[Maletone]

Just wanted to put this out here in case anyone has had or seen anything similar. Was driving my new 2022 X3 M from MA to NY. Suddenly 3/4 of the way through the trip I got hit with "Drive train malfunction" and told to drive but carefully. Rough idle however and it was shaking as it drove. The engine had 500 (Yes, 500) Miles on it.

Got it to a service center ASAP in NY and lo and behold after their techs and BMW looked at it, it seems the current theory is that one of the lifters gave out completely, which ended up causing damage to the engine. So now I've been told the engine will likely need to be replaced. I love the car, but wow, really unfortunate to see this happen with less than 1k miles on it.

[M3Pilot09]

Call BMW NA Consumer Relations and make them get you a newcar. Substitution of collateral, etc

[Transfer]

Yeah that's a new car situation IMO. It happens but you shouldn't have to deal with the fallout starting that early on.

[BigJazz21]

Wow that's not good, really sorry to hear that, I'd reject the car.

Mine has done 850 miles now and always had a ticking noise on idle from day 1 which I'm concerned about. Did your engine sound normal before this happened or did it also sound a little noisy too on idle?

Hope they look after your best interests

BR

Jared

[allinon72]

Originally Posted by BigJazz21

Wow that's not good, really sorry to hear that, I'd reject the car.

Mine has done 850 miles now and always had a ticking noise on idle from day 1 which I'm concerned about. Did your engine sound normal before this happened or did it also sound a little noisy too on idle?

Hope they look after your best interests

BR

Jared

Keep in mind these engines are very ticky/noisy when idling, especially if cold.

[Bimmersandmopars]

I'm not surprised to hear this. The 2021 X6M Competition we had for 1400mikes prior to trading in had a very distinct erratic tic from the top of the engine while cold. It was definitely an isolated rocker/ lifter tick and I repeatedly told the Service Advisor this isn't right. Yes it would majority go away as the engine got warm, but it was very distinct and not like a traditional cold injection tick or valve clatter.

Their response to me when I wanted it looked out "we can't do anything unless it gives us a code".

Upon trade-in for the M8 GC I brought it in and it had time to sit cold. Got a new service Advisor and cranked for him and the main M tech there at the Houston dealership.... they both acknowledged yes that's not right and they needed to get it looked at.

They sold it 2 days after I traded it in as a CPO for $116k and I doubt they ever addressed the item.

But the S63 is definitely more quiet at idle than the S58 so I could see how it'd be easy to miss. Being a diesel nerd myself, I love me some tick lol.

[suby01]

OP do you have the repair paperwork you can share?

[Maletone]

Nothing yet on the repair paperwork. Right now the engine is currently being torn down to investigate what exactly happened. The lifter theory seems to be the current guess between both BMW and the service dept but I'll share the exact cause and damage when I know for sure along with repair paperwork when I get everything. The service dept is working with BMW engineers currently to figure out the exact cause and point of failure.

[Bimmersandmopars]

Originally Posted by Maletone

Nothing yet on the repair paperwork. Right now the engine is currently being torn down to investigate what exactly happened. The lifter theory seems to be the current guess between both BMW and the service dept but I'll share the exact cause and damage when I know for sure along with repair paperwork when I get everything. The service dept is working with BMW engineers currently to figure out the exact cause and point of failure.

Do they have a crate motor on the way? Their investigation shouldn't be your delay. I had one of my Hellcats have a factory blown motor and while it's rare for that platform to have a failure as such they found metal shavings in the oil control valve and Chrysler green lighted a full warranty replacement for the motor and everything that fluids touched under the hood such as oil coolers/ radiators/ hoses, ect. Over $36k in warranty work. Same should be done for you.

[LeopardM3]

Originally Posted by Maletone

Nothing yet on the repair paperwork. Right now the engine is currently being torn down to investigate what exactly happened. The lifter theory seems to be the current guess between both BMW and the service dept but I'll share the exact cause and damage when I know for sure along with repair paperwork when I get everything. The service dept is working with BMW engineers currently to figure out the exact cause and point of failure.

