Engine refurbish? I'm not sure I believe this.

[LukeHawk]

Hey guys, so..

If any of you recall (I think I made a thread about it), I was noticing an odd "whistle" sound that had to do with the auto start/stop mechanism (not a belt sound I think, more of air escaping a tube). I say this because it was only present when auto stop was ON, and never any other time. Also the sound only arose some times. Never consistently.

Well I took my car to Autohaus Monti (the local BMW dealer) To have a brake fluid service done, and asked them just to check out that sound.

When I went to collect my car, they said that the sound is most likely coming from the engine. One particular side, and something to do with a crank-shaft or bearings. Now I'm no mechanic, but surely if a problem exists on a particular part, that is the one that needs to be looked at and fixed/replaced.
They handed me a service estimate/quote for the job, and he said its for a full engine refurb. Now as you know, that will cost an arm and a leg, so I'm quite shocked...
My engine performs beautifully from what I can feel, and I've never had an issue aside from the whistle sound. How on earth does this equate to a full engine refurb? I'm talking replacing the timing chain, gaskets, chain tensioner, seals, bearings, etc etc. The amount for all this is astronomical. Sure, I'm driving a BMW so I know its expensive to maintain.. but how is any of this warranted over one whistling sound?

I have a sneaky suspicion the problem wasn't actually found, and they just gave me an estimate to look at it all. I mean there is a labour fee of 17k just to disassemble and reassemble the engine, which they clearly didnt do now to inspect, so how can they even be sure that everything inside needs to be refurbed/replaced?

I then asked if this is something I need to take care of urgently if its bad enough for a full refurb. The guy said no, its actually fine. The "whistle" sound might just get a bit worse with time.... um.. what???? So I dont need a refurb clearly because the engine is fine. I'm pretty confused. I couldnt get any solid info from them, and all I got now was stress. Note that I've only had the car for a year, and done about 15000km. And when I got it (used) from BMW they surely would have checked the health of the engine. is 15000km really enough to warrant a full refurb?

Sorry for the long post, but any help, info, etc will be very appreciated.

P.S. I am out of motor plan, and have saved for such an event.. But I was really hoping not to have to use it.

 

[tumzozo]

2nd opinion on the car thats what I would do...

:dunnoanymore:

 

[PLV]

Yeah, sorry to hear man, only thing I would think of doing is getting a second opinion first. Just doesn't sound reasonable...

Good luck man!

:thumbs:

 

[cOlDFuSiOn]

I would get a 2nd opinion on the issue.. Sure it is not simething like a boost leak? A small tear or something when under boost could whistle like that. I doubt it is the motor, see if you can get someone else to look at it.

Also very odd that an official BMW dealer would rebuild a motor? They replace parts in or out of plan, they don't rebuild things, so likely they will send it somewhere else if they were to rebuild?!

 

[TurboLlew]

Agree you need a second opinion.

It's not often that this is completely true, but I believe in this case they have no clue and I am not sure they even opened a case with BMW from the sounds of it. If you are only ***JUST*** out of plan you might get work good-willed depending on the issue. I'd love to meet the mechanic that diagnoses something as "most probably crankshaft or bearings" when it is a sporadic whistling sound :biglol: :roflol:

BMW doesn't rebuild motors anymore AFAIK... they will strip and inspect to a point if you ask them to and then they will replace the entire power unit/gearbox etc.

 

[LukeHawk]

Ok cool, thanks so much guys. Glad it's not just me that thought it's strange that they can make the assumption that the engine needs a complete rebuild over a whistling sound. I will definitely be getting a second opinion. This just doesn't seem correct on BMWs side. I have a place near my work I'll go to.

 

[Danny2]

I have a mate who is having a similar problem with Bmw SA.

He got a 320i, and before MP finished he took the car in for check and they said all is good.

Also 2/3 months out of MP car went back for a service and a whistle noise.

Bmw told him his car requires a engine replacement cause the crank bearing and a few other things are gone.

They gave him a price of 200k for engine replacement and BMW SA came back with a figure under 100k.


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[Ddoooooon]

I would get a 2nd opinion on the issue.. Sure it is not simething like a boost leak? A small tear or something when under boost could whistle like that. I doubt it is the motor, see if you can get someone else to look at it.

Also very odd that an official BMW dealer would rebuild a motor? They replace parts in or out of plan, they don't rebuild things, so likely they will send it somewhere else if they were to rebuild?!

agree

 

[NBaikie]

You must take it for a 2nd opinion. Had a issue with my auto gearbox and BMW quoted me 91k for a new box. Took it to Budler Motorsport for a 2nd opinion and they said they can do the job for 28k. Saved me more than 60k! A lot of the time BMW technicians don’t actually know how to fault find so they quote to replace because that’s easier.

 

[Jeremy.d]

Honestly, I would be calling up the service/workshop manager and making them get their act together, failing that, a call to BMW SA might give them a kick up the rear.:cartel:

 

[LukeHawk]

Hey guys, thanks again for all the input, I appreciate it.

So I took my car to a highly recommended local place that specializes in BMW's.
The owner took a look at the car, engine on, listened for sounds etc. We couldnt replicate the sound, but mentioned that he had a guy come in about a month ago with the same problem. He said that there is absolutely no problem with my engine, its in great shape by the looks/sounds of it. He suspects that its just a guide/chain or combo that's a bit worn down. based on the cars mileage. (As that what caused it on the other guys car). He mentioned that its a bit tough to diagnose, but the car is fine. He reckons that I dont do anything now, and if it gets worse/more frequent then we look at it again, but I have nothing to worry about with the engine.

Keep in mind that I did not tell him that I went to BMW first, and just expressed my concerns about the sound.

To put it in perspective, he says when/if I bring it back to get sorted out down the line, I'm looking at about 15k for parts and labour, for guides, chain, whatever.
BMW quoted me R55k..

I'm very happy with this outcome, as the car drives like a dream, and I keep auto stop off anyway so no sound comes up. I will definitely take it there in the future or if it gets more frequent. I am way happier paying R15k to sort out the actual problem than R55k for a rebuild for nothing.