[DertyE90]

I certainly wasn't looking for good news from anyone and why would I post pics of my GF when I've already got pics of your GF......and as far as my "mistakes" go.... guessing you the perfect human and never once made a sper of the moment dumb ass call right... RIGHT? F*cking doubt it...….

[DertyE90]

Originally Posted by tcphoto

I just hope that he picked up the parts that fell off on the highway. Imagine some poor soul coming up on it driving 55-70 MPH.

All pieces were removed from the 4 lane highway and all oil was also cleaned up with speed dry, there was an officer on scene as its a fairly fast part of the highway.

[DertyE90]

All BS aside is it even worth it to attempt to fix knowing the damage so far... not to mention the fact that there could engine damage as well.

[dmatre]

If you're handy, swap in a junk-yard motor and move on.

Otherwise, lots of choices based on parameters we don't know (income, savings, requirements, preferences, etc).

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by DertyE90

Just got off the phone with my mechanic and I didn't throw a rod (surprisingly) enough, he said the front drive broke while driving it and put a hole in the oil pan however he also stated that he was finding other metal pieces in the oil pan as well. So the important question is how much engine damage would a catastrophic event like this cause? Any ideas? When I asked him if he thought it was worth fixing he said" if it was mine I wouldn't" Just the few major parts alone are pushing upwards of 3 G.... its an older car, slightly higher miles but its my car and I love the thing but man is it even worth it?

It is hard to help you because you are not providing much information. You stated "the front drive broke". That doesn't help. What broke in the front drive? The driveshaft. One or both drive axles? The differential? The transfer case?

Based on your earlier description, the "choppa" sound was either a drive axle or the front driveshaft. If a drive axle broke, it would have separated at one of the CV joints. You would have immediately felt that though the steering wheel. And with one end of the shaft free it would be slamming all over the place tearing up the suspension. I'm not exactly sure how it could have holed the oil pan unless it bounced off the road back into the oil pan.

I could possibly see how the front drive shaft if it separated at the front u-joint could have swung over and holed the oil pan. But in either case, I'm sure there is a bunch of torn up shit under the front of your car.

I'd get an estimate cost on a complete used front drivetrain - engine, transfer case, and differential. It will be 16 - 24 hours minimum installation is my guess.

God only knows what the inside of your engine looks like, but I'd bet it's toasted. And you said you had the parts ready to install a new drive axle. If one of the axles separated as it did, it was worn well beyond its limits. I'd bet it was making noises for months beforehand, which were ignored. Whomever diagnosed the bad shaft should have not let you drive the car with the shaft in that bad of shape. That goes too if it was the driveshaft that broke.

[lookalikehuuh]

Yeah I agree, the engine wouldn't have stopped if there wasn't some type of internal damage to the engine itself.

Like others have said the best chance you have here is to get a used motor and swap that in, trying to fix the current one isn't a smart idea and im 99.99999% sure there is definitely damage to bearings and/or valves which is a huge risk to try to fix that existing engine.

[solo118]

I would just scrap that car, get what you can as a parts car and start over. Sounds like a real mess, that would take lots of time, money and parts to make right. We could all be wrong, but sometimes you just need to face facts.

[fgpalmer71]

Originally Posted by solo118

I would just scrap that car, get what you can as a parts car and start over. Sounds like a real mess, that would take lots of time, money and parts to make right. We could all be wrong, but sometimes you just need to face facts.

+1
New here, couldn't help but read through this one. It sounds like you know your mistakes here, the question at hand now is what to do next. As someone else stated earlier the proper answer to that question requires information that's not available, (ie. Income, savings, retirement, expenses, etc).

I haven't picked up my car yet, it's being closed on by a family member tomorrow as it's 900+ miles away. I've been shopping for months, coast to coast, spent a ludicrous amount on PPI's and such. From what I've seen the ONLY way I'd fix this car is if it had some sort of legitimate sentimentality attached to it. Otherwise it just seems like torching $100 bills. You can find clean, high mileage (not sure what's on your clock) 335i's for 6k or less.....all. day. long. I never looked at the non TT cars. To take funds and apply them to this would require me to have a PROFOUND attachment to the car.

If you have any sort of retirement set up, 401k, preferably an IRA where you've already paid your tax bill pre-deposit, now might be a good time to dip into it slightly if you have bo other means. This Covid situation has made it so your able to withdraw your funds without penalty, until the 1st of the year I believe. Might be a better option then paying interest on money to fix this thing or buy a new vehicle at a point in time when your financial strapped with no other alternatives.

Long story short.....I'd bail on it. Good luck with this.

[Bimmer_Engineer]

Originally Posted by DertyE90

I certainly wasn't looking for good news from anyone and why would I post pics of my GF when I've already got pics of your GF......and as far as my "mistakes" go.... guessing you the perfect human and never once made a sper of the moment dumb ass call right... RIGHT? F*cking doubt it...….

Classic...

[Mantraxalos]

I agree with the op that no point in telling him he messed up when he knows he messed up.
Much of the ideas here cover the best options of what to do.

Try and get more specifics from the mechanic about the front drive as that comprises of many components.

Thanks for keeping us informed.

There was a member here offering me his n52 engine for 100 to 200 bucks. Maybe local members to you are in similar positions of assistance.

[DertyE90]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

It is hard to help you because you are not providing much information. You stated "the front drive broke". That doesn't help. What broke in the front drive? The driveshaft. One or both drive axles? The differential? The transfer case?

