[Nickco43]

Originally Posted by M_Bimmer

Post #9 stated that early F10 535's came with N54s, to which I asked if someone could provide supporting data....RealOEM doesn't show any F10 535 variation coming with anything other than an N55.

Anyway, a couple of things...I don't claim that I provided short block engines part numbers that were delivered in any ones car. There is just to many part numbers. What I did was look ONLY at replacement short blocks that were in BMW's part bin available for replacements to your factory installed engine...this shortens the list of Part Numbers. The data shows that 2011 engines available for replacement was only offered for 1/2 the time period as other versions of the N55 engines....which, to me, indicates that the 2011 engines, those installed on the production line, or those offered from the production line for replacements, were prone to failure within the short block.

Too many data points, in this situation, dilutes the point....my next look will be engine blocks, then main shafts, then main bearings...I bet one or more drove the short life of the 2011 short block...just saying.

Cheers.

I was searching around online and it seems like 2011 or earlier and some 2013 N55 have some issues with rod bearings. Honestly I think once you are past 100k or so you are home free unless you do not do the OFH priming procedure. Out of all the N55 BMWs made before 2011 I do not think they should be all avoided since there are a few reports of failure. It would be nice to get a SA or BMW technician to chime in.

[HotSpicyChicken90]

Dump any "Real OEM" or different part-sides except genuine BMW-Programs/sites!

I say it again; give me your VIN, I will check

[Kmmitchct]

Originally Posted by HotSpicyChicken90

bring the car to a bmw-specialist. They will be able to repair it without replacing the whole engine!

The Subframe and oilpan have to be removed as well as the zylinder-head. From down under you should be able to replace the rod-bearing and from the top (after the piston have been removed) you will be able to replace all main-bearings

Brought the car to a bmw specialist and here is the result. He agrees with the bmw dealer diagnosis of a bearing rod issue and the recommendation of engine replacement. However, like us, was shocked and disagreed with the bmw dealer suggestion of the only option being a new engine and their price of 29k. Said he found many N55 good used engines with warranties online for 3000-4500. Felt like the right path was buying a used one for about 4000. Labor however would be about 3700 making the cost around 7700. The car blue book value ranges from 10000-11500 once it has a good working engine as besides for the engine issue the body and interior is in great shape at only 81k miles, has new front brakes, 3/4 tread on all tires and the only other need is back brakes at some point.

Catch is he is a month delayed on this type of work and suggested it didn’t make sense for me to pay that much now for the value I will get out of it. Suggested exactly what several of you did. Sell the car as is. That it is a great project car worth 3500-4000 now and someone would want to buy it off Craigslist. A second dealer also suggested trying carmax.

So end result is I am going to be selling it now. Can anyone suggest any other methods focused at this type of audience besides craigslist? Thanks all. Learned a lot from this thread.

[sofparts]

Hello to everyone , as i understand from the main post , you have a car with defective engine under 120k miles/ 200 000 km. With my experience as "service advisor" in bmw dealership here in Bulgaria , Sofia (Autobavaria Bmw) i can say that many of the customers driving cars dont know about that program , and i can aware you that any of the dealerships dont want the customers to know that there is such a program (Good will). For example customer with F15 X5 (2 years warranty from producing) with no extended warranty with odometer on 75000 kms on the 3rd year , has defective electric power steering rack , as the complain we have notified the manufacturer and the result was pretty clear - the customer needed to pay only for the labor about the repair , the new power steering rack was paid by BMW GROUP Germany , because the car has really low millage. So basically what i want to say is that you need to return to the dealership and said them that you will wrote a complain regarding your vehicle because you have a really low millage and thats not supposed to happen because you drive BMW not Alfa Romeo. The main result by them should be they will need to ask BMW GROUP Germany about that case and they should give them instructions , so they can be sure that someone will cover the expenses about the "new short engine" or "new short block" depending on cases they should give you an opportunity to pay % from the repair or only the labor because. Just to remind for such a cases BMW GROUP Germany will need full service history of the car in Bmw dealership and etc , everything should be done by them or authorized service workshop. If you do that you can feel free to take an action and see what they can say about your vehicle. Be sure that customer service is really important for Bmw and every complain is looked by them really seriously , not from the dealerships (because they are just resellers) just the main office. If you dont qualify for that program you can feel free to contact me about your car , we are exporting cars from USA to Europe and we are all in the parts business , so i can help you find solution.

Best Regards

Fredi Florov CEO
Sof Parts LTD

[JDMSteven]

sofparts unfortunately because he has a 2011 model year car they most likely won't do anything to help even though he has low mileage

[sofparts]

Originally Posted by JDMSteven

sofparts unfortunately because he has a 2011 model year car they most likely won't do anything to help even though he has low mileage

The history shows different examples , he just need to outrage that he is not OK to be robbed for something that should not break on that millage.
E60 545i 2003 changed "short block" cause of engine problem , only labor paid by the customer , 8000 euro short block was covered by BMW Group. He just need to go for it if his car is serviced just like they say. Other question is that all the service intervals are amazing and should be cutted at half cause 30000 km for oil service is amazing stupidity especially in N63B44 .... Customers got their rights depends how much you want to make the "service advisor" suffering for you I felt that situations right on the field. Just go for it you wont loose anything except your time.

