Meltdown!

[tian647]

This past weekend my SO and I flew to Orlando, Florida to pick up the 2003 BMW 330i ZHP that I bought from the original owner off the Bimmerfest forum, linked in the classifieds thread from a couple weeks back.

The car has 105k and a 5-forum-pages long maintenance history chronicling every oil change, tire inflation check and random bolt replacement because the 'head looked worn.' I couldn't have imagined a car with a more complete record of all the right things having been done to keep the car perfect. Flew down, looked the car over and chatted with the owner to confirm both met up with my impressions and expectation - they did - then handed over the money and started out for Kansas City.

We made it from Orlando to Atlanta just in time for a huge mess of construction in downtown Atlanta - got caught in about 90 minutes of stop and creep traffic in 90+ degree heat, car was perfectly behaved. Cleared that then encountered torrential rain en route to Chattanooga and the car again handled it all like a champ.

Coming through southern Illinois just lazily cruising down the Interstate, suddenly the Service Engine Soon light came on. I looked over the gauges (well, gauge anyway, there's just the Temperature) and all seemed otherwise normal but then the car started to sputter and buck and finally the EML light flashed on too as the car lost power so I cut the ignition and coasted toward the shoulder. That's when the temperature gauge started to swing over to MAX. Brilliant.

The coolant reservoir was bone dry and although there were a few blue-white stains on it that suggest coolant had gotten to where it shouldn't normally be it didn't show signs of a massive or catastrophic failure and I never had any sort of steam cloud from under the hood, or behind the car that I noticed. I also never saw the Low Coolant indicator come one, which seems very odd.

I called USAA Roadside Assist and waited for the flatbed. When I hit a construction-related pavement lip in my M5, they towed the car 120 miles back to Kansas City for me but this time I was told I had a limit of 19 miles so my destination was going to be Nashville, IL whether I liked it or not.

Since the car had time to cool down while we waited for the flatbed to arrive I re-filled the reservoir and the car held coolant without leaking so I'm not convinced it was a reservoir failure. I was also able to restart the car but it cranks over really easily and would only fire off when I pressed the throttle to the floor. Once it caught though it settled into a perfect idle and seemed to rev all right but the temp gauge would creep up the longer I let it run.

We spent the rest of the day Sunday riding with my dad dragging the car back to his place outside St. Louis, where we borrowed his car to drive back to Kansas City three and a half hours away so my wife would be able to get to work Monday morning. I took Monday off, hopped in my pickup truck and headed back to my Dad's to grab the trailer with my forlorn new ZHP astride and bring her home to Kansas City.

I got the car back to my driveway about 7:30pm only to discover that she wasn't going to start up again, guess I got lucky for loading her up. I had enough incline on the trailer that I was able to roll it off, then down the driveway and into the garage where she sits waiting for me to dig in.

Now I have a brand new (to me) car that doesn't work and to which I don't yet understand what happened to cause the failure. Based on how it turns over so quickly but doesn't start I'm pretty sure I need a head gasket. I hope the reason why I need a head gasket becomes apparent as I pull things off, else I'm never going to trust this car again. And I don't have time for any of this work, this was supposed to be the reliable new car I didn't have to mess with, just drive.

If any of you have thoughts on what to look at or for, or links to other threads or resources which might help me I'd be extremely grateful as I begin disassembling the remnants and determining a parts list and a recovery plan.

Meanwhile, this currently ranks as my worst automotive purchase to date (it's my 47th car) and depending on whether the threads in the block are compromised it may also become my most expensive new purchase. Plus I still get to go pay sales tax, hooray...

Thank gawd for E30s, at least I still have a driver :)


Christian
'03 ZHP
'99 Z3M Coupe
'91 iX

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Christian, what a fricken nightmare.

That's clearly Rich's car you're talking about.

We all thought that was a great deal. Very curious to see how this all pans out.

[danewilson77]

Totally sucks.

Welcome to the forum.

I would say what happened was.....you had a coolant system failure (weather it be water pump, leakage, dunno), that caused the engine to overheat. These engines have aluminum blocks, and do not take heat well at all. So...I suspect you permanently and catastrophically damaged the car (unintentional) by continue to drive it....until it sputtered out. I would say you either have a blown head gasket, or damaged the pistons/rings/cylinder walls.

