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Rod bearings beware

22K views 141 replies 45 participants last post by  ard 
#1 ·
hey guys, just wanted to update my story haha, well blew up, ie connecting rod was laying under my transmisson pan, piston blew, changed the oil 4 times inside of 6 10k miles since new rod bearings, rod bearings were also laying there just looking at me connecting rod bolts one sheered and one bent then sheered ill update with pics, Iam mainly posting this so that anyone who had there rod earings changed by alex auto in norcross ga will get theres inspected before the same happen, I heard a ticking noise about 5 oo miles afterchange and called multiple times and was told its in your heads etc or vanos blah bs so i send a video and he is worried i set up a time to deliver the car and he states he is out of town, Note not once did he advise not to drive or stop the operation. there was no loss of power or idle issues. Been off the road for about 2 months and iam seeking legal action. He lied to me guys!!!!! he stated he would inspect the motor and find reason for failure o took the car to him it sat for two weeks and he had me remove the car with out any inspection. I ended up paying alex a total of 2,700 dollars when i left with my car and that money spent well too bad my car EXPLODED in second gear about 40 MPH $UCK!!!!!!! NEED A USED MOTOR any help Come on guys i need it !!!!!
 
#3 ·
That does suck, but now my brain hurts from trying to decipher the text in your post.

Let me summarize what I think I read:

Your engine grenaded, due to rod bearing failure.

You had someone rebuild the engine.

Your rebuilt engine grenaded again after not many miles.

Person who rebuilt your engine does not want to take responsibility.

You are stuck with a second blown engine after spending $2,700.00
 
#16 ·
I am not getting the first engine grenade out of his text. I think it is more like....


Had bearings replaced for 'preventative maintenance'

Your engine got noisy after 500 miles from bearing replacement.

Engine grended shortly thereafter driving down the road at 40mph in second

Person who rebuilt your engine does not want to take responsibility.

You are stuck with a blown engine after spending $2,700.00 on 'preventative maintenance'
 
#6 ·
i replaced my rodbearings for preventative maintinence and less than 10k miles after i had the work done the motor flew apart ha, so much for peace of mind sorry to all that i recommended this work Note my car was the first car/ Rodbearing job alex did and he will not own up to any of this he renigged on paying to have it inspected and if found at fault he would replace the engine. I asked for that in writing and he said and i quote "sue me"
 
#8 ·
Did you ever post a video/sound clip? I always thought members here advocates stopping driving immediately in case of suspected rod bearing issue. Sounds like horrible customer service but needs to hear both sides of story. Good luck sorting it.
 
#9 ·
that was the initial promise, that he would take responsibility byt he didnt even have time so he says to look at it what a joke he needs to be kicked off the board for misreprentation and being a liar and and unethical business PERIOD, . no mayyer how this is looked at by the time there was a knock the pistion or cylynder walls were damaged ie new block, crank was prollu damaged as well and just a crank and blo0ck would require 10 k for crank 6k-8k for block, new pistions and connecting rods so there was no rescue or saving the otor once failure began as he tried to make me believe
 
#11 ·
Sorry to hear about your situation, couple of questions -

- Did "Alex" come highly recommended? As in, he had done the exact job on another/several E39 M5s known to you?

- At $2700, WHY did you not take the car to the BMW dealer? My local dealer can do the job for $2500ish

- Why did you continue to drive the car in spite of strange ticking noise?

If my car was opened up by a technician, rod bearings changed, and the car started making a ticking noise I would not be driving it until I had a definitive answer. If the car was bone stock and had never been opened, I see how someone could think its vanos or chain guides or whatever else - But if the engine was overhauled just 8-10K ago and the engine developed an abnormal noise, the thing to do would be to stop driving it ASAP.

I wish you luck with finding another engine and sorting your car out.
 
#12 ·
WHY does any of this matter now? His engine's blown, and he has no car now. Whats the purpose of harking on the past just to belittle him?
 
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#13 ·
This is really unfortunate. I know Alex, and he has always seemed to be a true enthusiast and a great guy. But this is an ugly, ugly failure. I don't think I've ever seen one quite this ugly (not even my own!). Very sorry this happened, whatever the cause, and hope that you can find a reliable used engine to transplant into your beast.

--Peter
 
#14 · (Edited)
I've met Alex a few times socially at various M meets and he was always a stand-up guy. I've never taken my car to his garage since I do most of my own work. I know there's two sides to every story, but if a job was beyond my capability and I needed to take it to a professional, I would be lying if I didn't say that this incident would make me hesitate to take it there. Hopefully, he will figure out a way to work with the OP to make this right.
 
