Engine blown after having it 9 months

Gary19111983

hello,
My partner bought his dream car on the 25th August 2019 a BMW 520D 2012 model albeit there was 112,000 miles on it thought its still low for a diesel vehicle £7500 so he took out finance on it making it £9500, within the first week there was an issue with the electrics the window went down then wouldn't go up again the wipers didn't work or the electric seats then it worked intermittently so the dealer suggested taking it to local vehicle electrician who specialises in this, he took it in thought it was fixed then the sensors went on the parking alerts, so it was taken back in as the air-conditioning unit wasn't working, it was taken in numerous times and the specialist had to end up getting a BMW specialist in to fix the problem which still played up intermittently, my partner then noticed an oil leak in the engine and spoke with the dealer who asked him to leave it in which he did, the mechanic stated it was a gasket seal and he replaced it, this was ongoing for about 4 or 5 months after purchase, there was 6 months warranty with the vehicle, on Monday the  8th June i was driving my partners vehicle I heard an awful noise starting and was just pulling into my mothers address when it sounded like a steam roller, i stopped the vehicle and didn't start it again, recovery was arranged and taken to the home address, it was then taken to the mechanic who advised us the big bore is gone in the engine and metal flakes in the oil which has destroyed the engine, insurance doesn't cover it because it wasn't an accident and the finance company have requested an independent inspection carried out at our expense, to see if the fault can be verified it was with the vehicle when purchased. My partner is at his wits end as they told him a new engine fitted will be £7500 he still has to pay the finance for another 4 years no matter what. Help please what can we do??

ElephantBoy57

Gary19111983 said:

hello,
My partner bought his dream car on the 25th August 2019 a BMW 520D 2012 model albeit there was 112,000 miles on it thought its still low for a diesel vehicle £7500 so he took out finance on it making it £9500. My partner is at his wits end as they told him a new engine fitted will be £7500 he still has to pay the finance for another 4 years no matter what. Help please what can we do??

I bought a 2013 Zafira with 95,000 miles on the clock, from ebay for £2,500

I would not call it low mileage, I paid to have a timing belt fitted and I am hoping it will last me another 50,000 miles

It's just pot luck whether it last 5,000 or 50,000 miles. If it failed I might think about going back to a £500 car.

I don't believe in paying more from a dealer and getting a warranty. I guess your BMW was a private sale, you could have bought major engine failure insurance.

ElephantBoy57

Gary19111983 said:

hello,
the mechanic stated it was a gasket seal and he replaced it, this was ongoing for about 4 or 5 months after purchase, there was 6 months warranty with the vehicle, on Monday the  8th June i was driving my partners vehicle I heard an awful noise starting and was just pulling into my mothers address when it sounded like a steam roller,

If the oil leak wasn't fixed properly, that could have caused low oil and that would have caused the crankshaft to go kaput.

But I guess the oil should have been checked, weekly at least.

daveyjp

You could buy another, quite a few on Autotrader for far less than the £7,500 you have been quoted for a new engine, but no guarantee it won't let you down again.

cymruchris

All of your problems listed aside from the oil seal aren't related to a blown engine, but the car is 8 years old, so you would expect a few things to go wrong - even on a BMW. Although it only had 112,000 miles on the clock - you don't know how those miles were clocked up. They might have been lots of cold starts over short distances - maybe a school run - and it never spent time on the motorways - this would increase the engine wear. You don't have to fit a brand new engine into an 8 year old car - you could look at getting a replacement from a salvage dealer - I'm sure there'll be at least one engine in the country that's suitable. I don't think you've got any comeback on the warranty as the time passed has exceeded the expiry date by quite a while. Have you been servicing the car? When was the last oil change? Do you check fluid levels regularly?

With just a cursory glance on ebay (and there are better places to look than ebay) I can see someone offering a complete rebuild for your year and engine size for £1295 - so I would start exploring these avenues as a priority:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-520D-2-0-DIESEL-ENGINE-N47D20A-OR-N47D20C-FULL-REBUILD-1-OR-2-YEAR-WARRANTY/282873183521?fits=Car+Make%3ABMW%7CModel%3A5+Series%7CCars+Year%3A2012&hash=item41dc8e3d21:g:ZEAAAOSwoBtW4ovL

AdrianC

If it was a £7,500 car, £2,000 of finance costs on top does not make it a £9,500 car. It makes it a £7,500 car with hideously expensive finance.

And, no, your hopes of getting anywhere from anybody with an engine dying in an 8yo 112k mile car after you've owned it 9mo are roughly zero.

The good ol' BMW N47 timing chain claims another victim.

ElephantBoy57

I friend of mine with no mechanical experience replaced the shells on his cars crankshaft, it took him a while, but he was successful in curing the knocking.

Its likely that the OP could get the engine repaired much cheaper at a small garage. Is it likely it's just the crankshaft and nothing else? Ask around.

Goudy

AdrianC said:

If it was a £7,500 car, £2,000 of finance costs on top does not make it a £9,500 car. It makes it a £7,500 car with hideously expensive finance.

And, no, your hopes of getting anywhere from anybody with an engine dying in an 8yo 112k mile car after you've owned it 9mo are roughly zero.

The good ol' BMW N47 timing chain claims another victim.

The N47 is also noted for big end bearing failure, that is if they make it past the 80k or so when the chain usually breaks.
These unfortunately aren't dream cars more like !!!!!!' nightmares.

There are plenty of aftermarket oversize big end bearings about for this engine (a good sign the originals were poor) and you'd probably need to find a BMW engine builder to strip and rebuild what you have, but you're looking between £1300 and £1500 + VAT.
They should replace the chain as well, which as Adrian says, is another big headache.
Hopefully that should at least make it last long enough to pay it off. 

AdrianC

ElephantBoy57 said:

I friend of mine with no mechanical experience replaced the shells on his cars crankshaft, it took him a while, but he was successful in curing the knocking.

Did he check the crank journals themselves for wear?

ElephantBoy57

AdrianC said:

Did he check the crank journals themselves for wear?

He replaced the shells only, by taking the sump off. It's still running ok, after around a year.

It's a Renault, not a BMW.

EdGasketTheSecond

ElephantBoy57 said:

AdrianC said:

Did he check the crank journals themselves for wear?

He replaced the shells only, by taking the sump off. It's still running ok, after around a year.

It's a Renault, not a BMW.

That usually only works for a short while as the crank will need grinding and oversize shells fitting; major work. If you don't do many miles then you can get away with new shells. Big ends don't normally go these days unless the oil level checks and changes have not been done.