Hi all,

My 2006 M35x with 185k miles has been consuming oil for quite some time and my mechanic is telling me it needs a new motor due to poor compression and oil getting past the pistons.

There has always been some oil consumption for the 40k miles I've owned it, requiring me to top off a quart or two between 5k full synthetic oil changes. I just changed out my plugs/coils and noticed a ton of oil covering the plug in the bank closest to the driver (top right, when standing in front of the car), so much so that even the coil had a fair amount inside of it. I figured my valve cover gasket needs changing and this is why I had brought it to the mechanic originally.

Ever since changing the spark plugs, tons of white smoke has been blowing out of the exhaust. I gave it a hard drive, revved at 4-5k for an hour on the highway, assuming it was just excess that needed to burn off. After realizing the smoke was not slowing down is when I took it back to the mechanic and he informed me of the compression issue.

I am now looking at new motors and wondering if I can easily upgrade to the VQ35HR or if it would be advised to stick with the VQ35DE motor.

If anyone has some insight to share, it would be greatly appreciated.

I am not sure if you can do a straight swap with no other changes or not. Someone else may know if the electrical connections are all the same.

I also PMed you about another engine.