW engine builder in Miami. Not that far away

They are actually located in Boynton Beach, FL about an hour north of Miami.

I know of two cars that got engines from there in the last year, can't say much about long term reliability yet, other than they are still running last I heard.

[tdott]

Originally Posted by Robocop305

I think all model years have the same Main bearing. The only bearing that changed were the rod bearings. I never heard anything else.

You are wrong.
The material of the main bearings also changed. The reason was to remove lead/copper to meet EU regulations.

[Gossypiboma]

Originally Posted by tdott

You are wrong.
The material of the main bearings also changed. The reason was to remove copper to meet EU regulations.

You mean remove lead.

[2008M36MT]

So what's the deal, BMW decided to improve the engine and failed at it? I always thought the early MYs were plagued by rod bearing issues, which were at least partially mitigated by BMW in the late MYs. Does not sound like that's the case. I wonder if I am on borrowed time with 52K miles on 08 MY.

[DRLane]

There is no more or less likely rod or main failure based on model year. It’s a clearance issue that agnostic of year or material. BMW didn’t change clearances when they changed material. They did not acknowledge any clearance issue.

Main failure is rare. Rod failure is much more common albeit still rare as a percentage of total engines. Most bearing changes show abnormal wear on the shells upon changing.

[nrubenstein]

Originally Posted by DRLane

There is no more or less likely rod or main failure based on model year. It’s a clearance issue that agnostic of year or material. BMW didn’t change clearances when they changed material. They did not acknowledge any clearance issue.

Main failure is rare. Rod failure is much more common albeit still rare as a percentage of total engines. Most bearing changes show abnormal wear on the shells upon changing.

There's some indication that the copper rod bearings are worse, but main bearings better. I've pretty much only heard of copper main bearings failing on cars with blowers (aka cars with a very heavily loaded belt drive). The later engines seem to be more agnostic.

It's not surprising that main #1 is vulnerable. Look at how unbelievably long the crank snout is in the attached picture. There's a hell of a lot of distance between the crank pulley at the end and the #1 main behind the FOUR ROWS of chains and oil pump gear.

Unfortunately, there's not really enough data to conclusively make a statement. The data that I've seen, largely by adding up forum anecdata, is suggestive though.

[JShow]

Thanks for the reply. I will check out everyones suggestions.

[Assimilator1]

Originally Posted by DRLane

There is no more or less likely rod or main failure based on model year. It’s a clearance issue that agnostic of year or material. BMW didn’t change clearances when they changed material. They did not acknowledge any clearance issue.

Main failure is rare. Rod failure is much more common albeit still rare as a percentage of total engines. Most bearing changes show abnormal wear on the shells upon changing.

I don't know about the mains, and I agree about the bearing clearance.
But looking at all the photos of the lead/copper bearings vs the tin/alu/copper, the lead copper ones on average look much worse (e.g most showing at least some copper), I've yet to see any tin/alu/copper ones worn to copper (bar the one I rubbed down! lol).
That doesn't seem to have stopped the engines failing, but their seems to be less of them failing vs the lead/copper engines, at least going by our limited 'database' in the blown engines registry.