Metal flakes in oil, need advice.

Gossypiboma · 08-08-2020, 07:47 PM

I just purchased an M3 with 29K miles and have put about 1k miles on it and decided to change the oil. Unfortunately there is a fair amount of metal flakes in the oil likely from either rod and/or main bearing failure, see pics below.

I purchased the car from a large non-BMW dealership and thankfully purchased an aftermarket platinum bumper to bumper warranty that states it covers ALL mechanical breakdowns. I have read through the exclusions and the only two that could give me trouble is they don't cover oil starvation and they wont cover the cost of a single repair that exceeds the current NADA value of the car, which is about $32K if the go off of NADA's clean retail value.

Taking all that into account I'm looking for advice on how to approach this, because I assume the warranty company is going to fight tooth and nail to find a way not to pay $25K+.

SAMM3Y · 08-08-2020, 07:54 PM

Change the rod bearings.. pay the $2500, consider it maintenance. It's better than letting her blow then fighting for coverage, plus you'll keep your vin matching block on your low mileage m'er

Gossypiboma · 08-08-2020, 07:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SAMM3Y

Change the rod bearings.. pay the $2500, consider it maintenance. It's better than letting her blow then fighting for coverage, plus you'll keep your vin matching block on your low mileage m'er

That is an option.

What I am concerned about is what if its not the rod bearings and its the mains? My second concern is even if it is the rod bearings there is a fair amount of metal that has been circulating through the motor for an unknown amount of time. I assume that could damage the mains as well.

Ajolives · 08-08-2020, 08:02 PM

I would use the warranty - is it exclusively thru the dealership, or a third party warranty (or both possibly). It's a low mileage car, and it may be worth it to work with the dealership.

Also, you could probably ask what inspections they did on delivery. I would imagine they'd at least change the oil prior to putting it on the lot. Either they missed the red flag or bad timing the motor would go in that 1,000 miles.

RedScytheM3 · 08-08-2020, 08:03 PM

Sell it. It's not worth it. You can't even account for the damage done by the flakes in high pressure or high friction areas of the engine. You're not permanently bound to the car and can always get another one.

SAMM3Y · 08-08-2020, 08:10 PM

Bearing's are soft metals... you could have compression test done while they're at it..
"sell it" ? Don't be that guy... karma's a hunter

Gossypiboma · 08-08-2020, 08:18 PM

I'm not going to sell it and pass a bad situation to someone else. The dealer did change the oil and obviously missed it, not that unreasonable though.

Redd · 08-08-2020, 09:26 PM

Isn't flakes in oil reason enough to make a claim to replace both the rod and main bearings? Do they only payout on failure?

gio14 · 08-08-2020, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redd

Isn't flakes in oil reason enough to make a claim to replace both the rod and main bearings? Do they only payout on failure?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redd

Isn't flakes in oil reason enough to make a claim to replace both the rod and main bearings? Do they only payout on failure?

Interesting...anyone had this covered by extended warranty by just showing a black stone report and got their bearing covered??

Scharbag · 08-08-2020, 11:34 PM

Does your warranty allow you to change your own oil? I have seen lots that do not.

Also, how did your filter look? Is it full of metal too?

If you are allowed to change your own oil, I would certainly discuss this with the warranty company and see what options you have.

Good luck and keep us updated.

Cheers,

anerbe · 08-09-2020, 08:35 AM

See if you can get the car history (being brought into the dealership to get checked). You never know if it happened before you purchased or after.
Any noises present like ticking? If no, there’s no way the prior owner would have known.

Either try and get the bearing/engine replaced under warranty, or you may need to go the route of replacing the rod bearings and prey its those.

RedScytheM3 · 08-09-2020, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SAMM3Y

Bearing's are soft metals... you could have compression test done while they're at it..
"sell it" ? Don't be that guy... karma's a hunter

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigBoosting

I'm not going to sell it and pass a bad situation to someone else. The dealer did change the oil and obviously missed it, not that unreasonable though.

I realized in my haste to respond as I was walking into work I wasn't more clear in my post. I didn't mean to suggest to sell the car to another unwitting individual. I would seek to have the dealership own up to it or take the car back. Sorry for not putting time into my response and sounding horrible.

