[joe1602]

About 3/4 of the way through my driving school with the BMW Car Club at WGI over the past weekend, I damaged my engine. Had a rattling noise that I first thought was 2 other cars passing me, I did not feel it in the car. Then a big cough & bang at the same time and then a nasty rattling that sounded like silverware in a garbage disposal. Parked the car & had it towed home. Drained the oil & found many metal shaving & chunks of metal in the oil & oil filter. Removed the valve cover to check the timing chain tensioner & was all ok. There were no metal shaving or flakes in the areas that I could see. Then pulled the oil pan off, and found several chunks of metal in the pan and the connecting rod and cap for cylinder #2 was rattling/loose with metal shavings/shards coming out of the area where the bearing should be. I am going to pull the cap off tonight to see what shape the crank is in. I am working in unknown territory at this point for me. I do not possess the tools, knowledge, or experience to diagnose or fix a problem like this. I am hoping to post pictures later today. Any information or guidance would be greatly appreciated. BTW: while it was running, the was great & I had a blast!