Motor build - an update

[greddy91]

All warranty (lack of) dialogue aside here...

Bought my 2010 X5m with 78k miles on it for what I feel now was an unjust premium. Drove it for all of 5 months before the big time cost hit.

Unbeknownst to me, my motor had index 6 injectors despite having taken it to BMW proper as soon as I got it home. I added the JB4 and ran Map 5 (which isn't a thing, so I essentially ran the stock map with code clearing for my downpipe o2 post cat light woes.

When I finally figured out there was much more power on tap I began use of e30 and used the e30 map for about 5 minutes before the motor belched blue smoke out the exhaust and became a mosquito killer at stoplights. I hoped that an injector recall fix would somehow fix the problem, so scheduled another appt with BMW. On my way to the dealer, two blocks away, a knock developed that would wake the dead.

Dealer quote for motor replacement was $36k... not a typo.

For the price of a complete replacement vehicle I could have a zero mile motor - hooray!

Desperation set in. I began calling local Euro repair shops and got several more and reasonable quotes for repair. Then I got referred to this shop:

www.ghassanauto.com - Gee the owner seems to be on-point for everything BMW. Their shop has cars incoming from all across the US and their engine builds carry a two year warranty. He's bonded for towing and discussed scenarios where he and his team have driven thousands of miles to pick up client cars and return them to his shop for rebuilds. Also worth mentioning is his growing following on other forums and stacks of praise coming from the builds he's completed.

We're going with forged rods and slightly larger pistons on the stock crank with the motor bored (and honed) .020 over based on the gouge in the side of the cylinder wall and a single bent rod. Also we procured Index 12 injectors from BMW on the warranty dime (but obviously not installed) and will have them in before pickup or drop off.

Gee and I have discussed many options for this build; all things he was willing to pursue... custom crank for a stroker build, Pure turbos, a functional custom tune, etc. Finances for this build are tight (for me) as we just bought a new house, still carry the mortgage for our old house, and have a new baby coming in May. The price while still having some BMW M tax is higher than I would want to pay, but I have been in Ford and GMs for a decade now...

I can't vouch for the final product yet, but what I can say is the guy seems to be a shining halo of an automotive savior in an industry full of rip off artists.

If you all get in a jam this is definitely a resource worth your phone calls and research.

Expecting forged goodies to breathe life back into the M very soon and when I have it home and going through the break in period I'll give you all another update.

[jcm3]

any idea what caused the issue. You were running map 3 correct? Any logs?

[boneca]

sorry to hear about issues with your motor
but I'm glad you found good shop to take care of it for you (and even more...)

keep us updated and good luck with it

[greddy91]

Originally Posted by jcm3

any idea what caused the issue. You were running map 3 correct? Any logs?

Only suspicion...

Warranty company that denied the claim blamed a faulty injector. Cylinder scoring also suggests perhaps it ran lean creating a hot spot, then rod bend based on out of time detonation.

Can't unequivocally verify this, but it seems the most plausible based on tear-down findings.

[SyL3nTFoRcE]

dam good luck with everything, this is my biggest fear with warranty companies and how they try not to cover something as big as this.

After checking out ghassan site they seem pretty reasonable for a rebuilt engine, might keep these guys in mind just in case for future reference.

Let us know how it turns out, would definitely like to know more info on this

[Naz24]

I'm curious, do you think this is a direct result of the tune combined with faulty injectors?

IE, should you have not tuned the car, the faulty injectors would not have caused a total failure of the engine?

[frankenm]

Faulty injector destroys an engine BMW should replace it ... somebody needs to bring a class action against these bastards.

Good luck on your build, any idea on targets your looking for?

[greddy91]

Originally Posted by Naz24

I'm curious, do you think this is a direct result of the tune combined with faulty injectors?

IE, should you have not tuned the car, the faulty injectors would not have caused a total failure of the engine?

I definitely feel dropping the JB4 on Index 6 injectors was the recipe for disaster. Thus I've been less than passionate about pursuing BMW for anything on this. I wasn't logging when the rod bend occurred, but I was back to the stock map.

I feel the cylinder scarring was done on the E30 run on that map. Then when making the short jaunt to BMW the cylinder scar created a hot spot and caused the rod bending detonation. It's a spiral of they didn't, I did. That I definitely have some fault in.

Stepping back; if they had replaced the injectors at first visit, maybe it never occurred. But then I regress further... me not buying a Hyper SUV with the intent of squeezing 100 more hp out of it and none of this would ever have been written.

I can second guess it all day... tired of thinking about it now and looking ahead.

[greddy91]

Originally Posted by frankenm

Faulty injector destroys an engine BMW should replace it ... somebody needs to bring a class action against these bastards.

Good luck on your build, any idea on targets your looking for?

Honestly... looking for whatever gain the index 6 to 12 injectors gave me and maybe a 5% overall boost in stock power levels from the overbore.

The question is: do I have the balls to put it on the e30 map and hit the go pedal again...

I would love to say I'll always play it safe from here, but the first time I lose to a C7 Vette by a half door length again, chances are it's going to get tested.