07 S60 Total engine failure?

bmwstudent · Post by **bmwstudent** » 13 Jul 2014, 05:25

Hello everyone, I'm new to the forum and this will be my first post. I'm actually a bmw enthusiast, but a friend has enlisted me to help him with his wife's car. The car in need of repair is an 07 s6 with the t5 engine.
The story goes like this. The wife purchased the car new from a dealer here in town. She had the car serviced there it's entire life. The second to last time she was there was simply for an oil change, one thousand miles later the car developed a noise. She took the car back to the dealer and they advised her that the engine needed replacement. She left there and went to a privately owned shop and they advised her that the engine had only one quart of oil in the engine. They performed an oil change but the noise persisted, and over the course of the last 2k miles it has gotten a lot worse. He tells me that he's actually scared to start it now.
I have not actually seen the car yet, but he is towing it to my house today. His hopes are that I can find a used engine and swap it in. More to follow....

Post by **abscate** » 13 Jul 2014, 06:05

A relatively late model engine should be easy to find from a wrecked car. There will probably be some dealer only software matching that will needed to be done to match ECU to VIN, I'll let the experts advise on that. If it's top end only, you can get away under 1k perhaps with a new head...if it's new engine I'm guessing more like 3k with your labour.

I've found the detailed knowledge base on a Volvo much better than BMW, especially here.

Post by **precopster** » 13 Jul 2014, 07:48

These S60 T5s have dual VVT so both cams have VVT and keep in mind that the engine series in a T5 is a B5234T not a B5254T. If you place the B5254T in this S60 the compression ratio will be too high at 9:1 instead of 8.5:1

You don't need any ECM mods to replace an engine in any Volvo unless you're mixing and matching components and want to reduce boost such as if you HAD to source a B5254T and wanted a matching ECM with lower boost. You would also need to swap the motor's matching turbo if they differ between engines.

Post by **oragex** » 13 Jul 2014, 12:24

Good chance the dealer forgot to refill with fresh oil, or didn't tighten well the drain plug.

Unfortunately having run without oil the engine is now toasted. You can possibly go in court with the dealer after having a specialist inspect the damaged engine.

A recent used engine should be anywhere around $1000-$2000 in a scrap yard. It's a good time to also replace the transmission fluid, a sensitive part on this car.

An engine swap it's not that an easy job on this vehicle.

Post by **precopster** » 13 Jul 2014, 19:42

Dealers have insurance. I would contest the finding. The garage that topped it up should have documented and provided photographic or video evidence of the low oil situation. Perhaps they can write a statement for the court.

You may get a factory rebuilt Volvo engine fitted free of charge!!

bmwstudent · Post by **bmwstudent** » 13 Jul 2014, 21:13

Well the car did not show up today but I did talk to my friend and he said he will be dropping it off tomorrow. I'll talk to him tomorrow about calling the dealer again but he's not the type to go in and argue. His wife is out of town and it's her car, so the probability of him going into Wilmington to do anything about it is pretty low.

I plan on installing an identical engine and resealing it as necessary. Replacing trans fluid and filter, and giving the car a good wash.

As far as difficulty, I hope I can manage. Any good advise and or prior experience is welcomed. You'll be along for the ride as I'll post pics when I can with progress reports. Thanks, Mike

Post by **JRL** » 13 Jul 2014, 21:28

Yes, get a lawyer, this is absurd
SOMEONE is responsible

Post by **oragex** » 14 Jul 2014, 07:42

Just a suggestion, if it goes in court, it takes some kind of proof for the judge, it helps to have any kind of paper wrote by the mechanic at the moment when he noticed missing oil, or anything similar, including the oil change paper work by the dealer and the oil change history at the same place. anything to convince the judge.

Post by **abscate** » 14 Jul 2014, 11:51

Lets keep this thread focussed on the engine issue, please - lawyer/suit/legal threads invariably end up ugly.

bmwstudent · Post by **bmwstudent** » 15 Jul 2014, 19:15

I spoke to my buddy, he has no intent on going through all the business of fighting for a new engine. The car has arrived and I'm looking for an engine.