#17 ·
there are two sides of the story correct and when i meet alex he seemed very nice and to be an upstanding guy, up until there were issues with the car, 2700 was for rod bearings sepintine belt, pluges and oil, neither of wich u can say was fully done correct because the new plugs, and belt are useless now, he said it was my "driving habbits hahahaha well i bought the car w 56k on it and put well over 70k on the engine with NO mechanical ISSUES, Delivered the CAR to alex WITH NO ISSUES as he test drove the car to insure there wasnt already a problem etc. Then he agreed to perform the work, afer problems arose he blamed other things including maybe a spark plug etc wich i checked etc. no effort was made to supply me with a vehichle to replace mine and no effort was made to make the situation right, he has insurance and would OT file a CLAIM and that IS LUDACRIS, The FAILURE is obsered and his workmanship morals and ethics are now in question. His warranty for the work was not upheld nor his promise to perform the job corrrectly reluting in 2 towe bills to GA and a blown motor beyond repair. What should be done? swap his engine for mine would have been easy and a simple solution, sell his SC kit and buy me a used motor, Or file a claim to have his insurance replace my motor, non were even concidered. He agreed to tear the engine down thus i took the car to him it SAT for two weeks with out being Touched so much so that the skid plate wasnt even removed to locate the whole in the block, ALSO he then agreed to pay a shop up to 1400 to tear the engine down i have already sent pics to some
WELL Respected bmw tech's and with in looking at those pics it was very obvious at to what caused the failure. So i explained that i would have the car inspected if he sent me in writing what he was agreeing to verbally ie pay for inspection if problem was bearing related he would then replace the motor well upon asking for that agreement in writing he told me to sue him and to pick my car up by the end of the following week. Character isnt measured until u have to step up to the plate and place honor above all and when u can accept responsibility for ones actions PERIOD!!!!!
 
#19 ·
your posts are impossible to read - use double space on lines -
 
#21 ·
Good move -- excellent shop. Have them help you source a replacement engine.
 
#23 ·
OP, do you know if Alex did the work personally, or did someone else in his shop do it? Many, if not most of these shop owners don't actually do the work themselves. Instead, they hire some mechanic off the street as long as they can show up for work and pay them next to nothing. Were the same mechanics working there each time you visited?

I always get nervous when I don't know who is turning the wrench on my car. I like to know exactly who is doing the work on my car and meet & talk to that person before-hand to size them up. If you're unkept or look like you're getting over a bender, you're not touching my car. That's why I like to turn my own wrenches.

When I spoke to Alex several months ago he mentioned that he had done rod bearing replacements on four M5s, including his own. In other words, this wasn't his first time doing it. I was like, "what's up with all these rod bearings going bad and why is everyone replacing them as preventative maintenance?". I'm not sure I ever got my question answered.
 
#25 ·
I recall being recommended this Alex character (due to price) when I was hashing over whether to have my bearings replaced or not...:3:

Sorry bro, I hate hearing this. :(
 
#30 ·
That Sucks!

Plain and simple.

Not likely to recover anything from the mechanic.

Consider creating a GM-5.

24 month or 50k miles warranty.

Best of luck.
 
#35 ·
I'm gonna presume for a second that your rod bearing failure was due to an improper install or something at the mechanic's fault.

It's interesting you went ~10k post rod bearing change before they failed, yet you heard noise after about 500 miles.

...

This is a sad story Gixxer. I know you don't want to hear this right now, but if you communicate in person as you write on this board, you will have shops and stuff more readily rip you off.

I suggest parting out your m5 unless it's in pristine condition. It's not worth finding a new s62 when you can buy m5's readily for $12-15k in decent (albeit higer mileage) shape. $20k will buy you a splendid m5.

I also feel bad for Alex. Ticking noises on these cars ARE most likely VANOS or other issues (chain tensioner, etc.) and he did just do the rod bearings. And the car was driving fine, so it wouldn't appear to be an installation issue.

And it didn't emerge right away. He's got to assume you didn't mis-shift at some point post install and throw a rod through the block. And if he assumes it's his fault, he's on the hook for a very, very expensive engine.

There are no winners here man. I'm sorry for your loss, I'm sorry a reputable shop has lost some reputation fo God only knows what reason at the end of the day, and I'm sorry another s62 has bit the dust.
 
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