I started at BMW SPECIALTY SHOP Awho had been involved with much of the front end work on this car and had some familiarity with this specific vehicle.

He was only told there had been problems with cylinder #1, I did not discuss the leakage figure specifics that had been documented by BMW SPECIALTY SHOP B, but rather let him run the same tests to see if his results concurred.

His conclusion was that the #1 cylinder was low in compression and significantly higher leakage than any of the other cylinders- (he did not encounter significant leakage at either cyl 5 or 6). This cost me $74. See table 3.

BMW SPECIALTY SHOP As test technician re-iterated that driving the car with the motor in this condition, if the piston or rings are damaged could lead to further damage to the piston and/or cylinder wall. The owner of BMW SPECIALTY SHOP A also wrote a brief note indicating my diligence and care for the vehicle during the time he was servicing my car.

Wednesday, the car went into the shop at THE LOCAL BMW DEALER for a third opinion, at a cost to me of $138.

THE LOCAL BMW DEALER says that BMW factory service guidelines do not consider leakage to warrant repair until it exceeds 30%- so technically this motor is still in spec, see table 4. The technician who ran the tests suggested that the oil loss may be attributable to head problems around cyl #1, but he didnÕt think the leakage was in the bottom end.

The last BMW specialty shop which I will refer to as, BMW SPECIALTY SHOP C, ran the same tests on the 30th, for the special discount rate of just $52.50! Their results are in table 5.

This technician explained that all of the leakage was definitely in the bottom end at cylinder 1. Either the piston rings or cylinder wall are damaged, he was able to blow a piece of paper with the leakage blow-by pressure at the oil filler hole.

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