Mechanic Reacts to German Engineering Fails 

I see Sandro, I click. Simple

Bringing in an actual Audi tech is dope

As someone who works at a German OEM in South Carolina, let me just say, even BUILDING these cars is a pain in the ass.

That failed burnout with the Mercedes amg was over here in Australia. Actually in my suburb lol. That car was only a few days old. Turns out he blew the entire gearbox to smithereens because he couldn’t figure how to turn off all the traction controls.

"It could be that girl in the back that planted a bomb in there." Never change Sandro, never change.

I’m a mechanic, my brother is an engineer, when he started working the first thing I told him was “don’t forget someone has to work on what you design”

I worked at a German car shop for a while. we used to say BMW stands for Been Made Wrong.

Dude, a Scotty video in a Real Mechanic stuff video? This is like inception! “bwuaaammm”

German engineering: I can't remember the exact model, but I'm like 65% sure it was a Volkswagen Toureg. Guy brings it in to the shop for a blown O2 sensor, and he just couldn't figure out a way to get to it. Looks up in the repair manual on how to change that sensor, and right there in the manual it said "step 1: remove engine."

nice seeing a new face on the show, sandro's the favorite tho cant lie

i had a 2003 BMW X5 with a 5 speed manual that i bough for dirt cheap a few years back. first day of ownership: the top of the radiator exploded, so i replaced that. 2 days later: CV axle slightly pops out of the front differential, causing the car to not move (no clue how, nothing was messed up) the next day after repair, the clutch goes out. One month later, my valve cover gasket starts letting oil leak all over the engine. some time after fixing that, the transmission starts overheating, but the fill bolt for the gear oil decides it wanted to be a cylinder, so i took it into a shop to fix. a few days after i get it back, cylinder 2 decides it wanted to go to space. The only thing i did with this car was take it on a 4 hour road trip, and drive to work every day, my s2k is my fun stuff car. That X5 is now a cube at a scrapyard somewhere in texas.

BMW inline 6 motors are pretty easy to work on. When they started turbocharging them with the N54 then it reached an entire new level

Sandro is so dang comfortable on the show now and I'm here for it

That Merc trying to do a burnout is from Australia. That dude won the car in a raffle and didnt know shit about it. Tried showing off at his mates wedding and blew up the car lol

Mk4 VWs are difficult to put aftermarket radios in for three reasons. 1) the radio on/off is controlled by canbus so to install an aftermarket radio correctly, you need to buy a $100 or so canbus interface adapter. 2) if you're not installing an aftermarket radio correctly, there is no 12V switched power in there, you have to run a separate wire for switched power to turn the radio on and off. 3) there aren't really any nice dash kits since the mounting system they use is proprietary and very very low profile. The dash kits that work are just press fit into the hole since the car doesn't have any ISO DIN brackets and the standard aftermarket radio cages wont sit properly.

Push it again 😂😂😂 Sandro reminds me of my friend in high school he got us in so much trouble but I loved every single minute of hanging out with him 😢 I miss him to this day

The black Mercedes trying to burnout was Australia. It was SOME RANDOM guys wedding, he HAD traction control on, and had just WON the car worth an insane amount and killed it RIGHT THERE.

Giving the young lady props for her first time on the channel. Solid addition. Definitely deserves to be in the rotation

@ 8:00 The reason the engine covers aren't necessary is because of heat retention. In certain HOT states it's worse. Most wire assemblies won't be damaged from moisture considering they're under the hood which protects most damages as well as the fact that moisture cannot reach them. UNLESS you have a massive gap between the bumper and hood or an intake system like a Corvette which pulls air in through the bottom and diffuses it into the brake system as well as the intake system which is why most sports cars with these systems aren't driven proficiently in rainy weather conditions.

That burnout fail reminds me of a similar video with a C6 or C7 Corvette. This guy forgot to turn off traction control and is just burning his clutch, but due to the gearbox being a transaxle there is smoke coming from roughly the right spots. His buddy who is fiming notices that the wheels don't turn and starts yelling at him to stop, but due to the loud engine the driver doesn't understand him and just continues whilst smiling at the camera and doing a thumbs up. In the end there's a cut and their at a mechanic's shop, showing the clutch he just removed and how a new one looks

"Any time you push a button and smoke comes out-..." Sandro- "push it again"!! I wish I was one of his boys. I'd do anything to ride with that dude.🤘

Scotty Kilmer, Donut, and Sandro in one video? One hell of a Jimmy Timmy power hour.

