BMW X5 E70 engine damage

fifth

Hi folks, looking for opinions / guidance here.

Put too much oil into my X5 E70, oil got through the system and clogged the catalytic convertor and wrecked the turbo, melted a lot of loom and the electronics aren't working any longer either. Garage said a lot of stuff had been melted, I haven't had a look in the engine bay yet.

They're saying €8,000+ for repairs and insurance won't cover it. Needs a new turbo, a new catalytic convertor and there may be ECU damage. I don't think the mechanic I took it to can fix the car. Engine and gearbox will need to come out he says. Should I contact BMW for another opinion?

The car is worth more than that at the moment and it's not bad enough to be written off (I think).

Yes I know it was stupid of me, the sensor was telling me there was no oil so I overdid it. Turns out the sensor was misreporting.

Please any advice or help would be appreciated.

Stallingrad

Jayzuz OP, nightmare! What is the value of the car? Going to BMW would be ruinously expensive, but your repair needs a BMW specialist, especially if the ECU is damaged.

fifth

Stallingrad wrote: »

Jayzuz OP, nightmare! What is the value of the car? Going to BMW would be ruinously expensive, but your repair needs a BMW specialist, especially if the ECU is damaged.

Bought it earlier in the year for around 17.5k so not sure but maybe 13-14k no idea really? It was in great condition and running very well prior to this.

Yeah it's a nightmare alright.

cml387

Repair cost seems like more than half the value of the car.
I'm afraid it looks like a write off.
My commiserations, it's really bad luck.:(

Blazer

cml387 wrote: »

Repair cost seems like more than half the value of the car.
I'm afraid it looks like a write off.
My commiserations, it's really bad luck.:(

Surely if the sensor was misreporting there's a case there? I hate these sensors from oil.

fifth

Garage said I couldn't get it written off because it didn't go up in flames or crash badly, is this accurate? I can't really afford the repair bill so the car is a dead weight to me at the moment.

fifth

Blazer wrote: »

Surely if the sensor was misreporting there's a case there? I hate these sensors from oil.

Would you think so? There's no BMW warranty on it - and my garage warranty ran out a few weeks prior to this. Sensors weren't covered anyway.

Stallingrad

Still, new cat, turbo and loom €8000? Seems excessive, but hard to know without knowing what is melted in the engine bay.

fifth

Stallingrad wrote: »

Still, new cat, turbo and loom €8000? Seems excessive, but hard to know without knowing what is melted in the engine bay.

Am going to head out tomorrow for a look at it as I haven't seen it since it was towed on saturday. I'll get a second opinion before I make any decisions.

fifth

Sorry to double post - mechanic says to get a fair assessment he needs to remove the gearbox to see how much of the loom is damaged. He says currently there's no ABS brakes etc and all the warning lights are on, no electrics.

300-400e to remove the gearbox and assess and then the same money to put it back in. He said maybe the damage wouldn't be too bad but he'd have to see first by removing the gearbox.

This is not really something I'd know lots about so wondering if it's worth doing that.

Stallingrad

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-X5-E70-40D-3-0-Diesel-Twin-Turbocharger-7808166-/322320292354?hash=item4b0bc95a02:g:LNgAAOSwgmJXzpdl

fifth

Stallingrad wrote: »

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-X5-E70-40D-3-0-Diesel-Twin-Turbocharger-7808166-/322320292354?hash=item4b0bc95a02:g:LNgAAOSwgmJXzpdl

Cheers, rang a guy I know who's a BMW enthusiast and he told me the garage are probably a bit out of their depth with this engine and he's going to check it over. He said 8k is outrageous and doesn't think the damage could be that bad.

Fingers crossed.

edit: actually Stalingrad it's a single turbo in mine, 3.0D

Special Circumstances

Blazer wrote: »

Surely if the sensor was misreporting there's a case there? I hate these sensors from oil.

I think that would be any reasonable person's expectation - if you only provide me with a oil level sensor and no dipstick, and the sensor lies leading to overfilling... this is surely not the owner's fault?

In my opinion this is an engineering fault - there should be some error checking / double checking of the oil level. If you don't provide a dipstick there should at least be some failsafe backup to the main sensor that kicks in when overfilled and informs you "actually I'm way above max, DO NOT START OR DRIVE".
It's not like it's the washerbottle level or something.

Stallingrad

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Genuine-Borgwarner-Turbo-For-BMW-Various-3-0LD-282HP-2006-2-Year-Warranty-/162210506738?fits=Car+Make%3ABMW%7CModel%3AX5%7CCars+Year%3A2007%7CPlat_Gen%3AE70&hash=item25c47fe7f2:g:aFAAAOSw8gVX4ZAh

fifth

Special Circumstances wrote: »

I think that would be any reasonable person's expectation - if you only provide me with a oil level sensor and no dipstick, and the sensor lies leading to overfilling... this is surely not the owner's fault?

In my opinion this is an engineering fault - there should be some error checking / double checking of the oil level. If you don't provide a dipstick there should at least be some failsafe backup to the main sensor that kicks in when overfilled and informs you "actually I'm way above max, DO NOT START OR DRIVE".
It's not like it's the washerbottle level or something.

Yeah definitely a fair point - so I was just told there is in fact a dipstick in there somewhere, but I wasn't able to find it myself. So I'd not have a leg to stand on with that angle unfortunately.

fifth

Well folks there's a twist in the tail.

Called a friend of mine who has a few BMW's and does all his own servicing and is generally a bit of a hobbyist BMW owner as well. He had an hour free to come and look at the car.

Got the key, turned it on. Engine was running fine, he said it sounded healthy, no smoke coming out of the exhaust now really the oil was burning off.

