Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
Last week, BMW of North America was hit with a class action lawsuit alleging certain 2008 to 2013 BMW M3 vehicles containing S65 engines have a defect that can lead to catastrophic engine failure.
Plaintiff Joselyn Urena accuses BMW of not disclosing the defective bearings, which allegedly begin to fail and cause metal debris to contaminate the engine oil and circulate through the engine.
She says the defect manifests because the engine’s rotating assembly causes an insufficient supply of engine oil to coat the bearing surfaces, increasing the likelihood of accelerated wear on the bearings, causing them to deteriorate and release debris into the engine oil.
“This defect–which existed at the time each Class Vehicle was manufactured, and typically manifests itself during and shortly after the limited warranty period has expired–will inevitably cause the Class Vehicles to experience catastrophic engine failure,” Urena alleges in the BMW class action lawsuit.
Urena says that the defect leads to insufficient oil lubrication that can cause the affected vehicles to experience catastrophic engine failure, including stalling events that can occur while the vehicle is in operation.
The vehicles’ power steering and braking systems are also affected by the alleged BMW engine defect, putting drivers and occupants of the vehicles at an increased risk of being involved in an accident and becoming injured, the BMW class action lawsuit says.
“In addition, catastrophic engine failure frequently results in a physical hole in the engine block, causing hot engine oil to escape, resulting in a fire and/or the dramatic loss of traction for the Class Vehicle itself or other vehicles on the roadway,” according to the BMW engine defect class action lawsuit.
Urena says BMW has been aware of the rotating assembly defect but has refused to repair the issue without charge when the defect manifests in a vehicle.
According to the engine defect class action lawsuit, BMW also fails to disclose the defect even when vehicle owners and lessees bring in vehicles that are consistent with the defect, “instead choosing to ignore the defect until it has resulted in significant mechanical problems, necessitating costly repairs to owners and lessees.”
Urena purchased a pre-owned 2011 E92 BMW M3 in about May 2014, the BMW class action lawsuit says. The vehicle had just shy of 30,000 miles on it at the time of purchase.
In October 2014, the vehicle experienced sudden catastrophic engine failure while she was driving on the highway. The vehicle had about 36,395 miles on it at the time.
When she brought the vehicle to a BMW dealership, it declined to repair the vehicle under warranty because it claimed the engine seized from “over-revving.”
An independent BMW repair facility confirmed the engine failure and quoted her a price of $15,000 to install a replacement engine.
Urena refused to pay to replace the engine and she stopped making payments on the vehicle because the engine defect had rendered it inoperable.
Her vehicle was eventually repossessed by BMW Financial, which she had used to finance her vehicle purchase.
The BMW engine defect class action lawsuit asserts violations of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty, breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing, and common law fraud.
Urena is represented by Bruce D. Greenberg of Lite DePalma Greenberg LLC.
The BMW Engine Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Joselyn Urena v. BMW of North America LLC, Case No. L-4875-18, in the Superior Court of New Jersey, County of Bergen.
ATTORNEY ADVERTISING
Top Class Actions is a Proud Member of the American Bar Association
LEGAL INFORMATION IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE
Top Class Actions Legal Statement
©2008 – 2024 Top Class Actions® LLC
Various Trademarks held by their respective owners
This website is not intended for viewing or usage by European Union citizens.
29 thoughts onBMW Class Action Says M3 Engine Defect Leads to Engine Failure
Our BMW X5 2013 that we have had a little over a year (purchased used) has been burning 1 quart of oil every 550 miles. Taking it to BMW twice since we’ve had it they did not inform us of the lawsuit, and without looking into the car told us the oil was leaking. My husband, a chief engineer who studied engines for 4 years is furious about this issue and had quite a verbal brawl over seeing fumes within the engine and nothing outside of it does not indicate an oil leak but an internal engine issue. We’ve brought this up between 80K miles to now it’s in the shop at 104K miles the N63 lawsuit. They are quoting engine can be replaced for $14K with no assistance.
