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

[Icecream]

Universal truth right here. I don't care who you are or what you have done, that first start..... pucker pucker pucker.

Tell me about it lol. But the feeling 60 seconds later when everything is normal is great! Side story, when I did my S85, 5 seconds after start up I get a loud internal type knocking/rattling noise from the front end, my heart sank. I look in front of me and see my M3 in ten million pieces waiting for a rebuild and immediately questioned my choices leading up to this point. After collecting myself from the pool of self pity and ordering new leather for the drivers seat, I checked everything externally (brackets, lines etc) to no success. Half a day later, pondering what the heck happened and about to open the bottom end, I see a can of CHF11s sitting in the corner. F, forgot to fill the power steering fluid which was the source of the knocking. Felt like I won the lottery .

[oceansize]

What a wild ride this must have been. Like many, precisely the reason ive been so inclined to DIY everything i can, after following a similar experience with my E36. Although, nothing can prepare you for the anxiety of getting ready for your first start up after doing RB's yourself for the first time. Never have I puckered so hard. "Did i press the bearing halves in all the way? Was that really proper torque procedure? Did I put oil-pump pick up tube o-ring back on?" lol

Universal truth right here. I don't care who you are or what you have done, that first start..... pucker pucker pucker.

[Thrifty S50]

What a wild ride this must have been. Like many, precisely the reason ive been so inclined to DIY everything i can, after following a similar experience with my E36. Although, nothing can prepare you for the anxiety of getting ready for your first start up after doing RB's yourself for the first time. Never have I puckered so hard. "Did i press the bearing halves in all the way? Was that really proper torque procedure? Did I put oil-pump pick up tube o-ring back on?" lol

[IMOLA3]

If you want something done right, do it your self.

The holy grail of comments.

[mcfreid]

So far so good, haven't had any issues since the rebuild was completed. No flakes or metal dust in the oil filter. The oil did look quite dark after only 1k mile oil change. I'll be sending out a sample to blackstone on the next change.

[r4dr]

I’m familiar with Group 2. That’s all I will say…

[bingmobo]

A year later - how did this all turn out? How's the rebuilt engine?
I too am having a similar situation, albeit without the giant metal pieces, just 'glitter' flecks in the oil.
Had the "Big Three" done a few months ago and then have been driving it EVERYWHERE since (warming it up properly every time of course) - have put nearly 10k miles on it, changing the oil at 1k, 3.5k, and 5k - most recently - and finding glitter flecks in the oil...
Needless to say I'm perplexed. I could see a small amount of material in the oil after the first change but the third? I'm concerned that the rod bearing bolts (ARP) may not have been torqued to spec causing excessive play or excessive wear. Could that be a possibility? I only think this because while I love the folks who do the work at this shop, the tech who did the work forgot a WHOLE lot of things that I discovered after driving away - clutch sensor so my cruise control wouldn't work, exhaust heat shield clanging around, and the underbelly shroud was very loose.
I already emailed them the situation but they're unbelievably slow to respond. Anyone here deal with Group 2 Motorsports near Seattle, WA? lol.

[Arith2]

as a bmw maintenance tech, i have to say that any damage that was done to your car from faulty repair work done by matt's shop should be covered to a certain extent by his shop. i've seen 15 year master techs forget to Tighten to spec oil filter caps and oil drain plugs, were human, we make mistakes. However, that's where the shop should come in and fix those mistakes as an internal ticket. Hope you get your issue resolved.

The issue lies in where OP found the problem, not the shop. Then the shop proceeded to give him too much information. It wasn't catastrophic failure and the shop didn't give him any push back. It was resolved and then some.

[JudahJD904]

as a bmw maintenance tech, i have to say that any damage that was done to your car from faulty repair work done by matt's shop should be covered to a certain extent by his shop. i've seen 15 year master techs forget to Tighten to spec oil filter caps and oil drain plugs, were human, we make mistakes. However, that's where the shop should come in and fix those mistakes as an internal ticket. Hope you get your issue resolved.

[Arith2]

The original bearings and oil pump replacement was all that was needed for this failure. This is a perfect scenario of a shop giving the customer too much info, pissing them off all over again, and costing themselves thousands. I'm glad your car is running and I agree we should just do everything, within our means, ourselves. We also need to be good customers. I would've been pissed too but your engine didn't need to be rebuilt. There is no way metal, in the pan, bypassed the entire oil system and got into the crankshaft. This is why the bearings looked fine. I do understand that this is an initial reaction so I really do have sympathy for you. Can I say I would've done any better? Probably not so take don't this as that. This is a good learning experience for us to be better customers when we don't have the means to DIY. Time is in short supply. It's really good you shared the experience because it is definitely a learning experience. It also helps to have outside perspective when your emotions are high.

