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      02-06-2018, 09:09 PM   #1
Stuart@BMRAutowerkes
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N20 Blown Engine/s

Hi all,
I wanted to start a central thread (aus specific) for anyone experiencing major N20 engine issues.

I have now seen my 5th N20 engine with major engine issues - in all 5 cases they had lost compression in one cylinder, so not quite as bad as a rod out the side of the block as some US members have reported.

The mix has been:
1 x 220i
1 x 320i
1 x 420i
2 x 328i

In 3 of the cases luckily BMW covered it under warranty and one was under goodwill as it was just outside of the warranty period. The other 2 cases the owners were out of pocket.

Hole in the side of the block (US member)


Anyone else experienced / experiencing this?
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      02-07-2018, 04:12 AM   #2
x328x
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What years and how many k's were on the cars. Also were they tuned.

What do think what the cause was

From the US it seems over tuning and timing chains on the early models
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      02-07-2018, 04:13 AM   #3
ontheway
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I have been looking into it for an upcoming purchase - it would be interesting to know how many km's these engines had done. It seemed to become a risk >60k kms and timing guides were a root cause.
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      02-07-2018, 07:18 AM   #4
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Well guys my 2012 328i had over 150k lol Not even a single engine issue. Was driven hard too My sister ordered one couple years later and had fuel injector issues in the first year.
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      02-07-2018, 02:54 PM   #5
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Stuart are there any warning signs (or sounds) that might let us know if something is wrong or do they just fail?
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      02-07-2018, 05:37 PM   #6
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1 out of the 5 was tuned.

KMs ranged from 30-80k km.

There will be plenty of N20s driven hard with zero issues.. after all these failures will only represent a tiny fraction of N20 engines overall.
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      02-07-2018, 07:30 PM   #7
x328x
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuart@BMRAutowerkes View Post
1 out of the 5 was tuned.

KMs ranged from 30-80k km.

There will be plenty of N20s driven hard with zero issues.. after all these failures will only represent a tiny fraction of N20 engines overall.
yeah thats true. these N20's are in basically every model from 1 series to the z4. So thats a shit load of N20 out there. these failures would fall under that acceptable margin or error (unfortunately).

Also on the US site i have seen those blow up n20 threads and a lot of them were due to people just tuning the car beyond its limits, as well as not modding it appropriately with supporting mods, or just running the incorrect maps

Stuart have you come across timing chain guide failures. Have you replaced the guides/chains as preemptive measures for any customer yet?
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      02-07-2018, 07:31 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 328ihp View Post
Well guys my 2012 328i had over 150k lol
that is so good to hear
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      02-07-2018, 10:45 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by x328x View Post
Stuart have you come across timing chain guide failures. Have you replaced the guides/chains as preemptive measures for any customer yet?
Not yet on either
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      02-25-2018, 04:13 AM   #10
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What was the cause though? (of the low compression)
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      02-26-2018, 09:42 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuart@BMRAutowerkes View Post
1 out of the 5 was tuned.
WOW! You have helped me make a buying decision. I think I'll pay the extra and get a 330i.
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      02-27-2018, 10:19 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bradsm87 View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuart@BMRAutowerkes View Post
1 out of the 5 was tuned.
WOW! You have helped me make a buying decision. I think I'll pay the extra and get a 330i.
the 330i is still quite new and we don't know what problems might be waiting for us.
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      02-28-2018, 03:22 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by x5mad View Post
the 330i is still quite new and we don't know what problems might be waiting for us.
B48s are nearly 3 years old (4 years if you count the ones in Minis) and the N20 issues had well and truly reared their heads by 3 years.

Last edited by bradsm87; 02-28-2018 at 03:49 AM..
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      03-07-2018, 09:46 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bradsm87 View Post
WOW! You have helped me make a buying decision. I think I'll pay the extra and get a 330i.
My single biggest turn off of the N20 is the diesel like idle
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      03-08-2018, 12:23 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuart@BMRAutowerkes View Post
My single biggest turn off of the N20 is the diesel like idle
After lengthy negotiations with a couple of 330i Touring sellers, I still didn't see that good value in either of them so I went for an F11 LCI 535i Touring instead.
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      09-26-2021, 02:14 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuart@BMRAutowerkes View Post
Hi all,
I wanted to start a central thread (aus specific) for anyone experiencing major N20 engine issues.

I have now seen my 5th N20 engine with major engine issues - in all 5 cases they had lost compression in one cylinder, so not quite as bad as a rod out the side of the block as some US members have reported.

The mix has been:
1 x 220i
1 x 320i
1 x 420i
2 x 328i

In 3 of the cases luckily BMW covered it under warranty and one was under goodwill as it was just outside of the warranty period. The other 2 cases the owners were out of pocket.

Hole in the side of the block (US member)


Anyone else experienced / experiencing this?
I've been dealing with a problem in my n20. Engine has low compression in cylinder 2. Taking to the dealership to finally get some answers, but would like some opinions on what it could be. Hard to diagnose online, i know. But if anyone has had any other experience I would love to hear them. Just wanna have some hope that it won't be catastrophic 😢
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