Hi Guys, I'm looking for advice on what to do as i'm in a real dilemma.
So the story goes:
I own a bmw 520d which i bought in early 2013 which had one previous owner full BMW service history but driven around 80000 miles. The car then was under warranty and throughout my ownership havn't had any major issues. (just had to replace tires/break pads wear and tear etc)
I was dropping my parents off to Heathrow on a hot July day, when during the roadworks section (near Luton) I got a sign for the first time -
"Drivetrain. Maximum power not available. Drive moderately"
I obviously had getting my parents off to the airport to catch their flight on my mind and the fact that we were on the motorway miles away from the BMW service station I use.
Unfortunately, I decided to ignore the message and continued driving. The car didn't feel any different and so I drove on (around 75 mph) about a mile later the sign came up a second time and the car felt as if it was loosing power (had to rev it more to keep at the same speed) so I went to the slow lane of the motorway and kept a speed around 55 mph. As it was the roadworks section there wasn't a hard shoulder or any safe place to stop so I continued driving for around 2 miles - all the while the car felt more lethargic and a whining/whistling noise grew from the engine.
Around the end of the roadworks I looked in my mirrors and could see white smoke visibly coming from the exhaust and then I knew I had a serious problem - as I pulled up on the hard shoulder there was a sudden increase in white smoke which almost covered 2 lanes of the motor way. It was so bad that a motorist decided to call the fire brigade as he suspected the car to be on fire.
I immediately switched off the engine and we evacuated the car. Naturally I called my roadside assistance and they sent a recovery person their way.
At that time Highway patrol officers came and asked to move my car as it was in an unsafe position. They noted oil coming from the exhaust and suspected a blown turbo. they advised me not to drive it and said the would tow it with their Pajero. But the car was stuck in park (automatic) so had to turn it onto put it into neutral - when I did so it made a horrible (almost mechanical) noise and blurted out black smoke from the exhaust. Any way the tow truck came and again had to switch the car on - this time the red engine oil low sign came on (not once but twice) and the car was taken to sytner BMW on an emergency booking.
I don't understand much about cars but I knew that low engine oil was a bad bad sign. Anyway Sytner came back to me and told me the car was in a state. At the very least it needed a new turbo, replacement of DPF and investigation into extent of possible engine damage. They qouted me in the vicinity of £5000 !!!!
obviously I thought 5 Grand was extortionate so I decided to take the car to the most reputed BMW specialist in town. The car is out of warranty and I didnt think to pay for additional cover because the car never gave me a major problem and that I thought it to be still on the young side. I didnt imagine I would asked to fork out something like 5K so soon.
The sytner guys didnt even bother to put some extra engine oil out of courtesy and took £50 for diagnostics. When I took it to the independent guy, he switched on the engine started to rev it and the car started "knocking" the engine was gone he said and thats where I stand.
So the options are to go down the dealership route and get charged an extortionate amount
Go down the DIY route find my self a new/second hand engine and get things done independently
sell the car as is - as a non-running vehicle.
I'm the kind of person who doesnt know too much a bout cars and doesnt want too much hastle. But I want to get the financial best deal out of this mess and thats where id love some advice from the members of this forum.
Thanks in advance!
So the story goes:
I own a bmw 520d which i bought in early 2013 which had one previous owner full BMW service history but driven around 80000 miles. The car then was under warranty and throughout my ownership havn't had any major issues. (just had to replace tires/break pads wear and tear etc)
I was dropping my parents off to Heathrow on a hot July day, when during the roadworks section (near Luton) I got a sign for the first time -
"Drivetrain. Maximum power not available. Drive moderately"
I obviously had getting my parents off to the airport to catch their flight on my mind and the fact that we were on the motorway miles away from the BMW service station I use.
Unfortunately, I decided to ignore the message and continued driving. The car didn't feel any different and so I drove on (around 75 mph) about a mile later the sign came up a second time and the car felt as if it was loosing power (had to rev it more to keep at the same speed) so I went to the slow lane of the motorway and kept a speed around 55 mph. As it was the roadworks section there wasn't a hard shoulder or any safe place to stop so I continued driving for around 2 miles - all the while the car felt more lethargic and a whining/whistling noise grew from the engine.
Around the end of the roadworks I looked in my mirrors and could see white smoke visibly coming from the exhaust and then I knew I had a serious problem - as I pulled up on the hard shoulder there was a sudden increase in white smoke which almost covered 2 lanes of the motor way. It was so bad that a motorist decided to call the fire brigade as he suspected the car to be on fire.
I immediately switched off the engine and we evacuated the car. Naturally I called my roadside assistance and they sent a recovery person their way.
At that time Highway patrol officers came and asked to move my car as it was in an unsafe position. They noted oil coming from the exhaust and suspected a blown turbo. they advised me not to drive it and said the would tow it with their Pajero. But the car was stuck in park (automatic) so had to turn it onto put it into neutral - when I did so it made a horrible (almost mechanical) noise and blurted out black smoke from the exhaust. Any way the tow truck came and again had to switch the car on - this time the red engine oil low sign came on (not once but twice) and the car was taken to sytner BMW on an emergency booking.
I don't understand much about cars but I knew that low engine oil was a bad bad sign. Anyway Sytner came back to me and told me the car was in a state. At the very least it needed a new turbo, replacement of DPF and investigation into extent of possible engine damage. They qouted me in the vicinity of £5000 !!!!
obviously I thought 5 Grand was extortionate so I decided to take the car to the most reputed BMW specialist in town. The car is out of warranty and I didnt think to pay for additional cover because the car never gave me a major problem and that I thought it to be still on the young side. I didnt imagine I would asked to fork out something like 5K so soon.
The sytner guys didnt even bother to put some extra engine oil out of courtesy and took £50 for diagnostics. When I took it to the independent guy, he switched on the engine started to rev it and the car started "knocking" the engine was gone he said and thats where I stand.
So the options are to go down the dealership route and get charged an extortionate amount
Go down the DIY route find my self a new/second hand engine and get things done independently
sell the car as is - as a non-running vehicle.
I'm the kind of person who doesnt know too much a bout cars and doesnt want too much hastle. But I want to get the financial best deal out of this mess and thats where id love some advice from the members of this forum.
Thanks in advance!
