S54 Oil Pump Failure Frequency

[Mangozac]

It seems that the discussion has switched from the oil pump to the bearing shells. Replacing the bearing shells at a specific interval is pretty much an accepted necessity, not so for the S54 oil pump.

 

[beanie]

To give you an idea; when I had my oil pump fail and as a result some damage to my engine; the repair bill was £7.000 to have everything that was affected brand new again…

It's not something you really hear of fortunately but I'm interested to know if you had any symptoms leading up to this. Flickering oil light, grumbles on startup or was it a sudden failure?

 

[RedUn]

Lots of high mileage e46 M3's about used by normal people and not enthusiasts? I'm sure most of them didn't change the oil pump or bearings?

Is it really an issue or is it a forum issue?

 

[srhutch]

Lots of high mileage e46 M3's about used by normal people and not enthusiasts? I'm sure most of them didn't change the oil pump or bearings?

Is it really an issue or is it a forum issue?

I think a lot of factors cone into play. I'm not going to worry about it. I do 2k per year, always make sue she is warmed up before hitting 3k. Don't track or stress the engine, and only on 47k.

But if it does happen at some point it does and I will stump up. Had the car 5 years next month and not paid any warranty so from that point of view I'm quids in. I can also just lay the car up if I have to as its a third car.

 

[mmm-five]

I certainly can't claim my car has been a garage queen, and it has done some serious road & track miles, but it's always maintained over & above the minimum required by the handbook, and always warmed up fully before getting thrashed (and is one of the reasons we stay 10 miles away from the 'Ring entrance).

At the age of my car, none of these scare stories are something I'm really worrying about, as the cost for anything major will just mean it'd be uneconomical to repair mine, so will scrap mine and buy another (or buy an M2/M3/M4/Z5M).

The only concern I'd have buying another, would be that I'd have no real idea how the car was treated and it would come down to how much trust I get from the seller.

I'm still on original rod bearings, camshafts/followers, oil pump - although I have preventatively replaced the belts, cooling system (water pump was fine at 120,000 miles - but was replaced anyway). Diff is being replaced after my accident (2nd one in 150,000 miles), so the rear axle has more or less been swapped out.

 

[Franzino]

To give you an idea; when I had my oil pump fail and as a result some damage to my engine; the repair bill was £7.000 to have everything that was affected brand new again…

It's not something you really hear of fortunately but I'm interested to know if you had any symptoms leading up to this. Flickering oil light, grumbles on startup or was it a sudden failure?

Sudden failure without warning...the oil pump was unable to do it's job properly and then the engine got damaged... If you see what the price is of an oil pump I will change the oil pump (+ bearings) again when I hit 200.000km to keep on the safe side. Cheap engine insurance....

 

[Viren]

'Engine insurance' items do add up to quite a lot on a s54

Rod bearing 1000
Vanos 800
Oil pump xx
Engine mount bolts 400
Other stuff as well

But hey ho it's all worth it for the smiles

 

[Franzino]

'Engine insurance' items do add up to quite a lot on a s54

Rod bearing 1000
Vanos 800
Oil pump xx
Engine mount bolts 400
Other stuff as well

But hey ho it's all worth it for the smiles

If you do this every 100.000km this is expense that is not done every year.... But everybody does whatever he wants...

 

[Viren]

'Engine insurance' items do add up to quite a lot on a s54

Rod bearing 1000
Vanos 800
Oil pump xx
Engine mount bolts 400
Other stuff as well

But hey ho it's all worth it for the smiles

If you do this every 100.000km this is expense that is not done every year.... But everybody does whatever he wants...

I like to stay on the safe side so have been getting preventative maintenence, thing is there are so many things which can be seriously worrying however only happen to a very small number of people so like you said each to their own. I like to drive hard so don't mind spending a bit to have some piece of mind. BTW probably the best and cheapest preventative maintenance is to let things warm up fully before getting into the fun zone on the rev range.