AceBeezy · 08-10-2020, 05:24 PM

I took my car to an Indy shop for an oil change and oil analysis. Upon picking up my car, the owner mentioned I had metal flakes in my oil. Took it straight to my SA at my local BMW dealer. It was at the dealer that weekend for a rod bearing job covered by my warranty. If you have a decent/competent SA you've been working with that knows how to talk the right language with the warranty company, I'd go that route.

Gossypiboma · 08-11-2020, 01:43 PM

Talked to a SA today an I'm going to have the car towed to BMW soon. He was straight forward and honest saying every aftermarket warranty company is a nightmare to deal with in these situations and there's no guarantee they will cover anything. He seemed like a strong customer advocate, so we'll see where this goes.

acarr6 · 08-11-2020, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedScytheM3

Sell it. It's not worth it. You can't even account for the damage done by the flakes in high pressure or high friction areas of the engine. You're not permanently bound to the car and can always get another one.

Lol what a shitty thing to do. Sell it knowing it has this issue to someone else..

RedScytheM3 · 08-11-2020, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by acarr6

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedScytheM3

Sell it. It's not worth it. You can't even account for the damage done by the flakes in high pressure or high friction areas of the engine. You're not permanently bound to the car and can always get another one.

Lol what a shitty thing to do. Sell it knowing it has this issue to someone else..

Yeah, read my follow up post

acarr6 · 08-11-2020, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedScytheM3

Yeah, read my follow up post

I did after I posted that ,hehe

///M Power-Belgium · 08-11-2020, 03:35 PM

This is a complicated situation..

AceBeezy · 08-11-2020, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigBoosting

Talked to a SA today an I'm going to have the car towed to BMW soon. He was straight forward and honest saying every aftermarket warranty company is a nightmare to deal with in these situations and there's no guarantee they will cover anything. He seemed like a strong customer advocate, so we'll see where this goes.

Good luck man, mine said that too and how their facility has never done a rod bearing job under warranty. Just an FYI - Once we got passed that, he gave me an option of buying aftermarket bearings (i.e. BE bearings) if I wanted and they would install those for me with free labor...or go OEM with no charge. BE was sold out and I couldn't wait, so I went OE.

It wouldn't hurt to ask about getting your choice of bearings once you get to that point.