I'm glad this whole situation is over. I think this was an honest mistake by an honest shop that has hopefully been rectified. You will probably have some metal in the filter the first oil change. Also remember that with a new oil pump is a new pick up tube. The gouge cause by the chain will have to happen again so this will also cause metal. This will be caught by your oil filter.

[eastcoastM3]

I've been meaning to post an update on here for some time, but wanted to be as sure as I could that there wouldn't be any more surprises after this update. Still not quite at that level of confidence yet (I haven't sent in an oil analyses yet so I'll likely update once more after my next oil change). But I'm feeling pretty good at this point with the car.

The engine rebuild is complete and the car is sitting in my garage right now running strong. There were a few minor hiccups, power steering leaks and such, after the engine was rebuilt. A few revisits later and now the leaks seem resolved. I did one early oil change after 2-3k miles post rebuild and the oil looked clean. So far so good!

The next oil change will be in a couple thousand miles (for my own sanity), so I'll likely update here once I complete it and receive the oil analyses from blackstone.

It hasn't been an easy journey by any means, but I'm happy that it looks like things are resolved and I can put this all behind me. I'm not sure what the take away from this should be. If I were reading this thread, I suppose the takeaway I would have is to be hesitant letting anyone but yourself working on your car. Normally I would have followed that advice anyway, but at the time I was unable to find a single weekend to replace the rod bearings and was avoiding driving my car as a result. Looking back, I'm not sure what I can recommend to anyone to avoid situations like this.

FYI, just for full transparency, the check engine light did come on after driving the car around 1k miles post rebuild. The code was related to the o2 sensors. I'm guessing from running the engine after the rebuild, or just from age, they got contaminated. Not too big of a deal, and I'll be replacing the o2 sensors soon. I also briefly thought that car was burning oil since I seemed to be filling it up half a quart roughly every thousand miles. That may have been just from differences in measuring the oil (whether the car was warm or cold) and also from the oil leaks post rebuild that I mentioned earlier. But that also now seems to have gone away and the oil level is stable.

any updates since? Just seeing how the car is and overall experience with Kassel during the engine rebuilt and throughout

[bigjae46]

Ever since the debacle with my supercharged 330 blowing up engines…I’ve learned to do everything myself. On my track car, I’ve done all of the work except for installing the windshield and rear window. Includes roll cage, wire harness thinning, aero installation, engine replacement just to start a long list.

Not always feasible…and not always cheaper DIYing. You have to buy, borrow, or rent tools.

Every tech makes mistakes. With a profit motive, techs are moving faster and may not double check things. There is a cost to that as you found out. Knowledge is one thing. But the best techs also take pride in their work. They expect all of their work to be top notch.

The lesson learned? It is hard to find good skilled craftsman.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[lvm3sm46]

It sucks how hard you had to try to get Kassel to come through. Such a let down.

I'm glad its sorted but what a pia it must have been.

[DropTopKingM3]

I’m glad to hear it all worked out. In my opinion the o2 sensor issue could be an isolated incident but cheap enough to replace. They also would’ve needed to get changed sooner or later anyway.

[mcfreid]

I've been meaning to post an update on here for some time, but wanted to be as sure as I could that there wouldn't be any more surprises after this update. Still not quite at that level of confidence yet (I haven't sent in an oil analyses yet so I'll likely update once more after my next oil change). But I'm feeling pretty good at this point with the car.

The engine rebuild is complete and the car is sitting in my garage right now running strong. There were a few minor hiccups, power steering leaks and such, after the engine was rebuilt. A few revisits later and now the leaks seem resolved. I did one early oil change after 2-3k miles post rebuild and the oil looked clean. So far so good!

The next oil change will be in a couple thousand miles (for my own sanity), so I'll likely update here once I complete it and receive the oil analyses from blackstone.

It hasn't been an easy journey by any means, but I'm happy that it looks like things are resolved and I can put this all behind me. I'm not sure what the take away from this should be. If I were reading this thread, I suppose the takeaway I would have is to be hesitant letting anyone but yourself working on your car. Normally I would have followed that advice anyway, but at the time I was unable to find a single weekend to replace the rod bearings and was avoiding driving my car as a result. Looking back, I'm not sure what I can recommend to anyone to avoid situations like this.

FYI, just for full transparency, the check engine light did come on after driving the car around 1k miles post rebuild. The code was related to the o2 sensors. I'm guessing from running the engine after the rebuild, or just from age, they got contaminated. Not too big of a deal, and I'll be replacing the o2 sensors soon. I also briefly thought that car was burning oil since I seemed to be filling it up half a quart roughly every thousand miles. That may have been just from differences in measuring the oil (whether the car was warm or cold) and also from the oil leaks post rebuild that I mentioned earlier. But that also now seems to have gone away and the oil level is stable.