Major problems with M3 engines

[R1 GOOD]

In the "Drive" section of the Sunday Times today there is an answer to a reader query that says there have been major problems with M3 engines resulting in big rebuilds or even new engines. Does any of this apply to ZMC's? My wife's is a 2000 model year reg March 2000 and has had no engine problems at all. So far! Supplying main BMW agent serviced from new and still on an extended warranty, so if it needs an upgrade I would expect it to be covered.

[spunkym]

There is a similar type of article in this months EVO magazine. The two issues that generally frighten people are:

1) VANOS problems (upto 2001)

This consisted of a bolts issue which would fail from fatigue and cause a loss of oil pressure around the VANOS and lead to heavy oil loss and VANOS gear failure. Pretty severe but most bolts have already been changed now by BMW and the problem is now quite rare. A second issue would appear to be the VANOS gears themselves wearing at a high rate causing an unpleasant noise from the engine (usually heard when revs are falling from approx 2000rpm to idle). No one is really sure what causes this but it continues to be pretty common and is expensive to fix. Read about it here... http://www.zroadster.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8960&highlight= This does not seem to affect the S54 engine (>2001) and may be why BMW suddenly changed their mind on what grade oil to use (changed to 10W60).

2) Bearing shell problems (2001 onwards)

This issue is the main concern of engine used in the later M3 (2001 - 2003) and is associated with the bearing shells 'spinning' causing catastophic bottom end failure. This was blamed on a faulty batch of components from 2001 - 2003. All applicable M3 engines were recalled by BMW but this did not extend to M coupes or M roadsters. One reason put forward was that the S54 engines used on the MC & MR have a lower rev limit and this helps to prevent the problem occuring. Nevertheless this issuie has appeard on a very small handful of Z3's (probably less than 10) but you have to remember that many less Z3 M's were built >2001 compared to M3's! It will usually show up quite early on in the engines life and is VERY noticeable in that the crank will make a godawful din and the engine will die shortly afterwards.


Issue 1 (with the bolts replaced) is not a catasrophic failure in many cases, more just an annoyance, but it has been known to lead to a slight performance loss and irratic idle in some cases. It would certainly be covered by your extended warranty.

Issue 2 is just too rare on Z3's to really be of any concern, where failures have occurred they have been put right by BMW free of charge.

Sleep easy :wink:

[Ivo]

Nice write-up 8)

[R1 GOOD]

Thanks for such a helpful reply - I am much reassured! The engine is symptom free, sounds and runs well.