I’ve done a 7 series alpina engine, so a twin turbo v8 awd. Looked just like the one you showed. The book time was basically 40 hours. It did come apart nicely. Just complicated.

"For some reason..." The cooling system is pressurized when it's hot, so if it leaks into a temlerature sensor or thermostat heater, it can be pushed all the way to the DME. I've seen the same thing happen with oil temperature and pressure sensors. Because the oil is pressurized. Not a mystery. Also, not common on BMW. But you do see it once in a great while. I hear it's very common on some Mercedes cam sensors though.

14:22 "built like tanks" WWII german panzer tanks suffered from over engineering as well. German tank operators had difficulty repairing them in the field and often times abandoned them.

I'm a mechanic in Norway. German cars are the bane of my existence

Agreed. My very very rare 2000 Mercedes E320 WAGON, went to change the oil filter and the housing cracked. I would have had to replace the entire engine chain case cover. Of course they fixed the design for 2002 and up.

8:05 what scotty meant was like with old toyotas where the valve cover is metal and does not have a plastic shroud on in to hide say, the ignition coils. since there is nothing to trap heat parts run cooler. and when there is less change in temperatures around plastics, plastics crack less often.

Sandro getting the answer right over the actual audi tech is why Sandro is the goat.

Sandro has an 8 series... Truly a man OF AUTOMOTIVE CULTURE.

2:20 - In a lot of modern German cars you have electronic safety features and sensors. For example, when another car appears in your dead angle, a small light will go off in your driver side mirror to alert you of this. Some manufacturers take it to the next level and let you activate a function that will not let you steer to that side when another car or an obstacle is detected. It will steer back the other way. If you are not used to that, it freaks you out when it happens. Since we cannot see what is happening left of the steering wheel or to the sensor, this could be just someone standing there. I think it does not activate while standing still or driving slowly, because it would be a problem when parking or maneuvering in cramped spaces. If it is an error, it probably is a broken sensor sending false activation signals. Could also be a fried electric motor control.

Although my 97 civic was easy to work on, I haven’t had many issues working on my 08 328xi. Just replaced the ignition coils & spark plugs, all filters, brakes, ac blower & just have to rebuild the transfer case motor. Although getting to the oil plug sucks, I just take it to Walmart when I feel lazy since it’s cheap for me to have them do the oil change. Also, definitely hit up FCP Euro for any parts… pretty good price and fast shipping 👍🏼

Steph was actually pretty cool, gonna need her back

The Audi explosion clip is from Albania and was for real a assassination attempt.

i have a 2009 Seat Leon 1p facelift, same underneath as a golf mk5 besides suspension tweaking. it has the typical 1.4tsi CAXC. tbh i have not had major problems besides the A/C fan stopping with it(after 14 years). VW AG 1.4TSI engines are overall very reliable, it comes stock with 125hp but can be put under much more power(i have seen over 250hp) mine has a 150hp tune due to laws that if the engine is tuned to 20% or less it doesnt require a check from a government institute(RDW here in the Netherlands)

I once had a Golf GTI in the 90th. It was flipping fun. It wanted to go somewhere as fast as HP allowed.

Would be cool to hear some personal horror stories from the mechanics they've experienced. They all seem to be passionate and I'd like to hear more personal accounts sometimes than just their opinion/reaction to a video. The reactions are awesome, but I always like hearing personal accounts, they tend to have a lot more emotion than a video you scroll past in my experience.

As someone with a German made car it took me 4 mechanics until I found the masochist who likes to work on them and knows them well

Steph's reactions are priceless

I've had a few second generation Audi A8, great car the one I have now has 260,000 on it. It has some really funny water intrusion problems, if you don't keep the drains clear the water from the windshield backs up and shorts the transmission control unit located literally in the cowl drain area in a plastic box that says in German that "water intrusion is forbidden." The other thing is once that fills up it leaks into the HVAC system through where the blower motor is (also in the cowl drain area) once it fills up in the heater core it dumps the water through an overflow pipe into the driver and passenger side footwells, the reason that I know they knew about this issue and over engineered it is that it eventually makes it to drain holes that are drilled on the low spot under the driver and passenger seats and it comes out under the car. In Audi's defense the first guy that buys the car for $100,000 keeps it in a garage and won't learn about this "truth in engineering" i keep mine outside and have to spend about an hour twice a year clearing all the drains with compressed air. Luckily 100% of the frame and body of that model is aluminum so it doesn't rust from the water or anything like that.

