Nightmare dealer situation (Updated)

[heinzboehmer]

heinzboehmer My guess is the engine shut off due to the oil pressure drop resulting in the VANOS system fixing the timing in a position where the engine could not continue running properly.

Sounds reasonable. Hopefully it's that and not excess friction in the bearings or cylinder walls

[GreyM340i]

Sounds reasonable. Hopefully it's that and not excess friction in the bearings or cylinder walls

Let’s hope.

[EthanolTurbo]

I would say in the worst case scenario, you could explain this situation to your insurance company and they would go after the dealership for the damage. Not sure about your individual policy but your insurance company should cover this sort of incident.

[GreyM340i]

I would say in the worst case scenario, you could explain this situation to your insurance company and they would go after the dealership for the damage. Not sure about your individual policy but your insurance company should cover this sort of incident.

Problem is dealership is saying the car is driving fine, sounding fine, and no codes or anything. Saying even their insurance wouldn’t cover anything because nothing is currently wrong and they would want a explanation. I’m screwed at this point. They still have the car for a few more days to drive it around and see if anything comes up.

[oceansize]

Problem is dealership is saying the car is driving fine, sounding fine, and no codes or anything. Saying even their insurance wouldn’t cover anything because nothing is currently wrong and they would want a explanation. I’m screwed at this point. They still have the car for a few more days to drive it around and see if anything comes up.

There is a good possibility nothing is wrong. Honestly, I would have wiped the dipstick oil off on my shirt before simply saying well I can't check the oil. This sucks and you didn't cause it, but I promise you I would have known the oil level before turning it over to anybody.

[GreyM340i]

There is a good possibility nothing is wrong. Honestly, I would have wiped the dipstick oil off on my shirt before simply saying well I can't check the oil. This sucks and you didn't cause it, but I promise you I would have known the oil level before turning it over to anybody.

I agree however I was confused why my car just shut off on the ramp so I tried to restart it and then quickly turned it off. It’s then I got worried and checked the oil from above and below and saw it coming out.

[Slideways]

Sounds reasonable. Hopefully it's that and not excess friction in the bearings or cylinder walls

This scenario could be comparable to the VANOS hard oil line cracking and sending oil at 107 Bar of pressure all over the engine. From what I recall, those guys simply installed a new VANOS line and their S54s were fine. Then again, I think that would result in a yellow oil light and not a red one.

[Kcalhoun27]

Why are you still entertaining this dealerships input? They pooched the easiest job available to them. The local bmw dealer to me couldnt fix a sandwich, sounds like these people arent any better.
Stop dealing with them, its a lost cause. Find an indy that isnt so useless, get your car fixed and go enjoy it. Those people are wasting your time, which is an even bigger problem.

[GreyM340i]

Why are you still entertaining this dealerships input? They pooched the easiest job available to them. The local bmw dealer to me couldnt fix a sandwich, sounds like these people arent any better.
Stop dealing with them, its a lost cause. Find an indy that isnt so useless, get your car fixed and go enjoy it. Those people are wasting your time, which is an even bigger problem.

I haven’t ever had a problem with this dealer servicing multiple cars over the years and don’t feel like I should pay for anything when they fucked up. I just contacted a attorney to see if I have a case and have that as a option if this goes south. To be continued.

[Kcalhoun27]

I haven’t ever had a problem with this dealer servicing multiple cars over the years and don’t feel like I should pay for anything when they fucked up. I just contacted a attorney to see if I have a case and have that as a option if this goes south. To be continued.

Fair enough. I hope you get a good result from this mess

[sapote]

The oil level sensor works by heating up a resistive element and measuring how fast it is cooled (by the oil). I suspect what is happening is that the lack of oil does not allow it to cool and the sensor ends up drawing enough current to blow the fuse..

Low oil or empty cannot short out the sensor and blow F30 fuse. Ex: I drained the oil during oil change, then just inserted and turn the ignition to ON to read out some diagnosis codes while waiting for the oil to drain, and this would blow the fuse?

working principle: heating time (high signal): longer heating time (80ms) when oil is cold. It means it takes 80ms for the heater to heat to a predetermined X temperature, and with hot oil it might take only 10ms to heat it to the same X temperature. During the heating cycle, the sensor circuit automatically turn off the heater when it reaches the X temperature. So by measuring the heating time (the high signal) the DME can use a look-up-table to convert the high signal time to oil temperature.

For the oil level, during the cool down cycle, the sensor measured the time needed to cool down the device to Y temperature -- higher level of oil cooled it down faster than less or no oil. So by knowing the cool time (250ms to 700ms), and based on the oil temperature, the DME can use the look-up-table to convert the time to oil level.

As I said before, in no way that BMW lawyers would allow the engineers to shut down the engine while the car moving because lack of oil. Too dangerous and bad idea.

[sapote]

The dealer said it has a safety system that will turn the car off if oil gets too low. Then the independent BMW shop said there is no such thing and they’re lying to me. Not sure who to believe.

Dealer was lying to you.

[sapote]

The oil level sensor works by heating up a resistive element and measuring how fast it is cooled (by the oil). I suspect what is happening is that the lack of oil does not allow it to cool and the sensor ends up drawing enough current to blow the fuse..

Since the heater only heat up to a specific temperature target only (for the high signal time), therefore even if zero oil the sensor is not heated up any higher than normal. Also, the heating current is a constant (constant heating power) in order to keep the high signal as a variable to only oil temperature and oil level. In addition, all heaters have positive coefficient: higher temp causes higher resistance and so lower current, not higher.

Easily be verified: during oil change, while waiting for the oil draining out, turn the ignition to ON (wanted to read out some trouble codes) and see if F30 fuse blew or not.

[sapote]

heinzboehmer My guess is the engine shut off due to the oil pressure drop resulting in the VANOS system fixing the timing in a position where the engine could not continue running properly.

The worst case is that with no oil pressure, both cams would be retarded max, but this is the same as running vanos cable disconnected and people had confirmed engine still running.

[Irhase46m3]

Hi There - Very sorry this is happening to you, i put myself in your situation and i would probably end up killing someone at the dealer. This is precisely when i would take my car to get serviced at the Rusnak dealer (recalls) my buddy was the only one touching the car (he now moved to texas, so no more dealer)

At the bare minimum i would suggest having the dealer warranty with their two year repair the entire engine and have it in writing. I would also suggest having bmwna involved as you have been purchasing multiple vehicles throughout the years and this might give you a bit of leverage.

Good luck.

Irhase46m3