Repair question

[CigarGuy]

So, my son has a 1999 BMW 528I, he recently bought. He sprayed engine degreaser on it and now it has a very bad miss. He brought it into a repair shop that works on imports and they have had it for two weeks. They know he doesn't have much money so they are working on it when it's slower. They found some wires in a harness that were frayed and repaired them-still misses, thought it might be an ignition coil or two, but ruled it out. The mechanic and owner have been in contact with a BMW service mgr and BMW hot line. They thought it might be a VCT module(I think that's what he called it), replaced it and it only improved the miss a little bit.

So, I'm thinking they might have "bit off a little more than they can handle". I asked the owner if they are qualified to work on this type of issue and if they had the proper diagnostic equipment and he said yes. I don't know much about this type of stuff, but I think the VCT module isn't the solution and should be removed. He said because it helped a little, he wants to keep it in.

I'm going to give them a couple more days and if they don't get it, I want to take it to a BMW dealership and get it repaired correctly. What do you guy's think about the VCT module-remove or keep installed? Also, what are your thoughts on their ability to work on this type of issue? Thanks. I told my son not to buy it, but they accepted a low offer.

[RebelSS]

My guess is that unless the degreaser he used is O2 and MAF safe, he ruined his O2 sensor.....

[CigarGuy]

Ok, new update. Need some advise.....they just keep adding parts that aren't totally fixing the problem????

Per their conversations with the BMW tech people.

Now needs.....mass air flow sensor, fuel filter w/something valve? and crankcase vent valve (pretty sure that was the name of the parts. Total about 1500.00 so far, was suppose to be done today, but need some tweaking (air to fuel mixture) to run right.

I can't believe all this stuff went bad just because my son sprayed engine cleaner on it????? help...with thoughts!! Is this a case of they don't know what there doing and just keep adding parts to try to fix it? Or are they leveling with me regarding getting advise from BMW????

You auto pros's, please give me your opinion!!

[Jeremy airjer W]

European cars are a whole different animal. I try to stay as far away from them as possible.

I know the PCV systems have issues in the winter. They freeze and crack so that problem may have been there and you didn't know it.

As far as the other stuff?

[leech~~]

It's call "shot-gunning" the engine! They can't find the problem so they just keep replacing parts until they hit the right one!

[98prosport]

To a certain point I will agree that imports are a different breed, but only because getting information is difficult. Most of the operations are the same as per how engines run. Euros like to do things their own way, but pretty much it all goes down the road. My advise is to get more info. Use the net and find some forums, kind of like this one but more indepth. They have had it too long from what I can get out of this. If they haven't got it yet, tell them to pull their stuff back off, give them something for their time and get it to the dealer, or someone that can assure you from the start. There does sometimes come a point when you just have to "try something", in these cases I tend to try used parts, they are easy to get these days and are a ton cheaper. but, if you feel that you have to stay with these guys, get some info out of them. Find out codes they have found, bring it back here. Send me a private email and I will help research it.Keeping you in the dark isn't right.It's your car.

[Scott K]

I am thinking the tech was told, "they sprayed cleaner on the engine, and now it doesnt run good". So the tech gave a list of things that could be effected, and the service adviser is suggesting all of it to you up front to prevent a come back later. Would you be happier if they said, well these items may have been damaged, but we are going to just try this one now, and if thats not it, come back next week, and we will try replacing the next item, then if thats not it, we will try the next. Instead, they are just covering their butts, and trying to keep you from having to return with other possible issues that may have been caused by it.

[Surface Tension]

Has anyone looked to see if the degreaser is pooled around a spark plug?

[CigarGuy]

Thanks for the replies. The owner does keep in pretty good contact with me. I think they are doing the best they can, but I don't want them to just keep adding parts to try to figure it out. The first part they put in improved the rough running a little so they left it in. I'm having trouble by them just adding parts that improve it a little at a time. Pretty soon they will figure it out, but how many added parts are unnecessary. I can't believe all these parts just failed and now need to be replaced! Maybe I'll get some thoughts on a BMW site.

[pinkfloyd4ever]

what about the previous owner, not saying they withheld anything, but are you able to contact him/her about the car, repair record etc?

[1DIRTBALL]

This sound's to me like there is a spark leaking out somewhere in you plug or distributor wire's. There's a relatively easy way to track this down. First wait until it's gotten real dark outside. Then put your car in your garage and open up the hood. After you have shut the garage door and turned off the light's, start the car. If you have a spark leak, it will become readily apparent then. Small blue arcing light's everywhere! When I did this on a car I onced owned, it looked like a Christmas tree under my hood! All I needed to do was install a new set of sparkplug wire's! Problem solved! Good luck! 1DIRTBALL

[CigarGuy]

what about the previous owner, not saying they withheld anything, but are you able to contact him/her about the car, repair record etc?

The previous owner lied and/or didn't tell about the cars condition....no spare tire, no cd player (receiver) head light not burned out it was a bad wire, I could go on. The place I have it at checked the vin number with a friend that works for BMW and only some regular maintenance was rejected. They did check for plug related issues. Thanks again.

I should have went with him to look at it, but he said his friend knew more about cars than I do (doesn't take much), plus I thought no way would he take my sons offer.

[pinkfloyd4ever]

good luck to you cigar

[CigarGuy]

Ok, I'm back!!!! So, after several new parts and over $1500 in repair costs the car still runs like [PoorWordUsage]- if it runs at all. We have had it back 3 or 4 different times and they say it's fixed, each time they repair/replace something the car works for maybe a day or so and acts up again. I brought it into a BMW dealer(had to trailer it-wouldn't run good enough to drive). They could hardly get it to run, it still missed and the smoke continued from the exhaust(didn't mention earlier). They noticed smoke/antifeeze dripping from the tail pipe, knew it was a head gasket issue. Ran diagnostics and determined 100% head gasket-$3300+ to fix and they don't know if other damage.

I emailed the original shop and told them they could put new parts in the car until they were blue in the face and the car wouldn't run until the head gasket was replaced. Basically told them they bit off more than they could chew and I want 100% of my money back. Didn't hear back from them yet. I hate people that are quick to say "legal action", but I might not have any other choice.....what are my chances???