N43 reliability?
Discussion
cirian75 said:
bmwmike said:
Move along, save yourself the pain.
That bad?Edit just don't bother. Look at the n52 six pot in a 1 series and the money you think you'll spend on fuel will be saved over the n43. Injectors on the n43 are 350 ish a pop at the moment, if you can get them. It's a crap engine and a four pot to boot. BMW have made the odd good engine but some absolute stinkers over the years and this is one of the worst. I'd get the four banger diesel over this and if you knew me that is saying something.
Edited by bmwmike on Wednesday 18th January 20:05
g3org3y said:
What makes you say that?
We have a 318i with N43. Its more than paid for itself. Bought as a stopgap in 2019 after i crashed my lovely old 5 series. Planned to keep for a year but its now being used by my wife and will be kept unril something expensive goes wrong. No idea what its service history was before I got it at 109000 miles bit engine has been smooth and mostly fault free. One new coil and one new vanos solenoid needed. I do the oil way more often thaan BMW suggest which Ive seen recommended by a few alleged experts.
Not singing its praises and probably jinxing it but touch wood its been a nice enough experience so fsr.
Whilst I’m not a fan of the N43(or any 4 pot BMW engine), the probability of timing chain failure is in your favour. Granted, they have an above average risk of failure that have many internet posters broadcasting their own issues of chain failures. However, there are many more who rack up big miles without issue.
If I were in the market for an N43 engined car, I’d personally be looking for higher(motorway) mileage cars with a healthy service history, it’s generally the lower mileage cars that are more prone to failure and also those that have been neglected when it comes to regular servicing.
If I were in the market for an N43 engined car, I’d personally be looking for higher(motorway) mileage cars with a healthy service history, it’s generally the lower mileage cars that are more prone to failure and also those that have been neglected when it comes to regular servicing.
Spitfire2 said:
We have a 318i with N43. Its more than paid for itself. Bought as a stopgap in 2019 after i crashed my lovely old 5 series. Planned to keep for a year but its now being used by my wife and will be kept unril something expensive goes wrong.
No idea what its service history was before I got it at 109000 miles bit engine has been smooth and mostly fault free. One new coil and one new vanos solenoid needed. I do the oil way more often thaan BMW suggest which Ive seen recommended by a few alleged experts.
Not singing its praises and probably jinxing it but touch wood its been a nice enough experience so fsr.
Ditto. I bought a stopgap 2008 320i Auto saloon N43 with 150k mileage, paid £1100 in 2020 and ran it for a year. It went well with surprisingly spritely performance around town - it had the odd cold misfire and the BMW specialist relayed horror stories about what goes wrong with them - a lot. No idea what its service history was before I got it at 109000 miles bit engine has been smooth and mostly fault free. One new coil and one new vanos solenoid needed. I do the oil way more often thaan BMW suggest which Ive seen recommended by a few alleged experts.
Not singing its praises and probably jinxing it but touch wood its been a nice enough experience so fsr.
£1100 is banger money so expect banger reliability. Take a chance and throw it away at the first sign of a big bill.
cirian75 said:
No.For £5500 you want something genuinely reliable. Not an ageing BMW!
Magnum 475 said:
The B48 is not without it's problems:
- PCV system failures
- Turbo failures
- Oil Filter Housing failures
All happen routinely at <50k miles. '30i' versions seem to be much worse than '20i' versions.
Interesting - how many of these parts are common to the B58 as well? The B58 seems pretty bulletproof so far. - PCV system failures
- Turbo failures
- Oil Filter Housing failures
All happen routinely at <50k miles. '30i' versions seem to be much worse than '20i' versions.
The N43 has high rate of failure due to the excessive 18000 mile service interval, coupled with that the cheapest BMW petrol models are equiped with these motors, and they attract impatient younger drivers who no doubt thrash these cars regularly on very old and incorrect oil, and have no clue about getting the car maintained through the correct channels.
Other issues such as the injectors and coils are common across 4 and 6 cylinder motors, it is not just a N43 thing.
TwinExit said:
The N43 has high rate of failure due to the excessive 18000 mile service interval, coupled with that the cheapest BMW petrol models are equiped with these motors, and they attract impatient younger drivers who no doubt thrash these cars regularly on very old and incorrect oil, and have no clue about getting the car maintained through the correct channels.
Other issues such as the injectors and coils are common across 4 and 6 cylinder motors, it is not just a N43 thing.
That does annoy me, reason my Swift is still sweet is that its had quality oil changes every 6 months regardless of miles.Other issues such as the injectors and coils are common across 4 and 6 cylinder motors, it is not just a N43 thing.
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