545 Engine. 54k miles Engine is DONE!
03-04-2010, 06:58 PM
#72
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Location: Roselle IL
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My Ride: 2008 BMW 550i M Sport
My 2004 545i April build date is dead at 68k miles
Be very afraid. I am in the middle of this problem also and my local dealer had no idea what was going on with the car even though I gave them a picture of the plugs (number 6 was black and oily) and told them that the compression in cylinder 6 was about 20% lower than the rest. They wanted to pull the valve cover for a look around ($120 plus $950) I wonder if they would have put it back on for that.... Went to Autobahn BMW in Louisville KY and had a much better experience. The diagnosed the problem quickly and efficiently. We are trying to decide what to do with it now. I am open to suggestions???
Here is what I saw:
tapping noise increases with engine speed
Noise is much worse cold and gets quieter as the engine warms up
It takes about 15k miles to go from quiet to very noisy and gets worse fast at the end.
The tapping gets very quiet or goes away when decelerating
If you have 1 plug that is black and oily you will probably find scored cylinder walls
If you are really lucky it will be cylinder number six which you can barely see with the lower pan removed.
You cant see much of any of the other cylinders form the bottom without removing a bunch of stuff that would probably require the engine to be pulled.
Here is what mine sounded like:
BMW 545i tapping on youtube
Here is what the problem looked like:
BMW 545i with scored cylinder walls
Here is someone else that had the same problem and needed a new motor also
My link
Anyone else had any luck getting some help out of BMW with this? This really sucks.
Be very afraid. I am in the middle of this problem also and my local dealer had no idea what was going on with the car even though I gave them a picture of the plugs (number 6 was black and oily) and told them that the compression in cylinder 6 was about 20% lower than the rest. They wanted to pull the valve cover for a look around ($120 plus $950) I wonder if they would have put it back on for that.... Went to Autobahn BMW in Louisville KY and had a much better experience. The diagnosed the problem quickly and efficiently. We are trying to decide what to do with it now. I am open to suggestions???
Here is what I saw:
tapping noise increases with engine speed
Noise is much worse cold and gets quieter as the engine warms up
It takes about 15k miles to go from quiet to very noisy and gets worse fast at the end.
The tapping gets very quiet or goes away when decelerating
If you have 1 plug that is black and oily you will probably find scored cylinder walls
If you are really lucky it will be cylinder number six which you can barely see with the lower pan removed.
You cant see much of any of the other cylinders form the bottom without removing a bunch of stuff that would probably require the engine to be pulled.
Here is what mine sounded like:
BMW 545i tapping on youtube
Here is what the problem looked like:
BMW 545i with scored cylinder walls
Here is someone else that had the same problem and needed a new motor also
My link
Anyone else had any luck getting some help out of BMW with this? This really sucks.
Mine sounded EXACTLY like yours .It will be the same problem Tomorrow I will scan my list of the stuff that had been replaced. Have them do borescope. Is Your car CPO or out of warranty? Mine was out of warranty but only 54Kmiles. If out of warranty it will cost You A LOT I have $14K in parts ONLY. The sound is a little quietter after warm up but trust me even when warm and at highway speed it is there. Turn the radio off so You can hear it. So either You will have the same job done or will need to buy a used engine at about $5000 US and have it replaced. My car came back to the dealership today. It has some kind of seal broken between engine and transmision. It happened when they were taking it apart or something, but as far as engine sound it is very quiet now. I will post some scans from my repair sheet and I will also do the video how it sounds now. Anyway good luck!
03-05-2010, 08:44 AM
#76
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My Ride: 04' 545i
Did your rpm jump during cold starts?
Mine has been at the dealer for 10 days, they opened a puma case for it, i do have the noise but they keep telling me it's normal.
Mine has been at the dealer for 10 days, they opened a puma case for it, i do have the noise but they keep telling me it's normal.
03-05-2010, 10:53 AM
#77
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My Ride: 2008 BMW 550i M Sport
Yest RPM were crazy. Try to clean Your Mass Air Flow sensor. As for the noise if it like in video posted by someone earlier in this post it is not normal. After fix my engine is running perfectly smooth. No knocking or ticking noises whatsoever. THIS IS NOT NORMAL FOR THIS V8 TO HAVE ANY TICKING OR KNOCKING NOISES!!!
03-05-2010, 11:32 AM
#78
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My Ride: 04' 545i
I just spoke to the shop foreman they have tried everything including MAF sensor, pressure test and TSB 11 02 05 with no results.
Now that the weather warmed up it has been starting perfectly for the past 2 days.
They have an open PUMA case next is to disconnect sensors and start the car.
The shop foreman is taking it personally because he has never seen anything like this before.
Now that the weather warmed up it has been starting perfectly for the past 2 days.
They have an open PUMA case next is to disconnect sensors and start the car.
The shop foreman is taking it personally because he has never seen anything like this before.
03-22-2010, 08:42 PM
#79
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My 2004 545i April build date is dead at 68k miles
Be very afraid. I am in the middle of this problem also and my local dealer had no idea what was going on with the car even though I gave them a picture of the plugs (number 6 was black and oily) and told them that the compression in cylinder 6 was about 20% lower than the rest. They wanted to pull the valve cover for a look around ($120 plus $950) I wonder if they would have put it back on for that.... Went to Autobahn BMW in Louisville KY and had a much better experience. The diagnosed the problem quickly and efficiently. We are trying to decide what to do with it now. I am open to suggestions???
Here is what I saw:
tapping noise increases with engine speed
Noise is much worse cold and gets quieter as the engine warms up
It takes about 15k miles to go from quiet to very noisy and gets worse fast at the end.
The tapping gets very quiet or goes away when decelerating
If you have 1 plug that is black and oily you will probably find scored cylinder walls
If you are really lucky it will be cylinder number six which you can barely see with the lower pan removed.
You cant see much of any of the other cylinders form the bottom without removing a bunch of stuff that would probably require the engine to be pulled.
Here is what mine sounded like:
BMW 545i tapping on youtube
Here is what the problem looked like:
BMW 545i with scored cylinder walls
Here is someone else that had the same problem and needed a new motor also
My link
Anyone else had any luck getting some help out of BMW with this? This really sucks.
Be very afraid. I am in the middle of this problem also and my local dealer had no idea what was going on with the car even though I gave them a picture of the plugs (number 6 was black and oily) and told them that the compression in cylinder 6 was about 20% lower than the rest. They wanted to pull the valve cover for a look around ($120 plus $950) I wonder if they would have put it back on for that.... Went to Autobahn BMW in Louisville KY and had a much better experience. The diagnosed the problem quickly and efficiently. We are trying to decide what to do with it now. I am open to suggestions???
Here is what I saw:
tapping noise increases with engine speed
Noise is much worse cold and gets quieter as the engine warms up
It takes about 15k miles to go from quiet to very noisy and gets worse fast at the end.
The tapping gets very quiet or goes away when decelerating
If you have 1 plug that is black and oily you will probably find scored cylinder walls
If you are really lucky it will be cylinder number six which you can barely see with the lower pan removed.
You cant see much of any of the other cylinders form the bottom without removing a bunch of stuff that would probably require the engine to be pulled.
Here is what mine sounded like:
BMW 545i tapping on youtube
Here is what the problem looked like:
BMW 545i with scored cylinder walls
Here is someone else that had the same problem and needed a new motor also
My link
Anyone else had any luck getting some help out of BMW with this? This really sucks.
The local dealer give me the feeling that they really don't care about this problem and I am not even sure they really talked to BMWNA.
This is disappointing and maddening. Since it looks like I am screwed I will publish a very detailed tear down of this motor along with some expert commentary.
