N43 engine issues

[Firemac]

We've just had a new N43 engine fitted by our local BMW dealer following the original having failed completely. Apparently the cam chain gear disintegrated which in turn damaged the oil pump and caused terminal pressure failure. Now I'm in two minds about keeping the car. Research on the Web seems to indicate that BMW's condition based services are the cause of the N43's problems and cars that have had annual oil and filter changes don't suffer anything like the same kind of failures. I am also told that this new factory engine has many mods that make it more robust and unlikely to have the same sort of issues as the original. As the car has only covered 33K miles I am inclined to try to get some more use out of it rather than take a hit on its value now. 

I would welcome any comments from any owners with experience of these issues.

[Greydog]

Morning Jim

Sadly your research is spot on, BMW and many other leading Marques give bean counter led advice not engineer led advice. All the major manufacturers over the last 20 years have incidents of catastrophic failures. I believe it began with dropping duplex timing chains and moving to simplex alongside moving to plastics for internal chain guides added to the insistence  that long life oils were fool proof. Add that to the genius who thought it was a good idea to put timing chains at the back of engines or in the middle making them completely inaccessible without  removing and completely striping the engine! main dealer labour costs meaning the unit is often scrapped. BMW Mercedes Audi VW Jaguar Toyota Nissan Citroen all guilty

The "Life" of the vehicle became the end of the Manufacturer Warranty so in most cases 3 years or 60k after that they could effectively wash their hands of any problems as most cars were now outside their dealer network for service and maintenance so they could look down their nose and blame poor service or materials..

My own X5 fully serviced by BMW and a local BMW Specialist suffered chain guide failure bits of which clogged the oil pump you know the result!! but due to my X5's age and mileage BMW were not interested fortunately I had a 3rd party Warranty. The plastic chain guides have a life of 80 to 100k ? due to heat cycle hardening and accelerated wear due to oil degradation. My X5 comes with a ZF Auto box sealed for life say BMW service every 80 to 100k kilometers say ZF. BMW are not alone look at VW Audi tales of woe or Mercedes or Toyota or Nissan the list goes on.

After a complete engine rebuild on my X5 and having the opportunity to examine the internal parts I realized that the main chain tensioner is a cheap spring assisted hydraulic device, the spring over time becomes annealed with the heat cycles that the engine goes through, the same heat cycles that are hardening the plastic guides. At engine start as the spring is soft and not applying tension there is a small moment between oil pressure building where chain slap can happen. Result is chain guide accelerated wear leading to failure being simplex chains they also stretch. At reassembly I have fitted a pre-oiler to give full oil pressure at ignition on to help avoid many of the issues I combine this with 6 monthly oil changes, my gearbox is serviced by a ZF agent according to ZF requirements and all suspension bushes (including the swing arm bushes which BMW advise cant be changed) have been replaced and where possible switched to Poly Bushes. My "improved" X5 is a great car 16 years old pulls the horse trailer like it isn't there copes with mild off road use and is used properly every day. There will always be jobs to do but for now I am comfortable with the X. Could BMW have avoided many of the issues, in my opinion yes. A few extra £ spent at manufacture a few extra service intervals small costs to the manufacturer would re-enforce the myth of great engineering.

When we buy a car we are a bit like the Tom Hanks character in the film Apollo 13. just before launch he says something like "here we are sat on top of billions of dollars worth of components all supplied by the lowest bidder" THE BEAN COUNTERS STRIKE.

If we understand the short comings under neath there are some really good cars we just have to dig a little, hopefully not in our wallets.

Dave

 

 

 

[Firemac]

Thanks for the reply, Dave. Your comments mirror the problems that we had with the old engine.

What I am struggling with though is whether or not to get rid of the car bearing in mind that we've only had it since last July (and hadn't planned on changing it so soon!), it has only covered 33K miles, we're only the second owners and we like the way it drives (it is an M-Sport). If the new factory engine is exactly the same as the original then I am not confident. However our warranty company who paid for the replacement are of the opinion that the new engine will have certain mods (the old engine "was made of cheese, we doubt that the new one is"). I'm also advised that the problems with the N43 arise partly from the condition-based servicing regime which can see the car running on badly contaminated oil which contributes significantly to the failures that have occurred.

As I don't cover more than 5K miles per annum and have always had my own cars serviced at least annually, inclg oil & filters, I wonder if the risk is going to be reduced. I'm also advised that there is a 24 month warranty on the new engine from BMW which doesn't guarantee anything, I know, but it could cover against a similar failure in that period.

[Greydog]

Hi Jim

I went through similar with E class AMG Mercedes, super charger failures then on the CLS AMG gearbox issues I got the X5 when we sold the horse lorry and I would be towing a trailer, I didn't like the ML and everyone had a RR so after driving an X5 that's what I brought. I had done my research so knew that the suspension bushes are made of Lurpac and would need upgrading, my experience with the CLS had taught me enough about the Autobox to make sure it was serviced as soon as I got it. I was expecting a BMW V8 to last longer than 75k though, still now it is at 140+ and going strong. I change the oils and filters every 6 months regardless with the best BMW compliant synthetic.My view is if I brought something else would it be better? or just a different set of issues to learn about and iron out? So I stick with the devil I know

I am sure now you have the latest version installed and are aware of the need for regular oil changes will see your Msport giving you great service for years to come

Dave

[Firemac]

Hi Dave,

That sounds very positive and to be honest, reflects my own thinking. I really like the car and want to keep it but the thought of another blow-up is definitely off-putting. I also keep telling myself that although there are problems with the N43 and some total failures, tnere must be thousands of them in 1 and 3 series cars that have given no problems at all.

Overly optimistic? Moi? Yea, probably.......

[Firemac]

Just to close this out, I have decided to let the car go as we just don't have any faith in it anymore. My attempts to get some hard facts from BMW Customer Service about whether the replacement engine was in any way modified over the original so as to minimise the liklihood of a recurrance of the engine failure brought no response of note (other than indicating that BMW GB didn't know the difference between an N43 and an N47!). In fact I had to contact BMW in Germany in order to get a response from BMW GB  as GB simply deleted my 3 original emails; so much for customer service.

So I reckon that I have seen my last BMW, not because I don't like the cars because I do really rate them but BMW's cavalier attitude to my legitimate questions just seemed to indicate that they thought I was a nuisance, to be polite. The car went yesterday to WBAC.com and I wish any new owner the best of luck with it.

[Greydog]

 

Sad you have made the tough decision to off load your car, good luck with whatever you decide to go with remember where we are. 

Sadly in the UK and Europe the major manufacturers hide all sorts of things with out a consequence, maybe a slapped wrist, at worst a dip in sales. Finding information is difficult as often a part swapped under warranty by a dealer is returned to the manufacturer so evidence disappears. Also in the UK and Europe Dealers are made aware of issues by "Technical Bulletin" and told to check and correct items at next service so issues are hidden this of course assumes that all their cars are serviced in their dealer network and excludes those who aren't. Example Vauxhall (GM) fuel delivery failures resulting in fire, it took TV programs before a recall was issued. BMW have had similar issues technical bulletin said possibility of a thermal incident ??? With the world wide recall for airbags Europe was last to issue the recall as a result we still have a hell of a lot of cars that are driven on the road every day where the owner has no idea that there is s safety issue.

Go across the water to the USA and it is a different story the fear of a "class action" that could cost big $$$$$ makes manufacturers far quicker to respond to all sorts of issues 

Good luck for the future with whatever you buy

Dave

[Firemac]

Thanks for all your info and good wishes.

 

All the best,

 

Jim

[Greydog]

You are welcome Jim, don't be a stranger

Dave