reisskahn

Hi guys i need some input and advice regarding a an e36 M3 Evo which i purchased about 3 weeks ago. Done all the usual checks on the car but it was advertised as Bottom End recently Rebuilt. Initially this got me worried as before this i've never ever heard of any m3 engine infact any BMW engine having to be rebuilt. But after doing some homework i came across a member on Passionford that had the same problem with his EVO engine and ended up having to pretty much rebuild the bottom end.

I asked the seller why did the engine require a bottom end rebuild and he said it started to make a noise so he got it checked and fixed by his local garage that he knows pretty well after BMW said they wanted £600 just to inspect it. He told me that garage he got it repaired from aint no back street type and a proper professional type Garage know what there doing. They charged him £1200.... On the invoice which he provided to me with the purchase it says:

Crank regrind with new big end bearings
Oil+ oil filter
gasket set
drive flange

Work carried out:

Remove engine+gearbox
Strip components, rebuild, replace and Test

He had this done about a week before i bought it and only done like 50 miles. I asked him is it all good to drive now engine wise etc and he said yeh the garage has fixed the problem(s). I asked him will the engine need running in and the seller said he's not too sure and because it was a Sunday we could'nt call the garage and ask. He advised me to drive it carefully until i called and asked the garage the next day.

I rang the garage the next day and explained the situation to them that i've just purchased the car and what work did they exactly carry out and why as i wanted to know what would cause such a big problem... The guy just said it had new bearings, crank regrind all new gaskets new oil etc... I asked him what oil did they use. He replied fully synthectic one, i said yes i know that but what type and he got a bit angry. I only asked as i wanted to know what type of oil was used in it as i believe the M3's use a a certain type of oil.

The main reason i rang the garage was to ask them if i needed to run the engine in and the guy over the phone said NO so i asked him again and he said no. I was a bit suprised but thought well okay they've done the work so they know better. I asked the guy over the phone for his name and he wouldn't give me. Said why do you want to know my name. I explained to him that if i need to call again or if there any problems i know who to speak to. He would'nt give me his name and because i didn't like his attidute so i said to him thats no way to speak to a customer and he replied your not my customer but i said well you've done work to my car.

I then decided to ask a few good mechanics local to me and they advised me to drive the car carefully for about 1000 miles just to be safe. Now i've only done about 500 miles since i purchased the car 3 weeks ago, 400 of them being motorway miles and now the bottom end has decided to knock. Its making a horrible noise to my SHOCK and a few BMW specalists reckon its the crank.

So to say am gutted is an understatment as i bought this to drive everyday and park my cossy up. But for a major problem like this to occur especially after it has supposedly been fixed anint something am happy with. I need to know whats the best way to approach this situation. I bought the car as it was advertised as 'Bottom end rebuilt recently' thinking well its had a main fault which has been rectified and i shouldn't be having any engine problems. After 500 miles and its decided to knock theres something definetly not right.

I've rang the seller and told him the bottom end is knocking. He said it can't be as its just been re-done and should last at least another 100,000 miles. I told him its defo the bottom end so he said he'll have a word with the garage and said but really and truly its got nothing to do with me. I got a feeling the garage won't want to have much to do with it aswell. And even if they did look at it i reckon they will want me to pay which am not willing to do and feel i shouldn't have to

Now where do i stand as i've purchased the car on the 18/11/07 and the above work was carried out on the 9/11/07. And its not easy to take the car to the garage as i bought it over a 100 miles away.

So do i in anyway have any rights in this situation?

Any help/info would be appreciated

Cheers

Reiss

tabetha

You have absolutely no rights over the work that has been done as it was not yourself that instructed the garage, or paid.
As it seems a private sale the onus would be on you to prove the seller knew the fault was still present when he sold the car.
Personally it sounds as though the garage never did the work, but merely raised an invoice for a mate, the seller.
All engines will need rebuilds especially if neglected, if the crank had suffecient wear on it that it needed new shells, the rest is not going to be far behind it wear wise I'm afraid.
It sounds very much like you have been conned by a seller and a dodgy garage, this is a very common ploy unfortunately.
If the seller was a dealer you have six months in law of warranty against any major defect under the sale of goods act.
tabetha

