Not for the faint heart!!

[Stephen]

Hey guys,

I was just looking through some old photos and found some that you may find interesting.

A customer brought a 2010 (as far as i can remember) S1000RR to us that he had bought as a 'non-runner' believing that it just needed a new battery; at most, a new starter motor.

Long story short, I decided it was much more serious than that, the engine was seized. I couldn't tell him how bad it was without disassembling the engine, he agreed. Below are photos of what I found.




I must warn you that the following images are distressing for an owner to look at. So look at them at your own risk!!

 

[Stephen]

 

[Ant]

Thats not a battery then?:rapture:

Did you work out the cause? looking at the cam i assume oil starvation played a part or manufacturing defect

 

[Stephen]

Figuring out the exact cause would be a job for CSI-BMW but from what I saw i have a feeling the engine was running at a high RPM, one valve dropped out, bent another valve and locked the cylinder up completely. The con-rod was also bent so a huge amount of force was involved.. I don't know what caused it though, it is odd that only one of the cams was worn down, the other 3 were in perfect condition.. very odd, but somewhat interesting at least

 

[pof]

I dont think i can sleep tonight. Gonna give me nightmares

 

[stuartb]

Lol absolute carnage

 

[stevo_swuk]

Nasty damage :-(

 

[DL84]

man that's ******* awful. how much did the fella pay for it?? looks like it could be burned out valves due to cam wear???

 

[JimmyMac]

Whoever was riding it at the time is one lucky fella!! Bike obviously never got dropped or rolled.

JimmyMac

 

[SimonOrsborn]

Wouldn't want to have been on it when that occurred. Nasty.

 

[Stephen]

Whoever was riding it at the time is one lucky fella!! Bike obviously never got dropped or rolled.

JimmyMac

Wouldn't want to have been on it when that occurred. Nasty.

I think the bike may have been stationary when this happened, unless he really was that lucky, don't think id be able to keep it straight if it locked up while riding!

 

[Stephen]

man that's ******* awful. how much did the fella pay for it?? looks like it could be burned out valves due to cam wear???

I don't remember what he paid but he definitely thought it was a bargain!

I don't even know if he ever sorted it, he took it back as it was. I advised him to just replace the engine.

 

[alex]

2nd hand engine HAS to be better VFM than trying to salvage that.

If it happened when stationary it suggest cold engine/oil abuse.

 

[Stephen]

2nd hand engine HAS to be better VFM than trying to salvage that.

If it happened when stationary it suggest cold engine/oil abuse.

Wouldn't put it past some people to rev the nuts off it cold and stationary for no reason. Makes me cringe whenever i witness it.

I asked if i could buy the old engine to make a cut away but he never got back to us.

 

[roadrunner]

Hi Guys. I worked as a mechanic all my life and saw plenty of engine damage over the years but it was never a pleasant sight, even though I could make money by carrying out the necessary repairs to the cars, vans and trucks I used maintain. This one in particular looks to me as though it could have been avoided however. The camshaft and it's follower look like the wear shown in the pictures had been present for some time and must have been clattering away since the wear first started. I think some of the early BMW's suffered with "soft" cams and perhaps this may have been one of them? If i'm right about the engine making noises perhaps if that noise had been addressed then the engine could have been saved. The way the engine expired is interesting though as one of the dropped valves seems to have slid down it's guide leaving the locking collets still in place in the valve collar, which, in itself seems narrower than it should be, by showing the last coil of the valve spring. I think one of the valve heads dropped off and caused all the other damage to the cylinder head, piston and liner etc. All very sad I think you will agree.

 

[powders]

My bike needed a new camshaft and valves and I agree there was a very loud ticking noise coming from the top of the engine you could hear it on tick over and when you were driving it so definitely could have been avoided

 

[Ant]

My bike needed a new camshaft and valves and I agree there was a very loud ticking noise coming from the top of the engine you could hear it on tick over and when you were driving it so definitely could have been avoided

What bike and milage was that Powders?

 

[Flatstick]

Did the same to a gs125 31 years ago and traded that in for 350lc and strapped the crank shaft flat out in top racing a merc up the M6, pure and simple rider abuse ����

 

[Pricey67]

I used to race a Daytona 675 which were renowned for false neutrals and dropping valves. As sure as eggs are eggs I got a false neutral at Mallory which thanfully was on the start finish line so I just had to pull the clutch in and coast. When I broke the engine down it looked exactly the same as your customers engine Stephen...shot!!!! The Daytona was famous for its chocolate valves but I'd expect a little more from BMW!!

 

[powders]

It's a 2011 model
It had 19 thousand kilometres on it
I wanted one and they don't come up that often in dealers over here in Ireland, I'd been waiting for a while when eventually one came up so I bought it from the main honda importer over here so I knew I'd be safe.
It was booked into bmw the following week for a full service, that's when they discovered the camshaft failure.
Long story short Honda paid for everything coming to €2100. Bmw are now standing over their work for two years.