My Son's In A Bind, '06 F150 5.4 Triton & An '06 X5 BMW 330Xi

Get Off My Lawn

Get Off My Lawn

Artist formerly known as Pink Vapor
Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 1, 2017
Messages
16,041
Location
Wake Forest, NC
Rating - 100%
38   0   0
Both vehicles just went down & they don't have the funds to replace them both, he's in Cary. The F150 engine appears to be toast per Cary Care Care, it runs like crap and his timing chain's slapping. What's going to be the best financial choice? Get a junk motor? Find a quality reman, if so what brand? Then find a tech to swap?
The Beemer's clutch went out & he was quoted a job that's more than it's worth.
 
Last edited:
Get Off My Lawn said:
Both vehicles just went down & they don't have the funds to replace them both. The F150 engine appears to be toast per Cary Care Care, it runs like crap and his timing chain's slapping. What's going to be the best financial choice? Get a junk motor? Find a quality reman? Then find a tech to swap?
The Beemer's clutch went out & he was quoted a job that's more than it's worth.
Click to expand...
Sounds like the BMW would be quicker to get back on the road. I’d get another quote, there isn’t much to a clutch.
 
I did business with that shop for twenty five years till I moved. Paul Lambdin, and his nephew BJ, who own it are top notch. I wish I had advice for your kids.

Ten Ten auto care at the intersection of Ten Ten and Holly Springs Rd has a good rep. maybe talk to them? Their head wrench used to be on our last forum.
 
Last edited:
I don’t generally trust mechanics. F150 could be a timing chain tensioner, bad but not replace the engine bad.

Clutch in a BMW is not cheap, get another quote.
 
He could probably find another 5.4, but I think that year is about when the spark plugs could get stuck. Something to look for before buying a donor.

The BMW.......... I dunno. Maybe find a German Import specialist for the best quote and go from there. BMW makes high maintenance cars. If something else were to go wrong, it could be very expensive also. If low miles on the car and it has been maintained, I might would go for it. If high mileage or neglected, I would pass and sell it for parts.

Man...... he has two bad years/makes/models of cars.
 
JimB said:
I don’t generally trust mechanics. F150 could be a timing chain tensioner, bad but not replace the engine bad.

Clutch in a BMW is not cheap, get another quote.
Click to expand...
It might be worth pulling the front cover for a look, or at least sending a bore scope into the spark plug holes.
 
Truck might be a timing chain issue. I would check elsewhere. Check elsewhere. I don't know what a BMW 06 is worth, but that seems like a lot for a clutch.
 
JimB said:
I don’t generally trust mechanics. F150 could be a timing chain tensioner, bad but not replace the engine bad.

Clutch in a BMW is not cheap, get another quote.
Click to expand...

A young friend of mine bought a used Beamer...... he totally regrets it. He is mechanically inclined and gripes about that thing all the time. He got to a point where he refuses to work on it. He is driving it until it croaks. On most cars, A clutch might cost $200 and might take you the better part of a day to replace (at least for me). BMW........ I wouldn't be surprised if the clutch was $600 and $2500 in labor.
 
np307 said:
Miles on both vehicles? Other problems?
Click to expand...
np307 said:
That's an interference style engine. Almost bet there's been a valve strike at least.
Click to expand...
F150 140K, the BMW 190K. The BMW has some other problems, he's probably just going to let it go.
I told him to let me do a compression and oil pressure test on the F150 before buying another engine.
 
Get Off My Lawn said:
F150 140K, the BMW 190K. The BMW has some other problems, he's probably just going to let it go.
I told him to let me do a compression and oil pressure test on the F150 before buying another engine.
Click to expand...

Hire him so he'll have a van to drive around.
 
Get Off My Lawn said:
F150 140K, the BMW 190K. The BMW has some other problems, he's probably just going to let it go.
I told him to let me do a compression and oil pressure test on the F150 before buying another engine.
Click to expand...
Yeah somebody who likes doing their own work will scoop that BMW up. He should dump it in favor of a reliable beater. Gonna have to live with something old and ugly though. Only 140k on the Ford and an engine swap isn't the end of the world. You're taking a risk on damaging further just by cranking it over assuming its out of timing.
 
Neither of those are good options to fix.

The BMW is going to be expensive to repair, every repair.

The F150....that one has the 3v 5.4, and it is a steaming pile. If it's got timing chain problems, it's a $2k fix IF you can find a shop willing to put chains, tensioners, and phasers in it. When I owned the shop still, we flat out refused to put chains in that engine. You either bought an engine or you took it elsewhere.

