[David Duty]

I purchased a 2006 320 in Panama (Central America) with only 64,000K on it. Body looked great, interior looked new, etc.

My wife wanted one for her birthday and she had looked for weeks. On her birthday she found one about 30 minutes away for sale by a doctor who was the second owner.

I'm not a mechanic by any means but at least took for for a test drive. Slow to start. He said his mechanic said it will soon need a new battery. A/C was not very cold and he said his mechanic said it needed Freon and he was going to get it done the following week for $20. Other than that he said he car was perfect and he had never had a problem with it. I paid him almost $10K in CASH, signed it over and drove home and all seemed well..........

Next morning I got up and an oil leak in the carport. I called and he said it had never done that and to take it to his mechanic (not BMW) and I did. His mechanic said it needed a gasket and he replaced it and the doctor paid for it. Stopped the oil leak. Then we got another one and had to get a new gasket for the oil filter housing or something like that.

Then the nightmare started again. In the last six months this is what I've had to repair or replace on this car.

1. New Battery

2. Repair Starter.

3. New A/C compressor (found out BMW told the doctor a year ago he needed one but he did not want to put one in)

3. Radiator and all connecting hoses.

4. New End links

5. New Tie Rods

5. All new shocks.

6. New "shocks" for the trunk as it kept falling down when we opened it.

7. Two rear window motors

8. Left rear window regulator.

9. Fix drivers remote mirror that did not work

10. Car started running on 2 cylinders and BMW had to replace some kind of pulley or something.

11. Hood open sensor. Kept beeping every time we hit a little bump or something.

12. Two wheel well covers. The doctor put 18" wheels and low profile tires on it (looked good) but in Panama it just tore the wheel wells to pieces. I put the original wheels and tires back on but one of them is bent on the inside and needs to be replaced.

13. New HID light because one went bad.

14. BMW took the engine "covers"off or something and took photos of the motor. My God I don't even see how it was running at all. Sludge and crap everywhere.

15. I've done three oil changes and two engine flushes with Pro-Tec Detox4 in the last two months in addition to Pro-Tec fuel system cleaner.
16. Been in shop(s) more than my house in the last six months. I've only been able to put about 3K on it since I got it in January.

17. Put BestLine oil additive in it two days ago after the second engine flush and oil change. I'm running "regular" oil it just for the 300-500 KM between oil changes. Should not be in there for more that a couple of weeks before it's flushed again and then synthetic put in again. I will drive it for 500 KM and change oil again. This will be the fourth oil change since I got it (3,000KM ago). Just trying to clean the engine the best I can. Don't know what else to do.

18. NOW it's making a loud "clunking" sound from somewhere near the starter or in that area every time I start it and put it in drive and will often even go dead. After about two or three minutes at idle the noise goes away. It only does this when it's cold but the noise is VERY loud and sounds like the motor or something is about to fall out. A mechanic from the USA who rebuilt cars for 20 years listened to it but the engine was warm so he could not hear the clanking noise but he said the motor didn't sound right and it might be the NGR value and he will check it for me next week.

19. At the last oil change with less than 500Km on it the filter had some black gunk in it and white "specks" all over it. Gerrrrr.

Below is a link to some photos of the motor before all my flushes, etc. I drew a circle around a silver part that seems like it broken. Can anyone tell me what it is? A friend in the USA who I trust said it looked like a "snap latch" that was broken and that could be what is causing the white specs on the filter (tiny pieces of aluminum).

I've owned BMW cars and motorcycles for the last 30 years, 3 series, 5 series, 7 series, 1100 RT motorcycle, and two 1200 GS motorcycles. I've NEVER had these kinds of problems with ANY of them.

To me, BMW's have a soul and someone really mistreated this one. Now it's up to me to get it well and on the road again. I would hate to see it die and I've put over $6,000 in it plus the $10K I paid for it already so I'm buried and no one with a brain (obviously not me) would buy this car like it is.

Any feedback about the noise or engine would be greatly appreciated. What would you do if it was yours. Please don't say torch it :-)

I created a link to some photos of the motor and filter as well as what I think is a broken snap lock thing.

https://www.evernote.com/pub/davidduty/bmw
(Click on "View Notebook" to see the photos when the link opens. You can also listen to a recording of the motor noise I've talked about.

David
Boquete, Panama