Mechanics share tragic aftermath of a driver continuing to drive her BMW after overheating
Driving with an active low coolant warning or an overheating engine is a bad idea. There’s no other way around it. A popular video shows mechanics discussing the consequences of stubbornly driving your vehicle while warnings advise you to stop and remedy an overheating engine.
The mechanics at Royalty Auto Service call driving an overheating BMW, or any other car, ‘How to blow up an engine 101’
Mechanics Chris and Sherwood looked a bit defeated as they looked down at the BMW’s open hood. It’s a 2019 model year with fewer than 100,000 miles on the clock. And yet, the Bimmer’s heart is broken; the owner drove the vehicle as it overheated and blew its motor. A tragedy, indeed.
“When you get that overheating signal, you want to shut it off,” Sherwood said as he leaned over the open engine bay. His colleague, Chris, then recounted how the BMW ended up in such a state. “The client said that she drove home one night and got a message that her coolant was low,” the mechanics said.
She rose in the morning to drive the German car, greeted again by the low coolant message. “Then she drove it and got a message that it was overheating,” Chris continued. I think you can likely see where this is going. “She continued to drive it. Then she got a ‘no oil pressure’ light.”
It was at this point that the customer told Chris the vehicle was “running real bad and knocking.” The story is difficult to hear. But it’s nothing compared to the sounds coming from the wounded BMW. Upon starting the vehicle, the mechanics listened to the sounds of distress coming from the engine and observed the smoke pumping its way out of the exhaust tips. “Another public service announcement. If it’s overheating, please stop,” one of the mechanics shared.
Truer words and the like. Driving an overheating vehicle is a bad idea. A very bad idea. Like this case, an engine running on high heat and friction with little or no coolant can suffer a catastrophic failure requiring a replacement mill. You could also blow a head gasket, a simple remedy in old-school applications. But in a modern engine, a blown head gasket might not be worth the cost and effort of repair.
So what can you do to avoid this BMW driver’s fate? For starters, heed the advice of the mechanics and don’t do what the BMW owner did. Pay attention to warning lamps and messages, especially those warnings of low coolant or overheating. Replacing a cracked coolant hose or reservoir is much cheaper than an engine replacement.
