bkmbkk Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Just spoke with wife over tlf, She told me my new BMW 320d (4 month old) just stopped as a truck passed her on opposite lane with a big water splash. According to her the depth of the water on the road was not a lot, but enough to make a good splash. I forgot to ask her if she was able to crank the engine (hope it cranks). She said the car just died and had to be towed to BMW Barcelone for check. I am waiting to hear what has happened - I hope it's just electrical. Anyway - a bit surprising that a new car dies just because of a water splash. I hope I will not (at least not so quickly) go into the category of angry BMW owners that goes back to Jap. models again ! I like the power of the diesel and the car in general even the quality doesen't feel better than - say a Honda (as I had before). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John 1 Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 I think this would be a big surprise to anyone with a diesel vehicle as I don't believe this is what happened. She didn't ask for money for a buffalo to tow it home. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkmbkk Posted January 19, 2012 Author Share Posted January 19, 2012 If you mean that a diesel don't have electronics - think again. There are a lot of electronics in the new BMW. However I don't know yet what has failed. Another option is she dumped it in a pond - that should have come out though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katabeachbum Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Modern diesels are just as sensible for water as petrol engines, as they have at least as many electric connections needing to be dry to run Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanLaew Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Modern diesels are just as sensible for water as petrol engines, as they have at least as many electric connections needing to be dry to run For sure but that must have been some awesome, tsunami-like 'splash' from a passing truck to kill the expensive Teutonic electronics nah? The OP sounds like he wasn't really happy with the car anyway. Honda dee gwah! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katabeachbum Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Modern diesels are just as sensible for water as petrol engines, as they have at least as many electric connections needing to be dry to run For sure but that must have been some awesome, tsunami-like 'splash' from a passing truck to kill the expensive Teutonic electronics nah? The OP sounds like he wasn't really happy with the car anyway. Honda dee gwah! I wouldnt assume it stopped from a splash from another vehicle as this water wouldnt enter engine bay, something more to it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkmbkk Posted January 19, 2012 Author Share Posted January 19, 2012 Well for the truck to splash water the BMW has to be in water also (as they pass each other) ! That could explain how water enter engine bay - combination of own swimming seccion and splash. Anyway - I will return when I know more. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kwasaki Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Well for the truck to splash water the BMW has to be in water also (as they pass each other) ! That could explain how water enter engine bay - combination of own swimming seccion and splash. Anyway - I will return when I know more. Yes please do sounds like coincidence to me, there's more to it for sure even if it was the water. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonRiverOasis Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 (edited) Sure sounds like a case of "I drive it into a Khlong" being "watered down" to just "a truck passing by splashed up some water on your new 3 teeeee-ruuuk, jing jing, ee-lee der, jung leuy, na ka" Edited January 19, 2012 by MoonRiverOasis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Presto Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 (edited) In bicycle land this is called 'JRA': just riding along ... and it suddenly broke/stopped/squeaked etc. Edited January 19, 2012 by Presto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transam Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Think your lady has driven it, or somebody else has driven it into a river or pond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodsie888 Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Sure sounds like a case of "I drive it into a Khlong" being "watered down" to just "a truck passing by splashed up some water on your new 3 teeeee-ruuuk, jing jing, ee-lee der, jung leuy, na ka" 100% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkmbkk Posted January 19, 2012 Author Share Posted January 19, 2012 Ok - now I have the story. She is driving in trafic and the water is up to app. half the rim. There is many cars and she is driving slowly after others. A 10 wheel truck is comming opposite with - too high speed for conditions - and causes a wave to splash the car (quite good). Others (like Honda Jazz) drove on - the BMW stopped. The BMW workshop has confirmed that water has entered the engine itself - so not a matter of electrical alone. They are now taking the engine out of the car to check how much dammage it has suffered. The insurance company apparently understand the issue, and says they will cover all costs incl. a new engine if they deside to change it instead of repair. The situation now is to find out how much dammage and act to that - minor issue = repair, big issue = change to new engine. I was told the insurance company has no interest in doing a cheap/bad job, as that will hunt them in the future with constant repairs. I guess BMW is trying to do the best they can to keep their costumer happy as well - so I hope and pray it will be solved professionally. I will return when dammage is checked. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katabeachbum Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Ok - now I have the story. She is driving in trafic and the water is up to app. half the rim. There is many cars and she is driving slowly after others. A 10 wheel truck is comming opposite with - too high speed for conditions - and causes a wave to splash the car (quite good). Others (like Honda Jazz) drove on - the BMW stopped. The BMW workshop has confirmed that water has entered the engine itself - so not a matter of electrical alone. They are now taking the engine out of the car to check how much dammage it has suffered. The insurance company apparently understand the issue, and says they will cover all costs incl. a new engine if they deside to change it instead of repair. The situation now is to find out how much dammage and act to that - minor issue = repair, big issue = change to new engine. I was told the insurance company has no interest in doing a cheap/bad job, as that will hunt them in the future with constant repairs. I guess BMW is trying to do the best they can to keep their costumer happy as well - so I hope and pray it will be solved professionally. I will return when dammage is checked. sorry, not likely a jazz continues while beemers engine sucked water through airfilter and a wave cause external damage before entering engine bay, been there done that and i wouldnt take a 3 million baht into 30 cm of water, its wading capabilty is like 8-12 cm, tyre high amazed insurance want to pay for car used as sub, sorry reality hurts, good luck anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
