BMW Z4 engine siezed need some advice please..

Bigmonty69

I have had a bit of progression today.

One of my parents neighbours owns a garage and my mum went over to their house last night to see if he could offer any advice. He rang round a few of his 'garage mates' this morning, one of whom had previously worked for my local BMW dealer before setting up on his own. The guy from that garage gave me a call and we talked through my the problems I had been having and he offered to get it towed to his garage so he could have a look at it. He seemed to think it was very strange that the car had broke down the way it did and to him it didn't sound like an engine seize.

Hopefully I should get some news tomorrow but I am more hopeful now that, worst case scenario, if it turns out to be an engine seize at least I will have had not just taken the first garages word for it.

I'll post back with mr progess when I get some news.

darich

I have a BMW Z4 although it's the 3.0 model.
To confirm what a few posters have asked/stated-
No Z4 models have a turbo unless fitted retrospectively.
The oil light (along with about a dozen others) should come on when the ignition is switched on. They should all go over the next 2-3 secs - some instantly when the engine is runnning, others after a couple of secs (presumably after a diagnostic test).

My oil light has come one but it also chimes an alarm and i knew my oil was low having recently checked it. Close to the minimum mark but not below. I mentioned it to the dealer because it even stayed on once after switching the car off and the dealer said it was normal sometimes. One service later and I've never had any issues with the oil light.

I've also had an engine seize on me - a VW Beetle about 20years ago. It overheated and "cut out" when i approached a junction - it wouldn't restart. I pushed the car to the side and had to leave it while someone picked me up. A few hours later we went back to get the car and tow it home - believe it or not, the thing started but it was rattling, squeaking and generally sounded like a bag of bolts. I had to replace the engine but was lucky enough to source one (including numerous parts) for £150 if i remember correctly. The point is, the engine may have overheated for whatever reason and it could have seized without much warning. Unlikely, given all the warning dials and lights compared to what my beetle had but possible none the less.

I know the car is 03 plate but did you buy it with any approved used car warranty? has that expired?

Best of luck in getting it fixed.

cyclonebri1

Checked with my bro today, he has a 53plte Z4 3.0. No dash warning other than standard oil light.

But I once ran a Vectra that used a little oil. I was alerted on day going over speed bumps, the oil light flickered on, BUT, the oil level was still at the min mark on the dipstick, surely enough advance warning.

If you got none of this the issue needs to be resolved with BMW;)

Bigmonty69

Update....

Spoken to the second opinion garage.

Apparently they tried to start it and obviously no oil. They had a look in the engine and the bores (sp?) and cylinders were full of oil and I needed a new cylinder head gasket. They cleaned out all the oil they could but other than the cyl head gask needing replaced couldn't find any other obvious reason why this had happened.

They then tried to start the car, it started but the engine blew out the remaining oil all over the mechanics, the uderside of the bonet and even as high as hitting their garage roof!

He said they had the car running for about 30mins when I called. They were going to get the repairs done and give it another check to see if anything else was wrong. A warning light was on their BMW test computer but he had never see this light before in his time dealing with BMWs so he would have to get that checked out also. He said he'd then give it a test run himself.

So all in all the good news is its looking like I don't need a new engine :j but bad news is we are still not sure why this happened.

hewhoisnotintheknow

cool

any idea of the cost?

colino

Please do no more with the car other than having it transported to the BMW dealer. You say it is low mileage with full dealer history, but every hand you let under the bonnet now is helping any BMW goodwill payment/contribution to the new engine evaporate fast.
Beemers do not blow up at 44k without severe provocation!

Bigmonty69

colino wrote: »

Please do no more with the car other than having it transported to the BMW dealer. You say it is low mileage with full dealer history, but every hand you let under the bonnet now is helping any BMW goodwill payment/contribution to the new engine evaporate fast.
Beemers do not blow up at 44k without severe provocation!

Per my post it doesn't need a new engine, it looks like it just needs a new cylinder head gasket. If they came back to me and said it was a serious problem the next step would be to a BMW dealer as you have said.

As for cost, all I have agreed to is labour, new gasket and the cost of getting it towed. Not sure how much time they have spent on it to date. Tbh if it gets fixed for less than £1k id be a happy bunny. In my head I think it will be about £200+.

shown73

Anyone know where I can find a nice, cheap, Z4 for Christmas ???

anewman

Bigmonty69 wrote: »

No hadn't checked the oil in 4 months. I am no car expert ( I appreciate thats no excuse) but I don't drive the car much so didn't feel the need.

It's part of the driving test nowadays.

blue_haddock

movilogo wrote: »

Next time please remember to check engine oil every 4 weeks.

Please ignore this piece of advice.

Check your oil and other fluids weekly - it takes no more than 5 minutes and could save you a fair chunk of cash in the future.