[pikcachu]

Originally Posted by Taunto

-Believe it or not......
But we have done some fair amount of Cylinder Head gaskets on the N55 Engines here at the shop over the past year or so.

98% of the failures are just the gaskets.
It is not an cheap fix.

curious about how much...

[Poochie]

Sorry about your car.. I believe that it is quite possible a defect in the engine built and not the flash is the reason for your blown motor but good luck trying to convinced BMW NA of that, as they will always try to weasel their way out of paying for the repair, especially now that they have an out (tampered ECU)..

A lot of people will tell you fight it, mention "Magnuson Moss," pray to Satan, ect.. But speaking from personal experience, it's easier said than done.. I remember when my completely stock Acura RSX Type S tranny, with a known second gear issue, blew, I figure it was a slam dunk that Acura would pay for a new gearbox.. Imagine how shocked I was when the Acura rep denied my claim without a valid reason.. When I kicked up dust and demanded an answer, the rep was like "Why you have performance rotors on your car; you must of driven the car hard and blew the transmission."
The rotors were "A-Spec" branded made and stamped by Acura, sort of what "M Performance" is to BMW. But he didn't care or even knew what was an "A-Spec" SMH..

To make a long story longer, you did the right thing by moving on and outsourcing the parts/motor, plus you save yourself from more frustration. I would also like to mention that I knew someone who blew their E90 M3 motor, they made a comprehensive claim on their auto insurance and actually got paid for an entire rebuilt from the dealer.. I was utterly surprised myself until I saw the invoice and his car running again.. Might want to try to contact your insurance company and inquire about any possible coverage.
Best of luck!

[Anthony235]

So you left the ecu flash on the car or took it off and they still detected it?

[Taunto]

Originally Posted by pikcachu

curious about how much...

I don't know to be honest. me as a tech rarely see the bill. especially if it is warranty.

[DfVgyCjmFQnu]

Turns out there is a hairline crack between two of the cylinder heads on the engine block and I'm told the entire engine needs to be replaced. Question now is to replace engine or...what are the other options? Its a lease. 15,000 miles. I don't see a great solution. Any ideas appreciated.

[Questofthetune]

Any ideas why it cracked? That's gotta be a production defect no?

[DfVgyCjmFQnu]

Originally Posted by Questofthetune

Any ideas why it cracked? That's gotta be a production defect no?

I would hope so, but since there was a tune, BMW is blaming this problem on the tune itself.

[Questofthetune]

This could be me and my naivety but wouldn't they know you'd need a pretty large amount of boost or knocking to actually blow a crack in a non defective case? Seems like you could argue it maybe

[overcoil]

Not to get off topic on this important thread but this site has some good info about block cracks

http://www.locknstitch.com/index.html

Procedure
http://www.locknstitch.com/pdf/alumi...repair_new.pdf

[Blue2]

Sorry to hear it. Did you reflash the ECU to stock before bringing it in?

[Anthony235]

Originally Posted by qafwfk7pNkou

I would hope so, but since there was a tune, BMW is blaming this problem on the tune itself.

Originally Posted by Anthony235

So you left the ecu flash on the car or took it off and they still detected it?

Please let us know. Thank you,

[mitrong]

if he had an ecu flash/tune, im assuming that he went into the dealer without reflashing back to stock.

[DfVgyCjmFQnu]

Yes there may have been a flash tune on the car when I brought it into the dealer. Yes I understand if somebody has a flash tune it should be refreshed back to stock prior to doing so. The cost and time involved with flashing back to stock is significant, and of course I did not expect an entire engine replacement would be needed. It was a wrong decision on my end. Still, I do not believe this issue is due to the tune, but rather a manufacturing defect given the engine has 15,000 miles on it and has not been raced. An engine block crack between cylinder heads seems to be more likely to a manufacturing defect rather than results of a reasonable tune.

[Luminous]

Originally Posted by qafwfk7pNkou

Yes there may have been a flash tune on the car when I brought it into the dealer. Yes I understand if somebody has a flash tune it should be refreshed back to stock prior to doing so. The cost and time involved with flashing back to stock is significant, and of course I did not expect an entire engine replacement would be needed. It was a wrong decision on my end. Still, I do not believe this issue is due to the tune, but rather a manufacturing defect given the engine has 15,000 miles on it and has not been raced. An engine block crack between cylinder heads seems to be more likely to a manufacturing defect rather than results of a reasonable tune.

I agree it definitely sounds like a manufacturing defect. For future reference most tuners will flash you back to stock free of charge.

[DfVgyCjmFQnu]

Originally Posted by Luminous

I agree it definitely sounds like a ma ifs turning defect. For future reference most tuners will flash you back to stock free of charge.

Yeah, Luminous you are putting out what, at least 100hp more than I am, and so are many others who tune the N55 engine. Reports of a cracked block are very rare. It seems to me that it should be more frequent in the tuning community if this is indeed a tuning related issue.

[Luminous]

Originally Posted by qafwfk7pNkou

Yeah, Luminous you are putting out what, at least 100hp more than I am, and so are many others who tune the N55 engine. Reports of a cracked block are very rare. It seems to me that it should be more frequent in the tuning community if this is indeed a tuning related issue.

It's definitely not caused by the tune although running higher boost could have easily stressed a pre existing defect. Of course BMW will jump at the chance to deflect blame. Again I'm really sorry to hear this happened to you, I hope things work out as best they can.