Junkyard 3v 5.4's...i wouldn't go that route if someone gave you a free engine. The only engines ford ever made that were worse than a 3v 5.4 was the 6.0 and 6.4 powerjoke diesels.
 
To be clear, my recommendation is one of the following...

1) Put a remanufactured engine in the F150. My preferred brand for stock reman is Jasper. They're not cheap. I want to say the last one I priced out (maybe 3 years ago) was in the ballpark of $5k...but don't quote me on that.

1b) get rid of the BMW entirely.

2) get rid of both vehicles and buy one or two replacements.
 
Get Off My Lawn said:
The car intermittently shudders heavily & the clutch disengages when the pedal's applied. The mechanic told him he could see the hot spots/discoloration on the flywheel.
Click to expand...
The mechanic took it that far apart to see the flywheel?!? I call BS.

When you push the clutch it's supposed to disengage...

Shutters when clutch is used is classic of pressure plate and clutch disk replacement (replace in pairs, ask how I know 😒 ). Hopefully it's not to rivets and the surface of the flywheel is scored.
 
rdinatal said:
The mechanic took it that far apart to see the flywheel?!? I call BS
Click to expand...
Most vehicles have a window on the bell housing that let's you look in to see the clutch and flywheel. I'm not specifically familiar with that model but the mechanic may have been able to see in there without much effort.

BMW's are junk. Toss that thing and don't look back. If your going to fix either I would fix the ford. Realistically though you can get a cheap little economy car for less then a good engine for the f150. I would be looking at beat up Hondas or Toyotas.
 
C-doodle said:
Realistically though you can get a cheap little economy car for less then a good engine for the f150.
Click to expand...

1) A cheap economy car is not a replacement for a truck.
2) Have you looked at vehicle prices recently?

If he can replace the engine for $5000 he'll come out way ahead of any car you could buy for that amount.
 
I bought my little Scion for $2000 cash about a year ago. No it's not pretty. No it's not a truck. It's been a good reliable car though and it gets good gas mileage.

And yes, it would be a replacement for bmw...

It did need some maintenance. I spent about another grand on it right away. That took care of everything it needed.
 
My brother bought a Honda civic from a member here on the forum for $1100. A few hundred dollars later and he's got it on the road now. I think he still has less then 2k in it.

Again, not pretty. Still better then almost every BMW on the road.

They are out there.
 

Log into Facebook

Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.
www.facebook.com www.facebook.com

It took me about five minutes to find this thing.

Listed for $2100. That would leave you with $2900 left for maintenance and you would have no car payment. Also insurance is probably $200 a year.

Compared to spending $3-5k on an engine that several people have mentioned isn't that great.

There are lots of deals like this out there. If he really needs a truck you can find a deal like this on a truck too. If you have 5k for an engine spend 3k on a used vehicle and use the rest to fix er up a bit.

Sorry it's an fb link. Here's a screenshot of the add.
Screenshot_20220427-060937.png
 
C-doodle said:

Log into Facebook

Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.
www.facebook.com www.facebook.com

It took me about five minutes to find this thing.

Listed for $2100. That would leave you with $2900 left for maintenance and you would have no car payment. Also insurance is probably $200 a year.

Compared to spending $3-5k on an engine that several people have mentioned isn't that great.

There are lots of deals like this out there. If he really needs a truck you can find a deal like this on a truck too. If you have 5k for an engine spend 3k on a used vehicle and use the rest to fix er up a bit.

Sorry it's an fb link. Here's a screenshot of the add.
View attachment 467113
Click to expand...
They're a family of 5 and frequently go mtn biking, camping, etc. There needs to be space for stuff.
A camry and a trailer might work, but he's always using the bed.
 
It was just an example. You can get a GOOD car for 5k. Pretty much whatever style you want as long as your willing to have reasonable expectations.

I tried to pick an example of vehicle that I am familiar with. It doesn't have to be a little sedan.
 
GoWolfpack said:
1) A cheap economy car is not a replacement for a truck.
2) Have you looked at vehicle prices recently?

If he can replace the engine for $5000 he'll come out way ahead of any car you could buy for that amount.
Click to expand...
True, I haven't seen too much for used full size trucks lately but the ones I have are outrageously overpriced for their millage. $8-10k for trucks with 200+k on the OD, nope! Not this cat!
 
I got lucky on a family passed down f150, it's a 2001 with the dog ass 4.6 V8 SOB has 350k miles on it, runs like a top and hauls want I need. Haven't had to put more than oil, tires and gas in it for nearly a year and half, it's my daily driver as well. Cold a/c, power windows all still work, power locks stick sometimes on back doors, but for 1,000 bucks was best $ I've spent in along time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom