Matt Coyne @ Kassel Rod Bearing (UPDATE Miss-Installed Sprocket Tore into Oil Pan)

[01SG]

So they installed a part incorrectly, it damaged the engine, and they failed to tell you about their mistake while allowing you to drive around damaging the engine more? That's extremely negligent and you have every right to be furious. And it sounds like they gave you the run around on top of it, what's with all those excuses? How can you not be in contact at any and all times in this day and age?

I would call the attorney and not settle for anything less than a full rebuild or replacement engine. The fact that they knew they damaged the engine and then let you drive off as if it were fine is unforgivable. It's bad enough to make such a mistake, it's another thing to cover it up.

Reputations are fickle and not worth much weight. There's a "specialist" shop by me that told me I needed new tie-rod ends because they were seized and they couldn't set the toe, meanwhile the control arm bushing was completely blown out from them driving it over a curb. And they let me drive away with it that way.

[Slideways]

Just to mention one more thing, the oil pump sprocket chain, even when installed correctly, slices into the front oil pump pickup tube. That creates some debris, but it is caught by the filter and flushed out with the oil. It looks similar to the marks on your oil pan.

[Slideways]

Sorry to hear about the troubles with the engine. If it helps at all, I'd say that the filter did its job by catching a large amount of debris and the score marks on the bearings look similar to the old ones. The new bearings actually do not look terrible. Any pictures of the crank? I'd say that they need to flush out the system with an oil change or two and replace the oil pump with a new one, as well as rod bearings (IDK about main bearings as that is a full rebuild job). The pan looks fine. Hopefully, they can offer some guarantee and extend their service warranty. All that being said, I understand your frustration and concern, and I can see why you are hoping (and/or wanting) a full rebuild or replacement engine. The engine has 110k on it and it might take quite a few more miles until a full rebuild is required. Maybe something can be arranged to do the full rebuild now rather than later.

This guy made the same mistake with the oil pump sprocket and I believe he flushed the oil a few times. Maybe try and contact him to ask how many miles he has on it now. Best of luck.

[mcfreid]

Nov 26th Update

Yesterday Matt texted me that during the initial rod bearing replacement performed by his team back in March, Matt's technician installed the oil pump sprocket backwards. As a result, the sprocket tore into the oil pan, causing the aluminum shavings to spread throughout the engine. I was not told about this earlier - yesterday was the first time I learned that this happened. Upon realizing their mistake, they reinstalled the sprocket and cleaned out the oil pan. However, as I discovered when I changed the oil, left over metal shavings were still throughout the oil system. Upon opening the engine yesterday, Matt found all the bearings to be scored with metal from the initial damage to the oil pan from the miss-installed oil pump sprocket.

Needless to say, I am furious. Typing this, my fingers are twitching in anger. Is it not reasonable for me to expect to be notified about the miss-install of the oil pump sprocket and the damage done to the oil pan way back, half a year ago now, when the service was done? Instead I had to find out because I discovered oil shavings during its oil change.

Matt told me he would be replacing the rod and main bearings, will polish the crank shaft, and will replace the oil pump. I am incredibly concerned that this is not sufficient. What about the valve train, the pistons, the piston seals, the cylinder liners, etc? I understand that aluminum won't necessary score the hardened steel or iron parts - but couldn't aluminum shavings still block oil passages or cause uneven wear of the steel-oil-steel interfaces if it were to get into the system - which it has?

Matt pushed back against replacing anything other than the bearings and the oil pump when I told him my concerns. I'm not an expert - but I am losing confidence in trusting his guidance here. Especially since I was not told me about the miss-install of the oil pump sprocket and the scoring to the oil pan until I found the result of that mishap myself. Matt also pushed back against replacing the oil pan - which is superficially damaged on the inside, but damaged nevertheless in a way as a direct result of the technicians mistake.

Maybe my emotions are running high and I'm being unreasonable... I don't know. Disaster scenarios 1 year, 5 years, or ten years down the line keeping running through my head as a result of this damage. That's my mindset right now. Having a hard time seeing the light at the end of this tunnel right now. This has not been an confidence-inspiring journey from start to finish (see the other threads and posts I've updated on over the last 9 months as a result of this initial service back in February/March).

I hate to call out an overall reputable and well-regarded e46 m3 enthusiast and master technician such as Matt - but at the same time I'm at a loss of what to do now. I'm left quite confused actually at the mismatch between my fantastic experience with Matt 2 years ago when he bulletproofed my RACP and my experience this year). A community member here reached out to me on advice regarding my recommendation and and I expressed the same confusion. I'm left feeling like either I'm being just purely unreasonable - or something has changed on Matt's side.

It certainly has not helped that I have not even received a basic sincere apology from Matt in what went wrong. Or even Matt giving an acknowledgement of the fact that I had to find out on my own by inspecting the oil when I changed the oil and apologizing for that... That's of course not at all being the crucial or necessary - but I feel like it's certainly adding to my sense of overwhelming frustration over these last few months.

Matt will be replacing the bearings, polishing the crank, and replacing the oil pump - as I said - but I am incredibly incredibly concerned that months, years, or a decade down the line I'm going to find some other issue as a result of these mishaps and us not tearing down the whole engine to look for other areas of impact. Am I being unreasonable here?

[mcfreid]

Where did the metal flakes come from

Uncertain - will know once Matt opens up the engine, likely next week. I'll update here as soon as I have more info to share.

[Kdubski]

Where did the metal flakes come from

[mcfreid]

UPDATE: Matt just got in touch with me and we are working it out. Current pickup date it is now Tuesday. Will update here as the issue is resolved.

UPDATE (11/11/20): Car has been picked up and is now at the Coyne|Kassel Performance - quite relieved

Many thanks to everyone who reached out to me with advice.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[yhp2009]

Ive also heard only good things about Matt Coyne and was planning on getting my rod bearings done there. I hope you are able to resolve this with Matt amicably

[Fresh1179]

That is unfortunate what you have been going through. I think that the shop has a large enough client base that they should work with you amicably to resolve the matter, and I have personally had work done from them that I am satisfied with.

Please check you PM’s with respect to knowledge of your legal remedies as you referenced bringing in your lawyer.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mcfreid]

Dec 2nd Update
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Matt has agreed to tare down the engine top to bottom, clean and inspect, and rebuild. Absolutely relieved. Will continue to update here. Thanks again everyone for the support!


Nov 26th Update
-----------------------

Yesterday Matt texted me that during the initial rod bearing replacement performed by his team back in March, Matt's technician installed the oil pump sprocket backwards. As a result, the sprocket tore into the oil pan, causing the aluminum shavings to spread throughout the engine. I was not told about this earlier - yesterday was the first time I learned that this happened. Upon realizing their mistake, they reinstalled the sprocket and cleaned out the oil pan. However, as I discovered when I changed the oil, left over metal shavings were still throughout the oil system. Upon opening the engine yesterday, Matt found all the bearings to be scored with metal from the initial damage to the oil pan from the miss-installed oil pump sprocket.

Needless to say, I am furious. Typing this, my fingers are twitching in anger. Is it not reasonable for me to expect to be notified about the miss-install of the oil pump sprocket and the damage done to the oil pan way back, half a year ago now, when the service was done? Instead I had to find out because I discovered oil shavings during its oil change.

Matt told me he would be replacing the rod and main bearings, will polish the crank shaft, and will replace the oil pump. I am incredibly concerned that this is not sufficient. What about the valve train, the pistons, the piston seals, the cylinder liners, etc? I understand that aluminum won't necessary score the hardened steel or iron parts - but couldn't aluminum shavings still block oil passages or cause uneven wear of the steel-oil-steel interfaces if it were to get into the system - which it has?

Matt pushed back against replacing anything other than the bearings and the oil pump when I told him my concerns. I'm not an expert - but I am losing confidence in trusting his guidance here. Especially since I was not told me about the miss-install of the oil pump sprocket and the scoring to the oil pan until I found the result of that mishap myself. Matt also pushed back against replacing the oil pan - which is superficially damaged on the inside, but damaged nevertheless in a way as a direct result of the technicians mistake.

Maybe my emotions are running high and I'm being unreasonable... I don't know. Disaster scenarios 1 year, 5 years, or ten years down the line keeping running through my head as a result of this damage. That's my mindset right now. Having a hard time seeing the light at the end of this tunnel right now. This has not been an confidence-inspiring journey from start to finish (see the other threads and posts I've updated on over the last 9 months as a result of this initial service back in February/March).

I hate to call out an overall reputable and well-regarded e46 m3 enthusiast and master technician such as Matt - but at the same time I'm at a loss of what to do now. I'm left quite confused actually at the mismatch between my fantastic experience with Matt 2 years ago when he bulletproofed my RACP and my experience this year). A community member here reached out to me on advice regarding my recommendation and and I expressed the same confusion. I'm left feeling like either I'm being just purely unreasonable - or something has changed on Matt's side.

It certainly has not helped that I have not even received a basic sincere apology from Matt in what went wrong. Or even Matt giving an acknowledgement of the fact that I had to find out on my own by inspecting the oil when I changed the oil and apologizing for that... That's of course not at all being the crucial or necessary - but I feel like it's certainly adding to my sense of overwhelming frustration over these last few months.

Matt will be replacing the bearings, polishing the crank, and replacing the oil pump - as I said - but I am incredibly incredibly concerned that months, years, or a decade down the line I'm going to find some other issue as a result of these mishaps and us not tearing down the whole engine to look for other areas of impact. Am I being unreasonable here?











Nov 11th Update: Car has been picked up and is now at Coyne|Kassel Performance - quite relieved
Nov 8th Update: Matt just got in touch with me and we are working it out. Current pickup date it is now Tuesday. Will update here as the issue is resolved. Many thanks to everyone who reached out to me with advice.

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Original Post Below
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TLDR: Matt Coyne replaced rod bearings and bulletproofed the vanos as preventative maintenance on an 06 m3 with 110k miles. After the 1250 mile break in period, I changed the oil and found significant metal content in the oil and filter (https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...ng-replacement). Matt told me he would flatbed trailer the car back to his shop in mid/late Oct. In mid October he texted me that his trailer rig was broken and he would be fixing it over the next week. Since Oct 30th he has been unresponsive to all communication.

• In March 2020, Matt Coyne @ Coyne|Kassel Performance replaced the rod bearings and bulletproofed the Vanos as part of a 100k-mile preventative maintenance service on my 06 m3
  • see https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...el-performance
• Between March and Sept the car was in and out of Matt's shop a few times as there was an intermittent creaking/popping noise which ended up being the FCABs
  • see https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...g-and-knocking
• On Sept 26th, I finished the 1250 mile break-in procedure for the rod bearings and performed the car's first oil change since the service in March. Metal particles were visible in the oil pan. I inspected the filter and found flattened chunks of metal, in addition to small glittering metallic dust throughout the filter.
• I contacted Matt immediately and on Sept 29th Matt agreed to flatbed trailer the car to his shop. He mentioned he was on vacation that week and it would likely be a couple weeks before he could pick it up.
  • see https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...ng-replacement for more details on the metal found within. I've also copied pictures below
• From Sept 29 through Mid October, I texted back and forth with Matt trying to narrow in on a pickup date.
• On Oct 21st I texted Matt once again, trying to narrow in on a pickup date.
  • Matt told me then that his tow rig as broken and he would need the weekend (Oct 24th-25th) to get it working and that he could pick it up mid/late the following week.
• On Oct 29th (Thursday) at 11:10am I texted Matt asking which day we were shooting for. No response.
• On Oct 30th (Friday) at 12:08pm I texted Matt if tomorrow (Saturday) works for him.
  • He replied at 9:21pm that he had not had a chance to fix his X5 and that he was hoping to have it fixed by tomorrow (Oct 31st).
• Since Friday, Oct 30th - Matt has been completely unresponsive to all texts, calls, emails, and Facebook messages.
  • I have texted him roughly once every other day trying to reach him. I've called him multiple times throughout this last week at different hours, leaving voicemails periodically. I've also called Kassel Performance directly with no response, and left a voicemail. I've emailed matt, cc'ing Kassel performance. And I've messages Matt on FB. He has not responded to any of them.
  • I have saved pictures of all of the texts and communication I've had with Matt, but uncertain of whether I should share those here since they are private communications and I don't have Matt's permission.
• It is now Sunday, November 8th, over a week since I've last heard from Matt and over 2-3 weeks since he initially planned to pickup the car to diagnose and fix whatever went catastrophically wrong during his service work.

Obviously I'm quite concerned at this point. If anyone has been in touch with Matt (or anyone else from Kassel, such as Jim), I could really use your help in reaching him. I've worked with Matt before, back at his old shop, when he reinforced the same m3's RACP and working with him then was nothing but fantastic. I know he has a great reputation and good feedback from others here as well.

My overall experience thus far working with Matt has been fairly positive, so I was a bit nervous creating this post as I didn't want to impact his reputation - but I feel like I'm out of options short of bringing in our lawyer. My only guess then is that there is a personal emergency - but still not sure why he wouldn't be able to text back once letting me know...

Looking for advice from the community here and hoping that someone might know what is going on with Matt / Kassel Performance, or help me reach him.


-----PICTURES-----

Metal In Oil/Filter





Blackstone Analyses at 110k (immediately prior to Rod Bearing Replacement)



Used Rod Bearings during the service work