08-08-2020, 07:47 PM	#1
Gossypiboma Major 620 Rep 1,254 Posts Drives: 13' M3 6MT 18' M3 CS Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: The John iTrader: (9)	Metal flakes in oil, need advice. I just purchased an M3 with 29K miles and have put about 1k miles on it and decided to change the oil. Unfortunately there is a fair amount of metal flakes in the oil likely from either rod and/or main bearing failure, see pics below. I purchased the car from a large non-BMW dealership and thankfully purchased an aftermarket platinum bumper to bumper warranty that states it covers ALL mechanical breakdowns. I have read through the exclusions and the only two that could give me trouble is they don't cover oil starvation and they wont cover the cost of a single repair that exceeds the current NADA value of the car, which is about $32K if the go off of NADA's clean retail value. Taking all that into account I'm looking for advice on how to approach this, because I assume the warranty company is going to fight tooth and nail to find a way not to pay $25K+. Attached Images __________________
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08-08-2020, 07:54 PM	#2
SAMM3Y Colonel 3110 Rep 2,747 Posts Drives: 2008 m3 Join Date: Feb 2018 Location: NorCal iTrader: (2)	Change the rod bearings.. pay the $2500, consider it maintenance. It's better than letting her blow then fighting for coverage, plus you'll keep your vin matching block on your low mileage m'er __________________ 9ers
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08-08-2020, 08:02 PM	#4
Ajolives Major 1173 Rep 1,069 Posts Drives: E90 M3 Join Date: Mar 2019 Location: Tampa iTrader: (0) Garage List 2019 BMW M5 [0.00] 2008 BMW M3 [10.00] 2019 Audi SQ5 [0.00]	I would use the warranty - is it exclusively thru the dealership, or a third party warranty (or both possibly). It's a low mileage car, and it may be worth it to work with the dealership. Also, you could probably ask what inspections they did on delivery. I would imagine they'd at least change the oil prior to putting it on the lot. Either they missed the red flag or bad timing the motor would go in that 1,000 miles.
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08-08-2020, 08:03 PM	#5
RedScytheM3 Science stuff and stuff 396 Rep 414 Posts Drives: 2008 E92 ///M3 Join Date: Jun 2018 Location: Houston iTrader: (0)	Sell it. It's not worth it. You can't even account for the damage done by the flakes in high pressure or high friction areas of the engine. You're not permanently bound to the car and can always get another one.
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08-08-2020, 08:10 PM	#6
SAMM3Y Colonel 3110 Rep 2,747 Posts Drives: 2008 m3 Join Date: Feb 2018 Location: NorCal iTrader: (2)	Bearing's are soft metals... you could have compression test done while they're at it.. "sell it" ? Don't be that guy... karma's a hunter __________________ 9ers
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08-08-2020, 08:18 PM	#7
Gossypiboma Major 620 Rep 1,254 Posts Drives: 13' M3 6MT 18' M3 CS Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: The John iTrader: (9)	I'm not going to sell it and pass a bad situation to someone else. The dealer did change the oil and obviously missed it, not that unreasonable though. __________________ Last edited by Gossypiboma; 08-08-2020 at 09:22 PM..
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08-08-2020, 09:26 PM	#8
Redd Brigadier General 5039 Rep 4,842 Posts Drives: 2010 BMW E92 M3 Dakar Edition Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Malaysia iTrader: (0)	Isn't flakes in oil reason enough to make a claim to replace both the rod and main bearings? Do they only payout on failure?
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08-08-2020, 11:34 PM	#10
Scharbag Colonel 2795 Rep 2,188 Posts Drives: 2011 E92 M3 Join Date: Oct 2017 Location: Victoria iTrader: (0) Garage List 2011 BMW E92 M3 [0.00]	Does your warranty allow you to change your own oil? I have seen lots that do not. Also, how did your filter look? Is it full of metal too? If you are allowed to change your own oil, I would certainly discuss this with the warranty company and see what options you have. Good luck and keep us updated. Cheers, __________________ 2011 E92 M3 - 6MT, ZCP, ZF LSD, ESS G1, Some other goodies...
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08-09-2020, 08:35 AM	#11
anerbe Lieutenant Colonel 124 Rep 1,567 Posts Drives: Red E90M 6MT Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: BH, MI iTrader: (2)	See if you can get the car history (being brought into the dealership to get checked). You never know if it happened before you purchased or after. Any noises present like ticking? If no, there’s no way the prior owner would have known. Either try and get the bearing/engine replaced under warranty, or you may need to go the route of replacing the rod bearings and prey its those.
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08-10-2020, 05:24 PM	#13
AceBeezy Second Lieutenant 386 Rep 280 Posts Drives: 2009 BMW e92 M3 Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Texas iTrader: (0)	I took my car to an Indy shop for an oil change and oil analysis. Upon picking up my car, the owner mentioned I had metal flakes in my oil. Took it straight to my SA at my local BMW dealer. It was at the dealer that weekend for a rod bearing job covered by my warranty. If you have a decent/competent SA you've been working with that knows how to talk the right language with the warranty company, I'd go that route.
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08-11-2020, 01:43 PM	#14
Gossypiboma Major 620 Rep 1,254 Posts Drives: 13' M3 6MT 18' M3 CS Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: The John iTrader: (9)	Talked to a SA today an I'm going to have the car towed to BMW soon. He was straight forward and honest saying every aftermarket warranty company is a nightmare to deal with in these situations and there's no guarantee they will cover anything. He seemed like a strong customer advocate, so we'll see where this goes.
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08-11-2020, 03:35 PM	#18
///M Power-Belgium General 92185 Rep 31,414 Posts Drives: ///M3-E92-DCT Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Belgium iTrader: (0)	This is a complicated situation.. __________________ "MAX VERSTAPPEN" IS THE 2021+2022+2023+2024 F1 WORLD CHAMPION - #UnLeashTheLion - BPM DEV-Tune & DCT Software-Tune & Servotronic & coding ///Alpine HID Angeleyes ///Oem.exhaust mod.
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