First order of business for you should be to perform a compression check...if you're not entertaining returning the car (if you even can). It seems odd to me, that this ironically happened just after purchase.

Just sayin....

[tian647]

I would say what happened was.....you had a coolant system failure (weather it be water pump, leakage, dunno), that caused the engine to overheat. These engines have aluminum blocks, and do not take heat well at all. So...I suspect you permenently and catastrophically damamged the car (unitentional) by continue to drive it....until it sputtered out. I would say you either have a blown head gasket, or damamged the pistons/rings/cylinder walls.

First order of business for you should be to perform a compression check...if you're not entertaining returning the car (if you even can). It seems odd to me, that this ironically happened just after purchase.

Just sayin....

I agree :/

While it seems likely this was a cooling system failure, one of the troubling things for me is that at no time has the Low Coolant Warning Lamp ever illuminated. Not when it first stopped running, not when I was staring into the empty reservoir at the side of the road and not in my garage with half the hoses pulled off the car. That would have at least given me some heads-up, I think.

Also the fact that the temp gauge didn't begin to move until the car was already sputtering and bucking is worrisome. That suggests the motor was HOT, if it was displaying symptoms of seizing, but only an emissions-related warning lamp came on? WTF?

The oil also smells burnt which isn't a good sign either. When I did finally get it restarted it seemed to run almost normally (aside from the hard start which required a lot of cranking with the throttle floored) with no funny noises so it doesn't seem the bottom end is trashed, even if it may still need attention, but it idled smoothly and it drove around the parking lot and onto the trailer pretty much as usual.

At the moment I'm hugely pissed off and disappointed, not really sure what recourse I might have though. Frankly I don't think this was premeditated or predictable, although if I find some of the warning lamps are disconnected that view may change.


Christian

[az3579]

I agree :/

While it seems likely this was a cooling system failure, one of the troubling things for me is that at no time has the Low Coolant Warning Lamp ever illuminated. Not when it first stopped running, not when I was staring into the empty reservoir at the side of the road and not in my garage with half the hoses pulled off the car. That would have at least given me some heads-up, I think.

Also the fact that the temp gauge didn't begin to move until the car was already sputtering and bucking is worrisome. That suggests the motor was HOT, if it was displaying symptoms of seizing, but only an emissions-related warning lamp came on? WTF?

The oil also smells burnt which isn't a good sign either. When I did finally get it restarted it seemed to run almost normally (aside from the hard start which required a lot of cranking with the throttle floored) with no funny noises so it doesn't seem the bottom end is trashed, even if it may still need attention, but it idled smoothly and it drove around the parking lot and onto the trailer pretty much as usual.

At the moment I'm hugely pissed off and disappointed, not really sure what recourse I might have though. Frankly I don't think this was premeditated or predictable, although if I find some of the warning lamps are disconnected that view may change.


Christian

I don't think any warning lamps could be disconnected. They're soldered in LEDs as far as I know...

I find it a coincidence, but foul play may still be a possibility... it's possible this issue was being disguised.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

[nk_zhp]

The temp gauge on the E46 is like a christmas ornament, it sure it pretty and is equally useless. The gauge has a built-in time delay, if you were to chart the real coolant temp and the gauge output it would look like a moving average on a stock chart. My guess is that you had a very sudden spike in temperature and the gauge took its sweet time to catch up.

...and amen to E30s, back when I had my E92 with it well known HPFP problems I used to think to myself that it's odd that I have more confidence in my 20 year E30 than my brand new E92.

[Marcus-SanDiego]

...and amen to E30s, back when I had my E92 with it well known HPFP problems I used to think to myself that it's odd that I have more confidence in my 20 year E30 than my brand new E92.

No kidding. I was thankful to have my E46 when I had the E92. I always knew that, if I wanted to drive to Las Vegas, I had a car I could count on.

[billschusteriv]

I am sorry to hear this happened to your ZHP, Christian.

Unfortunately the only thing I can offer is something similar happened to my touring before I bought it off the previous owner. After reviewing the records, I saw suspect cooling system parts were replaced before I bought it. So I thought I was home free with cooling system issues. But the PO must have driven the car with coolant leaks for some time - considering the damage to my engine and the price I paid, I believe PO intentionally failed to disclose it. Unfortunately, after buying it, I took it on a 400-mile road trip (with wife and newborn in tow) and found on the way there that I was leaking coolant. So I was able to keep the car limping there and back by topping off the coolant every couple hundred miles.

