So This Happened This Morning: Catastrophic Engine Failure In Dramatic Fashion
03-18-2016, 02:19 PM
#1
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So This Happened This Morning: Catastrophic Engine Failure In Dramatic Fashion
For the past month I have been plagued by an occasional misfire on cylinder 5, it happens only at WOT when revs get to or beyond 6,400rpm while in 3rd gear. When my car is running 100% I usually shift around 6,500rpm. The misfire happens about 40% of the time so not super consistent but frequent enough to be annoying. I have swapped plugs, coils, and injectors on #5 and the misfire stays, I had not done it for a while so I reswapped the coil and plug and went out to do some data logging. The car acted normal and misfired 2 out of the 5 runs.
Since converting my E61 from AWD-RWD traction in 2nd is an issue and boost was limited to help contain it, recently I took the limiter off to practice my throttle modulation for putting 2nd gear power to the ground, quite tricky.
On the way home from data-logging there was a wide and open section of road so I dropped the car into 2nd at about 35mph and tried to put all the power down, at the top of 2nd gear there was a bang the car instantly shut off and I was sliding out of control. The oil pan had exploded and my wagon was actually on fire from the moment it blew until I came to a stop. The oil covered the rear tires so as soon as I applied the brakes the rear end stepped-out. I got lucky, real lucky as the rear tires came out of the oil slick just in time to slow down enough to allow the front wheels to grab and nearly avoid the curb. Both my front bumper and front passenger side wheel have red paint courtesy of the concrete so I literally just shaved the edge.
There was a modded Evo behind me with 2 occupants who had first-row seats for the show, they stopped to make sure I was ok and of course ask, "what the fvck happened?" We talked for a bit and they helped me collect pieces of my engine from the roadway as I waited for the tow truck.
The wagon is now back in my garage and I am about to dissect in and assess the damage. I will update this thread with my findings.
This should be fun,
Evan
....and boom goes the dynamite!
You can see where my rear tires got traction after the oil
Also you can see the path of my front tire in the gutter
Too close
Bumper kiss, hard to believe there wasn't more damage considering both the bumper and wheel struck the curb
Sorry environment
Carnage I picked up from the road
This is the second time I used this tow truck driver, he assisted me last time when I snapped a rear axle. He pulled up saying, "what did you do THIS time?" lol
Dropping engine chunks everywhere
Since converting my E61 from AWD-RWD traction in 2nd is an issue and boost was limited to help contain it, recently I took the limiter off to practice my throttle modulation for putting 2nd gear power to the ground, quite tricky.
On the way home from data-logging there was a wide and open section of road so I dropped the car into 2nd at about 35mph and tried to put all the power down, at the top of 2nd gear there was a bang the car instantly shut off and I was sliding out of control. The oil pan had exploded and my wagon was actually on fire from the moment it blew until I came to a stop. The oil covered the rear tires so as soon as I applied the brakes the rear end stepped-out. I got lucky, real lucky as the rear tires came out of the oil slick just in time to slow down enough to allow the front wheels to grab and nearly avoid the curb. Both my front bumper and front passenger side wheel have red paint courtesy of the concrete so I literally just shaved the edge.
There was a modded Evo behind me with 2 occupants who had first-row seats for the show, they stopped to make sure I was ok and of course ask, "what the fvck happened?" We talked for a bit and they helped me collect pieces of my engine from the roadway as I waited for the tow truck.
The wagon is now back in my garage and I am about to dissect in and assess the damage. I will update this thread with my findings.
This should be fun,
Evan
....and boom goes the dynamite!
You can see where my rear tires got traction after the oil
Also you can see the path of my front tire in the gutter
Too close
Bumper kiss, hard to believe there wasn't more damage considering both the bumper and wheel struck the curb
Sorry environment
Carnage I picked up from the road
This is the second time I used this tow truck driver, he assisted me last time when I snapped a rear axle. He pulled up saying, "what did you do THIS time?" lol
Dropping engine chunks everywhere
03-18-2016, 07:40 PM
#3
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My Ride: BMW 530xiT (E61)
Model Year: 2007
you are remarkably calm and collected for having that just happen. glad you were safe, looks like some serious work you've got ahead of you.
any preliminary guesses on what caused the oil pan to rupture?
any preliminary guesses on what caused the oil pan to rupture?
03-18-2016, 09:00 PM
#4
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Dropped the brush guard or whatever this thing is, found oil and metal.
No time to be sorry, time to clean and prep components for reinstall (if they are not too damaged).
Intake routing: I meant to do that when most of the components were removed for my VTT turbo-to-IC charge pipe a couple days ago but I forgot, thankfully the blown motor made it happen!
Carnage on the upper driver side. I am VERY lucky the fuel system was not compromised, it would have been bad news if high pressure fuel was spraying everywhere when my car was already on fire!
A look inside
You can see daylight from the other side....
Lower passenger side carnage. I have a uniquely shaped oil pan being a 535xi, but notice the vertical fracture...
Close up
...but wait, there's more!
Another view
From the driver-side, this front 1/2 of the oil pan is loose when I wiggle it, it almost completely blew off!
Notice the cigarette pack sized hole at the top of the photo...
Here is a look inside
Now the real carnage, the lower passenger side just below the turbos. The block and engine mount were almost completely separated.
Notice the bracket at the top and how much further the right side is protruding
A look inside
Another view
More shrapnel
No time to be sorry, time to clean and prep components for reinstall (if they are not too damaged).
Intake routing: I meant to do that when most of the components were removed for my VTT turbo-to-IC charge pipe a couple days ago but I forgot, thankfully the blown motor made it happen!
Carnage on the upper driver side. I am VERY lucky the fuel system was not compromised, it would have been bad news if high pressure fuel was spraying everywhere when my car was already on fire!
A look inside
You can see daylight from the other side....
Lower passenger side carnage. I have a uniquely shaped oil pan being a 535xi, but notice the vertical fracture...
Close up
...but wait, there's more!
Another view
From the driver-side, this front 1/2 of the oil pan is loose when I wiggle it, it almost completely blew off!
Notice the cigarette pack sized hole at the top of the photo...
Here is a look inside
Now the real carnage, the lower passenger side just below the turbos. The block and engine mount were almost completely separated.
Notice the bracket at the top and how much further the right side is protruding
A look inside
Another view
More shrapnel
03-18-2016, 11:25 PM
#6
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Location: Johns Creek, GA
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My Ride: 2008 528i, Dynamic Drive, Active Steering, Nav, Adaptive Xenon, Comfort Seats
Found your build on the e46 fanatics forums and have been following it since. Sad to see this 
. Maybe a v10 swap or a built n54 would be cool.
. Maybe a v10 swap or a built n54 would be cool.
03-19-2016, 05:26 AM
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My Ride: e30
Model Year: 2008
Man that sucks. Hopefully you can get back on the road soon. The bright side is that this didn't happen on the highway during heavy traffic where more damage could've been done to you and others. Also as others mentioned, it would be a good time to address any upgrades you might wanna do. I guess we're all lucky that replacement n54 motors are plenty and relatively affordable. Unfortunately I can't say the same about my Porsche.
I guess your misfortune will bring on more salivation from us in anticipation of what's next.
I guess your misfortune will bring on more salivation from us in anticipation of what's next.
