In Switzerland on holiday, minus 6 all week, drove down mountain today, all fine. 15 mins into drive, all warmed up, all is normal until I feel a bit of hesitation. Could have been an uneven road surface. 50 metres later, white clouds in the rear view mirror, losing power, car grinds to a halt. Oh ...

Started up again after 10 minutes, more smoke, rough running, switched off again. Under bonnet, nothing to see/hear apart from gurgling bubbling noise coming from engine. The smoke smelt oily, thick and white, which is not good... this is definitely not just condensation. The engine is not seized, which is one consolation.

Car now in a Swiss Land Rover dealer, pending an investigation. I am not feeling the love...

I am thinking head gasket, piston ring,

It is a V8 Vogue 03 model, BMW engine, 89,000 miles, full LR history, just serviced 5000 miles or so ago. Of all the faults the car had when I bought it a few months ago, the engine was the least of my worries, sweet as a nut!

I have assumed the worst, and thoroughly depressed myself with a bit of research showing £10K for a fitted refurb engine at LR in the UK (ha ha ha ha ha), or at least £3K for an unknown engine from a breakers, and apparently they are like hens teeth.

Anyone know if the X5 4.4 V8 will drop in? Or can I buy a cheap 740 and use that engine? I am sure I have read that this BMW engine was 'ruggedised' for off road use in LR, so not swappable.

Any reassuring ideas very welcome at this point! Could it be something non-disastrous, like an ECU?

Good job the wine is cheap here.

Stuart

Sorry but white smoke = Headgasket.

Did you get it from a LR stealer? If so Warranty

If not

nope, private sale.... caveat emptor.

So sorry mate  '09 Freelander 2 TD4 HSE Auto for the Mrs

Using the works Fiesta 1.6 TDCI Sport Van - CHROME FREE THOUGH

Searching for a nice E63 AMG or S8 V10 to replace my "wonky" TDV8

Where in Switzerland are you? I'm in the Geneva/Lausanne area and know the local LR dealers as they have been servicing my FFRR.

+1 Headgasket. Gutted for you mate.

Thanks all, makes me feel better to know there are at least some people who understand the pain!

Thanks inkiboo, I am round in Villars at present, car is at LR in Aigle for a look see. I will get their quote tomorrow or Monday, and I am sure I won't want to pay it!

So then I need to find an independent LR specialist in Switz, or ship back to UK where at least I know a couple of good places in the North West where I live.

Do you know any independents? I bought my car for only GBP 11K a couple of months ago, so I can't justify spending main dealer sums on it...

I used to live in Geneva, and used a guy called Mark Neden at Land74 in Sallanches (towards Chamonix) for servicing on a disco II v8 I had a few years ago. But I think he isn't around anymore.

I wonder if the coolant in the radiator froze and it overheated? The M62 doesn’t have a reputation for HG failures (although it certainly does sound like that’s your problem) Overall that sucks, you’re correct that the 7 series engine wont fit straight I think they modified the sump for the front diff (bmw saloons being rwd). Overall I wouldn’t expect the HG job to run into the thousands if you get a good indy to do the work. I would also have the vanos unit done whilst the top is in bits.

Dan 

Thanks Dan, good suggestion. Freezing is certainly a possibility, car was at 1600m altitude, minus 6 during day probably more at night... Engine came up to temp properly and didn't show any sign of overheating though even once smoke appeared, in fact no warnings on dash whatsoever. I watch the temp needle all the time, because on big old lumps like these it is often the first sign of trouble (had a 735 with a HG problem once, plus a 2.5tdi A6 that went pop...)

Vanos - another good point. Will investigate. Do you have any ballpark idea of cost to replace HG (presume I should do both?) and also the vanos?

I think you have to do both if you get the head skimmed at all, but you may want to get that fact checked. No ideas on price as I don’t know how many hours a garage would need to charge you for. From a quick google search of “BMW M62 Head Gasket Labour Cost” I’ve seen that one guy was charged $800 in labour plus parts, so if the garage was charging $80PH then that’s 10 hours? I have no idea what a US garage charges, I think £40-£60 is UK indy prices.

The only other cost then is parts – the gaskets aren’t super expensive, but if you’ve cracked a head then think £1500 each (off the top of my head) so if both are gone you may as well buy a new engine for it, alt look for heads from breakers. Depending on severity the block could be damaged = new engine. That would be worst and unlikely case though.

Either way ring round the BMW specialists NOT the LR specialists. This engine was only in the RR for 4 years, vs the Rover V8 that every LR mech knows like the back of his hand that was around for 30+ years. But it’s been in use in nearly every BMW series for over 10 years. If no special tools are required (timing n stuff) I would even contemplate a mobile mechanic guy who will do a special deal for cash (mine charges £30 per hour)

If you get quotes that you think are high post them here so we can pick them apart etc.

Dan 

Stuart528 wrote:

Thanks all, makes me feel better to know there are at least some people who understand the pain!

Thanks inkiboo, I am round in Villars at present, car is at LR in Aigle for a look see. I will get their quote tomorrow or Monday, and I am sure I won't want to pay it!

So then I need to find an independent LR specialist in Switz, or ship back to UK where at least I know a couple of good places in the North West where I live.

Do you know any independents? I bought my car for only GBP 11K a couple of months ago, so I can't justify spending main dealer sums on it...

I used to live in Geneva, and used a guy called Mark Neden at Land74 in Sallanches (towards Chamonix) for servicing on a disco II v8 I had a few years ago. But I think he isn't around anymore.

Stuart,

Your issue sounds like it could be associated with the Oil Separator Valve.

Have a look here. http://home.comcast.net/~vicent/osve38.html

Real RR, thanks very much - and very interesting. That guy said he had no driveability issues, and I lost all power on the road... and I also had no engine check light coming on, which he did.

But I would LOVE the problem to be something like this!!

Thanks again.

"Anyone know if the X5 4.4 V8 will drop in? Or can I buy a cheap 740 and use that engine? I am sure I have read that this BMW engine was 'ruggedised' for off road use in LR, so not swappable."

Do you do much off roading? '09 Freelander 2 TD4 HSE Auto for the Mrs

Using the works Fiesta 1.6 TDCI Sport Van - CHROME FREE THOUGH

Searching for a nice E63 AMG or S8 V10 to replace my "wonky" TDV8

Stuart,

No probs. Sorry about the brevity this morning, was in a rush. I strongly suspect the Oil Separator is your problem. You are right on the required mileage and it is a widespread issue with the BMW M62. It frequently occurs in sub zero temps soon after a cold start. Googling BMW oil separator failure PCV frozen will produce plenty of info.

Here is a good discussion for a start http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187676

In post #13 there is a report of cutting out 10 minutes after setting off. Your experience does not sound as bad as some where all the oil was dumped causing a seized engine.

Good Luck with it.