Come to find out (after months and much troubleshooting by my indy mechanic), my indy mechanic concluded the head gasket is bad or the block warped. At operating temperature and elevated RPMs, the engine pressurized the coolant system - causing the relief in the cap on the coolant expansion tank to lift and spray coolant all over the inside of the engine bay. The only way to test this ended up having my indy mechanic attach a pressure gauge to the coolant reservoir in place of the cap and drive the car until we saw pressure climb. The gauge was on a long enough hose that allowed him to route it to the driver's seat and close the hood. I ended up replacing the engine with a used engine that had less miles (that was the only part that was WIN).

The low coolant light and engine temperature gauge do not always reflect the actual condition of what's going on in your system. The temperature gauge requires coolant to be running past it for it to be semi-accurate - if there is an air gap, you get some delay and a "buffer" of sorts until the air heats up.

Compression test on your engine is a good place to start.

How does your oil look? Recommend you consider having it tested by Blackstone to get a good rundown and see if there is bearing material, block material, or coolant (may look milky white) present.

Did you do an oil change yet? Did you drain the remaining coolant? How do they look?

Regardless, you will probably want to replace/refresh most of the components in your coolant system. Consider checking all of the suspect switches (temperature, level, etc)

I hope you don't have to go as far as I did and replace the engine. But these aluminum blocks are pretty unforgiving.

Good luck. Keep us updated.



It seems odd to me, that this ironically happened just after purchase.

Just sayin....

:eeps

[danewilson77]

I agree :/

While it seems likely this was a cooling system failure, one of the troubling things for me is that at no time has the Low Coolant Warning Lamp ever illuminated. Christian

Level sensor could have become stuck?

[tian647]

I am sorry to hear this happened to your ZHP, Christian.

Unfortunately the only thing I can offer is something similar happened to my touring before I bought it off the previous owner.

Compression test on your engine is a good place to start.

How does your oil look? Recommend you consider having it tested by Blackstone to get a good rundown and see if there is bearing material, block material, or coolant (may look milky white) present.

Did you do an oil change yet? Did you drain the remaining coolant? How do they look?

Regardless, you will probably want to replace/refresh most of the components in your coolant system. Consider checking all of the suspect switches (temperature, level, etc)

I hope you don't have to go as far as I did and replace the engine. But these aluminum blocks are pretty unforgiving.

Good luck. Keep us updated.


Sorry to hear you fielded similar circumstances Bill, seems this is *the* weakness of the E46 platform.

The oil smells burnt but isn't particularly dark nor does there appear to be any coolant in it. A lab analysis is a good call, just see what they say about it.

There is no remaining coolant, the system was dry. I have filled it twice since with distilled water, once it disappeared but this last time it seems to be staying -- prolly down to filling the block up again since I never found a puddle under the car.

We'll try to keep this thread alive with the rebuild process although I'm not sure when exactly I've got time available to spend on this so it may be waiting a while.




Level sensor could have become stuck?

Possibly, it sure does not appear to be working in any manner that makes sense to me. I guess I should have hit nk_zhp up for one of his temperature alerts before I set out for home :/


Christian

[billschusteriv]

Sorry to hear you fielded similar circumstances Bill, seems this is *the* weakness of the E46 platform.

The oil smells burnt but isn't particularly dark nor does there appear to be any coolant in it. A lab analysis is a good call, just see what they say about it.

There is no remaining coolant, the system was dry. I have filled it twice since with distilled water, once it disappeared but this last time it seems to be staying -- prolly down to filling the block up again since I never found a puddle under the car.

We'll try to keep this thread alive with the rebuild process although I'm not sure when exactly I've got time available to spend on this so it may be waiting a while.


Looking forward to the updates, Christian.

I also experienced no issues with coolant leaking at rest or coolant leaking into my oil. I would advise caution driving and carrying distilled water or coolant with you. Not understanding the symptoms your car displayed while driving, I may even suggest not driving it.

[johnrando]

That is so disheartening. I feel for you. Maybe the guy you bought the car from can provide some insight if he wasn't hiding something originally - which is hard to imagine given the detailed records he kept - but you never know.

[Marcus-SanDiego]

From what we've seen of Rich over the years (he's been on bimmerfest for about 9 years), he doesn't seem that way. I bet he feels terrible about this.