culicine Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Did that happen during the day during the rainstorm a couple of days ago? We had a major downpour in Nonthaburi in the afternoon, luckily I wasn't on the road. Roads can flood badly and quickly in some areas - a fellow teacher drove through deep water and destroyed his engine, while in another incident I managed to flood the floor of my sedan (in about 30 cm of water or so). No surprise there's so many pickups even in BKK! Hopefully your engine can get sorted and doesn't need replacing - was your carpet also flooded? If not, that was a major bow wave that hit your car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seedy Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 The problem if the engine injested water is that the water is not compressable. With the high compression ratio of a diesel, combined with an incompressable liquid, the end result is connecting rods in the shape of bananas. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkmbkk Posted January 19, 2012 Author Share Posted January 19, 2012 Right - engine has suffered dammage, but I don't how much. The thing happend in Phuket a few days ago. As other cars was moving slowly through the water she was doing same thing (can't really blame her for that) and than this (zip lore) came and changed things. There is no water inside the car - all happened under the hood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
floridaguy Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 My BMW 3 series would do the same thing. First happened during an undercarriage car wash. Then just a big puddle during a rainstorm. It would stall and die at almost every rain storm, so I just didn't drive it during a storm. Turns out it was common for that model of Beemer. It was an electronics board, forgot the name, in the engine bay on the passenger side. It was behind a service panel that was notorious for allowing water and condensation in. I removed the board and stuck it in the oven on very low heat for a couple of hours and that did the trick. Then I reinstalled the board inside a plastic bag, inserted a few bags of dessicant (like what comes in the box with new shoes), and sealed it up with tape. No problems since then. Even took it back and had an undercarriage car wash and then sprayed the engine bay with water and no problems. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkmbkk Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 I must say that sounds interesting. I have been told engine has confirmed water inside, and needs t be removed for further check. As I am not in Thailand now I can't see it by own eyes. Also insurance guy told wife that model (2011) has issues with electronisc - not first problem they see - apparently. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soboringtochooseaname Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Buy a Benz... Also wondering why buying a Diesel car in Thailand ?! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transam Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Buy a Benz... Also wondering why buying a Diesel car in Thailand ?! Why not ? Merc or BMW diesels is are as quite as a petrol motor and cheap to run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkmbkk Posted January 22, 2012 Author Share Posted January 22, 2012 Buy a Benz... Also wondering why buying a Diesel car in Thailand ?! Why not ? Merc or BMW diesels is are as quite as a petrol motor and cheap to run. Spot on ! Diesel is powerfull with loads of torque - and very cheap to run fuel-wise> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkk_mike Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 If she had the aircon on while driving through water the air intake for it could have sucked water into the engine bay. Turning off the aircon when going through stretches of flooding was one of the tips they were giving out a couple of months ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lingnoi34 Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 This is not unheard of. When I had my C-Class Merc and followed the Merc forums there were a couple of cases of water being spashed on the front of car and being sucked through the air intake into the engine. Engine had to be replaced after that. So it's not a BMW thing. Regards, L 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkmbkk Posted January 24, 2012 Author Share Posted January 24, 2012 This is not unheard of. When I had my C-Class Merc and followed the Merc forums there were a couple of cases of water being spashed on the front of car and being sucked through the air intake into the engine. Engine had to be replaced after that. So it's not a BMW thing. Regards, L I was now told 2 other cars is parked in same repair shop with engine dammage due to water taken by air intake. A new BMW 320i and a 4 WD BMW (don't know model). The 320i had it's engine totally destroyed where mine has less dammage and will be repaired. Insurance company has said it will replace engine -free of charge- if it turns out the repair is not possible/good. Mechanic at BMW told wife that if water comes up near front grill it will most likely take water in and destroy the engine. It is not uncommon apparently. Clearly the car is not a offroad viechle, but here in LOS water sometimes are a bit high for comfort. I will be very carefull in the future - for sure ! Have now ordered a Ranger Wildtrak - that sould cope better I hope. This whole issue has somewhat sharpened my senses to water on the road. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elrey Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 this happened to my brother's Mercedes Vito, Bus splashed a wave of flood water on it, flooded his engine, completely ruined the van's engine Mercedes replaced it at a ridiculously high expense to the insurance company. If my brother didn't have "Acts Of God" coverage on his policy, he would have been screwed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
necronx99 Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Every time I read this thread I keep having flashbacks to the scene from Risky Business where the Porsche Service Manager comes out into the room where tom cruise is and says " Ok, who's the U-Boat commander?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogandave Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 this happened to my brother's Mercedes Vito, Bus splashed a wave of flood water on it, flooded his engine, completely ruined the van's engine Mercedes replaced it at a ridiculously high expense to the insurance company. If my brother didn't have "Acts Of God" coverage on his policy, he would have been screwed. Was God driving the bus? (just kidding) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fgis Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 Hello, Can I know if you had more problems later ? Are you happy with the 3 series ? (even under the rain :-) ) It seems that Benz are more reliable than BMW, but maybe it is just a rumour ? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jitar Posted May 3, 2013 Share Posted May 3, 2013 We had a good run with a W203 C class but Jeriatrickid's post in the Mercedes CLA thread showing the 3 pointed star in another light. Generalising brand reliably is probably over simplifying as most brands have had a dud somewhere along the line. Have a look at the interesting article on engineering stuff ups from both German and Japanese brands: http://www.carthrottle.com/10-surprisingly-unreliable-cars/ Both BMW and Mercedes have had engineering disasters but in their defense they also tend to adopt new technology earlier and push performance more than some other brands. Their reputation for reliability may not be great but their sales continue so presumably customers are buying design, image and prestige instead of performance and value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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