Appreciate the updates, and good luck! If you can't get the car replaced, then honestly, the chances of a brand new engine failing like that are extremely low. But, they can happen across any manufacturer. You'll get a brand new heart and should be comfortably on your way.

I know it REALLY sucks when it happens to brand shiny new car that you love and were so excited to drive, but take solace in knowing it's really rare.

Good luck, and keep us posted!

[Maletone]

Update for everyone, they found out exactly what happened. A lifter malfunctioned completely (but luckily didn't outright break in half or anything) which resulted in a valve never closing and just being open constantly. They went through multiple test with BMW, inspected with a bore scope and there appears to be no damage to the rest of the engine, but they are doing a full replacement of the entire cylinder head due to the failure to ensure that this won't happen again. The old cylinder head is also being sent back to BMW to investigate why this even happened in the first place.

It'll take a while to get the new parts unfortunately, but I'm not on the hook for any of this due to warranty which is fantastic. To answer for everyone else, there were no odd sounds or otherwise before this happened. No ticks or other oddities. It was the first time I had taken it on an extended trip however. Usually the car was out for no more than an hour around town etc. This was a 4 hour constant drive. The malfunction came on while I was cruising around 65 MPH - 70 MPH after accelerating onto a highway a few minutes earlier and didn't go away after a restart.

Unfortunate that this happened, but at least this seems to be the best scenario and an entirely new engine won't be required. I'll keep this updated but for right now it seems 7 - 10 business days to get the parts required and then 1-2 days labor.

[BigJazz21]

It’s great they found the culprit, now if it were me I’d insist on either a new car, or they replace what is called the long block which is a complete engine.

Reason for this is if they are saying somehow a valve was stuck open it may have made contact with a piston and then bent the valve which is why it remained stuck open. I’m not privy to whether the S58 is an interference engine or not, meaning if valves can contact pistons if their correlation to the crank shaft is changed usually from a cam belt snapping on a none timing chained engine like the S58.

When the piston makes even slight contact with the valve in that cylinder the crank can warp even very minutely but in the long run can spin a shell bearing and destroy the engine. Also changing the head will involve major surgery on the engine as multiple seals will need to be changed, head gasket etc and the turbos will need to be re primed usually so an awful lot of potential future problems.

I’d ask for a long block to be safe which is a full new engine minus the bolt on parts like turbo, etc but a sealed unit. On 500 Miles that’s more than reasonable to ask of BMW.

Hope it all works out

Jared

[SteveinArizona]

Originally Posted by Transfer

Yeah that's a new car situation IMO. It happens but you shouldn't have to deal with the fallout starting that early on.

Normally, I would agree with you but the chance of getting a new car without all the missing parts from the pandemic parts shortage is low. So assuming the OP likes his car, he is better off getting the new engine put in.

[LeopardM3]

Originally Posted by BigJazz21

It’s great they found the culprit, now if it were me I’d insist on either a new car, or they replace what is called the long block which is a complete engine.

Reason for this is if they are saying somehow a valve was stuck open it may have made contact with a piston and then bent the valve which is why it remained stuck open. I’m not privy to whether the S58 is an interference engine or not, meaning if valves can contact pistons if their correlation to the crank shaft is changed usually from a cam belt snapping on a none timing chained engine like the S58.

When the piston makes even slight contact with the valve in that cylinder the crank can warp even very minutely but in the long run can spin a shell bearing and destroy the engine. Also changing the head will involve major surgery on the engine as multiple seals will need to be changed, head gasket etc and the turbos will need to be re primed usually so an awful lot of potential future problems.

I’d ask for a long block to be safe which is a full new engine minus the bolt on parts like turbo, etc but a sealed unit. On 500 Miles that’s more than reasonable to ask of BMW.

Hope it all works out

Jared

This is a good point. I'd try and replace the whole block.

[sittingmongoose]

Things like this happen. Failure early on is somewhat common as it just comes down to one faulty part that was bad when it got put in. It would be far more concerning if it failed after like 5k-10k miles.

Gotta remember it's a miracle that they can put together cars with 1000s of parts and none of them can be defective. So it's certainly possible to have 1 part slip through the cracks.