I love how quickly this channel turned into a Sandro fan club lmao

Bmw engineers meetings always start off with "hey, I found out where we can put another coolant line thats not required, and where we can bolt more plastic parts onto metal at".

Based on my time working on a late 90s merc, the worst and most painful part has to be the plastic pieces. They snap easily when taking off, and the worst part is that it is often incredibly difficult to find a replacement piece for them too

My e46 330ci ZHP ran nearly flawlessly for 185k miles. Outside of normal maintenance the only things i had to replace were a valve cover gasket and a DISA valve. I did have an e63 650i manual coupe that was a nightmare. My 25 year old Porsches are some of the easiest cars to work on I've ever had. They've been great cars too. I had an Audi S4 for awhile that was great to drive but cured me for ever wanting another Audi based on how often I had to work on it. None of my german stuff has been nearly as difficult as my Z32 300zx was to do just about anything.

Clip 2, that's a bomb trying to kill him... "why does this look like a crime scene?" I think someone knows some shit! 🤣🤣🤣

I had a Volvo V50 and the cabin air filter was behind the steering wheel 😳🤯. To simply swap your filter: 1) remove the steering wheel 2) remove all gauges 3) swap filter 😂

Love seeing the reaction to the n63 engine out of the car, I’ve spent many an hour working on that nightmare and the car attached to it. You get used to having chafed forearms

Sandro is always great to see in the videos low key crushing on Steph now tho ❤‍🔥

Always love to see Sandro. This my first time seeing Steph. She a real one! Hope to see more of her in future.

The coolant is not just dripping on the harness. BMWs use an electrically controlled thermostat, which sometimes leaks internal allowing the coolant to enter the wire. The outside of the harness is water tight, but that doesn’t help when it comes from the inside of the connector. This happens with the oil pressure sensor too.

Turbo cooler hoses and oil filter cooler on a w166 amg ml63 5.5v8twinturbo. That was fun, same when i did coolant hoses and valve cover gaskets on a z32 300zx.

I install original accessories/options in cars and installing cruise in a VW UP is a real pain in the ass! The installing the new stalk part is np, but then… Wires need to be connected with the BCM, which is under the dashboard at the back of the fuse box facing away from you. You can barely reach the d*mn connectors, let alone the latches that secure them. Then when they’re finally loose, the wires are too short to pull the connectors far enough so you can both see where you put the terminals after removing the housing and actually do pin the terminals. Oh, and when you finally manage to do so and put them back, you need to pin in a wire terminal in the ECM, which is mounted to the back of the battery bracket with the connectors facing down. So that sh*t needs te be taken out entirely as well… Tiny car, huge amount of time and effort.

00:50 - The reason the coolant follows up the wires is theough capillary action. The same process that plants use to draw water up the roots.

I wrenched for a German used car lot. I actually had a mental breakdown dealing with 2000s Audis.

I own 2 BMWs.. a 2004 320i convertible and a 1985 325i Baur Convertible. I changed the starter motor on thr 320i in December. I had to remove,: the cabin filters, the airbox and ducting, the throttle, the inlet manifold and vacuum pipes, the wiring loom. I eventually got to the starter which then needed me to make a custom tool so I could get a spline drive onto the bolts holding it in place. BMWs are wonderful cars to drive, they are a pig to work on due to the vast amount of kit crammed into small engine bays. I am SERIOUSLY thinking about going back to a Volvo 960 from the 1990s, the engine bay is so huge ypu can almost stand in it, it only uses 4 nut sizes in the whole car and in the UK, if its over 30 years old I dont pay road tax on it.... bliss!

I used to work as a mechanic in NJ 15-20 years ago. That time, I hated to work on VW and Audi. All plastic and fragile sensor covers, connectors, wiring harness etc. jam packed under the hood. It was almost guaranteed to break something else before you reach the part you wanna replace. Leaky head gaskets were icing on the cake. I wonder if its still the case.

