No compression

While driving on the highway in 5th gear my 325i began to jerk as if it was misfiring then the "check engine light" came on. Im easy on my car, and it only has 69,700 miles on it. When I took it to the shop they said it was getting no compression, and that something had broke off in the inside of the engine and now I need a new engine! I have never felt so sick to my stomach......has this ever happened to anyone else, and if so what did u do? I loved my car until this happened now I think I'll never own another one if just out of the blue it can fall apart

Things like this don't just happen out of the blue. First get a second opinion. If they also say it needs an engine, then chances are you overheated it or let it run dry of oil or generally did something to cause catostrophic failure. I flog my car day in and day out and it's never let me down and runs like a top, doesn't burn a drop of oil. The difference is that I keep my eye on things and fix potential problems at their first sign.

Replacing an engine isn't that big a deal if you know who to talk to and where to get the engine from. It doesn't have to be so expensive that you are forced to move on to another car. Prices can range from around 1000 bucks if you did it yourself to over 10,000 if you were to pay the dealer to install a new engine. Get a second opinion from a shop you can trust. Lots of places just want to make a quick buck.

It never overheated. It has always however needed oil added every so often. I check the oil and it was good. Two shops say it is not getting enough compression. I took the car back home today from the shop and it seems worst then when I had brought it in. I'm at a loss.

Originally Posted by Lillie81

It never overheated. It has always however needed oil added every so often. I check the oil and it was good. Two shops say it is not getting enough compression. I took the car back home today from the shop and it seems worst then when I had brought it in. I'm at a loss.

If the car is running, it has compression. The question is how much is it holding. Is is smoking like crazy? Any white smoke?

No smoke but now after driving it to the shops it will not go over 45mph. Three days ago when this happened i took it up to auto zone and the checked the cars computer. The only thing that came up was engine misfire cylinder 1, so I bought a new coil and spark plug. Needless to say that didn't help. Cylinder 1 is only getting 30 and the others 150.

Stock motor? No Mods?

-Anthony

tell the shop to do a leak down test on that cylinder.

Take it to a dealership or good Indy, swallow their labour rate and get a proper diagnosis. The money you could end up forking out in stuff you don't need (ie the plug and coil you just bought and potentially an engine) will amount to a much bigger sum. If cylinder one indeed has no compression, you either somehow bent a valve, broke/stuck a ring, or blew the head gasket. Hope it's the gasket. But the whole thing sounds fishy to me.

Not too long ago I had an E90in the shop that had very low compression on #6, after a leak down test, I determined that one of the intake valves was leaking. I pulled the intake manifold and found the DISA valve pivot pin came dislodged from the DISA unit and was pinched between the valve and the valve seat. That was the very 1st time I've ever seen that (not common at all, but worth looking into). You can remove your DISA valve to check that it is intact. If it's broken, remove the intake manifold and look at cyl #1 intake runners/valves for an obstruction. The pivot pin is plastic and did not bend the valve in the situation i described. Hopefully you will be this lucky.

If you do find something stuck on one of the cyl #1 intake valves, turn the motor over by hand until the valves are open and try to remove the obstruction, being careful not let it fall into the cylinder.

Originally Posted by fastjasonbmw

Not too long ago I had an E90in the shop that had very low compression on #6, after a leak down test, I determined that one of the intake valves was leaking. I pulled the intake manifold and found the DISA valve pivot pin came dislodged from the DISA unit and was pinched between the valve and the valve seat. That was the very 1st time I've ever seen that (not common at all, but worth looking into). You can remove your DISA valve to check that it is intact. If it's broken, remove the intake manifold and look at cyl #1 intake runners/valves for an obstruction. The pivot pin is plastic and did not bend the valve in the situation i described. Hopefully you will be this lucky.

If you do find something stuck on one of the cyl #1 intake valves, turn the motor over by hand until the valves are open and try to remove the obstruction, being careful not let it fall into the cylinder.

I've heard of this happening. The pin can work its way out and fall through the intake and cause havoc. Definitely a route to explore given the sudden problems.

Thanks to everyone for the help. Are there any tutorials on opening the engine to check for the obstruction? Right now all I have removed is the cabin filter housing, cabin filter and engine cover.

Here's a little something I found within 15 seconds (google)

http://tis.spaghetticoder.org/s/view.pl?1/06/04/29

*update* I have been reading up on my low compression issue. I have found several posting that describe low compression like mine on here, and they found it to be linked to a failing fuel pump. I know my fuel pump has been acting up for some time now...."reading fuel level wrong off and on" "making loud noise off and on"- not just upon starting but just at random times. Could this be part of my problem? I'm trying to rule out everything. I'm renting a fuel pressure gauge tonight to check my pressure.

Low compression has nothing to due with the fuel pump. Remove the intake manifold and take a look at the affected cylinder. When compression is checked, the fuel injectors should be disconnected, so as not to alter the compression readings.

Dont waste more coin on fuel issues. Fastjason is rite. Do a wet compression test and see if pressures go up/ leakdown test. Pull sparkplug and take a look if damaged piston atall?

low compresion is a ring, valve, or gasket. Not a fuel thing.
if it's the ring, replace the engine, otherwise, if it's the valve or gasket, you can replace these

Is the car making any kind of noises or racket?

If its not blowing smoke then its probably an issue with the cylinder head.

I would advise against taking apart anything else. Once you start half-hazardly disassembling an engine you do more harm than good, especially in an all aluminum engine.

You need tools, not just a socket set and some screwdrivers. You need some good tools and or a lot of know how to make up for the lack of tools.

You can go as far as taking the valvecover off and taking a pic to show us anything unusual.

Fuel pump has nothing to do with low compression, you're skill level is not up to par with taking apart an engine. Im sorry.