Christian, what did you think of Rich? Seemed like a genuine guy -- not looking to whack someone?

[az3579]

From what we've seen of Rich over the years (he's been on bimmerfest for about 9 years), he doesn't seem that way. I bet he feels terrible about this.

Christian, what did you think of Rich? Seemed like a genuine guy -- not looking to whack someone?


It is unlikely he did anything to do the car in a negative way. Shit happens, not much more can be said about that...

[tian647]

It is unlikely he did anything to do the car in a negative way. Shit happens, not much more can be said about that...

As much as my checkbook is in open revolt about it, Botond has called it right I think. Nothing anyone would have reasonably expected, just a random failure.

Doesn't make me any happier about it, but bitching isn't going to make anything better. I have tools for that ;)


Christian

[static667]

Sorry to hear about the whole predicament. My best guess is to start off with the smallest, most basic part of the troubleshooting process and work up.

You said it was cranking really easy. Did it seem like it was easier that it should be? If it's cranking almost freely, there is a compression issue. That could indicate a blown head gasket or warped head.

I feel for you, brother. Keep us posted.

[Mike V]

Look on the bright side. You have new tires on the truck now! :)

[Ryans323i]

Ug, my heart goes out to you. Please keep us posted with updates. And I hope this doesn't break the bank.

[Mr Paul]

Christian, where are you located in KC? I live here too.

[tian647]

Christian, where are you located in KC? I live here too.

I'm in the Northland, just off 169 and 152.

[shadowpuck]

Christian - Greg in KC.....

keep us updated; let me know if there's anything I can do to help.......
so sorry to hear about that - absolutely stinks......

[tian647]

Christian - Greg in KC.....

keep us updated; let me know if there's anything I can do to help.......
so sorry to hear about that - absolutely stinks......

Thanks Greg, last Sunday is not my favorite day for sure ;)


I've got some exploration to do under the valve cover and likely inside the oil pan to determine whether I try to bolt on new parts, or just chuck this lump and drop in a new one. I should have some opportunity this Saturday for a forensic expedition, but given how the oil filler cap smells and the expansion tank looks I am not optimistic.


Christian

[danewilson77]

Thanks Greg, last Sunday is not my favorite day for sure ;)


I've got some exploration to do under the valve cover and likely inside the oil pan to determine whether I try to bolt on new parts, or just chuck this lump and drop in a new one. I should have some opportunity this Saturday for a forensic expedition, but given how the oil filler cap smells and the expansion tank looks I am not optimistic.


Christian

You gots white slime?

[Dek]

What a sad way to say hello to a new car. I hope you get this figured out!

[shadowpuck]

I have every confidence Christian will get to the bottom of this; one way or the other. he's been known to tinker on a car or two! :)

[Marcus-SanDiego]

I have every confidence Christian will get to the bottom of this; one way or the other. he's been known to tinker on a car or two! :)

:like

[tian647]

Pics from the initial ZHP teardown.
Note the white goo on the neck of the reservoir https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-n_ORVO65c4k/TgYuJ2coblI/AAAAAAAABoA/T3Rd5CKcz9U/s720/IMG_0489%25255B1%25255D.JPG

and the milky, greenish oil I drained https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-IMEpmVH5B9g/TgYtd1LvP_I/AAAAAAAABn0/VqADMIfo4uM/s720/IMG_0505%25255B1%25255D.JPG
(the green is from the cheap-ass antifreeze sourced from Bob's Truck Stop in Nashville, IL while I waited for the rescue wagon).

The oil smelled very burnt but 7+ quarts drained out OK and the top end at least looks decent yet https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-USt-WKgN1UM/TgYtKBjDQWI/AAAAAAAABnw/SZEIgp3em4M/s912/IMG_0510%25255B1%25255D.JPG

although there is some charcoalized oil on the intake cam splash shield.https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-9p7an62ZJqk/TgYsvwuH53I/AAAAAAAABno/BBwB0jRg63w/s912/IMG_0513%25255B1%25255D.JPG

One thing that bothers me is all the red RTV at the back end of the valve cover gasket;https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-DvKLxz7BJ3Q/TgYskvcNJUI/AAAAAAAABnk/uv_R56xKQEM/s720/IMG_0514%25255B1%25255D.JPG
lazy-ass shade tree fix there.