Best Regards

[Nickco43]

Originally Posted by Kmmitchct

Brought the car to a bmw specialist and here is the result. He agrees with the bmw dealer diagnosis of a bearing rod issue and the recommendation of engine replacement. However, like us, was shocked and disagreed with the bmw dealer suggestion of the only option being a new engine and their price of 29k. Said he found many N55 good used engines with warranties online for 3000-4500. Felt like the right path was buying a used one for about 4000. Labor however would be about 3700 making the cost around 7700. The car blue book value ranges from 10000-11500 once it has a good working engine as besides for the engine issue the body and interior is in great shape at only 81k miles, has new front brakes, 3/4 tread on all tires and the only other need is back brakes at some point.

Catch is he is a month delayed on this type of work and suggested it didn’t make sense for me to pay that much now for the value I will get out of it. Suggested exactly what several of you did. Sell the car as is. That it is a great project car worth 3500-4000 now and someone would want to buy it off Craigslist. A second dealer also suggested trying carmax.

So end result is I am going to be selling it now. Can anyone suggest any other methods focused at this type of audience besides craigslist? Thanks all. Learned a lot from this thread.

FB Market place is popular. I am trying to sell my sorted E90 and CL has given me all spam calls. If this happened a few months ago this would have been a nice summer project.

[Kmmitchct]

I ended up selling it to carmax for $6000. Was pleased with that price after the dealer initially offered 1k and then later 2k for trade in. In and out in an hour.

[Kmmitchct]

Oh and I replaced it with a 2020 840i that I am absolutely loving right now.

[Thecastle]

Stories like these make me question the “common” wisdom from folks that the best most reliable engine to buy used on a bmw is the I6. The more I read the more I think over time there is no safe engine that they all have failure points to watch.

[JDMSteven]

Glad you were able to make a good resolution Kmmitchct and congrats on the new 8er! That's awesome!

Thecastle overall, the I6 motors are fantastic and usually your best bet when shopping for a BMW. First year model of anything tends to have more issues than others and it seems like its mostly the early N55 cars having issues like this. I have a 2011 535i build date 10/10 as well, but myself and many others have gotten very good results out of them. I'm FBO but only have 45k miles and its been good to me so far.

[Trainwreck914]

Mine as well has been good to me. It's also a 2011. Currently at 129k miles. And enjoy every minute I'm behind the wheel. No major failures. Aside from the starter. But that went in my driveway. Lucked out there. And easy fix aside from having to wait 2 days for part. I also stay on top of it with "preventative" maintenance. So I have done the lpfp, thermostat, water pump, boost solenoid, transmission fluid and filter, and og Bmw oil every 5k miles. But overall has been my favorite car to drive after my e39!

[BrandBMW]

Just to add another engine replacement, the previous owner got the engine changed in my build date 01/11 535 with BMW ~50k miles. He stated that he was entering a highway on-ramp and the engine locked-up. Noticed a pool of oil. He only serviced it at the dealership, so with a little back and forth, BMW covered the replacement. I'm at 100k miles now and when I bought the car a few years ago, knowing it had its engine changed solidified my decision. Hey, it's a newer engine. I did have to replace some screws that were missing and the entire undertray (minus metal tray) was missing. Those techs cutting corners.

The reason for the oil loss, who knows. He said the dealership did the vanos solenoid and changed oil just a couple of days prior, so perhaps it was human error.

It has been nothing but dependable. Besides normal "on-schedule" and preventative maintenance, (water pump/T-stat, belt/tensioner, already did 2 trans fluid/filter changes, filters, all fluids, plugs, and coolant overflow), the only "issues" are age and wear related (tension struts, rear guibo & diff bushing, front axles, and blower regulator.)

I have no hesitation now in installing my charge pipe and downloading a stg1 tune.

[AmooManiak]

Originally Posted by Thecastle

Stories like these make me question the “common” wisdom from folks that the best most reliable engine to buy used on a bmw is the I6. The more I read the more I think over time there is no safe engine that they all have failure points to watch.

One thing I've learned on these forums is to take everything that's said for granted. You will mostly hear about the complainers or people that don't own the cars in question, but never from the majority of people without problems.

When I had the N63, everyone kept talking about about it being a ticking timebomb and how much more reliable an N63TU is. I never had issues with the N63, but decided to jump ship for an N63TU, with which I ironically did have problems.

Years later, I am back to an N63 that runs like a champ, and still I am reading stories from people who have never had the car about how bad the reliability is. To make matters worse, most of them are the ones who have never owned the car.

So I've concluded to not listen to one off cases or old wives tales and just make sure that you properly maintain your car. That's the #1 thing that will ensure you won't run into issues.

[Unspec]

Originally Posted by AmooManiak

One thing I've learned on these forums is to take everything that's said for granted. You will mostly hear about the complainers or people that don't own the cars in question, but never from the majority of people without problems.

