When a Houston BMW owner brought their 2016 X3 to master mechanic Steve Olah (@olahautomotive) with a hydrolocked engine, Olah expected to find a blown head gasket or failed piston rings. These are the typical culprits when oil floods combustion chambers.

In a TikTok that’s generated over 1,200 views as of this writing, Olah shares the shocking discovery he found when examining the oil.

Where Did All This Oil Come From?

Olah shows a BMW white crossover SUV lifted off the ground in his shop. The owner apparently brought the vehicle in for diagnosis.

“We got this 2016 BMW X3 with oil literally puddling in cylinder number 3, and it’s hydrolocking the engine because there’s so much oil in the cylinders,” Olah beings.

This left the mechanic wondering where did all this oil come from?

“How the [expletive] is oil getting there? You know, there has to be a reason. So we pull all the rest of the spark plugs—especially yes, 3 out of the 6 cylinders are pretty oil-filled,” Olah shares.

This would mean the BMW’s engine is the 3.0L inline-6 from an X3 xDrive35i.

Olah shows the spark plugs, which are visibly oil-flooded.

Hydrolocking (or hydraulic lock) occurs when a liquid enters an engine’s cylinders, preventing the pistons from completing their compression stroke. Because liquids are incompressible, the piston(s) won’t move, which can cause a variety of issues, like damaged pistons (as we see here), destroyed cylinder heads, and much more.

Initially, the crankshaft whips through excess oil in the oil pan, which creates oil foam/aeration. The oil level rises high enough to reach the cylinder walls, and it gets past the piston rings into the combustion chambers, where it accumulates in the cylinders. The engine can’t compress the oil, so hydrolock occurs. And your car is in the shop on a lift.

Let’s See How Much Oil Is In The Engine

After seeing all this, Olah decides to go back to the basics.

“Man, let’s keep it simple. Back to basics, and just let’s see how much oil is in the engine,” he explained.

Olah resisted the urge to unnecessarily rush into breaking down anything before checking the oil engine. Turns out this decision paid off as they discovered a shocking amount of oil in the engine.

“It’s supposed to be seven quarts. We drain it—seven liters of oil in the engine, and some change. Fifteen liters. Twenty. Twenty-two liters of oil,” Olah shares.

For reference, this 3.0L inline-6 model typically takes 6.9-7.4 quarts (or 6.5-7 liters). So Olah is showing there was roughly three times the amount of oil in the system as necessary. Though the video does not fully detail all the BMW’s issues (or how 20-plus liters of oil got into the vehicle), there is almost certain engine damage.

“Be careful where you do your oil changes,” Olah concludes.

How Much Would This Repair Cost?

If the car is even repairable, the cost will run the customer from $2,000-$5,000. An engine replacement would cost roughly $4,000 to $12,000. The lower end is for customers who went with a used engine, and the higher end is for those who went with a new/OEM engine, Dodson MotorSport reports.

According to Dodson, there are several factors affecting the price for a BMW engine replacement. These factors include part and labor, engine type, model year, condition of replacement engine, and where the service is completed.

Commenters Chimed In

Viewers went to the comment section to express concern on how this wasn’t an alert.

“How was there not an alert on the iDrive that it has been overfilled? The dealer overfilled my N55 by 1 liter once, and the warning message came up,” one TikTok user added.

“Holy mother of god,” another added.

“I’m absolutely amazed. It wasn’t smoking like crazy,” one commented.

“Like a steam engine. we thought it was a stuck open injector,” Olah replied back.

Questions remain, but mainly, how does someone accidentally add triple the amount, even during a quick lube oil change?

MotorBuscuit reached out to Olah for more information.

@olahautomotive #houston #olahautomotive #x5 #bmw ♬ original sound – Steve Olah