A Sad Day for a Jet Black ZHP

[JG330i]

Well, hello all. Today I was driving along HWY-26 W and my engine began knocking. I began pulling over to the right lane to pull over and the engine died. I had AAA tow it to my local indy mechanic to have it taken a look at, originally thinking the alternator may have gone bad, but come to find out, the engine is locked and there is some sort of internal failure.

My mechanic is going to rip into it this weekend and try and narrow down the problem to see if we can rebuild the engine or if I need to begin looking into used engines and possible swaps as well.

I am posting up for a bit of advice and help and guidance on what my options may be and to get a better idea of what I may be looking at.

To give you a little background on the car, I currently am still paying on my auto loan and owe a little over $10k. The car is an '03 330i with 149xxx on the ODO.

I have been keeping up with maintenance and actually was driving over to a friends today, since he was going to help me with the valve cover gasket, serpentine, and timing belts. Things I have done are as follows (maintenance/upgrades):

UUC Stage II Clutch Kit
UUC Lightweight Flywheel
Oil Filter Housing Gasket
ST V1 Coilovers
RTAB's
Lower Control Arms
Expansion Tank
Upper and Lower Radiator Hoses
Power Steering Pump
Power Steering Flush
Power Steering Reservoir
Thermostat
Spark Plugs
Brakes/Rotors
Temperature Sensor


Options I have considered with the ZHP:

1) Fix/Rebuild Engine and get back to running condition
2) Acquire Used Engine and get back to running condition
3) Part Out Vehicle and Pay off as much as I can of remaining Balance (If costs are too high)
4) Engine Swap (?)

My financial situation is pretty tight currently and I do not have a lot of money saved up. I just took on a new job and begin that next Wednesday and really will not know much more on what I can really do until I have more info from my mechanic, hopefully which I will have today.

Anyway, I have not come across a thread yet on anyone having this sort of issue with this and just wanted to post up and begin a discussion on what I might be looking at.

Definitely not how I wanted to start my weekend


UPDATE: Looks like this may be something similar http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...-BMW-330Ci-ZHP

When the engine died, I was driving on the HWY at about 60mph going uphill. As I came to the top of the hill and began the slope, a loud rattling began and I began to pull over when the RPMs went to zero. No smoke came out of the exhaust, no smoke from the engine bay, no fluids over poured out from where I had pulled over.

I am heading up to see the girlfriend via Greyhound and will post up more as more info comes in from my indy mechanic.

[Oli77]

That sucks big time. Could CCV have failed and hydrolocked? Bummer.

Tell us more once you know some details. Swap sounds good if the rest of the car is in good shape.

[danewilson77]

Damn.... So sorry to hear of this. I say put in a rebuilt engine or rebuild yours if you can.

If not... Part out and pay off. Not sure this is legal though, now that I think of it.

HTC DNA, Williamsburg, VA

[illirep]

Damn.... So sorry to hear of this. I say put in a rebuilt engine or rebuild yours if you can.

If not... Part out and pay off. Not sure this is legal though, now that I think of it.

HTC DNA, Williamsburg, VA

Dane - What would be illegal about this? Just curious.

[fredo]

Sorry to hear the news. If it was me, I would look into an used engine. Just my 2 cents. GL on this one.

[Tnhl1989]

I would assume that he would need to get a salvage title. Would the insurance company actually do anything for this?

[johnrando]

Oh man! Hopefully a rebuilt one is not as expensive. Sorry to hear this.

[Dave1027]

I think it's preamture to talk about replacing the engine. First need a good diagnosis. Who knows, it may be something simple. On the other hand, it may have threw a rod. Maybe the oil pump went out and it shut down before it got wasted?

What motor oil had you been using?

[alexandre]

Could be something as simple as fuel pump. You didn't mention it in your list and they all fail between 125 and 160k.

[aurelius]

but come to find out, the engine is locked and there is some sort of internal failure.

How do you know it's seized?

If the motor has truly seized, I'd bet on low oil level and the hill was the final nail in that coffin.

If it has not actually seized, put me down for fuel pump.