[sdp]

I thought this topic was worthy of its own thread as my problem has changed somewhat.

Since suffering my turbo failure and replacing the turbo I had to take the car to BMW to test the engine as it still wouldn't start.

Anyway, it's about as bad as it can be - there is no compression on #2 cylinder, they didn't bother doing the rest as it would involve more labour and is a bit futile. Bottom line is I need a new engine on a car that is less than 6 years old and has a full service history.

BMW have quoted £6-8k. Which is clearly much more than the car is worth. I've already spent over £1,000 on the turbo.

Does anyone hear have any experience with swapping these engines? Or can anyone recommend a trustworthy workshop that would be able to supply and fit a used or recon engine for £1,500 - £2,000?

Thanks

 

[Slacker-ray]

I thought this topic was worthy of its own thread as my problem has changed somewhat.

Since suffering my turbo failure and replacing the turbo I had to take the car to BMW to test the engine as it still wouldn't start.

Anyway, it's about as bad as it can be - there is no compression on #2 cylinder, they didn't bother doing the rest as it would involve more labour and is a bit futile. Bottom line is I need a new engine on a car that is less than 6 years old and has a full service history.

BMW have quoted £6-8k. Which is clearly much more than the car is worth. I've already spent over £1,000 on the turbo.

Does anyone hear have any experience with swapping these engines? Or can anyone recommend a trustworthy workshop that would be able to supply and fit a used or recon engine for £1,500 - £2,000?

Thanks

Can you do the work yourself?

We replaced on a month back..............iirc the second hand lump was sourced for around £850 complete with ancillaries.

You paid how much for a turbo??:jaw-dropping

 

[Bonse]

how much should he have paid for a turbo? Do you know a rough price for one for a 330d? (e46)

 

[sdp]

Hi Ray,

Unfortunately I can't do the work myself, although my brother in law is a diesel engineer (not self-employed) - neither of us would have the time (and potentially equipment) to do this ourselves.

The turbo was a brand new Garrett unit, which was £690 inc vat (which is cheap! most places wanted a lot more). Labour was £230ish. Then had a new oil pipe, oil, breather and air filters etc. Totals around £1,000 I guess.

£850 is very cheap for an entire engine, was it the 2002+ 150BHP one? Any ideas of what mileage it had done? I won't need the turbo with it for obvious reasons.

Where do you work? Where abouts are you based?

Cheers
sdp

 

[Slacker-ray]

how much should he have paid for a turbo? Do you know a rough price for one for a 330d? (e46)

Personally, we would have put in a second hand unit...........last time we picked on up it was for around 200.


to have the old unit reconditioned, we would pay around 350 ish.

 

[Slacker-ray]

Hi Ray,

Unfortunately I can't do the work myself, although my brother in law is a diesel engineer (not self-employed) - neither of us would have the time (and potentially equipment) to do this ourselves.

The turbo was a brand new Garrett unit, which was £690 inc vat (which is cheap! most places wanted a lot more). Labour was £230ish. Then had a new oil pipe, oil, breather and air filters etc. Totals around £1,000 I guess.

£850 is very cheap for an entire engine, was it the 2002+ 150BHP one? Any ideas of what mileage it had done? I won't need the turbo with it for obvious reasons.

Where do you work? Where abouts are you based?

Cheers
sdp

The question is....................Where are you based dude??

 

[sdp]

The car is currently residing in the prestigious grounds of BMW Lister's in King's Lynn (Norfolk, East Anglia).

 

[Slacker-ray]

The car is currently residing in the prestigious grounds of BMW Lister's in King's Lynn (Norfolk, East Anglia).

I'm Based near London dude.

 

[sdp]

I'm hoping there may be someone local or who can collect the car as I can't transport it that far.

Alternatively just a reliable engine supplier who can deliver it at a reasonable cost to my local garage.

 

[Slacker-ray]

I'm hoping there may be someone local or who can collect the car as I can't transport it that far.

Alternatively just a reliable engine supplier who can deliver it at a reasonable cost to my local garage.

Try 1st choice spares on the web.

put in your car's reg and input the correct engine code....and Uk based breakers yards up and down the country will email you a quote for the engine and will give you a warranty with it.


We use this service all the time...............beware- don't take any notice to qoutes from "Parts 'r' Us", they are complete cowboys!!

When you get a decent quote, always pay by credit card and CONFIRM what you are getting AND the ENGINE CODE.

They will all deliver to anywhere in the uk for around £50.

 

[xXNealXx]

I thought this topic was worthy of its own thread as my problem has changed somewhat.

Since suffering my turbo failure and replacing the turbo I had to take the car to BMW to test the engine as it still wouldn't start.

Anyway, it's about as bad as it can be - there is no compression on #2 cylinder, they didn't bother doing the rest as it would involve more labour and is a bit futile. Bottom line is I need a new engine on a car that is less than 6 years old and has a full service history.

BMW have quoted £6-8k. Which is clearly much more than the car is worth. I've already spent over £1,000 on the turbo.

Does anyone hear have any experience with swapping these engines? Or can anyone recommend a trustworthy workshop that would be able to supply and fit a used or recon engine for £1,500 - £2,000?

Thanks

Why don't you take the matter up with BMW HQ? You may see some light and they could pay for most of the cost...worth a try.

 

[jay-craven]

To the OP, Well my 320d needed a short motor due to crank damage last year, all posted on here somewhere??

I did the work myself after lots of reading and printed instructions from garages with regard to timing etc... honestly not rocket science just nuts and bolts and a little patience. I managed it in two weeks in between work hours.

