Thrown Rod 64k miles

[August1]

My 2011 535xi was our weekend driver. Rarely touched snow and was in a heated garage all winter. In 2013 I had the Vanos recall. Following that repair I had two “catostrophic” drive train failures both fixed at the dealership. The most recent drive train failure was the thrown rod, and was told it would be $28k for a new engine. Called BMW NA my case manager would not listen to anything I had to say. The fact that it was a 2011 the decision had been made there was nothing I could do and no one I could talk too. Is this typical for a BMW engine to fail with so few mile and for BMW NA not to even look at the bigger picture (not just the age of the car)? Seems crazy to me... I’m curious if this is what I should expect from BMW...

[f10_M550i]

My 2011 535xi was our weekend driver. Rarely touched snow and was in a heated garage all winter. In 2013 I had the Vanos recall. Following that repair I had two “catostrophic” drive train failures both fixed at the dealership. The most recent drive train failure was the thrown rod, and was told it would be $28k for a new engine. Called BMW NA my case manager would not listen to anything I had to say. The fact that it was a 2011 the decision had been made there was nothing I could do and no one I could talk too. Is this typical for a BMW engine to fail with so few mile and for BMW NA not to even look at the bigger picture (not just the age of the car)? Seems crazy to me... I’m curious if this is what I should expect from BMW...

sorry to hear. engine damage like that is typically the result of driving with no oil or extremely low oil level. BMW's throws a "STOP ENGINE" warning if oil level gets dangerously low. That is recorded in the fault memory. If you can prove that the oil changes were done in timely manner, you might try pressing the issue with them.
Also running the engine at a very high RPM is just asking for a breakdown.

Alternatively your best bet is to find an independent dealer who can do an engine swap with a used/rebuilt motor, or rebuild that one.

[August1]

Thank you for the comment. The oil was up to date and it was serviced in September (engine failure in June). Do you have any thoughts on how to work with BMW NA? The woman on the phone literally said the decision is final and there is no one else I could talk to. She also indicated that she had not even talked to the dealership where my car was and had been serviced...I’d be happy to keep following up but I am at a dead end. Thanks again!!

[jclausen]

You could call back and ask for the supervisor, it is a 2011, so it's 8 years old, even if they did a fifty fifty split, it would probably still be more than the used engine idea. .go to a good independent shop have them call lkq and find a good used engine. It will be a fraction of the cost you are now being quoted. Really the only rod problem I have seen was the e46 m3, we replaced the engine under warranty, during the rod bearing recall. It sucks no doubt about it

[f10_M550i]

Thank you for the comment. The oil was up to date and it was serviced in September (engine failure in June). Do you have any thoughts on how to work with BMW NA? The woman on the phone literally said the decision is final and there is no one else I could talk to. She also indicated that she had not even talked to the dealership where my car was and had been serviced...I’d be happy to keep following up but I am at a dead end. Thanks again!!

agree with jclausen, I'll just add that before you call them again, spend the $25 for one day access here, and look up all the Technical Service Bulletins on the car and see if there's anything that wasn't addressed during your visits to the dealer. https://www.bmwtis.com/