Brett Anderson of Koala MotorSports mentioned some possibility of the cams seizing from overheating but I don't see any evidence this occurred, although to be honest I'm not exactly sure what I'd be looking for. I'd expect to find more baked-on oil residue around the cam journals, which fortunately isn't there.

Next step is to individually loosen and re-torque each head bolt in turn and see if the block threads hold or if they got too hot and have fatigued...I'm scared to start this step :/

My other area of concern is that while it turned over really, really easy right after the event now it cranks very hard which has me worried about the bottom end or at least the pistons and rings. I can't find much anecdotal evidence to suggest this is a common problem after overheating, so perhaps I'm just being paranoid. Thoughts?

For sure it wants a head gasket, valve cover gasket, crankcase vent valve and hoses, coolant hoses and tank, thermostat, water pump, mebbe a radiator too. I'm also debating just timeserting the block anyway, even if the head bolts do hold torque.

Anything else y'all might suggest inspecting or replacing while I'm in there?

Cheers,


Christian Els
Kansas City, MO

[danewilson77]

That red is on back side of valve cover gasket.

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

[tian647]

That red is on back side of valve cover gasket.

Er, yeah - that. Guess what I have on my mind ;)


Christian

[tian647]

Also, another update while I'm thinking about it...I bought one of those $20 ELM 327 bluetooth ODBII dongles and plugged it into the car today.

It claims there are no current and no historic codes set, even though when the car overheated my first warning sign was the Service Engine Soon lamp illuminating.

The software that came with it is pretty awful, anybody have a recommendation for their preferred Windows/Bluetooth code reader app?


Christian

[static667]

When you pull the head, take it to a reputable machine shop to have is pressure tested and resurfaced. They will be able to tell you if it warped any.

[Speedracer]

Christian if you need any help, I'm in KC as well and have some good connections with some BMW people. The shop foreman and head service writer at Baron are friends.

[aurelius]

Anything else y'all might suggest inspecting or replacing while I'm in there?


Given the way this went down, def get a new coolant level sensor. Also, fyi the clip which holds it in place is prone to breaking when changing that sensor.

Since this car apparently has such extensive service records, it would be interesting to know at what mileage and how thoroughly the cooling system was rehabbed by the original owner.

Here are a few more often-overlooked cooling system items:

*expansion tank cap
*water pump pulley
*temp sensor for lower coolant hose
*bleeder screw for upper coolant hose (I think new hose comes with new plastic bleeder screw but consider bavauto's brass version)
*water/heater valve (64 11 8 369 805) a friend's E39 blew its stack in the middle of Manhattan recently due to this and it's a known E46 problem area. Usual symptom is large temp difference in air coming from foot well vents vs dash vents. Super easy DIY but it's a BMW-only part. Cheapest I've found is Husker BMW @ $59.

Not cooling system items but they'll kill your coolant flow if they fail: tensioner & idler pulleys, serpentine belt.

[therealm3]

Man, what a bummer. So sorry to hear about this. Knowing that I will be in the market for a ZHP soon and will probably have to travel for the right one is making me rethink just throwing it on a transport instead of the road trip. At least if it does fail once I get it, I am close to home and resources to help. With that said, I do find one thing a bit puzzling... where did the coolant go? I assume you checked the reservoir before leaving and all was good? to have the car overheat so quickly and not see a crazy white cloud behind you or a huge puddle on the ground is amazing. Also not finding much in the oil is really odd. When my E30 jumped the alternator belt off the pulley (also drives the water pump) I blew the head gasket and had plenty of coolant in the oil. hopefully you'll know what happened once the full tear down is complete.

[dj330Ci]

Christian, what a fricken nightmare.

That's clearly Rich's car you're talking about.

We all thought that was a great deal. Very curious to see how this all pans out.
I'd be seriously shocked if Rich is being deceptive. Wow! I've followed his threads on Bimmerfest for a few years and he took great care of the car. Damn!

[midlandtech]

Christian, where are you located in KC? I live here too.

Me too lemme know if ya need a hand with anything

-- Sent from my Palm Pre using Forums (http://developer.palm.com/appredirect/?packageid=com.newnessdevelopments.forums)

[Marcus-SanDiego]

I'd be seriously shocked if Rich is being deceptive. Wow! I've followed his threads on Bimmerfest for a few years and he took great care of the car. Damn!