When I had the N63, everyone kept talking about about it being a ticking timebomb and how much more reliable an N63TU is. I never had issues with the N63, but decided to jump ship for an N63TU, with which I ironically did have problems.

Years later, I am back to an N63 that runs like a champ, and still I am reading stories from people who have never had the car about how bad the reliability is. To make matters worse, most of them are the ones who have never owned the car.

So I've concluded to not listen to one off cases or old wives tales and just make sure that you properly maintain your car. That's the #1 thing that will ensure you won't run into issues.

Just pointing out that you're using anecdotal evidence to try to disprove anecdotal evidence :P

In the end, the real move is to buy what you're comfortable with, and look up actual statistics on various engines. Anecdotal evidence is useless.

[AmooManiak]

Originally Posted by Unspec

Just pointing out that you're using anecdotal evidence to try to disprove anecdotal evidence :P

In the end, the real move is to buy what you're comfortable with, and look up actual statistics on various engines. Anecdotal evidence is useless.

Not sure what you are referring to, but all N63 versions are unreliable. It's not "Anecdotal", just look at the multiple lawsuits that are even plauging the newest N63Rs...

There has to be enough cases for a lawsuit to come to fruit. I'd love you to prove me wrong with statistics on how unreliable one is compared to the others, and not through a few forum posts from unsatisfied customers.

https://www.carcomplaints.com/news/2...-lawsuit.shtml

Based on first hand experience, I have not seen any improvements going from N63 to N63TU. Was your N63TU more reliable than your N63?

[Unspec]

Originally Posted by AmooManiak

Not sure what you are referring to, but all N63 versions are unreliable. It's not "Anecdotal", just look at the multiple lawsuits that are even plauging the newest N63Rs...

There has to be enough cases for a lawsuit to come to fruit. I'd love you to prove me wrong with statistics on how unreliable one is compared to the others, and not through a few forum posts from unsatisfied customers.

https://www.carcomplaints.com/news/2...-lawsuit.shtml

Based on first hand experience, I have not seen any improvements going from N63 to N63TU. Was your N63TU more reliable than your N63?

You said you're not going to listen to anecdotal evidence anymore, because your own anecdotal evidence has proven that anecdotal evidence is unreliable. Which I just found a bit ironic lol. Not trying make any point on reliability.

Based on first hand experience, I have not seen any improvements going from N63 to N63TU.

But didn't you say you're giving up on anecdotal evidence

[AmooManiak]

Originally Posted by Unspec

But didn't you say you're giving up on anecdotal evidence

Haha, that's why I said "based on first hand experience."

I'd love to be proven wrong as far as engine failures between the various V8s in the F10! But all I've seen is BMW masking the problem and adding a couple of letters, which still resulted in new lawsuits based on the failure rate.

[Unspec]

Originally Posted by AmooManiak

Haha, that's why I said "based on first hand experience."

I'd love to be proven wrong as far as engine failures between the various V8s in the F10! But all I've seen is BMW masking the problem and adding a couple of letters, which still resulted in new lawsuits based on the failure rate.

First hand experience is still anecdotal though :P

The TU is actually quite a bit different from the OG N63. The lawsuits appear to be for different reasons than the original N63 lawsuits, so I'd say they genuinely are trying to fix it.

[AmooManiak]

Originally Posted by Unspec

First hand experience is still anecdotal though :P

The TU is actually quite a bit different from the OG N63. The lawsuits appear to be for different reasons than the original N63 lawsuits, so I'd say they genuinely are trying to fix it.

Yeah, but does it really matter if the customer is forced to pay for fixes?

Throwing $2,000 to fix an issue as opposed to $2,000 to fix another issue would not make me happier just because they fixed the initial one and as a result maybe created a new one.

At the end of the day it's all about maintenance.

[Unspec]

Originally Posted by AmooManiak

Yeah, but does it really matter if the customer is forced to pay for fixes?

Throwing $2,000 to fix an issue as opposed to $2,000 to fix another issue would not make me happier just because they fixed the initial one and as a result maybe created a new one.

At the end of the day it's all about maintenance.

BMW is actively trying to fix existing problems, short of going "never buy a BMW V8", what more can you ask for? Yes, fixes might have their own issues, but that's true of literally anything this complex. There's a reason why programmers joke that you fix 1 bug and now have 2 bugs. It's the nature of the beast when you're dealing with such complex things.

[AmooManiak]

Originally Posted by Unspec

BMW is actively trying to fix existing problems, short of going "never buy a BMW V8", what more can you ask for? Yes, fixes might have their own issues, but that's true of literally anything this complex. There's a reason why programmers joke that you fix 1 bug and now have 2 bugs. It's the nature of the beast when you're dealing with such complex things.

I'm still trying to understand your point? BMW is having issues with all V8s, for various reasons. It goes across all models and years and not limited to N63s. If you go to the M5 forums, people complain about the S63 having catastrophic failures all the time. Trying to fix something and fixing something are different things and the customer is left to pay for the fix.

I am still waiting for those statistics by the way...