Edit: have you looked around for a used N55?

[kdog26372]

Don't think it would matter if you flashed back to stock settings. The ECU was opened up and the sticker seal broken so it will be an obvious sign of tampering even if flashed back.

Plus direct from Enzo Tuning website

"By applying our tamper proof label on each ECU calibration, you have the peace of mind that ensures the highest quality of performance available" Not sure if poster had Enzo tune, or if all flash tuners put some sort of sticker/seal on after they tune and open the ECU.

This sounds like they put a sticker on your ECU that can't be taken off without destroying the label, so pretty sure if BMW saw this label after taking engine apart they wouldn't cover anything.

I'd love a flash tune as it definitely appears to be the way to go for power/drivability, but stories like this guy will make me stick to piggyback until warranty is up. Maybe that's a false sense of security on my end as some say hidden tuner codes pop up with piggies, but haven't really heard of warranty claims denied if piggy is taken off and any codes cleared. Audi seems to be really aggressive with flagging cars with tunes, BMW a little less so unless things are obvious, at least for now.

[Anthony235]

Originally Posted by Luminous

It's definitely not caused by the tune although running higher boost could have easily stressed a pre existing defect. Of course BMW will jump at the chance to deflect blame. Again I'm really sorry to hear this happened to you, I hope things work out as best they can.

Edit: have you looked around for a used N55?

I'm not super technical with engine design, but couldn't a bad tune cause this?

Bad tune = high temps = warps head = head gasket leak = leaked coolant on head causes temp fluctuations on isolated location of head = cracked head?

[Anthony235]

Originally Posted by kdog26372

Don't think it would matter if you flashed back to stock settings. The ECU was opened up and the sticker seal broken so it will be an obvious sign of tampering even if flashed back.

Plus direct from Enzo Tuning website

"By applying our tamper proof label on each ECU calibration, you have the peace of mind that ensures the highest quality of performance available" Not sure if poster had Enzo tune, or if all flash tuners put some sort of sticker/seal on after they tune and open the ECU.

This sounds like they put a sticker on your ECU that can't be taken off without destroying the label, so pretty sure if BMW saw this label after taking engine apart they wouldn't cover anything.

I'd love a flash tune as it definitely appears to be the way to go for power/drivability, but stories like this guy will make me stick to piggyback until warranty is up. Maybe that's a false sense of security on my end as some say hidden tuner codes pop up with piggies, but haven't really heard of warranty claims denied if piggy is taken off and any codes cleared. Audi seems to be really aggressive with flagging cars with tunes, BMW a little less so unless things are obvious, at least for now.

I don't think OEM uses a tamper proof sticker.

If I took mine to a tuner I would not want them putting one on either.

Yes, from what I've read about Audi they are the worst. Anytime your car is at the dealer for service the first thing they do is hook it up to some sort of scan tool to check for ECU tampering. It's flagged automatically by the Audi system with no manual input from the tech. Even if you go in for basic scheduled service they do this.

[Luminous]

It might be theoretically possible but highly unlikely considering how many N55 tunes they've sold without any reported issues. I myself have had the tune for over 30k miles, the car is now putting down about 550whp and runs great. To be fair I change oil every 5k at the latest, I use high quality engine oil, high octane fuel and am constantly monitoring afr, timing, IATs, oil temps and boost.

Concerning the sticker or seal, I requested they not put a sticker for this exact reason and it wasn't a problem.

[ocN55]

Originally Posted by kdog26372

Don't think it would matter if you flashed back to stock settings. The ECU was opened up and the sticker seal broken so it will be an obvious sign of tampering even if flashed back.

Plus direct from Enzo Tuning website

"By applying our tamper proof label on each ECU calibration, you have the peace of mind that ensures the highest quality of performance available" Not sure if poster had Enzo tune, or if all flash tuners put some sort of sticker/seal on after they tune and open the ECU.

This sounds like they put a sticker on your ECU that can't be taken off without destroying the label, so pretty sure if BMW saw this label after taking engine apart they wouldn't cover anything.

I'd love a flash tune as it definitely appears to be the way to go for power/drivability, but stories like this guy will make me stick to piggyback until warranty is up. Maybe that's a false sense of security on my end as some say hidden tuner codes pop up with piggies, but haven't really heard of warranty claims denied if piggy is taken off and any codes cleared. Audi seems to be really aggressive with flagging cars with tunes, BMW a little less so unless things are obvious, at least for now.

After opening the ECU, the smarter thing to do would be to not use a label or anything else to close it shut. That leaves a very very clear indication that it was opened and someone tried to fix it. Whereas if you leave it open, you have grounds to say that other party were the first to open it, not you.

[mitrong]

Originally Posted by qafwfk7pNkou

Yes there may have been a flash tune on the car when I brought it into the dealer. Yes I understand if somebody has a flash tune it should be refreshed back to stock prior to doing so. The cost and time involved with flashing back to stock is significant, and of course I did not expect an entire engine replacement would be needed. It was a wrong decision on my end. Still, I do not believe this issue is due to the tune, but rather a manufacturing defect given the engine has 15,000 miles on it and has not been raced. An engine block crack between cylinder heads seems to be more likely to a manufacturing defect rather than results of a reasonable tune.

im sorry for your bad luck. =( at least you serve as a reminder to everyone on these forums that if you modify your car, you have to be prepared for the worst.