IFR SMA DECLARED EMERGENCY BECAUSE OF ENGINE PROBLEMS; DIVERTED TO NEAREST AIRPORT; QUESTIONED ATC SERVICES; I.E. VECTORS AWAY FROM LANDING AIRPORT.

Narrative

DEPARTED AT XA15. CEILING 800 AND TOPS 3800 FT. VECTORS TO BOLOS INTXN. PORTABLE GPS INFO 15 MI S OF ZZZ1 AND 7 MI S OF ZZZ. CLBING THROUGH 6500 FT. LOUD BANG AND SMELL OF SMOKE. DECLARED EMER WITH DEP. REQUESTED NEAREST ARPT ZZZ. THEY TOLD ME TO FLY 180 DEGS AND DSND TO 4000 FT. I TOLD THEM THAT I HAD ALREADY STARTED A TURN TO THE N AND WANTED TO REMAIN HIGH. WAS TOLD TO CHANGE TO FREQ. I MENTIONED THAT I WOULD LIKE TO FLY ABOVE ZZZ AND CIRCLE DOWNWARD. DUE TO LOW CEILING CIRCLING; NOT AN OPTION. CONVERSATION ABOUT BEING TOO HIGH; GETTING DOWN FOR ILS AT ZZZ. INSTRUCTED TO TURN 270 DEGS. DSNDED INTO CLOUDS LEVEL AT 2000 FT. APPARENTLY ANOTHER ACFT WITH SIMILAR CALL SIGN CONFUSING INSTRUCTIONS. MY HDG NOW WAS 180 DEGS. I READ BACK TURN L 10 DEGS TO 190 DEGS. I ACTUALLY NEEDED TO TURN 10 DEGS R TO 190 DEGS. KNEW SOMETHING WAS WRONG. FINDING APCH PLATE FOR ILS AT ZZZ. ENG RUNNING ROUGH. SPD AT 88 KTS STILL HAD PWR CTL. ENTERED ZZZ INTO GPS. ZZZ NOW 11 MI TO THE N. TOLD APCH THAT I WAS GOING THE WRONG DIRECTION. APCH TOLD ME HARSHLY THAT 3 TIMES THEY INSTRUCTED ACFT X TURN TO 040 DEGS. TOLD TO INTERCEPT LOC FOR ILS. INSTRUCTED TO CONTACT TWR. INSTRUCTED DIRECT INTXN. INSTRUCTED TO RPT ESTABLISHED ON THE LOC. RPTED LOC COMING ALIVE AND THEN ESTABLISHED. WAS CLRED TO LAND. BROKE OUT OF CLOUDS AT 800 FT AND LANDED. DURING LNDG ROLL TWR INSTRUCTED AN ACFT TO TAXI TO DELTA IF ABLE. TAXIED TO DELTA AND MET POLICE AND FIRE TRUCKS. OIL EXITED COWLING ONTO NOSEWHEEL. CALLED 1-800-WX-BRIEF; MAKING SURE APCH KNEW I LANDED. BLEW #5 CYLINDER-SPLIT APART. QUESTIONS: DID FREQ KNOW ACFT DECLARED AN EMER? WHY DID ATC NOT CORRECT MY READBACKS? WHY WAS X 6.5 MI FURTHER AWAY FROM ZZZ NOW 11 MI FROM ZZZ? ACFT WAS IN TROUBLE; PLT BUSY; ENG PROB AND IMC. WAS ACFT GIVEN PROPER CARE DURING AN EMER? I THINK APCH CTL SHOULD HAVE KEPT ME CLOSE TO ZZZ WITH A CIRCLING DSCNT TO THE ILS. IN THE EVENT THAT THE ENG STOPPED; ACFT X COULD STILL MAKE THE ARPT.