N57 bottom end failure
Discussion
My current car 64 plate f31 (tourer) 335d xdrive on 59k
I’ve had the car about 3 months now and it was only until a week after I bought it I found out about the bottom end failures! Annoyingly I researched about these engines before I purchased and couldn’t find anything about these failures (obviously didn’t research good enough!)
It’s got FBMWSH I checked the Idrive and the longest service was 11k all the rest was below this, bmw recommend 18k intervals which is ridiculous in my eyes, I will be doing an oil change every 5-6k, ive already done one upto now, I’ve only used vpower since owning, I let it idle for atleast 30 seconds to 1 minute and never driven over 2.5k until it’s fully warmed up, same with switching it off letting it idle for at least a minute. It just plays in the back of my mind that these failures can happen at anytime, has anyone on here suffered this or is there anything else I can do to try and prevent this happening, I’m trying my best to look after it but sometimes I think to just sell it and get something else!
I’ve had the car about 3 months now and it was only until a week after I bought it I found out about the bottom end failures! Annoyingly I researched about these engines before I purchased and couldn’t find anything about these failures (obviously didn’t research good enough!)
It’s got FBMWSH I checked the Idrive and the longest service was 11k all the rest was below this, bmw recommend 18k intervals which is ridiculous in my eyes, I will be doing an oil change every 5-6k, ive already done one upto now, I’ve only used vpower since owning, I let it idle for atleast 30 seconds to 1 minute and never driven over 2.5k until it’s fully warmed up, same with switching it off letting it idle for at least a minute. It just plays in the back of my mind that these failures can happen at anytime, has anyone on here suffered this or is there anything else I can do to try and prevent this happening, I’m trying my best to look after it but sometimes I think to just sell it and get something else!
Tbh treating it with kid gloves is an over-reaction - warm it up before you thrash it but just treat it normally, as with any turbo car avoid boosting it too hard just before you turn it off (although they have water-cooling now which negates the old oil boiling for the most part). Forget putting V-power in it unless you're desperate to, it does nothing.
Change the oil for the right spec regularly (even 5-6k is overkill).
The two big items sound like
a) timing chains (like the N47 but a lot less frequent)
b) big end bearings
Timing chain is at the back of the engine so an engine-out job to change I'd imagine, but keep the oil in good fettle and it'll last for ages.
Much like the M-car engines I'd consider getting a fresh set of bearings put in it - it'll be an expensive job, but worth the peace of mind.
Change the oil for the right spec regularly (even 5-6k is overkill).
The two big items sound like
a) timing chains (like the N47 but a lot less frequent)
b) big end bearings
Timing chain is at the back of the engine so an engine-out job to change I'd imagine, but keep the oil in good fettle and it'll last for ages.
Much like the M-car engines I'd consider getting a fresh set of bearings put in it - it'll be an expensive job, but worth the peace of mind.
Yes bottom end failure can occur on these but it’s very rare. As in the interweb is not flooded with posts on it. Did you purchase approved used? If so shouldn’t be a drama. If not your best bet is to try and wangle some goodwill out of BMW. As others have said get a BMW warranty if you don’t have one.
JakeT said:
If you can, put the BMW insured warranty on it. As you’re sub 60k the rate will be cheaper, so pay monthly and they can’t put the price up. Then just drive it. If you don’t want to do that, sell it as it will always be in the back of your mind.
It’s got warranty with BMW until November but that’s void anyway as the car is mapped, the failures happens to totally standard ones and well maintained ones so I’m not worried about the map, just in general I love the car and don’t want to get rid of it! Super_GP said:
Yes bottom end failure can occur on these but it’s very rare. As in the interweb is not flooded with posts on it. Did you purchase approved used? If so shouldn’t be a drama. If not your best bet is to try and wangle some goodwill out of BMW. As others have said get a BMW warranty if you don’t have one.
It’s got warranty with BMW until November but it’s void as the car has been mapped, I was planning on keeping this car for awhile as I’ve always changed cars within a year, I’m on number 17 in 6 years so I’m annoyed that I’m even thinking about selling it! Jmac97 said:
It’s got warranty with BMW until November but that’s void anyway as the car is mapped, the failures happens to totally standard ones and well maintained ones so I’m not worried about the map, just in general I love the car and don’t want to get rid of it!
