[clemsonkev]

anyone found a 3rd party review of 340i or this engine yet?

press been given any models to drive yet?

[raysspl]

Not a bad improvement, I'd say, but it could better, as in 5 - 10x better.

[clemsonkev]

N54 and N55 engines are award winning excellent motors. Mine has been a joy for 90k miles. Not sure 5x or 10x improvement is realistic at this juncture.

[pruettfan]

Originally Posted by kent11202

What a stroke of genius - pull the engine to change a timing chain. While I generally like the car, I'm really starting to wonder what the logic is behind some of their engineering decisions.

When I decide to replace my current ride (right around the time the MY2017 models come out), I will definitely be checking the competition for equally stupid features. No spare, no dipstick, useless center console (I should have caught that on my own), back up camera that's at least as good as a Ford, a radio display that shows exactly what Sirius broadcasts, a voice command system for the radio that understands "Fox Business" or "60's" rather than requiring me to memorize the station number (again, like a Ford), etc.

Crap, now I've whipped myself into a mini-frenzy and may start shopping early.

Don't understand the concern about the timing chain. I have 203,000 miles on my 06 330i and have not had occasion to need to change it so it could be in the middle of the engine and it would not matter to me. The issue would be if the timing chain were unreliable or something that needed to be replaced at some regular interval I would perhaps be concerned but I wouldn't worry too much.

[ORIGIN M.]

Not with water injection they don't.

Originally Posted by techwhiz

Not believing the hype.
All direct injection motors get carbon buildup.

[ORIGIN M.]

Looks super solid beyond belief.

Originally Posted by Diver

Looks complex, but today we have CAD, CAM and whatever, so anything is possible.

[ORIGIN M.]

Remove the balance shaft you will be good to go

Originally Posted by FrankiE90

...Something a little grunty, not just polished power. Raw and exhilarating
Something to tickle my balls. For "F" sakes BMW rough it up a bit.

[FrankiE90]

Originally Posted by red-sauerkraut

Remove the balance shaft you will be good to go

too much tickle-

[Asbjorn]

Originally Posted by red-sauerkraut

Not with water injection they don't.

Does adding meth/water injection to an old N55/N54 help clean carbon build-up, essentially making a walnut blast service unnecessary?

[ORIGIN M.]

Originally Posted by Asbjorn

Does adding meth/water injection to an old N55/N54 help clean carbon build-up, essentially making a walnut blast service unnecessary?

I doubt that seriously but other than an oil-catch-can to collect the oil being sucked back into the intake, water injection is the best way to keep the manifold and intake side of the head nice and clean. A catch-can works like a charm keeping oil blow back down to a serious minimum.

[aajami]

Originally Posted by raysspl

Not a bad improvement, I'd say, but it could better, as in 5 - 10x better.

That's some pretty solid math/reasoning you got there.

[M3 Number 86]

Originally Posted by Blubaron79

My screen shows me what I'm listening to. Lots of cars don't have spares now. 99% of the population calls a tow truck anyway. And WHO cares about a dipstick?

dipstick is essential in my case so I don't mess up my 20k engine!

and it doesn't read properly

[aajami]

Originally Posted by pruettfan

Don't understand the concern about the timing chain. I have 203,000 miles on my 06 330i and have not had occasion to need to change it so it could be in the middle of the engine and it would not matter to me. The issue would be if the timing chain were unreliable or something that needed to be replaced at some regular interval I would perhaps be concerned but I wouldn't worry too much.

Imagine how much a recall on the scale of the N54 or N63 for the timing chain (or any part towards the back) would cost BMW if dealers had to pull the engine of every B58-equipped car, though.

[M3 Number 86]

Originally Posted by Racer20

Might want to look at how well F8X's are performing with their air-water charge cooling. People are beating their cars up on the track in 100*+ temps and seeing no indication of heat soak, power loss, or cooling issues. Some of them even have boosted power levels.

FMIC's are old news.

but they are lol.