From what i have read previous, your engine could be fixed by way of new piston/rings and the scuffed bore cleaning up if it is not too servere! or maybe just buy a short motor like a did.

It's not going to cost nothing to pull the head off and have a look, maybe get a mechanic round to just confirm things. Quarry motors in sheffield sold me a complete block for 300, head gasket 40, bolts i forget but not expensive, all in around 400 back on the road.

I still have all the instructions and alternative options/methods of things you can use for the timing up of the car. Can photo copy and post you them if required!.

btw 850 sounds very cheap for an engine! must of been to the moon and back. I was getting quoted around the 1500 mark and up to around 2000 by some jokers. :jaw-dropping

Good luck anyways

 

[sdp]

@Ray:
Thanks for recommending 1st choice spares - I may have a look at that.

@NealP:
Thanks for the suggestion but I have already contacted BMW HQ for help/"goodwill" and they politely told me to piss off. I'm disgusted that a 'premium' £25k car can't last even six years.

@Jay:
Thanks for offering those instructions. Time is of the essence here really as I've been without the car for 4 weeks already now. I have to give the car I've borrowed from a relative back and need to get to work (which is 40 miles each way).

Whilst I would love to strip the engine down and learn about it all, I fear that will take weeks - time which I don't really have. If for any reason I do end up thinking I can do it myself I will drop you a line for those instructions if you don't mind


Big thanks to everyone at this forum, you're all really helpful. In several months time after I've recovered from this financial wrecking ball maybe I'll be able to donate a couple of quid to help keep the site running.

 

[Slacker-ray]

To the OP, Well my 320d needed a short motor due to crank damage last year, all posted on here somewhere??

I did the work myself after lots of reading and printed instructions from garages with regard to timing etc... honestly not rocket science just nuts and bolts and a little patience. I managed it in two weeks in between work hours.

From what i have read previous, your engine could be fixed by way of new piston/rings and the scuffed bore cleaning up if it is not too servere! or maybe just buy a short motor like a did.

It's not going to cost nothing to pull the head off and have a look, maybe get a mechanic round to just confirm things. Quarry motors in sheffield sold me a complete block for 300, head gasket 40, bolts i forget but not expensive, all in around 400 back on the road.

I still have all the instructions and alternative options/methods of things you can use for the timing up of the car. Can photo copy and post you them if required!.

btw 850 sounds very cheap for an engine! must of been to the moon and back. I was getting quoted around the 1500 mark and up to around 2000 by some jokers. :jaw-dropping

Good luck anyways

IIRC it had done 80k, came with a 3 months warranty.

..............It's the Jerri-curls! They like the curls

 

[sparkym1b]

SDP
sorry to hear this news mate, hope you get it sorted soon,

 

[jay-craven]

IIRC it had done 80k, came with a 3 months warranty.

Thats definately a bargain then, I would have fitted the full engine myself at that price.

 

[sdp]

I took Ray's advice and put a request out on 1stchoice.co.uk

So far I have had three replies - two at £1800, one at £1950.

One of the £1800 ones is from a 2006 E46 320d and has only done 15k. Can anyone confirm if this will fit into my 2003 320d? I read something about the power steering pumps or rack being different. They also started to use an electronic actuator on the turbo after 2004, so will my mechanical turbo still work? Do you swap the ECU when you swap an engine? I'm guessing you don't...

Many thanks

 

[Slacker-ray]

I took Ray's advice and put a request out on 1stchoice.co.uk

So far I have had three replies - two at £1800, one at £1950.

One of the £1800 ones is from a 2006 E46 320d and has only done 15k. Can anyone confirm if this will fit into my 2003 320d? I read something about the power steering pumps or rack being different. They also started to use an electronic actuator on the turbo after 2004, so will my mechanical turbo still work? Do you swap the ECU when you swap an engine? I'm guessing you don't...

Many thanks

What you need to do is check that the engine codes match up.......if they do then obviously it will go. If not, then that is not the engine for you.

Now, when we received the Diesel engine/s, they usually do not come with the diesel pump. Some car's have the pump coded to the ECU, like vauxhalls etc...........since we have used the original pump on the swaps we've done, we have never had any probs with ECU/Pump coding. Personally I'm not sure if the beemers come with coded pumps but someone in the know may help you with that one.

Now also, there maybe other differences with different year of engine like the ones you stated, don't worry about that- as long as the engine codes match up, you can swap everything over- they will fit. seen this many times on same engine codes from different years from all manufacturers.

That's alot of cash for those engines mate. Have you checked Ebay and all?

 

[sdp]

So you would always swap the ECU (i.e. use the one that came with the new engine)? and use the diesel pump where possible if included?

Thanks for the advice.

Regarding the pricing - I have checked out ebay etc, £1800 seems the going price from breakers - I have had 4 prices in that region now. The best deal I can find is National Engine Centre on ebay who will collect it and swap the engine for £1600 including labour.

I think I'm going to have to go with them, the guy I spoke to seems like a nice enough bloke.

 

[Slacker-ray]

So you would always swap the ECU (i.e. use the one that came with the new engine)? and use the diesel pump where possible if included?

Thanks for the advice.

Regarding the pricing - I have checked out ebay etc, £1800 seems the going price from breakers - I have had 4 prices in that region now. The best deal I can find is National Engine Centre on ebay who will collect it and swap the engine for £1600 including labour.

I think I'm going to have to go with them, the guy I spoke to seems like a nice enough bloke.

National engines? Yeah, I know them, used them for a customer, they do a good job.

1600 for the engine? supplied and fitted on an exchange basis..........yeah, was actually trying to dig the number up for them to hand over.

What ever needs to be done with regards to ECU/coding (if Needed)....leave it with them.