posted 05-01-2002 10:50 AM            

The car sits at the dealer today with an engine on order. They are waiting for some tools to be delivered to do a complete diagnosis (my service advisor stated "yours is the first engine that hasn't come apart, so BMW wants to study it carefully.")

This an SMGII car, so over-revving isn't possible in theory...
And in practice:

I took BMW M-school last week. We drove SMGII M3's flat-out to the redline in the first three gears, and I learned about "stacking" downshifts (i.e., downshifting one or more gears while at the redline, secure in the knowledge that the tranny won't shift until it is "safe" to do so).

We drove these card HARD for two days and nothing exploded.

I'll provide more information once I learn more...

posted 05-02-2002 07:41 AM            

This would give us a LOT more insight than "my 02" or "my 01" engine blew today. <description of noise> <what dealer is doing about it> etc etc etc.

Not raggin anyone... I just wanna know a few more details than anyone is providing. I could care less about the VIN.

posted 05-02-2002 10:50 AM              

quote:

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Originally posted by ufgator:
I can't believe the problems some people are having with driving the car hard! a 911 would never do this! A 333hp car for under $60k?...I knew it was too good to be true!...Perhaps BMW should have given us a bit of a bigger engine or a supercharger so we don't have to have one that's SOOOO highly tuned!!!!

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posted 05-02-2002 04:24 PM            

#1. Why was my first post "my engine blew"? I never felt I had anything to add to any of the threads before this. I had no unanswered questions and no brilliant insights, and I don't like to waste people's time with "hi, how are ya'" posts nor with "yeah, right" (or, "what an idiot you are for saying 'x'") comments.

It seems people are interested in this topic, so I provided my information. I also spoke up only after I saw several posts on several boards that went, "I saw an M3 engine blow up at TWS last Wednesday." I wanted to present the facts.

#2. Why don't people provide more/different information? I modeled my post after those I saw. I also said I'd answer any other questions I could. Specifically, I picked up my car on 1/21/02 and the dealer told me it was built right after Thanksgiving (I can't be more specific as the car is still at the dealer). My car has always used the newer oil (10W60, I think). My mileage was about 2,000. I have no idea what my MPG was (didn't buy an M3 for its gas mileage <G> ).

As to why people post their VINs...I don't know, but I did it. I have seen some acrimony over this issue on at least one board, and it appears some folks want to see a valid VIN as verification that the reported problem really happened.

You know, posting this problem doesn't help me at all. In fact, I might get BMW mad at me and/or reduce the trade-in value of my car by doing so. I decided that it was useful information that might help get this problem fixed for myself and for others.

Again, I'll be happy to provide whatever info I have that people want. Just ask.

posted 05-03-2002 07:40 AM            

Also, thanks for the information. Hmmm... with an SMG II equipped M3, over-reving the engine is not theoretically possible.

So, you have a November 2001 built car using the 10W60 Castrol Synthetic oil with around 2000 miles on the car.

You know, the break-in period specifies also specifies to keep the revs below redline until 3200 miles is achieved on the odometer.

I suppose what I am curious about is your max engine RPMs achieved at the time of its demise? Did SMG allow the engine to over-rev by selecting the incorrect gear?

posted 05-04-2002 10:12 AM            

A note that StoneWalk gave was that these cars have been on the road for 3-4 months. Later production date cars have not been on the road that time, and therefore not enough time may have elapsed for the problem to show.

Make any sense? I'm trying to piece it together.

posted 05-06-2002 07:54 AM            

The non-SMG trannies, on the other hand, are a different story with different outcomes. If you do mis-shift the car, and your revs scream to 8500 RPM in 0.5s to blow your engine, tough... it's your problem, I suppose.

There have been some manual 6-spds where the engine has blown, but the problem appeared to be some part issue, that MIGHT have been correct post Nov-Dec timeframe in 2001.

Only time will tell.

Personally, I'm really not worried. It's under warranty,

posted 05-06-2002 12:06 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by IwantaM3:
Well, the more I see these threads, the more the AMG C32 becomes the direction I will go with my $50,000. Wonder if there's a forum for AMG cars out there somewhere...

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ALL THE FOLKS THAT I KNOW (INCLUDING MYSELF) ARE VERY HAPPY WITH THE M3. THE MERCEDES WILL BE THE SAME. (THEY ARE BOTH HIGH TECH AND MECHANICAL) GO WITH WHICHEVER ONE THAT PUTS THE BIGGEST SMILE ON YOUR FACE>