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Originally Posted by e30lover318i
Wow that sounds like how I drive “the one time you beat on it” haha ! Were getting any bottom end noise prior that you could hear??
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Not so coincidently, about 4-6 weeks prior I was chatting with a friend of mine who was outside on the passenger's side and I was sitting in the driver's seat. He said "your engine sounds funny". It sounded fine inside, and he's not mechanically inclined, so I didn't give it much thought. (I kind of wrote it off to the boost leak/AC was running/engine was hot from a long idle.) I don't remember being outside of the car while it was running after that, but I sure remembered his words after it seized.
So, the good news is, I guess there were minor warning signs right before it happened. (With COVID, I am not driving much, so that incident was likely within 150 miles of the seizure.) The likely bad news is, what can you do at that point? (Trade it? Drive very cautiously and preemptively replace the engine? Make it somebody else's problem?
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I've taken to testing my oil at every oil change since an additional $30-$40 bucks is worth some insight (and I'm not driving/changing oil often). Had the first change on the new block and all looks good. My N54 E93 looks really good too for her mileage @ 98K. Blackstone makes it pretty easy and they are fairly quick to analyze and report.
I still love the X3, not so much the original N55, but I think with the upgrades, it's a good engine and package. Being somewhat mechanical and willing to work on it myself makes it bearable (and fun) to own. I could have done without the engine swap and DV problem, but glad we have these boards and Youtube as a source of information.