[muf]

I got the letter as well. And I totally understand the fact that you HAVE to BREAK IN THE CAR AGAIN. I cant however say that im happy about it.

Scott

[David L]

Does anyone know the location of the oil pump on the S54 engine? I did a 1200 mile oil change and doubt that my bearings are at risk. I'd rather not crack open the engine if the oil pump replacement can be done from the "outside".

[davidw333]

Has anybody have this work done and is driving the car now? Does it feel any different? I know you probably can't really tell because you can't rev it past 5500rpm yet. But is their any minor sh*t like squeaky noises or vibrations anywhere?

Thanks.

[DaveM3CA]

I took mine in on Monday for the work. I will be picking it up today and will write back with the results later this week.

I asked a lot of questions and talked to the lead mechanic. The engine is not removed, but the front suspension is lowered to allow them to get to the bearings and oil pump. He and the service advisor guaranteed there would be no damage to the rest of the vehicle. They (Rusnak in Westlake, CA) have done 3 before mine so I feel fairly confident they know what they're doing. I was more worried about taking the whole engine out and that causing damage to other parts of the car.

[Ninjaboy]

They should do a complete engine swap with a *NEW* updated engine IMHO. You don't want a bunch of hobos in the service department cracking open your new engine and playing frankenstien. I can see if you're at 90k or something but at 9k? or 900 miles? New engine nothing less.

[David L]

I'll be interested to know how it goes. The two dealers I live closest to have not yet done one of these. I did find out that the oil pump is internal (perhaps in or near the oil pan). I also found out that the crankshaft main bearings are loosened to lower the crankshaft to get the the connecting rod bearings, but not replaced. They are only inspected. I wrote a letter to Hans Dunzl Engineering Director at BMW asking why they don't recommend replacing both the connecting rod and main bearings while they are at it. After all, all the bearings were subjected to the same conditions. I'll post his reply when I receive it.

[DaveM3CA]

I got my car back yesterday but haven't driven it much yet. Everything was in top order as they said it would. They cleaned it up (detailed it I believe), filled the gas tank, and changed the oil during the procedure. In talking with the service advisor after the work was done, I got a copy of the work instructions (9 pages). In them, it says that the engine does not come out (good), the bearings and oil pump are replaced with extra care not to scratch the bearing surfaces, they will fill the gas tank (so bring it in empty if you have a choice), and the oil is changed (again, bring it in midway through your service interval for a free oil change if you can). It also said that the replacement kit is VIN specific. Once you call for an appointment, they order YOUR parts. It sounded like they are custom for your engine rather than a way to track the work by VIN number.
They didn't reset the service indicator. They put about 8 miles on the car which probably explains why they put gas in it as part of the service. I believe the idle rpms are a little higher than they used to be. It's about 800 rpms after warmup, now.
I didn't get anything extra for my inconvenience, but they did a great job and covered the cost of a rental car for the three days it was there. Man is it hard driving a Chevy Malibu after owning an M3. The good thing is, I'll have it broken in before summer starts

Cheers

[davidw333]

Originally posted by DaveM3CA
I got my car back yesterday but haven't driven it much yet. Everything was in top order as they said it would. They cleaned it up (detailed it I believe), filled the gas tank, and changed the oil during the procedure. In talking with the service advisor after the work was done, I got a copy of the work instructions (9 pages). In them, it says that the engine does not come out (good), the bearings and oil pump are replaced with extra care not to scratch the bearing surfaces, they will fill the gas tank (so bring it in empty if you have a choice), and the oil is changed (again, bring it in midway through your service interval for a free oil change if you can). It also said that the replacement kit is VIN specific. Once you call for an appointment, they order YOUR parts. It sounded like they are custom for your engine rather than a way to track the work by VIN number.
They didn't reset the service indicator. They put about 8 miles on the car which probably explains why they put gas in it as part of the service. I believe the idle rpms are a little higher than they used to be. It's about 800 rpms after warmup, now.
I didn't get anything extra for my inconvenience, but they did a great job and covered the cost of a rental car for the three days it was there. Man is it hard driving a Chevy Malibu after owning an M3. The good thing is, I'll have it broken in before summer starts

Cheers

Hey Dave, is the idling rougher than before? I have had no cold start problems, so I might opt to not change the software.

[DaveM3CA]

It's hard to say if the idle is rougher. I never had the cold start problem either, but it was rough at times before the change. I don't think it ever idled as smoothly as it feels when revving, and it doesn't seem to be any different now.
Since the tech notes say the s/w upgrade is required, I'm not sure if they'll let you choose not to get that part of it. Good luck though.
Knowing the actual changes they made would help make a better decision. I'd hate to learn that they detuned the engine just to fix a problem I didn't have in the first place. If they just raised the idle speed, that's fine with me. I wonder if Dinan would know. They certainly have control over all the same parameters and probably have contacts within BMW.

[AtlM3Guy]

I got a letter last week from BMWNA informing me that they had found the problem (as mentioned earlier) and that my engine was not effected. On Monday, I then took my car in for 12000 miles service, got a call in the afternoon that they were going to have to replace the entire long block due to a recall related problem part.

sigh...