Re: Blown 750iL Engine!!! (archive)

I saw the same thing as Gilbert at my local machine shop which also performs the machine shop work for the local stealer. Someone had driven their 540i through a deep puddle of water. Both heads were cracked and several of the valves were broken in two. But, it gets better. The stealer supplied two new bare heads ($4500 each) plus replacements for the broken valves. The machine shop advised the stealer that all the valves should be replaced due to possible metal cyrstallization. The stealer said no, just replace the broken valves. The machine shop transferred the cams and the valves to the new heads and sent them back to the stealer. The stealer put everything back together and took the car for a test drive. Two miles into the drive guess what? Several of the old valves snapped and damaged the new heads beyond repair. Needless to say, ALL the valves were replaced in the second set of new heads.

Alex Lynch

Hi everyone,

Someone showed me pictures at the local BMW dealer of an 1988 750iL v12 engine with a blown piston (missing). This was done by another local repair shop. The block was full of water and gas throughout out the oil lines, filter and cooler, three rocker arms were snapped in half, the catalytic converters were melted down, and the valve head blew off with so much force it was blown out the side of the engine block. The other shop did a compression test, changed the injectors and were trying to lean it out at idle. The local BMW dealer said the engine was toast and they had been properly maintaining it.

Anyone have any ideas what might have caused this?

Dave

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