Yeah. I'd be surprised too. Just a shame that this happened.

And way to go, KC Mafia. Pitching in to help Christian (if he needs it).

[shadowpuck]

definitely; i've known christian for a while - he's good people.....

[Hornung418]

1. Take head off
2. Pressure test, flow test and check level of mating parts
3. Port/polish exhaust port, polish intake ports
4. Reinstall
5. Epic save to an otherwise disastrous beginning to ownership.

Seriously...this is such a bummer to read. Best of luck with the repair!

[tian647]

Checking back in on this thread since I've been working out of town (done in NYC, next week off to Bentonville, there's a change...) -- thanks all for the offers of help, useful suggestions and general positive reinforcement, I appreciate them all.

At the moment I am waiting for my E12 Extended Length Socket Wrench to be delivered so I can finally check the block threads and see whether they've given up. Even if they haven't yielded I'm still debating just timeserting the block as a precaution since I'll be in there anyway.

I'm also compiling a parts list based on your suggestions, the suspect pieces I've removed and any miscellany from the diagrams on RealOEM that seem like I might as well.

The one concrete piece of help I could really use from the KC Mafia is some assistance completing the MO DOR VIN Validation form the DMV requires before they'll allow me to register the car under my name - had I known I needed to do this I would have left it on the trailer a bit longer before tearing into it.

If anyone knows a friendly Law Enforcement Officer or State Inspection agent who can sign off on this I would be extremely grateful, else I have to winch the hulk onto my trailer and drag it to a shop to get this done before late fees kick in and my bank is going ballistic not having the title transfer completed and their name as the official lien holder. I just want to pay sales tax, for crying out loud.

At any rate, I'm in the Northland if anyone knows someone who might be able to help me with this.

Meanwhile, I'm on holiday for the weekend then back to work so hopefully I can gather parts and be ready for my next break between projects sometime early in August.

Sooner or later though this beast will ride again.

Thanks all!


Christian

[midlandtech]

are you on KS side or MO side?

[tian647]

are you on KS side or MO side?

Missouri - just off 169 & 152

[tian647]

I've been out of town again this week so combined with the holiday it all means I haven't made much progress.

One thing I have resolved is that I was able to get the VIN officially verified so I can now register the car in my name, in time to avoid late titling fees. Hooray. The City of Gladstone surprised the hell out of my by agreeing to send an officer past my house to verify the VIN in my garage rather than making me load back up on the trailer and dragging the car down to the police station. I must say I was absolutely not expecting that, well done to them, thank you Officer Wright!

I also received my BMW Head Bolt Socket so I could reach the head bolts with the cams still installed - I have re-torqued each of them in turn and the threads held. I confess to being extremely nervous as I added that second 90 degrees to each bolt but none of them caved and spun. That said, I'm still thinking about timeserting the block anyway, I'd hate to do all this work only to have one give when I'm tightening the new gasket in place.

I have about $900 worth of parts on order so I should be ready to dive in and do the work at my next free weekend, sometime in mid-August it seems -- aargh! I'm still figuring out what other while-I'm-in-there stuff I need, already got new intake and exhaust manifold gaskets since those have to come off. Anyone else have war stories to share about what they should have also swapped with the motor apart?

Just to give me fits my trusty E30 iX seems to have coughed up its thermostat, the coolant gauge heads for the red now every drive. Not that I'm paranoiac about watching the temperature after all this...


Christian

[Crestwood1001]

Were you able to talk to the PO about this? I was in talks with him to buy this car but you got it before me, im pretty surprised that this happened, it sounded like he was a trusted guy on a few forums and I remember Marcus saying he knew him or something along those lines. Im interested to see what he had to say regarding this happening.

[tian647]

Were you able to talk to the PO about this? I was in talks with him to buy this car but you got it before me, im pretty surprised that this happened, it sounded like he was a trusted guy on a few forums and I remember Marcus saying he knew him or something along those lines. Im interested to see what he had to say regarding this happening.

I left the PO a text when I finally made it home, then had a short email exchange - he was very distant but roughly empathetic. He had been a prolific contributor on the E46fans forum for many years, I believe that's where Marcus recognized him from.

