2008 BMW M3: engine failure

Filed Oct 8, 2017 · Engine · 101,000 miles · GA

Failed bearings engine had to replace engine happened while driving on the highway

Filed Jun 1, 2017 · Engine · NY · crash

I was driving my car at bout 1am on a clear 45 degree morning. I was driving at about 54 MPH on a freeway. I heard a noise come from my engine, it sound like metal being grind. My vehicle then shut off I lost power steering causing me to run into a ditch. When I finally came to a stop I noticed the vehicle will not re start. I called a tow truck. When the truck moved my car I noticed a lot of engine oil under the car. I had the truck towed to a bmw mechanic. The mechanic told me " one of your rod bearings broke sending a rod through your oil pan". And I have tiny pieces of metal all inside of my engine. He also told me that I will need a new engine.

Filed Jan 6, 2017 · Engine · 53,000 miles · CA

Engine failure resulting in loss of power at speed while driving. Engine failed because of rod bearing issue which is well known in these engines.

Filed Aug 18, 2016 · Engine · 139,000 miles · NC

The 2008 me has the s65 engine which has been heavily reported to have rod bearing failures due to poor design of the factory rod bearings. My car engine has seized due to this and I am looking at from bmw $30,000 plus in repairs!! The new bmw m3s had an updated rod bearing material which prevented it from failure.

Filed Dec 14, 2015 · Engine · 85,000 miles · CA

Driving on the highway in 4th gear, the motor seized. The piston rod snapped and blew aluminum parts through the oil pan.

Filed Aug 13, 2015 · Engine · 96,500 miles · CA

After informing bmw na many times of the widespread rod bearing problem on the s65 motor that can cause engine failure and seizing of the engine at speed they refuse to assist me in this matter. This wide spread bearing issue has affected 100's if not 1000's of these engines. After my engine failed bmw refused to good will me a engine for small unrelated misc. Things for example exhaust and suspension. I've had the bearings replaced by a reputable indyshop that has done many rod bearing jobs on my identical car type. I have failed original bearings in hand. After picking up my car from this shop my engine seized on the middle of the road. Although this shop performed the work properly ultimately this engine would have seized either way. I am now out a few thousand dollars from the bearing job and I will need a new engine. My complaint is to bmw north america in arbitrarily denying my claim when they are aware and I have proof that the engines that they produced from the factory have insufficient clearance to lubricate and witch causes failure to cars between 25,000 miles or 110,000 miles. There is a registry online of many many m3's with this engine with the same engine failure. If my engine were to have seized on the freeway this may have caused a serious crash as well as a possibility of serious bodily harm including death. To further clarify engine failure was imminent even before this indy shop performed this work. I am now without a car and I work. I am now forced to buy a new engine for over $15,000 witch is approx. The value of the car or sell the vehicle for a substantial loss. Bmw should have done the right thing here but instead denied my request and pushed me out the door. Bmw na is not taking responsibility for this when they should. If you look into the previous model m3 with s54 engine there was a major rod bearing recall. Same issue here. Thank you

Filed Jul 20, 2013 · Engine · 74,598 miles · KS

The engine in my bmw died at 74,598 miles, no warning lights and no weird noises. It died when I was driving the speed limit (65) on the highway doing nothing out of the ordinary, wheels locked up in traffic so I had to push in clutch. It was a very life threatening situation because a big rig almost crashed into my car. I coasted to the side of the highway to check it out: the engine was not overheating and there was no fluids on the ground. As I tried starting the car up again I could hear the fuel pump turning on and the starter motor clicking, but the engine wouldn't turn over. I got the car towed to the dealership and a few days later it was made known to me by the dealership that my engine was seized and that I would have to pay $19,000 for a new engine and $6,000 for the labor to install it. I made the dealership aware that I kept up with the maintenance, and that nothing was indicating to me that my engine was about to fail. I instructed the dealership to contact bmw north america (bmw headquarters for north america) for a "good will" replacement, but my request was denied. This problem is directly related to the rod bearing inside the engine, which gave out because there is no adequate lubrication to them, I heard of these rod bearings giving out on the s65 engine all over web forums, multiple people have had this happen to them. During my warranty period I did let them know that my car would go in limp mode (low power mode on engine, max speed about 40mph) and I was hearing ticking noises (dealership said this was normal) that were not present when the car was really new (the first 5000 miles I put on the car). The dealership and bmw north america don't care about these problems which were present during my entire ownership of the car (in warranty period) and they denied the free replacement because my car is now out of warranty.

Filed Aug 11, 2008 · Fuel system · 8,000 miles · FL

Cruising on the highway, the vehicle starts misfiring and loses power. Afterward the engine is running rough and continues in "engine failure" mode with reduced power. Problem diagnosed as high pressure fuel pump failure. Fuel pump replaced three times in the last month and keeps failing with the same symptoms. The vehicle is 2008 bmw 335i.