Need opinions here please.

On Wednesday of this week someone rear ended me. Not bad but damaged the rear diffuser. The main problem occurred whilst driving home as the engine let go of all it's oil. The i-drive told me to stop immediately which I did and when I checked the car the rear was completely covered in oil and a big puddle started to appear under the engine.

The car has been recovered to my local dealer for the insurance claim and I suggested that the engine failure must be connected to the collision. They think not and it is just a coincidence!

As is always the way, my car is now 1 week outside warranty and I'm concerned they wont link the two incidents and then I'm going to have a battle with BMW to get the engine repair costs covered.

Now I have two questions:-

Has anyone ever had a situation when their engine let go?
and
Has anyone suffered a major failure just outside of warranty, and if so what response did you get from BMW?

Would appreciate any thoughts or opinions on how I should handle this, as I firmly believe a 3 year old car with 67,000 miles on the clock and has been serviced accordingly should not suffer this problem and that BMW should cover the repair costs.

Thanks
Andy

 

What was the cause of the engine losing it's oil ? If it was just the drain bolt coming off - it won't be serious as the engine warning light saved you in time. If the engine blew some gasket there will be more work involved. Being so close after out of warranty, BMW should cover this if it turns out to be like a severe failure of components.

 

I can't imagine how a car that rear ended you could possible connect to you having the oil pour out of your engine.

I assume you don't have a turbo (which requires an oil intercooler), if you did, the lines in and out could be the culprit. If not, the first check I would make is the oil pan (at the bottom of the engine, where the drain plug should be found) I could be cracked or have a bad seal.

 

+1

also who changed your oil last time?

 

Thanks for the input. The servicing has always been carried out by my local BMW main dealer and as yet the cause of the oil loss hasn't been reported to me.

In response to your question Pukka, yes I do have a turbo, 2 actually as it's the 535d.

It just seems an incredible coincidence for the 2 events not to be connected in some way. Hopefully not too much engine damage anyway, but I'll keep you posted.

Thanks
Andy

 

Clutching at straws here for you:

If you've been rear-ended (the car, I mean!), then this would most likely have pushed the exhaust forwards as well. As the exhaust is directly connected to the turbocharger(s), and they have a dedicated oil supply, I could imagine that this would be the culprit. Otherwise, it could be that the exhaust has shifted forwards and fractured the sump. If the rear impact was quite severe, then the inertia of the car being pushed forward, with the engine/gearbox effectively staying stationary for a moment until it "caught up" could have place severe strain on the oil cooler pipes.

I would say that it is far too strange for it to be a coincidence. Hopefully your rear-ender was insured and you could claim off him. If your $tealer says the damage is unrelated, then I would expect BMW to shell out completely for the repairs so close to the end of warranty.

Hope you get a satisfactory conclusion.

Mike

 

I think the exhaust pushing on the turbo chargers is a very good guess.

I agree that coincidence is a bit of stretch.

 

the oil bit is strange. I would push for this to be covered by warranty since it is only one week and I would also buy an extension.... the best of luck man

 

Had a call from dealer this morning to say oil leak was caused by the sump oil bolt coming out!!

Am now waiting to hear what they are going to do about it. Excuse my ignorance here, but is that not the bolt they would undo to drain the oil for an oil change? If that's the case then I can only assume it wasn't tightened properly after the last one which surely must lay the blame at the dealer's door?

I guess the bolt was coming loose and then the shunt just knocked it out. They say the thread is still intact so it can only be a case of not tightened properly.

Any thoughts?

 

Feel for you - 2 nasty surprises in a week.

Drain plug not properly torqued would be sufficient with a bit of driving and an impact.
Hopefully no oil starvation / engine or turbo damage occurred?
Good luck!