In that case a slush fund is a good idea. There are rebuilders that do good work on the N57, so if it does knock the bearings out it’s not the end of the world. I’d just enjoy it, change the oil and drive it.I have a 66 plate one of these on 49k, purchased May this year. The odd engine failure reports didn't even enter my head when looking to buy - every type of engine will have failures, it just seems that BMW get more discussed due to the chain issues on some of the 4 pot diesels and the aforementioned rod bearings on some of the M models. The lump in question is a far from fragile unit.
sortedcossie said:
I have a 66 plate one of these on 49k, purchased May this year. The odd engine failure reports didn't even enter my head when looking to buy - every type of engine will have failures, it just seems that BMW get more discussed due to the chain issues on some of the 4 pot diesels and the aforementioned rod bearings on some of the M models. The lump in question is a far from fragile unit.
Are you planning on keeping for awhile? Yep, took me over 3 months to find with the spec I wanted. I've had our current E91 330d 5 years so tend to find a good one and keep it.
Mine is standard, was BMW AUC so has warranty on it which i'll be continuing - i'm more concerned about stuff like the pan-roof and some of the electrical toys than I am about the drive train. Mate had a pan roof fail, cost over £3.5k to sort.
Mine is standard, was BMW AUC so has warranty on it which i'll be continuing - i'm more concerned about stuff like the pan-roof and some of the electrical toys than I am about the drive train. Mate had a pan roof fail, cost over £3.5k to sort.
sortedcossie said:
Yep, took me over 3 months to find with the spec I wanted. I've had our current E91 330d 5 years so tend to find a good one and keep it.
Mine is standard, was BMW AUC so has warranty on it which i'll be continuing - i'm more concerned about stuff like the pan-roof and some of the electrical toys than I am about the drive train. Mate had a pan roof fail, cost over £3.5k to sort.
Without thread jacking. Glad I was not the only one looking for something more specific. Mine is standard, was BMW AUC so has warranty on it which i'll be continuing - i'm more concerned about stuff like the pan-roof and some of the electrical toys than I am about the drive train. Mate had a pan roof fail, cost over £3.5k to sort.
OP trawling through the threads on here. A few pointed toward ridiculous oil change intervals. One external link points to a small boost leak wreaking havoc.
Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 14th September 18:01
What happened there then?Jmac97 said:
My current car 64 plate f31 (tourer) 335d xdrive on 59k
I’ve had the car about 3 months now and it was only until a week after I bought it I found out about the bottom end failures! Annoyingly I researched about these engines before I purchased and couldn’t find anything about these failures (obviously didn’t research good enough!)
It’s got FBMWSH I checked the Idrive and the longest service was 11k all the rest was below this, bmw recommend 18k intervals which is ridiculous in my eyes, I will be doing an oil change every 5-6k, ive already done one upto now, I’ve only used vpower since owning, I let it idle for atleast 30 seconds to 1 minute and never driven over 2.5k until it’s fully warmed up, same with switching it off letting it idle for at least a minute. It just plays in the back of my mind that these failures can happen at anytime, has anyone on here suffered this or is there anything else I can do to try and prevent this happening, I’m trying my best to look after it but sometimes I think to just sell it and get something else!
I have had this issue on a E90 BMW 3.0 N57 LCI, I had a bottom end knock which was only really noticable after revving the car up between 2000-2500 revs. I initially thought it could be chain but having had that issue previously on a 20d N47 I knew it was a bit more than that. I have had the car 4 years serviced religioulsy at 8k! It gets everything before it needs it. I’ve had the car about 3 months now and it was only until a week after I bought it I found out about the bottom end failures! Annoyingly I researched about these engines before I purchased and couldn’t find anything about these failures (obviously didn’t research good enough!)
It’s got FBMWSH I checked the Idrive and the longest service was 11k all the rest was below this, bmw recommend 18k intervals which is ridiculous in my eyes, I will be doing an oil change every 5-6k, ive already done one upto now, I’ve only used vpower since owning, I let it idle for atleast 30 seconds to 1 minute and never driven over 2.5k until it’s fully warmed up, same with switching it off letting it idle for at least a minute. It just plays in the back of my mind that these failures can happen at anytime, has anyone on here suffered this or is there anything else I can do to try and prevent this happening, I’m trying my best to look after it but sometimes I think to just sell it and get something else!