The problem is the loom going from the gearbox to the ECU had sort of melted.. so the car was throwing up a 'Central Electrical Failure' and the brakes didn't work and the window wipers wouldn't turn off. So there's some electrical issues.

Putting the car into drive and reverse worked fine. Taking the car to a guy who knows his way around BMW electronics (have used him before) tomorrow - the cost should hopefully be much more reasonable now like 500-600e if i'm lucky.

Edit: I should add that I confronted the original garage owner - about his 'catastrophic engine damage' comment. He said that honestly he didn't really know what he was looking at and would have recommended just writing the car off. It seems I have been very lucky on this occasion, not out of the woods just yet though.

adocholiday

You'll want to have all of the seals checked for damage. Overfilling the oil can put pressure on the seals causing them to break/bust/whatever terminology you want to use. Car could be leaking oil all over the engine bay then. I don't know much about the rest of the problems but I'd still be reluctant to even turn it on until it's had a full oil change, the correct level restored and all seals checked.

fifth

adocholiday wrote: »

You'll want to have all of the seals checked for damage. Overfilling the oil can put pressure on the seals causing them to break/bust/whatever terminology you want to use. Car could be leaking oil all over the engine bay then. I don't know much about the rest of the problems but I'd still be reluctant to even turn it on until it's had a full oil change, the correct level restored and all seals checked.

Hi you are correct, so the oil was drained and it's at the correct level now. Tomorrow all the seals are being checked as there may be a leak somewhere - there is oil in the engine bay that needs to get sorted also. Once the electrics are sorted I'm getting the oil changed and a full service done on it. Thanks for the post.

Henry Ford III

Moral of this story is that it's always good to get an expert second opinion. I hope it works out ok O.P.

delly

I really hope you get out of jail on this op and the repair cost is low. The feeling of doing something like this is gut wrenching, so fingers crossed.

fifth

delly wrote: »

I really hope you get out of jail on this op and the repair cost is low. The feeling of doing something like this is gut wrenching, so fingers crossed.

Car is in with the electrics expert now - on first look he reckons yes we can repair the loom and clear the faults. Just a waiting game now. Will report back!

sc86

great news

cant beat typical irish attitude of blame somebody else
op puts to much oil in the car, which can happen anybody
people try say its the sensors fault so somebody else should be responsible
laughable

Wossack

delighted for ya OP!

heart sank when I was reading page 1 - fuggin useless original garage! Wish they'd just admit they're out of their depth at the outset

vintagevrs

I had an issue with the oil level sensor this week on an F10 520d. The car was reporting too much oil and get it looked at. Car had recently been serviced by a reputable indy. Called him and he said take it down and he will have a look but it's a bit of a spin for me so thought I would have a go myself. I believed that the engine had no dipstick as I had read that somewhere online (apparently applies to petrol models but the 520d does have a dipstick). Anyway, I drained a little oil and rechecked computer, still reading high. Did this 3 times until I had drained so much oil I knew it couldn't have been overfilled that much. Computer still saying too much oil. Then I thought I would look for a dipstick as it would be silly not to have one, and sure enough there is one hidden at at the rear. Now showing less than min oil whilst the Idrive said I had too much.

So turns out there were two dipsticks, the one in the engine and the eejit taking oil out of an engine that was perfectly fine only to put it back in


I won't be trusting the IDrive again for oil level.

seagull

vintagevrs wrote: »

So turns out there were two dipsticks, the one in the engine and the eejit taking oil out of an engine that was perfectly fine only to put it back in

You left out the third and fourth. The piss poor designer and the half witted programmer.

Blazer

sc86 wrote: »

great news

cant beat typical irish attitude of blame somebody else
op puts to much oil in the car, which can happen anybody
people try say its the sensors fault so somebody else should be responsible
laughable

well if you don't have a dipstick and you're relying on a sensor to tell you the oil levels...and then it reports it incorrectly it's the op's fault?
Go away and don't back in here again.

Special Circumstances

Blazer wrote: »

well if you don't have a dipstick and you're relying on a sensor to tell you the oil levels...and then it reports it incorrectly it's the op's fault?
Go away and don't back in here again.

That poster comes out of the woodwork every now and then for a sly dig, never seen them to contribute anything else, laughable indeed.

Voodoomelon

The iDrive oil reading on my E66 is at least 20% off by comparison to the dipstick, so I never pay attention to it.

wersal gummage

I have a bmw, an old e60.

I drive flashed up and told me oil level low and to top up. I rang the garage (main bmw dealer where it has been serviced only a few weeks beforehand) as this seemed odd. He said to top up a bit so I did. A few weeks later, I drive asks for another top up. Brought it to a garage, they manually checked for oil level and it was fine (a bit high due to earlier top up). Sensor problem. Stupid bmw design and I would never trust an I drive again on oil level, I could easily have caused damage like happened here. People blaming the car owner are being unreasonable I think.

Special Circumstances

Are problems more prevalent in very cold weather with those sensors btw???

fifth

Hi all, sorry to bump but I have an update.

Finally got the car back today. The garage repaired the damaged wiring, which restored the ECU connection and reset the warnings. They checked the DPF and the CAT, remapped the engine and provided me with a second spare key.

The car is running beautifully this evening. I've had it checked over by my friend and he's very happy with it.

I am so relieved to have it back and I'll be treating it like a baby from now on! The remap is very nice also.

Edit: Came to 530e
Double edit: I'll be getting all the sensors checked but I've located the dipstick and will be using that in future.

Atlantic Dawn

Not too bad of an outcome all things considered.

Voodoomelon

Great result. So what are you going to spend the €8,000 on?

Gumbo

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Great result. So what are you going to spend the €8,000 on?

Dropping a 40d engine into it!