Woman Gets Her BMW’s Oil Changed. 48 Hours Later, She Needs A New Car: 'Sue!! SUE!! SUEEE!!!!!!'

'I bet that $240.00 dealership oil change sounds good right about now.'

Photo by: Unsplash.com

Braden Bjella

By: Braden Bjella

Jul 3, at 1:00pm ET

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A woman claims that getting her oil changed resulted in her car breaking entirely. But how?

In a video with over 44,000 views, TikTok user NeNe (@nene_thecreator) alleges that her vehicle, a BMW X6 she says she’s owned without issue for over a year, is now unusable. The reason, she claims, is that a Tire South location performed an oil change incorrectly. She says this caused her engine to blow, with BMW claiming her motor “seized due to lack of oil.”

Here’s how she says it went down.

What Happened To This Woman’s BMW?

According to NeNe, she took her car to a Tire South location for an alignment. Although she had received an alignment several months prior, she says the car started “pulling to the opposite side.”

While she was waiting for the car’s alignment to be fixed, she noticed a sign saying that this Tire South location performed oil changes. NeNe was concerned that they could not change the oil on her BMW, so she asked some qualifying questions.

“I said, ‘Can you change the oil on my car?’... I have a BMW. It's a foreign car, so I get it—a lot of places don't like to touch those cars,” she recalls. “They said, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘Do y'all have the oil for my car?’ They said, ‘Yes.’”

“So, again, with them checking yes on all of the boxes that I'm asking these questions for, it’s what made me feel comfortable to go ahead and allow them to change the oil on my car,” she continues.

Initially, things seemed fine. However, problems soon arose.

Things Go Wrong

After leaving the Tire South location on Saturday, she says she looked at her car on Sunday to see something leaking from underneath it—possibly oil. She took photos to document this, but she continued to use the car.

Then, on Monday, she noticed a burning smell coming from the engine. Assuming it was “the old oil that's burning off,” she carried on.

But, later that day, her car began making a strange clicking sound. Eventually, after exiting an expressway, her car stopped entirely, and smoke began billowing out of the hood.

“I get this car towed to BMW, and sure enough, BMW confirmed that ‘Your motor is seized due to lack of oil,’” NeNe states.

“Hmm, now, how, when I just got my oil changed two days ago, how do I not have any oil?” she continues. “Please explain to me, Tire South, how I did not have oil two days after you guys changed my oil."

This incident, she says, has rendered her car unusable for months.

Can This Really Happen?

It’s uncertain if this was caused by the actions of Tire South. That said, the events outlined in NeNe’s videos are totally possible.

While an oil change is usually relatively simple, there are a lot of little things that can go wrong. Even a slight mistake can result in a problem that could ruin your engine. For example, one internet user documented how an incorrectly installed O-ring nearly destroyed the motor of a $60,000 car.

In short, when the oil level or pressure in a car gets too low, the engine’s oil film breaks down. This causes metal parts to rub together without lubrication—in turn, causing heat to build. All of these elements put together can make the engine “seize.”

An oil leak or an incorrectly performed oil change can cause a car’s oil level to be lower than the vehicle requires. This can lead to the engine seizing.

While there are some guides on how to unseize an engine, most experts agree that, once an engine is seized, the damage that has been done to it is likely serious. Repairing the motor may simply involve replacing it.

As far as who is liable, it depends on multiple factors, including whether NeNe can prove it was the shop’s doing that caused the issue and whether she provably ignored warning signs that something was amiss.