I have a BMW X3-2013 SUV that has had an engine issue before the warranty ended and at 5,000 over I have paid thousands of dollars to have it repaired. Due to COVID 19, my car and I are living in North Carolina and my car is registered at another address (WV). Please make sure that all correspondence is sent to Judith Moolten 415 Rose Street Hendersonville NC 28739
I own a 2008 BMW M3 which is locked out due to a bearing failure. Please let me know what to do to participate in this lawsuit. Thanks
I have the same car and experienced complete engine failure while driving on the highway. Told $30k for new engine
What nobody has pointed out in any of the s65 or s85 law suits , is that the reason for the failures is the BMW recommended use of 10w60 engine oil. An oil that thick is rarely used in consumer vehicles because it’s too thick to adequately lubricate bearings. In fact, typically 1/2 that viscosity at 5w30 is what you’ll find in the owners manual of a modern car. A company like BMW would be well aware of this fact , and so their decision to select 10w60 would be either incompetent (doubt it) or strategic. The benefit they would see from this strategy comes from the early termination of the engine at their owners expense, prompting more new vehicle leases / purchases , or out-of-pocket repairs resulting in profit. The failure would typically not happen right away, but sometime between 40k and 80k miles.
10W-30 oil and 10W-60 oil should have similar cold start properties in cold weather, since both oils operate as a 10W oil.
It’s at the extreme high temperatures (well after the vehicle has been started and run for a while) that the 10W-60 oil will protect an engine better than a lower multi-grade oil.
YES – 10W-60 is rare for a passenger car, but it hasn’t been an issue for straight SIX E46 M3 engines. The design tolerances of an engine’s rotating assembly must align with the specified lubrication. In the case of the S65 engine – tolerances of the main and connecting rod journal (simple) bearings were TOO SMALL. The oil was not the problem.
Getting on the pedal and driving it too hard, too soon (before the oil warmed up) was sure to bring about this failure prematurely, but this failure would also occur of driven gingerly until warm as the close tolerances kept the con-rod bearings from getting ample supply of oil flow right from the outset.
2008 m3 with 40k suffering from same bearing failure this car is babied car sits in garrage as I don’t want to drive it ….engine is not gone but Blackstone labs test came Beckwith significant wear and you can hear the bearings to go ….
Had recently purchased a used bmw M3 for a reputable dealership. Purchased one of the best warrantys they had to offer. Engine blew while on the highway doing Under the speed limit. How can I go about being added to the suit?
Any bmw e60 s85(m5) engine class actions? They had way worst issues compared to the s65(m3). I’ve paid out thousands of dollars in repairs and still having issues!!!
I live in Japan and I’m a Japanese. I have a 2008y M3 with about 100,000 miles. I fund this “the engine failure”recently. I am so frustrated , I can’t drive my M3 now(not broken yet). In order to comply with the fair and equitable treatment obligation. All owners who has S65(M3) or S85(M5&M6) 、protested against BMW.
Your m3 should full overhaul.
I have a 2013 Lime Rock Park M3 who’s engine failed after only 62k miles. Conveniently the warranty expired about 3 weeks prior to the failure. I frequently needed to “top off” my oil about every 1-1.5k miles and thought that was excessive, but the service department told me it was normal. I faithfully adhered to all service appointments and maintenance requirements. After me failure BMW accessed my engine’s system and determination there was no excessive wear or stress on the engine and I did nothing wrong. They charged me 20k to replace my engine but covered 10k. After many unsuccessful attempts to get them to pay the entire cost, i had no choice but to pay the difference of $10k to replace an engine on a $85K car with 62k miles on it. I am very very disappointed in BMW being that i am a very loyal costumer. I will definitely think twice about buying another BMW.
Wow I am quite surprised, and I guess lucky. I own a 2008 M3 coupe that at this point in 2021 I have 150K miles one it. I used to race for many years at Lime Rock Park and used my M3 to instruct some of the SCCA driving schools. I use 60wt oil and change it at 10k miles, so I was quite surprised at all of the excitement about rod bearings. I no longer build cars and have a local well-heeled mechanic work on the M3, so it will be interesting to see what happens.
There is a bit more to this class action suit. The rod side clearance to crank is what really needed to be addressed. These s65 motors are AWESOME BUT inherently flawed from design and manufacture. BMW is well aware but will continue to openly deny any and all rod bearing claims because ” it is a play on words” The engineers from Germany understand but the NA counterparts are not allowed to umbrella the issues under a standard description. This is being addressed but i fear BMW NA will not include the internal information in discovery. Oh well …. we still have the nicest 30k paperweight in the neighborhood