[heavyD^2]

Originally Posted by BigJazz21

It’s great they found the culprit, now if it were me I’d insist on either a new car, or they replace what is called the long block which is a complete engine.

Reason for this is if they are saying somehow a valve was stuck open it may have made contact with a piston and then bent the valve which is why it remained stuck open. I’m not privy to whether the S58 is an interference engine or not, meaning if valves can contact pistons if their correlation to the crank shaft is changed usually from a cam belt snapping on a none timing chained engine like the S58.

When the piston makes even slight contact with the valve in that cylinder the crank can warp even very minutely but in the long run can spin a shell bearing and destroy the engine. Also changing the head will involve major surgery on the engine as multiple seals will need to be changed, head gasket etc and the turbos will need to be re primed usually so an awful lot of potential future problems.

I’d ask for a long block to be safe which is a full new engine minus the bolt on parts like turbo, etc but a sealed unit. On 500 Miles that’s more than reasonable to ask of BMW.

Hope it all works out

Jared

It should be easy to identify if the valve contacted the piston in any way especially on a low mileage engine like this.

[x3mcer]

Did you purchase or lease your X3M?

There are a few threads about Drivetrain Malfunction.

Have you escalated your case? Hopefully you will be treated like a valued owner. It’s very early for a significant failure like this.

[robopp]

New car is very unlikely. I'd push for an extended warranty on the motor and drivetrain.

Another data point on the S58 - I've taken four trips from MA to SC and back and one from SC to FL. All trips in one push (ie - 13 hours of straight driving aside from quick bathroom and gas stops) and have had zero issues with my X3MC. IMO, the lifter was defective and would have failed regardless if you went on a long trip or not.

Good luck with the repair!

[KHATTI]

Originally Posted by robopp

New car is very unlikely. I'd push for an extended warranty on the motor and drivetrain.

Another data point on the S58 - I've taken four trips from MA to SC and back and one from SC to FL. All trips in one push (ie - 13 hours of straight driving aside from quick bathroom and gas stops) and have had zero issues with my X3MC. IMO, the lifter was defective and would have failed regardless if you went on a long trip or not.

Good luck with the repair!

Why do you say that?

I had a bubble develop on my dash at 980 miles and in order to repair it they had to remove half the interior. I demanded a new F97 and BMW NA obliged….

[robopp]

Originally Posted by KHATTI

Why do you say that?

I had a bubble develop on my dash at 980 miles and in order to repair it they had to remove half the interior. I demanded a new F97 and BMW NA obliged….

I guess I could be wrong, but sounds like they've identified the issue and are replacing the entire head assembly. If they were going to replace the motor then I would think they would be more likely to replace the entire car, but a head swap is pretty basic. Just my opinion.

[allinon72]

Originally Posted by robopp

I guess I could be wrong, but sounds like they've identified the issue and are replacing the entire head assembly. If they were going to replace the motor then I would think they would be more likely to replace the entire car, but a head swap is pretty basic. Just my opinion.

Agreed. If they are replacing the motor, forget it, you better throw me the keys to another. But a head swap, while unfortunate, I could tolerate, especially since they didn't find any damage but are still replacing it as a precaution.

[SeaZoobies]

Originally Posted by Maletone

Just wanted to put this out here in case anyone has had or seen anything similar. Was driving my new 2022 X3 M from MA to NY. Suddenly 3/4 of the way through the trip I got hit with "Drive train malfunction" and told to drive but carefully. Rough idle however and it was shaking as it drove. The engine had 500 (Yes, 500) Miles on it.

Got it to a service center ASAP in NY and lo and behold after their techs and BMW looked at it, it seems the current theory is that one of the lifters gave out completely, which ended up causing damage to the engine. So now I've been told the engine will likely need to be replaced. I love the car, but wow, really unfortunate to see this happen with less than 1k miles on it.

When I was 19 I bought a 2007 Jeep Patriot. Brought it into a dealership the first day I had it to get it inspected - drove home and the tire flew off on the interstate.

They were all over "Do you want a new car?" Etc. I was way too proud it was the first car I bought on my own that I said no.

Jeez I was a dumba**...