CornishRob
Senior member
So just to finish this off for anyone looking, what sort of costs should this come to at a decent Indy, parts and labour, assuming no damage found?
Please have your rod bearings checked...
- Thread starter ga41
- Start date
I feel for you man. Have you sorted it out yet? My mechanic is still trying to find the best deal for parts and/or engine. He does have a couple of leads that will probably pan out this week.. Been Zed-less for almost 3 months now. Sounds far too long but remember this isn't the UK or the rest of the Europe for that matter. Things run differently here, parts supply is extremely thin and local used parts market for our cars is extremely small.
You are unlucky man!! 
Who is your mechanic, he is in Limassol right? I think there is someone who specializes in BMW, is it him? I hope you get it sorted soon at a reasonable cost.
Who is your mechanic, he is in Limassol right? I think there is someone who specializes in BMW, is it him? I hope you get it sorted soon at a reasonable cost.Beedub said:
Given the vast majority of rod/bearing loadings are inertial to begin with, the extra torque at high rpm from the supercharger is probably negligible.
You could do the maths but it's probably 20% tops.
Has anyone ever found a link with this issue with the running in oil period/change? Maybe a long-term oil circulation issue? Are all the cars that suffer sitting in garages over winter not being used or are many of them daily cars?
I know it's a fast car, but lots of these fast road car engines struggle with sustained oil pick-up at high lateral g's... did they change anything for the M3 CSL wrt oil pickup!?
Given the amount of mega mileage M3's you see around these days it's clearly not a major issue generally, so it makes you wonder if it's something to do with the original running in or how the cars are used as they get older?
Hmmm
Dave
ga41 said:
I think we are talking about the same guy as I heard they moved. My uncle used to service his BMW there and I took him there a few times and I heard he is regarded as the best mechanic around from many people. I am not entirely happy with my mechanic even though he is not bad so I will consider him during my next service schedule.
ap208_1988 said:
Well Marios (the boss/head mechanic) is very knowledgeable and always willing to explain and show you what's wrong with the car. I'm very happy with them especially after dealing with 3 different mechanics here in Paphos. As i said though they're more expensive than others and are usually pretty busy, might be worth booking an appointment. If you ever decide to give them a try ask for Marios and tell him Giannis with the Z4M sent you there. He knows me very well by now!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/MAN-Automotive-Engineering-LTD/527935083938429Mr Whippy said:
Mine is not a garage queen and is not stored during the winter. Used everyday but I think the engine's proclivity to chew through bearings must've been exasperated by my very short commute. The oil often doesn't have time to even get up to temperature. And NO I do not rag it when cold but anyway it still mustn't be good for it...
As for the running in you might very well be correct. My car was BMW approved used bought from a dealer when it was at 24k and then imported to Cyprus. I don't have the service book with me but from what i remember all services done on time including during my ownership, the thing is i simply do not know if it was abused on those first 24k miles or not. Who knows?
Cheers !! He is now in the same area as my mechanic from what i see. I don't like my mechanic because he is always too busy and every time lefts something I want to do undone so maybe I will have the same problems 
The first 24K was the risk of buying used and unfortunately for you it did not go well. The majority of cars here are used and imported from the UK and maybe that is the reason so many face engine problems as for the majority of cars the history is unknown. Everytime I visit my mechanic I see a Mercedes (usually) with a blown engine. However, your case is different as it was an approved used which should have been maintained properly at least. And the millage was low. Mine was also imported with low millage from the UK when it was ~1.5 years old , hopefully i will have better luck.
Keep us posted on the updates and the cost when it is finished .
The first 24K was the risk of buying used and unfortunately for you it did not go well. The majority of cars here are used and imported from the UK and maybe that is the reason so many face engine problems as for the majority of cars the history is unknown. Everytime I visit my mechanic I see a Mercedes (usually) with a blown engine. However, your case is different as it was an approved used which should have been maintained properly at least. And the millage was low. Mine was also imported with low millage from the UK when it was ~1.5 years old , hopefully i will have better luck.
Keep us posted on the updates and the cost when it is finished .
As a precaution, I had mine checked and replaced at 50k miles when I was having some other work done. They were pristineStevenH72 said:
I've forgotten what it added to the bill, but it wasn't a huge cost (at an Indy).My car has been heavily tracked and driven hard on the road, but I routinely perform oil changes between schedule services and always use the recommended oil. How much effect that has had on protecting the bearing shells, I don't know....maybe I've just been lucky!
BMWZ4MC said:As a precaution, I had mine checked and replaced at 50k miles when I was having some other work done. They were pristineStevenH72 said:
My car has been heavily tracked and driven hard on the road, but I routinely perform oil changes between schedule services and always use the recommended oil. How much effect that has had on protecting the bearing shells, I don't know....maybe I've just been lucky!
I think as mentioned earlier, the amount of E46 M3's that have cracked on to 150k miles, they can't be a disaster waiting to happen, but I'm a worrier, so any preventative maintenance I can bear in mind I will...
I've only got 26k on the car at the moment and it has reportedly never been tracked, I shouldn't have anything to worry about, but if I'm feeling particularly flush one month maybe I'll get it looked at..."a stitch in nine" as they say.
Small update, after lots of searching my mechanic is still waiting on a quote for a crankshaft from the UK and for the possibility of oversized rod bearings from a US company..The list of things we now need is 1 connecting rod, new bearings and the crankshaft OR if he can source 0.50 oversized bearings, just the one rod and the oversized bearings as the crank will be polished/turned and reused.
Also they've found that the head gasket was torn between cylinder 1 and 2! It wasn't completely torn but it was torn between the rubber layers of the gasket itself. Don't know how to explain it any better... Anyway the car wasnt raising its temperature before i took it in but then again i hadn't tracked it or driven it very hard for several months before the big boom.
My mechanic (probably the most experienced with M cars in Limassol if not in Cyprus) said that it's the 4th car he's seen this head gasket failure! My mates CSL had this too but his was between cylinders 5 and 6. His car only raised temperatures on track, daily driving was fine. They'd changed thermostats, bigger radiator but no luck. Pressure tested the cylinders and no problems but when they still removed the gasket even though it seemed OK in first inspection once he ripped the top and bottom layers of the gasket he saw that it was torn on the inside. Same thing on mine. At least we caught that one early and will be replaced and the bolts uprated to ARP items.
Also they've found that the head gasket was torn between cylinder 1 and 2! It wasn't completely torn but it was torn between the rubber layers of the gasket itself. Don't know how to explain it any better... Anyway the car wasnt raising its temperature before i took it in but then again i hadn't tracked it or driven it very hard for several months before the big boom.
My mechanic (probably the most experienced with M cars in Limassol if not in Cyprus) said that it's the 4th car he's seen this head gasket failure! My mates CSL had this too but his was between cylinders 5 and 6. His car only raised temperatures on track, daily driving was fine. They'd changed thermostats, bigger radiator but no luck. Pressure tested the cylinders and no problems but when they still removed the gasket even though it seemed OK in first inspection once he ripped the top and bottom layers of the gasket he saw that it was torn on the inside. Same thing on mine. At least we caught that one early and will be replaced and the bolts uprated to ARP items.