The Saga of Trigger's S54....
- Thread starter Ed Doe
- Start date
Having read through this,
Very interesting points made by many,Inc op.
Nice write up indeed,Ed
I don't think its Scare mongering,more an outline of your unfortunate experience,as others do on here.
Alot of forums are same,for various cars.
People more often post things about issues/problems they have than just saying " my car is great,and runs fine", lol.
While I get what some people say,that track use may contribute, but so would spirited driving on UK roads,which Many many M owners on here do,by their own admission..... myself included.
The cars were after all designed with spirited driving in mind.
My car always gets warmed up properly,and isn't revved anything but gently,until the oils properly warmed up to temperature.
It does get Driven quickly quite often,alot of the 5k miles I put on it each year,on average,driven spiritedly,and revved up in the higher revs,as that's where max power is.
I know lots of M owners who drive their cars in the same way on roads as some would on tracks, without having any issues.
I also know some well,like Tony (M5), who have had a couple of engine failures....but as Andy said elsewhere,his first engine was Low mileage,and remains unclear,after alot,at the time,of in depth research by BMW to find out the cause and to fix it,but instead,they gave up,and renewed his engine under Warranty.
His 2nd one died at a Ring track day,but it had done over 140,000(mainly motorway) mileage,and with frequently changed oil,etc.
I don't think 140k is too shabby.
One if the big issues with these engines is,that over the years,alot of BMW dealers or "Specialist" BMW Indies, have unfortunately Not serviced them correctly,or done Valve clearance work/shim adjust/replacement properly,if at all.
Which may also contribute to their failure??
It would surprise you how many Specialist BMW Indies I spoke to,here in Scotland and in England,who either said they don't do Valve clearances ,or Shims,or it didn't need doing on our engines at every Inspection service,
Or , Who said they could do it the same.day you drop it off (not so,as it's needed the night before,ao as to be.fully.cold).
Anyway, good write up Ed ,and for potential owners, don't be putt off buying one, unless you don't budget around 1k per year for service and repair costs.(and have some cash in reserve,if needed).
Theses cars are not for everyone,as has been highlighted on here often,and why some examples charge hands regularly.
Others of us have them for a while,many years in some cases.
They are superb cars,but don't buy blind.
Hence why this forum is so helpful at times still
Very interesting points made by many,Inc op.
Nice write up indeed,Ed
I don't think its Scare mongering,more an outline of your unfortunate experience,as others do on here.
Alot of forums are same,for various cars.
People more often post things about issues/problems they have than just saying " my car is great,and runs fine", lol.
While I get what some people say,that track use may contribute, but so would spirited driving on UK roads,which Many many M owners on here do,by their own admission..... myself included.
The cars were after all designed with spirited driving in mind.
My car always gets warmed up properly,and isn't revved anything but gently,until the oils properly warmed up to temperature.
It does get Driven quickly quite often,alot of the 5k miles I put on it each year,on average,driven spiritedly,and revved up in the higher revs,as that's where max power is.
I know lots of M owners who drive their cars in the same way on roads as some would on tracks, without having any issues.
I also know some well,like Tony (M5), who have had a couple of engine failures....but as Andy said elsewhere,his first engine was Low mileage,and remains unclear,after alot,at the time,of in depth research by BMW to find out the cause and to fix it,but instead,they gave up,and renewed his engine under Warranty.
His 2nd one died at a Ring track day,but it had done over 140,000(mainly motorway) mileage,and with frequently changed oil,etc.
I don't think 140k is too shabby.
One if the big issues with these engines is,that over the years,alot of BMW dealers or "Specialist" BMW Indies, have unfortunately Not serviced them correctly,or done Valve clearance work/shim adjust/replacement properly,if at all.
Which may also contribute to their failure??
It would surprise you how many Specialist BMW Indies I spoke to,here in Scotland and in England,who either said they don't do Valve clearances ,or Shims,or it didn't need doing on our engines at every Inspection service,
Or , Who said they could do it the same.day you drop it off (not so,as it's needed the night before,ao as to be.fully.cold).
Anyway, good write up Ed ,and for potential owners, don't be putt off buying one, unless you don't budget around 1k per year for service and repair costs.(and have some cash in reserve,if needed).
Theses cars are not for everyone,as has been highlighted on here often,and why some examples charge hands regularly.
Others of us have them for a while,many years in some cases.
They are superb cars,but don't buy blind.
Hence why this forum is so helpful at times still
Great write up EdDoe, can’t believe it’s taken me this long to read it. Not going to weigh in on any parts of the argument, as there’s no need. It’s useful information for everyone, even if it just means they ask for the followers to be be checked at a valve clearance inspection.
Most importantly, good luck with the baby
Most importantly, good luck with the baby
Thanks for sharing your story Ed. As you know, currently going through a similar journey of throng to diagnose so the pictures and breakdown were super helpful for someone new here. Also very interesting as an engineer.
I think I've been quite naive in assuming I could budget £1k a year on maintenance costs for my Z4MR!
I think I've been quite naive in assuming I could budget £1k a year on maintenance costs for my Z4MR!