Sandro is so sincere , and you can tell he’s a low key genius under the hood

Kilmer looked like one of those late night commercials, trying to sell you a water hose or something and the people are tripping and falling down!

Yeah, that radio issue, wiring the radio's "remote out" signal to the ignition circuit. That signal wire goes live when you turn on the radio, it's meant to control the on/off of an external component (typically an amp). So wiring that to the ignition just keeps the ignition on until you shut off the radio. Silly mistake.

Had a 2003 Polo TDI, their headlight bulb retention bracket had a tendency to melt itself into the headlight housing, so to change the bulb you had to remove the entire headlight, which required disassembling the entire front of the car. A 5 min job turned into a 1-2h job.

"If it's not broken, it doesn't have enough features yet! " ~German Engineer

German engineering is basically “how can we ram as much as possible into a small space with the intent of making things better but it becomes so complicated nobody can fix it”

I used to love my srt4 until I got my bimmer. Compared to the Neon it's hard to hate the B58. The NSRT4 was a little bit faster than the stock 440i but, that's because the skittle is lighter and mine is 380hp/400tq. Compared to what it took to get the neon to those power levels the bmw is like a tune, a downpipe, a fuel pump and a turbo to reach the equivalent power to weight ratio.

As a german engineer I can confirm we always try to make it as hard as possible for the mechanics. Then we all have an evil laugh before working on adding more complexity.

Scotty showing up here is like when I go to a friend's party and see a friend from a totally different social circle there.

Older German cars are relatively easy to work on as it’s more about mechanical engineering and durability but anything that has a lot of computer controls become much harder to work on, especially diagnostics. But all those computers take up more room so there is less working room in which to even get in and actually service the item. Older German cars really had a philosophy of rebuild and servicing components vs just throwing it out and buying a new one. But they do drive like few other cars do

The coolant isn’t “dripping”‘onto the wire harness. The issue is the 7-series uses an electronic thermostat so the ECU can regulate coolant temperature. The problem is the e-thermostat seals will fail and “wick” coolant inside the wire harness and take out the control modules.

VWs 50s to early 60s are pretty simple to work on. Actually my favorite. 912 Porsches too.

As a german automotive engineer, we put drain plugs/valves in the rear quarter panel compartments, but people clog them with leaves and stuff, and the water gets in there because they don't clean the leaves and moss out in the trunk seal channel 🤷‍♂️ And if you want to go fast in a car with a big engine in a small bay, you need to get crazy with cooling. It's a BMW after all, and in Germany, we love to drive 130mph+ for more than 20min without overheating.

Pretty much any VW, economy car quality, luxury car complexity and prices. Man nailed it when he said "Luxury doesn't equal longevity!".

On the twin turbo V12 mercedes i think they put the intercoolers in the fenders, so you need to take them off to do any maintenance on them (like a hose)

Home girl knows what she’s talking about with those engine covers. Especially with newer DI engines that have high pressure fuel systems clicking away those plastic covers are there for NVH purposes as much as cosmetic purposes and anything else.

My worst German car experience was my 2013 GTI. It had less than 30k miles on it and the DSG transmission failed. 6 months and about 3k miles later, the thermostat failed. Then the intake needed to be changed on a recall. And finally, I had a misfire due to carbon buildup on the valves with less than 45k on the odometer. I took it to VW because I didn’t have the time deal with it and they tell me I need to pay for diagnostics. I pay for it. They inform me that the use of non-OEM coil packs can be recognized by the onboard computer and that I need OEM coil packs to complete the diagnostic. I asked if they swapped plugs or coils to see if the misfire changes cylinders because they were all aftermarket coils and it was strange that the misfire was in one cylinder, if that was the case. They said no they didn’t attempt swapping the coils or plugs. I tell them I’m not buying new coils for a test and they just need to complete a valve cleaning service and charge me for that. The technician had the audacity to tell me that their scan tool could tell if the valves had carbon build-up…as if there was a sensor inside or around the combustion area. I asked for my car back, took it to a local Euro shop, they agreed 100 percent with my assessment and verified it by swapping the coils and plugs around. Cleaned the valves and the problem was solved. I sold that car and refuse to buy another VW/AUDI.

