NHTSA Complaint #11046268 — 2008 BMW M3

I WAS DRIVING FROM WORK AND HEARD A LOUD METAL KNOCKING NOISE COMING FROM THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT. I IMMEDIATELY STOPPED AND CALLED A TOW TRUCK. THE CAR WAS TOWED TO KUMMROW AUTOMOTIVE. THEY DIAGNOSED THAT THIS IS A CATASTROPHIC ROD BEARING FAILURE. HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN IN A CAR WITH A LITTLE OVER 60,000 MILES? I KNEW ABOUT THE POTENTIAL ROD BEARING ISSUE AND THE CLASS ACTION SUITS, BUT SINCE THIS ISSUE AFFECTS LESS THAN 1% OF THE VEHICLES AND SINCE I BOUGHT A VEHICLE THAT WAS NEVER TRACKED, BABIED ALL OF ITS LIFE, I FELT CONFIDENT I WASN'T GOING TO BE ONE OF THE UNLUCKY ONES. I AM EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED IN THE WAY I WAS TREATED BY BMW NA AFTER SO MANY YEARS OF BEING A LOYAL CUSTOMER AND A BMW ENTHUSIAST. THE S65 (M3) AND S85 (M5) ENGINE ROD BEARING ISSUE HAS BEEN VERY WELL DOCUMENTED OVER THE YEARS. I REPORTED THE ISSUE TO BMW NA AND CORRESPONDED WITH YOU AND SCOTT KUCHTA VIA EMAIL AS WELL AS ON THE PHONE. IT'S BEEN GOING BACK AND FORTH FOR OVER A WEEK. I SPOKE WITH SCOTT ON MONDAY AND HE INFORMED ME THAT BMW NA IS NOT AWARE OF ANY ROD BEARING ISSUES WITH MY ENGINE AND THAT SINCE THE CAR WASN'T MAINTAINED AT THE DEALER, BMW NA WON'T BE ABLE TO OFFER ANY ASSISTANCE. THE CAR WAS SERVICED AT BMW OF STERLING IN VA ALL OF ITS LIFE EXCLUSIVELY FROM 2008 THROUGH 2013. THE SECOND OWNER HAD THE CAR FROM 2013 THROUGH 2017 AND PUT 3,000 MILES ON IT. THAT'S IT! SO, HE DID ONE OIL CHANGE. THE CAR WAS BABIED ALL OF ITS LIFE. AS FAR AS THE ROD BEARING ISSUE, A SIMPLE SEARCH FOR THE ENGINE (S65) OR THE MODEL NUMBER (E92 M3) GENERATES PAGES AND PAGES OF INFORMATION ON THE SUBJECT. ANY BMW LICENSED OR INDEPENDENT MECHANIC IS VERY WELL AWARE OF THIS ISSUE. THIS IS VERY DISAPPOINTING AND DISCOURAGING THAT BMW NA WOULDN'T STAND UP TO ITS REPUTATION AND DO THE RIGHT THING HERE. THIS IS A VERY WELL-DOCUMENTED PROBLEM WITH THE S65 ENGINE. I AM HOPING BMW WILL DO THE RIGHT THING HERE.