2012 f10 n55 BMW serpentine belt shredded - MAJOR REPAIR - advice needed :(

[KillShot]

Hi Guys,

I bought a used 2012 bmw 535i xdrive vehicle with 60k miles almost 2 years ago. It is at 97k currently. I am a first time owner of BMW. I was aware of an OFHG leak 6+ months after i owned it. I went to an indy shop to get it fixed, noticed it still leaking several months later, and noticed they went out of business when indeed they had 2 year / 24k warranty . So the oil leak was never fixed .

I was driving my car last week and got a Charging malfunction error : battery is not recharging. stop carefully consult nearest service center. Got home noticed the belt was shredded to pieces.

Had it to towed to the next indy shop who i denied for initial oil leak over being cheap and saving 200 bucks. I got it towed to them and here is the response. I've read horror stories about the serpentine belt getting sucked into the engine. Let me know what you guys think.

The quick fix would be to just get the belt done and sell it to a dealership but i have a lot of cosmetic money involved in this and just got 1400 in new tires literally 2 weeks ago. I also owe about 12k left on it.

looking for advice, please read below. (this is from the indy shop)

As discussed your car has a heavy oil leak from the valve cover and another heavy leak from the oil filter housing gasket. This has resulted in the oil contaminated serpentine belt shredding and wrapping itself around the crankshaft and alternator. It appears upon close inspection that the belt has been ingested through the front crank seal. That is a concern.

The following are estimates for the repairs we discussed. Estimated prices include parts, labor and tax. Estimates can change if latent damage is revealed during the repair process. No additional repairs made without approval.

1- Remove and replace oil filter housing gasket and associated parts. Replace Crankshaft oil seal. Clean affected area and perform oil pressure "priming" procedure after repairs. Replace oil soaked upper radiator hose, serpentine belt and one additional coolant hose. Remove all belt debris from ancillary components and perform an oil and filter service.

Note: This repair does include replacing the damaged crankshaft oil seal but does not include removing the oil pan to inspect for belt debris. Debris in the pan could adversely affect oil pressure by blocking the oil pump pickup tube. It may be fine, but it's unknown. Total estimate, $2,173.57

2- Option 2 would be the same as above with the addition of removing the oil pan to inspect for debris. This is a major repair. It cost significantly more money but would definitively address the concern of debris in the pan. Total estimate, $4395.78

Neither one of these repairs address's the Valve cover repair the car also needs.

Please call me or stop by to discuss in person. I'm happy to answer your questions.

(end of repair shop)

so all in all would be 4400 + 1300 for valve cover. This car was a gift to myself for getting my most successful job in my life and i do feel sentimentally attached, but i am not married to it.

What are my greatest concerns for them not being able to uncover left over pieces of the belt into the engine? what would you guys do? another option is to fix the belts and than literally take it to a dealership and just sell it. I couldnt sell this to a third party with my conscience, i just couldn't do that to somebody.

[jclausen]

We had one car towed in and it was covered with oil, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I would have never believed the belt could shred and gotten into and past the oil seal and into the oil pan,but it did just exactly that. I remember the seal being a pain in the ass to get in and out BMW had this crazy tool for it. I ask the person who had been servicing there car andnthey said aid a local shop I guess they didn't have ther eyes open or didn't like giving there customer bad news because it could have been totally avoided with the proper regular service. id have to look up labor times which I can do at work and get back to you

[jclausen]

I looked at alldata if the car has active sway bars which it probably does , labor alone could be $2952 not including valve cover labor that figure is based on $144.00 an hour labor now add parts prices. Your kind of in a pickle it needs to get done

[KillShot]

Jclausen what do you suggest i do? i think i owe more than what i can trade it in for, and literally just got new tires on it which I know can be easily replaced. If i get it done how much time do I have assuming pieces arent discovered during the process?

[jclausen]

Well put it this way we just put a transmission in an old Honda van because the customer wanted it fixed. It sounds like you need to get it done. Again who ever was servicing this car was not giving you important information on your car as the oil leak was developing. I have people say I only want the oil and filter change, but we don't do that we inspect the car each vist and that's really important. Those oil changer places they don't know what there looking at and and don't inspect your car and talk to you about the things they see. You get what you pay for. But Then I have other customers who complain about having to put in 100k spark plugs, funny.

[KillShot]

Here is my only problem, I have heard even if i do the most expensive repair there can still be components of the belt stuck in the engine. So that means i can spend the 4k+ and still have issues down the road and blow the engine. Any thoughts or suggestions on this from somebody who has serviced this, or gone through this? and to go back I did have the OFHG leak fixed by a company a year and half ago that went out of business, but they clearly didn't fix it. Other option is I get a temp fix and sell it to dealership and just hope to break even on the loan? thoughts suggestions?

I am in Minnesota

only fix i have heard to completely remove belt is to take apart entire engine which would be way to cost consuming.

I went to an indy shop.

thoughts suggestions?

and i reference this article:

https://autoscope.co/car-repair/bmw-...inside-engine/

[Critter7r]

if you don't have the fragments removed from the oil pan, you're not really doing the repair. belt fragments blocking the oil pump is absolutely likely to happen.

Trade in value is about $10-11k. it would be worth going $1-2k upside down to get out from under this car. Put a belt on it and drive it directly to where you're going to buy your next car.

[KillShot]

Critter,

do you agree that without taking apart the entire engine, there is no way to see what else is blocking oil passages? which is why this would be a dumb move or extremely expensive?

[Critter7r]

Correct. The engine is a time bomb. We've seen quite a few belts shredded inside engines (maybe a couple dozen), and most of them end up being ok after we drop the oil pan and clear it out, but a couple of them have seized up months later.