[M3 Number 86]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

Just to add.... How many BMW users will actually be checking oil on a dipstick anyway? Even less than those who check tire pressures, I'd suggest.

Even on the forums it is clear not many appear to even check the oil level via the iDrive to see how it is doing, but wait until the car 'tells them' it is low and requires oil. The sudden shock of "it needs a quart".

How many of us on here know exactly what the oil level is in our engine, according to iDrive screen display?

Who has checked it in the last week? Who check it as a habit, say weekly?

Same for tire pressures, are we physically checking pressures each week, or relying on "sensors" to warn us pressure is low?

HighlandPete

My default screen on my cluster is the oil level reader. It sucks. It's inaccurate. It lags.

I check my tire pressures all the time. I actually ditched the tpms and have a warning like for the tmps and brake sensor because yeah, I actually check those too.

[E90Fleet]

Originally Posted by aajami

Imagine how much a recall on the scale of the N54 or N63 for the timing chain (or any part towards the back) would cost BMW if dealers had to pull the engine of every B58-equipped car, though.

Every N63 that gets a new timing chain has its engine "pulled". Or rather "dropped"

Its made to drop out the bottom using a BMW tool every dealer has now.
They are designing them to drop easily.



On this borrowed picture you can see a F80 that has had its engine and transmission dropped using the dealer tool ( its still ontop of it)

[E90Fleet]

Originally Posted by socal TW

My default screen on my cluster is the oil level reader. It sucks. It's inaccurate. It lags.

Its not made to show you it realtime.
The display is not updated all the time like the ECU. It also uses measurements over time to calculate the oil level shown to the driver.

Was never meant to be milliliter correct, but rather within a range.

[MikeTerp]

Originally Posted by E90Fleet

Every N63 that gets a new timing chain has its engine "pulled". Or rather "dropped"

Its made to drop out the bottom using a BMW tool every dealer has now.
They are designing them to drop easily.



On this borrowed picture you can see a F80 that has had its engine and transmission dropped using the dealer tool ( its still ontop of it)

This is good to know because somehow, I just cannot imagine that BMW would be so foolish as to design the engine/car in such a way that a mid-level maintenance/repair issue would require dismantling half the car. I cannot believe that they have not considered this.

I plan to order a 340, maybe tomorrow, and plan to keep it a long time like I do all my bimmers. Maybe I will regret it, but somehow, I doubt it.

[M3 Number 86]

Originally Posted by E90Fleet

Its not made to show you it realtime.
The display is not updated all the time like the ECU. It also uses measurements over time to calculate the oil level shown to the driver.

Was never meant to be milliliter correct, but rather within a range.

Exactly! We need a dipstick.

Even the range is messed up. And it takes time to reset - it's just random as hell. Add 100mL - 250mL at a time and wait for it.....

[M3 Number 86]

What are those hockey puck sections on the exhaust manifold for?

[kent11202]

Originally Posted by E90Fleet

Every N63 that gets a new timing chain has its engine "pulled". Or rather "dropped"

Its made to drop out the bottom using a BMW tool every dealer has now.
They are designing them to drop easily.



On this borrowed picture you can see a F80 that has had its engine and transmission dropped using the dealer tool ( its still ontop of it)

Wow! Thanks E90. Learned something new and hereby retract my earlier criticism. Dropping the engine vs. taking off the hood, removing the radiator, grill, etc., etc., etc. is "clean" and actually makes sense.

ETA I'm still not happy about no dipstick however.

[pimple]

Originally Posted by E90Fleet

Every N63 that gets a new timing chain has its engine "pulled". Or rather "dropped"

Its made to drop out the bottom using a BMW tool every dealer has now.
They are designing them to drop easily.



On this borrowed picture you can see a F80 that has had its engine and transmission dropped using the dealer tool ( its still ontop of it)

That's still a lot of work. Disconnect coolant, power steering, fuel, and a/c lines. Exhaust probably, too. I wonder what care they take with the a/c in the process.

Edit: Perhaps it's not that bad if one considers the car comes equipped with electric power steering and an electric a/c compressor that's not attached to the engine.