2008 BMW M3: engine knocking or ticking

Filed Feb 4, 2018 · Engine · 102,000 miles · CA · fire

I've been driving bmw for over 12 years. My absolute favorite car to drive. I've had my m3 for a year. My dream car. I took the upmost care of her. Coming home from work late monday driving around 65-70 miles per hour. I heard a loud noise from my car and an engine malfunction notification on my car. Almost hit an 18 wheeler as my car lost control before I swerved into a ditch. Had it towed to my mechanic where he confirmed a piece of a rod poking out the lower part of my block. I never thought the rod bearing failure would ever happen to me! It happened. I currently have no car and I still make payments. I have to get a ride to work which I hate. Bmw should be held responsible for all s65 motors that have these no clearance rod bearings. This was my baby. Now she'll never be the same again.

Filed Dec 28, 2017 · Engine · 99,183 miles · OR

Connecting rod bearing failure while driving. Starting making a loud ticking sound from the bottom end of the motor.

Filed Dec 26, 2017 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · 80,100 miles · NC

I have a bmw e92 chassis. I have spoken to many, many owners of the same bmw and they have said the same thing. The throttle body actuators are defective on these bmws. When the malfunction takes place the bmw goes into limp mode. The car is not able to rev above 3k RPM nor go a speed of over 55 MPH. This is incredibly dangerous on the interstate when your car does this. I did not feel safe as well as many people I've talked to and this has happened to them. It is a known issue on the e92 bmw around 79,000 miles. The bmw m3 of this year is very popular and there are many owners. The rod bearings also go out in this car and create the same safety issue. I believe the throttle actuators and rod bearings going bad and putting the car into limp mode is an incredibly dangerous issue. I have called bmw na and they will not look into them as they are not an 'active recall'.

Filed Nov 15, 2017 · Engine · 60,000 miles · WI

I was driving from work and heard a loud metal knocking noise coming from the engine compartment. I immediately stopped and called a tow truck. The car was towed to kummrow automotive. They diagnosed that this is a catastrophic rod bearing failure. How could this happen in a car with a little over 60,000 miles? I knew about the potential rod bearing issue and the class action suits, but since this issue affects less than 1% of the vehicles and since I bought a vehicle that was never tracked, babied all of its life, I felt confident I wasn't going to be one of the unlucky ones. I am extremely disappointed in the way I was treated by bmw na after so many years of being a loyal customer and a bmw enthusiast. The s65 (m3) and s85 (m5) engine rod bearing issue has been very well documented over the years. I reported the issue to bmw na and corresponded with you and scott kuchta via email as well as on the phone. It's been going back and forth for over a week. I spoke with scott on monday and he informed me that bmw na is not aware of any rod bearing issues with my engine and that since the car wasn't maintained at the dealer, bmw na won't be able to offer any assistance. The car was serviced at bmw of sterling in va all of its life exclusively from 2008 through 2013. The second owner had the car from 2013 through 2017 and put 3,000 miles on it. That's it! So, he did one oil change. The car was babied all of its life. As far as the rod bearing issue, a simple search for the engine (s65) or the model number (e92 m3) generates pages and pages of information on the subject. Any bmw licensed or independent mechanic is very well aware of this issue. This is very disappointing and discouraging that bmw na wouldn't stand up to its reputation and do the right thing here. This is a very well-documented problem with the s65 engine. I am hoping bmw will do the right thing here.

Filed Oct 31, 2017 · Engine · 95,000 miles · NJ

Connecting rod bearing failure. Well maintained at dealership and certified indy shop. Crankshaft was heavily damaged because lack of oil due to incorrect bearing and connecting rod clearances from factory. Engine is unrepairable. Check by bmw and refuse to assist in replacement. Car was stationary and had been idling for 1 min.

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 Dec 11, 2016 · Engine · 105,654 miles · NM

Rod bearing failure! Today while entering the freeway I heard a loud boom followed by the engine turning off. I towed the car home and after inspection I found the cylinder 8 piston has blown through the block. The car has just broke 100k miles,has always been serviced on time and showed no prior indication of any issues. I had this car in the shop for a check up from bmw's "master tech" with no notes of any noises or issues.

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 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 Aug 13, 2015 · Engine · 96,000 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 bmw m3. While driving approximately 50 MPH, there was an abnormal noise coming from the front of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the rod bearing and the engine needed to be repaired. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was then taken to an independent mechanic where the rod bearings were replaced. The contact mentioned that while driving approximately 30 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was taken back to the independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 96,000.

Filed Jun 25, 2015 · Engine, Steering · KY

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 bmw m3. While driving at 60 MPH, the contact heard a sudden knocking sound and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle restarted, but the noise recurred. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed with rod bearing failure and the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the issue. The VIN and failure mileage were unavailable.