Steph is so expressive. More please

I had a used 2003 BMW X5. It was my dream car and I kept it running as best as I could. There was always a problem with it. I loved that SUV be had to trade it in for something more reliable. Bought me a Hyundai Sonata and it been running like a champ for over ten years.

I remember when I did state inspections for Audi I asked one of the guys next to me what he was doing just making conversation, he said a thermostat. He had the entire front of the car off and said he still had to pull the timing chain... can't remember what car it was but that still blows my mind and I work for BMW.

1:02 The “for some reason” is called capillary action. You can demonstrate it by taking a strip of paper towel and partly immersing it in a glass of water. The water will wick up to higher than the water level.

"like a crime scene" that call tho 😂

miss my e-36..loved it.

If you think that slave cylinder is bad, on some older Fords you had to dismount the gas pedal to change the cabin air filter that was placed behind the centre console. And of course the screws weren't easy accesible with tools and it was near impossible to change the cabin air filter without bending it in all kinds of way. I have more understanding with repairs being a pain in the ass sometimes, but service things like filters and stuff should all be easy accessible since they will most likely be replaced once a year.

"why can't I burnout with traction control on?"

As a BMW Master Tech of over 17 years, it’s obvious who hasn’t worked on these shit-boxes. 0:21 it’s not abnormal to have a thermostat in that location. BMW has so many extra coolers and coolant hoses because they’re trying to get as much power in a confined space. I don’t know why she said it was abnormal to have a thermostat down there. The reason why the coolant wicks its way up the harness is due to a phenomenon called “capillary action”, something you should have learned in chemistry. When the pins of the thermostat are not water tight, the flow of electricity will actually wick that fluid back up the wires, back to the source- the DME. The same is true of oil circuits. This isn’t a BMW exclusive thing, but those N63 engines did have a recall or bulletin for that issue. 1:49 that’s the typical N63 twin turbo V8 that BMW has been using for almost 15 years now, with a few updates. They’re a nightmare of coolant hoses, wiring harnesses, vacuum lines, etc and nothing is easy to access. It’s a “hot” V8, meaning the exhaust and turbos are between the cylinder heads, and the intake is on the lower side of the heads, where the exhaust would typically go. These engines also use corrugated plastic pipes for the PCV system, which get fragile and brittle over time, with the motion of the engine, and the fact that they sit on top of the turbos. Also, the turbo coolant lines tend to leak because of the same reason. THIS is a better example of trapping heat than the BS Scotty Kilmer video, which made no sense at all. 2:27 that steering wheel thing is nothing normal or that can be blamed on the engineering. That’s definitely an issue with the car….NOT the steering angle sensor. All modern BMWs use electric steering, except maybe some M cars, for better feedback through hydraulic steering. 5:00 the switch could just be shorted out, but it is possible that it’s due to spilled fluids. EDC controls the suspension dynamics, not sport mode. But she’s probably right in the fact that the connection point is pinkish in color. 6:18 that’s an N54. It’s super easy to access all of the plugs and coils. I’d never let him touch my car, seeing him use a 4’ prybar. Take out 8x 8mm screws to remove the microfilter cowling, and you have easy access to all plugs and coils, and it takes 2 minutes. That engine cover doesn’t retain the heat. It helps protect that area from water, and has sound deadening underneath the cover because that engine utilizes direct injection, so the injectors are very noisy. The next iteration 335 has an N55 which actually would be a GREAT example of shitty design. It still has the air filter up top, but there’s a charge pipe that goes over cylinders 4-6, so you have to take off a bunch of stuff to access the back 3 cylinders, you can’t easily swap plugs and coils, and you can’t run it with the cover off. If you want good examples of shitty BMW engineers: I need a second person to help me open and close the hood on the i8. It’s lightweight, aluminum hood that can bend and distort very easily. It’s also $15k to replace. In order to replace the air flaps (another stupid BMW design that blocks airflow to the radiator to heat the engine up faster…but they fail all the time and cause check engine lights) I have to remove the hood before I can remove the bumper On the i3, in order to replace a window regulator, you need to completely remove the door from the body, as the door brake check goes THROUGH the door panel, and there’s no way of removing it otherwise. On the iX, BMW engineers decided to put the subwoofer in the rear of the car, under the back seat, but on the underside of the chassis. That means that if your subwoofer goes out, you have to remove the entire high voltage battery unit, just to replace a speaker. We also have a TCB under the shark fin antenna, which has a battery you have to replace every few years- typically you have to replace one before it goes out of warranty. In order to replace it, you have to lower the headliner to access it. It pays 3 plus hours on some cars under warranty. That’s 5-6 hours when the customer has to pay for it. Heck, even filling up the washer fluid can be an ordeal on some cars. On the iX, they don’t want the customer to open the hood, so the BMW emblem opens up to fill up the washer fluid…but you have no idea how much you need to add. On other cars, the little blue cap is recessed to the point that it won’t stay open. So you open the cap, lift your Gallon of washer fluid to pour it in, and the cap closes back down. You literally have to take the cap off by pressing a release/lock tab that you SHOULD only need to engage when resolving the cap…all just to put washer fluid in the car. That’s an absolutely blatant example of how the engineers never seem to touch the cars, or think about working on them. I could go on and on and on about it. We have a saying in the BMW world: “A BMW engineer would climb over a PILE of virgins, just to fuck a technician”