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

How many miles is on your car. I bought my cossie from a car sales place in shefield. I drove the car home to darlington(in the north east) and the next day i went to work in it the car cut out. At first i had a few faults with the car,for example there was NO HEATER MOTOR,which is partly my fault cause i should of seen if it worked. I phoned up trading standards and the said cause of the mileage of the car and the age of the car there is nothing i could of done. Theres nothing worse than feeling ripped off.

gingeRS

£1200 to remove an engine and gearbox, and fully strip the engine, do a rebuild, provide parts and then refit the whole lot.....seems a little too cheap for me (esp. on an M3), i'd have my suspicions

Alvyn

iTrader: (1)

I'd say that the garage when they done the work they DIDN'T check the con-rods and I say ONE or more needed to be replaced! having the crank re-ground and new shells would have lasted a few hundred miles as it did! and also they WOULD of needed to be run in and NOT with fully sen oil!

the seller MAY NOT have known IMO

Alvyn

iTrader: (1)

they HAVEN'T rebuilt the whole engine though just replaced ends and re-ground the crank!

scoooby slayer

iTrader: (4)

before you buy a car thrash it within an inch of its life as if it cant stand it before you buy it its not gonna last very long is it

ive been caught mate with a renault 21 turbo made me think though simple rule not allowed to thrash it then not buying it

if your gonna try do it quick trading standards or whoever as you do have an invoice from 3 weeks ago.

Nick D

I think that is the first post of yours I have ever seen without a few select words in CAPS

tabetha

my keyboard is playing up that's why!!
tabetha

biglee

the M3 evo engine almost certainly cannot be re-built with a budget of 1200 quid... it simply is not possible unless you steal all the parts and do it yourself.. anyhow, you have to use a very specific run-in oil on the 'M' series engine after a re-build for at least 10 hours. this will not have been done if it has fully sinthetic oil in now.. an obvious statement of course.. the oil is should have even if it has been run-in properly is a grade made for BMW by castrol, designed for the 'M' series engine only. they very rarely go wrong if looked after mate i cant see a fault that would be this bad apart from serious neglect on the owners part.
i fear you have been fucked royaly by some nobber and his garage running mate...
sorry to hear whats happend, if i it was me i would have questoned the re-build price and also found out exactly why it was 'knocking' in the first place.. they usually dont have any problems apart from the vanos system.. as you probably know.

stage 3 muppet

sounds like they just changed the shells and that it only usually last 10mins before knocking again as stated in previous post

id drive the car to them park it outside and leave a big sign in the car explaining that they are ripoffs
and yes have done this myself and ended up getting the work done on my car as they were sick of me putting off customers using there company lmao

cant promise it will work for you but basically you have no other options other than cut your losses do you

got my car done after three days of doing this lmao

reisskahn

The worse thing is that i bought it too replace my cossy as a daily runner Touch wood i've had me cossy for over a year now and its still running strong so fooking glad i never sold it....

I spoke to Trading Standards and they said i can't do nothing about the garage as i never got the work done from them. I told them well it was advertised as Bottom end Rebuilt not too long ago so thats why i bought it. They advised me to contact the seller and request him to contact the garage and look into the matter. If the seller fails to comply i should take him to a small claims court...

I've spoken to the seller and he said he'll let the garage know so ill see what happens i guess. But like i said i doubt it they'll want anything to do with it and even if they did look into it i reckon the bottom end is more or less scrap. I don't think they'd want to replace it/or the whole engine so think ill be left with a non-runner M3 EVO wtf!

LHD220Turbo

iTrader: (4)

sorry to hear about you car, it sounds strongly like you've been ripped off. all i can suggest is you replace the whole engine with a recon one from a decent company and pay extra for warrenty

WD Pro

Dont take as gospel but I suspect a recon place would struggle sourcing some of the items, I have a sneaky felling one of them were shells ? When mine let go BM had to order parts from Germany and had to wait for delivery as even BM didnt have them on the shelf Some of the individual component costs were crazy (I think I kept a record somewhere for a laugh) I know a bottom end rebuild wouldnt need them but I am sure I remember the exhaust valves as being £116 each and the top end gasket set was as bad as a WRC jobie (real tears)

Feel for the owner, I did the same BM thing for 'reliability' and am now back in the cossi - in 12 years its cost me less than a inspection II on the BM At least I had some good fun in mine though, this poor sods not even given it beans yet