My M60 318is.

[dirty30]

More bad luck!!

I had just installed the new alternator and low temp t-stat and was headed to the spray wash to get it ready for Cars and Coffee Saturday morning when I noticed a colossal cloud of smoke behind the car. I hit the next exit and jumped out to see oil pouring out everywhere. My first thoughts were that the oil filters had been punctured like Jgood's. I got it towed home and called it a night.

This morning I changed the filters and filled it back up with all 11 quarts. Upon startup it puked about a quart around where the oil cooler is. I removed the oil cooler and here is what it looks like:



The drivers side bracket is pulled off the body of the cooler a few MM's and the fourth row down is warped pretty badly. Only thing I can think of is I overtightened the AN fittings or it just plain old failed on me. Either way its a huge mess. Almost lost this engine last night.

[dmoney(AB)]

Ouch, nice save!

Possible warranty??

[Jean]

What brand is that cooler?

Good save man!

[dirty30]

What brand is that cooler?

Good save man!

I think it's an Earls performance cooler. I hope they can warranty it, with the way I had it mounted I don't see how it could have warped like that.

[dirty30]

Well guys I spoke to soon. I installed the newer higher quality unit last night and went for a (smelly) drive to the spray wash. At first everything seemed normal with the exception of the oil burning off of everything but the oil light was flickering. When I got home the oil light had started coming on more consistently throughout the RPM range. An oil pressure gauge confirmed the oil pressure was fluctuating between 40-60psi at higher rpm's, mainly above 3k. I'm not sure what to do at this point, I am torn between removing the engine and tearing it down or parking the car for the rest of the year and focusing on finding something else. I have a line on a 4.4 but this has really taken the wind out of my sails.

[slammin.e28]

You have 7 days.

GO!

Seriously though....that sucks. Get that 4.4 and roll it in!

[dirty30]

You have 7 days.

GO!

Called him this morning about 45 minutes ago and its sold. BUMMER

[slammin.e28]

Called him this morning about 45 minutes ago and its sold. BUMMER

Ugh.....

Mines all torn apart too, otherwise you could borrow it. ;)

[dirty30]

Ugh.....

Mines all torn apart too, otherwise you could borrow it. ;)

Haha! I almost feel like doing a big burnout in the driveway until it throws a rod and at least let it die with some dignity.

[JGood]

Orrrr... Drive it to Bimmerfest carefully, drive it home carefully, then blow it up!

[dirty30]

There's a few things I'm going to double check tonight but to me it's looking pretty grim. There was only so much diag I could do last night in the backyard while holding my flashlight with my teeth and swearing profusely.

Orrrr... Drive it to Bimmerfest carefully, drive it home carefully, then blow it up!

[bmwmech1]

Pull the lower oil pan off and double check the oil pump bolts... they have a bad tendency of backing out of the pump on the M60's and end up in the pan and the engine with little oil pressure. I can't for the life of me figure out what happened to that cooler... just doesn't make sense...

Garey

[dirty30]

Pull the lower oil pan off and double check the oil pump bolts... they have a bad tendency of backing out of the pump on the M60's and end up in the pan and the engine with little oil pressure. I can't for the life of me figure out what happened to that cooler... just doesn't make sense...

Garey

I'm going to pull the pan as a last resort. Since oil (and water after I cleaned it) covered everything in the bay I want to make sure my oil sender wiring is still ok and not soaked with oil. I had this engine completely apart with the exception of the heads and even bought new oil pump bolts along with completely resealing the oil pump. Everything was torqued in the lower end per the repair manual too. I think its just too coincidental to have these issues pop up after the oil loss. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed.

[watchamacoolitt]

sick build!

[dirty30]

Everything is ok. I had some time to work on it last night and started with cleaning the connections on the oil pressure sender first then took it for a drive. No oil light. Awesome. This morning I was meeting a few friends at Summit Point and decided to drive it out there. No oil light. I've out about 30 miles on it now without any indication of a loss in pressure or noise from the valve train, lower end etc. Justin was nice enough to send me a video of his oil pressure gauge to compare mine too. Everything checks out fine.