All 3 of my first cars were German. Nothing but problems and money. First one needed a whole new transmission and all kinds of little switches and things. Second one had a piston rod break and had to rebuild the motor at 120k. Third one was nonstop repairs from $300-800 every month. All of them an absolute pain to work on not to mention expensive. Just ditched my last one for a new Corolla at a pretty decent loss cause of all the issues. I'm so excited to not be stressed about maintenance and repairs.

Porsche 911 convertible BCM under drivers seat.. located in a water proof well..had it replaced twice..drilled drain hole has not happened since..just a little drain like battery vent solved 2000 $ repair..you guys are great made me laugh..😂

"Loud noise from engine" is also also highly regulated in Germany and will get you fined when the police show up and your car is to loud.

I think that German cars are just shy and hiding their sensitive parts

Old rusty E30 ('86 BMW 325e) Never realised how angry of a person i was until i had to take the intake manifold off of an M20 and i only had a 1/2" drive socket set. Good news is that no one in my street bothers me now, even the homeowners acc. doesn't hit me up if i leave the lawnmowing a week too long. Dogs even go to the house across the street to do their business (sorry Carl).

I had the “pleasure” of owning a 1 of 2000 made limited edition VW new Beetle my wife just had to had. After realizing the wheel, inner fender, engine mount, all the belts and pulleys, and it’s about a 4 hour job to do the water pump when it went out; plus the camshaft position sensor… and they constantly go bad. It went bye bye and I bought her US designed Japanese.

Sandro's assassination explanation hahah

Steph has to be the finest mechanic ive ever seen

Luvin the R8 on the bench there ;)

SANDRO IS LOVE, SANDRO IS LIFE 🙌🏽

Me: Sees Sandro in the thumbnail My fingers: 🆑ℹ️©️K

Sandro comfortable as if he’s part of the team I love it

We need more of steph

Having had several Audii’s and VW’S over the years, most of which I worked on myself. I’m ready surprised i didn’t see more of them on here. As much as I’ve cussed these cars, I still love em.

As a Skoda owner (vw group), I'm glad my car's platform isn't flawed enough to reach your studio :)) This video was basically a BMW show with a little VW and a touch of Mercedes

As the owner of a German car I can confirm that some of the repairs are a pain but maintenance is KEY.

the coolant dose not spray out of the thermostat and run up the wires magically. the fail is almost stranger than that. what happens is the coolant temp sensor fails internally due to a hole in the diaphragm of the sensor, the pressurized coolant wants to go somewhere and the only path is the wire coming from the sensor (due to the connector having seals between the plug and wire), it is pushed between the copper wiring and the rubber coating on the wire (acting like a tube). this is NOT a common issue but it dose happen.

I inherited my sister's BMW and tried to keep that E46 3 series going for WAY too long, but tbf it was one of the best generations BMW ever made. Inside I had to replace the arm rest, cracked dashboard trim, and under the hood I replaced the windshield wiper cover, air flow sensor, coolant tank, brake booster, all of it plastic. Replaced fuel pump, also plastic. The OEM radiator had plastic cladding on the side that would fail over time and cause punctures in the aluminum so coolant leaked, I replaced that too. But not before the leak caused a lasting short somewhere in the wiring, which would cause my car to stop at the worst times, like on the freeway. Finally I had enough and replaced that with a Subaru.