Based on your earlier description, the "choppa" sound was either a drive axle or the front driveshaft. If a drive axle broke, it would have separated at one of the CV joints. You would have immediately felt that though the steering wheel. And with one end of the shaft free it would be slamming all over the place tearing up the suspension. I'm not exactly sure how it could have holed the oil pan unless it bounced off the road back into the oil pan.

I could possibly see how the front drive shaft if it separated at the front u-joint could have swung over and holed the oil pan. But in either case, I'm sure there is a bunch of torn up shit under the front of your car.

I'd get an estimate cost on a complete used front drivetrain - engine, transfer case, and differential. It will be 16 - 24 hours minimum installation is my guess.

God only knows what the inside of your engine looks like, but I'd bet it's toasted. And you said you had the parts ready to install a new drive axle. If one of the axles separated as it did, it was worn well beyond its limits. I'd bet it was making noises for months beforehand, which were ignored. Whomever diagnosed the bad shaft should have not let you drive the car with the shaft in that bad of shape. That goes too if it was the driveshaft that broke.

So the front drive shaft broke from the U joint where it connects to trans case causing it to slap down and rip a hole in the oil pan. My plan is to keep the car as it is owned out right. Repair the drive shaft myself buy a used oil pan however buy new hardware ( Bolts,Gaskets,oil etc..) and let my mechanic tackle that. Hope for the best and that i actually didn't destroy the engine, it started up no problem... I had to check to see if it would even turn over and now that I'm remembering the incident I actually remember shutting the car off on my own as i pulled over to the side of the highway. So the odds of internal engine damage yes are there but likely not horrible if any at all.

[fredcase]

Originally Posted by DertyE90

So the front drive shaft broke from the U joint where it connects to trans case causing it to slap down and rip a hole in the oil pan. My plan is to keep the car as it is owned out right. Repair the drive shaft myself buy a used oil pan however buy new hardware ( Bolts,Gaskets,oil etc..) and let my mechanic tackle that. Hope for the best and that i actually didn't destroy the engine, it started up no problem... I had to check to see if it would even turn over and now that I'm remembering the incident I actually remember shutting the car off on my own as i pulled over to the side of the highway. So the odds of internal engine damage yes are there but likely not horrible if any at all.

Lol, another brilliant decision. Dump more money into a ruined engine.

[mikeatrpi]

Have your mechanic check the oil filter for debris before condemning the whole thing. Maybe you get lucky and find no glitter.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by DertyE90

So the front drive shaft broke from the U joint where it connects to trans case causing it to slap down and rip a hole in the oil pan. My plan is to keep the car as it is owned out right. Repair the drive shaft myself buy a used oil pan however buy new hardware ( Bolts,Gaskets,oil etc..) and let my mechanic tackle that. Hope for the best and that i actually didn't destroy the engine, it started up no problem... I had to check to see if it would even turn over and now that I'm remembering the incident I actually remember shutting the car off on my own as i pulled over to the side of the highway. So the odds of internal engine damage yes are there but likely not horrible if any at all.

If that much oil left the engine and you drove it 10 - 15 miles near empty of oil I'd have to question the conditions of the cams at least. And the gauges must have been showing low oil pressure and an SES light based on the VANOS not operating properly due to low oil pressure.

Good luck with it.

[S65Hunter]

Repair oil pan first and make sure it runs. No sense in replacing drivetrain components until you know you've got a good running motor.

[BashShah]

Originally Posted by AlpineE93

Repair oil pan first and make sure it runs. No sense in replacing drivetrain components until you know you've got a good running motor.

What he said.... best economical move.
Repair the pan, dump new oil in.
See if it starts and revs without issues. If you do this yourself, the cost should be extremely minimal.

If engine is good, then, replace drive shaft and car is good to go.

Else see value of your car and what percentage is the engine and drive shaft repair will cost.
Compare to another car purchase and decide if it's worth it.

Good luck.

[CALWATERBOY]

Originally Posted by DertyE90

So the front drive shaft broke from the U joint where it connects to trans case causing it to slap down and rip a hole in the oil pan. My plan is to keep the car as it is owned out right. Repair the drive shaft myself buy a used oil pan however buy new hardware ( Bolts,Gaskets,oil etc..) and let my mechanic tackle that. Hope for the best and that i actually didn't destroy the engine, it started up no problem... I had to check to see if it would even turn over and now that I'm remembering the incident I actually remember shutting the car off on my own as i pulled over to the side of the highway. So the odds of internal engine damage yes are there but likely not horrible if any at all.

Interesting.



Assuming the engine's not toasted, and there's a solid chance it's not, you may be saved! I like your approach - please post pics of the damage, shaft & engine....seriously we'd like to see it.

You mentioned the drive shaft needed replacement - if I read you right, shaft failed before you got to it. What was the issue before it failed?


.

[mecheng77]

Hopefully it was some good p***y 😉

Do a compression test with temporary patch on pan and listen for noise. Likely it's toast. Part it out and get another one or new engine

[MadDog89]

When I was about 19 I had a Ford Crown Victoria. I didn't have much experience with cars at the time but end up starving the engine of oil. End up spinning my bearing and too had a sound like you described. End up taking the engine out and rebuilding the bottom end. Good learning experience.

[Andrewah05]

RIP OP's N54, save your money don't dump more money into a ruined engine as previous members have said. Keep it as a project car if that's feasible?

[fredcase]

Originally Posted by Andrewah05

RIP OP's N54, save your money don't dump more money into a ruined engine as previous members have said. Keep it as a project car if that's feasible?

LOL, N52 bruh.

[clegg]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Man, if I counted the times I did stupid shit because of pus_y, good Lord, I'd still be counting...

This right here!!