Cords wrote:
> I had unfortunate incident at a BMW dealership. Whilst sevicing My 1997
> 740 4.4 litre the technician accidently dropped the screw top of the
> spark plug into one bore. Needless to say on start up destroyed the
> head and scored the cylinder. The dealership now wants to machine the
> bore and put in a metal liner.
> Is this possible on a aluminium alusil engine?
> I would have thought the correct thing to do would be to replace the
> block or the entire engine!

You have a right to demand the car be returned to the same condition as
you brought it in, plus the work you paid them to perform. Iron
sleeving one of 8 alusil bores is NOT making you whole. You need a new
or factory reman engine, or a salvage engine of equal or lower miles,
and a guarantee with whatever they install. Do not let them sleeve your
motor.
While the piston is likely peened a little, the rod is probably OK.
But the combustion chamber in the head is also suspect.
A lot depends on the miles on your engine as to what might be a fair
replacement, but I'd assume the factory engine is good for 200K miles.
If you have had that car for 9 model years it is a reasonable assumption
that you intend to keep it for several more years.
It sounds to me like they are trying to not file an insurance
claim. They carry insurance for just this sort of thing, but of course
their claim history affects their rates and future insurability.