The extent of his comments were "Sorry to hear that happened" - given the separation anxiety he expressed about finally selling the car I was surprised he didn't ask any more questions or even really express any emotion. If I didn't know better I'd say he'd been coached by a liability lawyer to offer the minimum possible civil response lest he invoke some possible recourse.

Or maybe I'm just frustrated at what happened, hard to say...

Waiting for parts to arrive now, then for time to install them. I did figure out where my local dealer sends heads out for inspection and rework so I plan to use them directly for mine once it comes off.


Christian

[Marcus-SanDiego]

I knew rich from bimmerfest. As prolific as he was at that forum, he was not always the most social person. Kind of ironic, eh?




iPad. Tapatalk. Bi-winning.

[Crestwood1001]

Yea that all seems weird to me, reading all his threads and posts on bimmerfest he didn't seem like someone who would do that, but that's just me, sorry to hear this happened.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9650 using Tapatalk

[danewilson77]

I knew rich from bimmerfest. As prolific as he was at that forum, he was not always the most social person. Kind of ironic, eh?




iPad. Tapatalk. Bi-winning.

Many act different on the forum then they do in person, huh?

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

[Marcus-SanDiego]

It's not that, DW. Oddly, he posted a lot. He just didn't always respond to posts that were directed right at him. It was as though he didn't even see the posts. It was very strange.

[zj96sc]

Any updates here?

[tian647]

Any updates here?

Sorry, I've been checked out for a long time.

My teardown didn't reveal any catastrophic failures to suggest what initially caused it to overheat.

I sent the head out to be cleaned, inspected and pressure tested - it came back warped, out 0.012 but easily in the realm of salvageable, plus all the stem seals were melted and needed to be replaced. If anyone needs a source ping me and I'll put you in touch, although shipping is going to be expensive if you aren't near Kansas City. This shop does all the work for the local BMW, Mercedes and Porsche dealers and the machinist nearest the door instantly identified the head from halfway across the shop when I walked in with it so I felt good about choosing them. Price was very fair as well.

When I finally got the head back from the shop I started a new job so I lost my vacation accrual that I had planned to use to reassemble things so I have farmed the work out to a local mechanic who is very familiar with rebuilding M54s.

When he plopped the head back on and cinched down the head bolts, two of them yielded. This even in spite of my having previously re-checked that all of the bolts took re-torquing through the full tight-plus-90-degrees before I sent the head out. These aluminum blocks are really frustrating.

This weekend he will be TimeSerting all fourteen bores to ensure sufficient clamping force to keep the head on. I chose to use the 30mm flush-mount inserts rather than the 24mm countersunk variety after reading up on concerns around maintaining sufficient thread contact to ensure the head bolts stretched as they were designed.

Also, while he was sorting through the spaghetti I left him in the engine bay, he found why the Low Coolant lamp never illuminated. The wiring leading to the level sender in the reservoir had been ripped out of the harness plug, looked as though someone had yanked the reservoir out of the car without disconnecting it and just pulled harder when they felt some resistance. Ooopsie. Would have been nice to have that working.

At any rate, as with any project, sufficient application of dollars has it very close to completion and it now has a fresh head so it should be good for another 100k+ miles, or until the coolant reservoir pops again. I think there is a Coolant Snitch and a VDO gauge in store for this car in very short order :/

Now if the new control arm bushings I ordered from UUC would just come off backorder I'll be all ready to start driving my three-month-old new used car.

Cheers.

[danewilson77]

Well...I admire the tenacity, and can't wait for the final report.

[llll1l1ll]

I'm still sorry that this happened to the OP. This thread is why I watch my temperature gauge like a hawk.

[tian647]

I got my car back last Wednesday evening, hooray! After talking through all the challenges of installing the TimeSerts (had to cover the deck in plastic sheeting to prevent metal shavings from sneaking into the waterjacket and block oil passages) it finally went back together all snug and lit off on the first attempt.

To the good I now have an all new cooling system except for the block passages, the cold weather CCV assembly installed, new Vanos seals and spacers to prevent rattling and a freshly rebuilt head that should be good for a brazillion miles of service.

The downside is that I bought about $1400 worth of parts, and paid about half that much again for labor to bolt it all back together (I performed the disassembly), so the "decent bargain" price I paid for the car initially has become fair market value. And I still need to retrofit heated seats to have the car I really wanted. Well, and a Koala Motorsports limited slip, but that's any ZHP ;)

In my first 250 miles back on the road I'm averaging 31 highway, not too bad for a mostly rush hour slog commute. I only averaged 28 on the trip home with the car when I bought it before it expired so I'll attribute the increase to the fresh valve job.

I'm anxiously awaiting the back-ordered control arm bushings as braking and steering are a bit floppy on the tired 106k mile originals, and I need to install the reinforcement kit on the front passenger window regulator as it has started to bind up in the tracks, a sign of impending doom.

Another couple weeks will tell whether I fall back in love with the car, else it'll make way for another 911 and the kids will just have to deal with climbing through my door again.

Thanks for the support expressed here during the darker hours, I appreciate the sympathetic audience and the informed recommendations.

Best,


Christian

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Christian, glad to hear it worked out.

[aurelius]

Any news as to root cause of the overheat?

[tian647]

Any news as to root cause of the overheat?

Talking through with my mechanic what we found it was a combination of the coolant reservoir seam splitting and the lack of a functional Low Coolant warning lamp to let me know the system had run dry.

BTW, he demoed to me that the lamp now works again since he addressed the butchered wiring ;)

[Hornung418]

Wow...Fantastic news! Too bad that you had to have it happen...but now you can run it til the end of the world!

[danewilson77]

Respect the work.

[echo46]

Very sad story indeed. Glad you persevered.

[llll1l1ll]

Glad to hear you're back on the road! I doubt your car will give you any more guff; however, 911s are very cool. I hope that statement does not get me banned.

Also, I'm going to look at my low coolant lamp connector to make sure it's, well, connected!

[danewilson77]

911s are very cool. I hope that statement does not get me banned.

Not in a million years.

[johnrando]

Glad to hear you're back on the road! I doubt your car will give you any more guff; however, 911s are very cool. I hope that statement does not get me banned.

Also, I'm going to look at my low coolant lamp connector to make sure it's, well, connected!

But you will if you say the same thing about Mercedes. (Just kidding!)

[zj96sc]

Do work son!

That's how you get it done. Many kudos for staying the course.

Hopefully she'll treat you good from here on out.

911s are the bee's knees.

[llll1l1ll]

But you will if you say the same thing about Mercedes. (Just kidding!)

Only the C63 AMG and the CLK GTR are cool.

I hope that statement doesn't get me banned!!

[Marcus-SanDiego]

I hope that statement doesn't get me banned!!

The only statement that might get you banned is that one ^^.

:rofl

[llll1l1ll]

Hahah I knew that was going to be someone's response.

[webster]

i saw a C63 up close the other day, man that thing is a friggin boat. gotta be larger than the E39 5er...

[az3579]

i saw a C63 up close the other day, man that thing is a friggin boat. gotta be larger than the E39 5er...

But it sure is one sexy-azz beast.
It's truly too bad that they didn't offer a choice of transmissions. I'm pretty sure they missed a large customer base that would have wanted a manual.
If I was in the market and had the money, I would have considered it; it just looks too good for me to want to pass up, and sound of that engine!

[llll1l1ll]

That V8 is indeed pretty wicked. If only it came in a manual... And if only I had 40K more to spend...

[Ryans323i]

So glad to hear she's finally back on the road. I hope she treats you right from here on out. I can't believe you're getting 31mpg hwy! I knew ZHPs got better gas mileage but that's nearly 10mpg better than me.

[az3579]

I knew ZHPs got better gas mileage but that's nearly 10mpg better than me.

WOT much? :biggrin

[llll1l1ll]

I also get about 29-32 mpg on the highway. That's also with cruising at 74 mph. I actually was able to squeeze ~430 miles out of one tank.

[Ryans323i]

WOT much? :biggrin

Maybe. :eeps

[static667]

Glad to hear you're back rolling.

Sent from my rooted Fascinate using Tapatalk.

[redwagon]

Wow, what a story and thread, glad it turned out OK.

I've seen (somewhere......) a photo of some VDO guages that cleanly replaced the ashtray in the E46. Is there a kit for that or was that a creative effort on the part of an individual?
There is the coolant snitch as well, wondering who has installed and feedback.
Tim

[aurelius]

LeatherZ will sell you those gauges with a custom surround panel lined with Alcantara.

The 3 gauges, however, are for voltage, oil temp, and oil pressure.