It ended up being a big end bearing failure a snapped glow plug sat on top of piston 2 getting mashed around. How this happened I have no ideas but having a look online it's a common problem on the 35d 40d engines. Unlikely on a 30d as my engine rebuilder did say but he said it does happen.
So I was in a very unfortunate situation! I had to have a complete rebuild bearings the seals head gasket new chains etc etc.
If you have any questions I am happy to help.
Edited by Rzt500 on Friday 17th September 15:17
Super_GP said:
Yes bottom end failure can occur on these but it’s very rare. As in the interweb is not flooded with posts on it. Did you purchase approved used? If so shouldn’t be a drama. If not your best bet is to try and wangle some goodwill out of BMW. As others have said get a BMW warranty if you don’t have one.
I've seen quite a few, mainly F10's and the odd 640d. As a percentage it's not that common, but the previous M57N engine was a lot tougher. The extended oil change intervals really don't help so 10'000 mile oil and filter changes and not ragging the thing will help it along.
bottom end went on my 640d cab @209k miles.
BMW insured warranty fooked me off after with the line i hadn't followed the service interval etc etc. So if you do extend and then when booking car in for service with the dealer and they cant get you in for 3-4 weeks, stop using your car as i found out! My car had no mods, was only ever serviced by BMW main dealer (over 5 years after original warranty ended), they replaced the low pressure turbo at 165k miles under warranty but obviously baulked at a full motor under warranty!
I ended up scrapping my 640d
upside was i got a 840d cab to replace it! 
I won't bother extending the warranty ion the 840!
BMW insured warranty fooked me off after with the line i hadn't followed the service interval etc etc. So if you do extend and then when booking car in for service with the dealer and they cant get you in for 3-4 weeks, stop using your car as i found out! My car had no mods, was only ever serviced by BMW main dealer (over 5 years after original warranty ended), they replaced the low pressure turbo at 165k miles under warranty but obviously baulked at a full motor under warranty!
I ended up scrapping my 640d
upside was i got a 840d cab to replace it! I won't bother extending the warranty ion the 840!
My bottom end failed on my N47 (sorry I know the post is for a N57). Im trying to find a reputable garage to rebuild mines, I would be grateful if someone would recommend a decent engine rebuilder. I'm based in the midlands but I can easily get RAC to take my car to a designated garage for repair.
Hi Rzt,
Bit of an old thread, but I’ve got the same issue on my f33 435d. Being quoted 11k to supply a new block from bmw, and install, before even investigating - bm tek in Luton.
I need an engine builder. Who did you use for the rebuild?
Did they supply a new block, or was the damage not too bad?
Cheers
Jai
Bit of an old thread, but I’ve got the same issue on my f33 435d. Being quoted 11k to supply a new block from bmw, and install, before even investigating - bm tek in Luton.
I need an engine builder. Who did you use for the rebuild?
Did they supply a new block, or was the damage not too bad?
Cheers
Jai
Rzt500 said:
I have had this issue on a E90 BMW 3.0 N57 LCI, I had a bottom end knock which was only really noticable after revving the car up between 2000-2500 revs. I initially thought it could be chain but having had that issue previously on a 20d N47 I knew it was a bit more than that. I have had the car 4 years serviced religioulsy at 8k! It gets everything before it needs it.
It ended up being a big end bearing failure a snapped glow plug sat on top of piston 2 getting mashed around. How this happened I have no ideas but having a look online it's a common problem on the 35d 40d engines. Unlikely on a 30d as my engine rebuilder did say but he said it does happen.
So I was in a very unfortunate situation! I had to have a complete rebuild bearings the seals head gasket new chains etc etc.
If you have any questions I am happy to help.
It ended up being a big end bearing failure a snapped glow plug sat on top of piston 2 getting mashed around. How this happened I have no ideas but having a look online it's a common problem on the 35d 40d engines. Unlikely on a 30d as my engine rebuilder did say but he said it does happen.
So I was in a very unfortunate situation! I had to have a complete rebuild bearings the seals head gasket new chains etc etc.
If you have any questions I am happy to help.
Edited by Rzt500 on Friday 17th September 15:17
N57's don't rebuild very well. The problem is the alloy block that goes out of shape, particularly after a main bearing fails. Main bearing failure is far more common than a big end letting go.
The best solution is a good used engine. If you go down the rebuild route, you'll really need a new block with pistons and a new crank.
The best solution is a good used engine. If you go down the rebuild route, you'll really need a new block with pistons and a new crank.
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