[enemigo13]

saw some of the e9x n55 guys complain about quite often failing rod bearings which ends up changing the whole engine.. Didn't see that this issue would be common in F30 N55 though.. It seems latest rod bearings part number is released in 2012.07 and not updated since. Anybody saw F30 335i with failed rod bearings or maybe some of the forum members had this issue?

[RoundelM3]

Have never heard of rod-bearing failure in either of the N55 versions. I DID hear a lot about bearing failure in the early E46 M3 S54 engines, though. I would suppose that bearing failure would depend greatly on how the car was driven and maintained and whether or not it was running ridiculously high boost levels, the wrong oil viscosity, or other abnormal situations.

[Mike@N54Tuning.com]

Originally Posted by roundel335

Have never heard of rod-bearing failure in either of the N55 versions. I DID hear a lot about bearing failure in the early E46 M3 S54 engines, though. I would suppose that bearing failure would depend greatly on how the car was driven and maintained and whether or not it was running ridiculously high boost levels, the wrong oil viscosity, or other abnormal situations.

+2

Haven't heard of rod bearing failure on N55 either..

Mike

[enemigo13]

it happens sometimes for older n55 E series owners e.g. :
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1421754
but latest rod bearings are the same part no as in S55 engine so it should be fixed.

[Feddersen]

My N55 died due to rod bearing failure after 70.000 miles. The car was fully serviced, service was done way before it was due and always by BMW. All in all it has about 500 miles of tracking.

Correction: Could also be crank shaft bearings. We never found out. Engine was discarded.

[harkes]

Originally Posted by Feddersen

My N55 died due to rod bearing failure after 70.000 miles. The car was fully serviced, service was done way before it was due and always by BMW. All in all it has about 500 miles of tracking.

Correction: Could also be crank shaft bearings. We never found out. Engine was discarded.

Any idea about the route cause?

[E36graduate]

E60 M5 was hard on rod bearings - seems like the e46 M3 had a recall too.

[Feddersen]

Originally Posted by harkes

Any idea about the route cause?

No. Not really. The bearings were shattered to pieces and ended in the oil filter. Oil level was OK at the time it happened. So whether the bearing were the cause directly or whether it was poor oil circulation we don't know.

Doing some aftermath the rod bearings must have been affected. The rod broke and decided to see the outside world.

[M-terkait]

Originally Posted by Feddersen

No. Not really. The bearings were shattered to pieces and ended in the oil filter. Oil level was OK at the time it happened. So whether the bearing were the cause directly or whether it was poor oil circulation we don't know.

Doing some aftermath the rod bearings must have been affected. The rod broke and decided to see the outside world.

curious, you seem to be stock, so what oil you were using?

[Feddersen]

Originally Posted by M-terkait

curious, you seem to be stock, so what oil you were using?

I am stock with MPPK. I have no idea about the oil. Whatever the BMW mechanic added. The only thing I know is that it was LL-04 bacause they use the same for all new engine types.

[Polo08816]

Originally Posted by Feddersen

I am stock with MPPK. I have no idea about the oil. Whatever the BMW mechanic added. The only thing I know is that it was LL-04 bacause they use the same for all new engine types.

Covered by warranty?

[Feddersen]

Originally Posted by Polo08816

Covered by warranty?

Sort of. Covered by BMW even though there was no warranty any more since it was stock and due to the way it was serviced.

[torkles]

Originally Posted by Feddersen

Sort of. Covered by BMW even though there was no warranty any more since it was stock and due to the way it was serviced.

that's comforting to hear. good job bmw.

[rphz]

Ugh, I just experienced this late last week...

2014 F32/435xi/8AT M-Sport
Build Date: 8/2013
Mods: MPPK, MPE, CAI, FMIC, CP, TIC
Miles: 47,000+
Purchased used in June 2016 with 32K miles.

I was heading home from work last week, took a scenic route and did a pull from a stop out in the middle of nowhere up through 3rd gear and my engine just shut off instead of shifting into 4th. Coasted to a stop and started the car without issue, though it was running a little rough at first. Had a rather loud engine knock past 3K rpm even on very light throttle. Towed to the dealer over the weekend and they confirmed today that it was likely a blown rod bearing due to the engine knock sound and the amount of metal shavings in the oil filter. Looking at two weeks and a new engine.

The standard warranty expires at the end of this month. Since it's a demo (which I didn't know until my first dealer oil changes months after purchase) my warranty is good until January 2018, so thankfully everything is covered, just barely. Unfortunately, I will have to buy an extended warranty to cover the new engine beyond the factory warranty if I want any long term protection from the same thing happening again.

All records indicate proper oil changes, and no other issues were found. I have taken very good care of the car and do not drive it hard until it warm. Since this was a demo model, I have no idea how much abuse it's taken in the past, but had two previous owners. Car does not burn hardly any oil (about halfway between full and low after 10K miles) and has been changed on schedule with whatever BMW is using. The dealer I'm working with has been great, and mentioned they've only seen a couple other N55 engines fail like this. Thankfully, they did not question any of the aftermarket mods as we did talk about them, though it sounds like the engine replacement approval might have been different had there been a piggyback installed.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to get used to the sound and power of this loaner 320xi

[Polo08816]

Originally Posted by Feddersen

My N55 died due to rod bearing failure after 70.000 miles. The car was fully serviced, service was done way before it was due and always by BMW. All in all it has about 500 miles of tracking.

Correction: Could also be crank shaft bearings. We never found out. Engine was discarded.

Originally Posted by rphz

Ugh, I just experienced this late last week...

2014 F32/435xi/8AT M-Sport
Build Date: 8/2013
Mods: MPPK, MPE, CAI, FMIC, CP, TIC
Miles: 47,000+
Purchased used in June 2016 with 32K miles.

I was heading home from work last week, took a scenic route and did a pull from a stop out in the middle of nowhere up through 3rd gear and my engine just shut off instead of shifting into 4th. Coasted to a stop and started the car without issue, though it was running a little rough at first. Had a rather loud engine knock past 3K rpm even on very light throttle. Towed to the dealer over the weekend and they confirmed today that it was likely a blown rod bearing due to the engine knock sound and the amount of metal shavings in the oil filter. Looking at two weeks and a new engine.

The standard warranty expires at the end of this month. Since it's a demo (which I didn't know until my first dealer oil changes months after purchase) my warranty is good until January 2018, so thankfully everything is covered, just barely. Unfortunately, I will have to buy an extended warranty to cover the new engine beyond the factory warranty if I want any long term protection from the same thing happening again.

All records indicate proper oil changes, and no other issues were found. I have taken very good care of the car and do not drive it hard until it warm. Since this was a demo model, I have no idea how much abuse it's taken in the past, but had two previous owners. Car does not burn hardly any oil (about halfway between full and low after 10K miles) and has been changed on schedule with whatever BMW is using. The dealer I'm working with has been great, and mentioned they've only seen a couple other N55 engines fail like this. Thankfully, they did not question any of the aftermarket mods as we did talk about them, though it sounds like the engine replacement approval might have been different had there been a piggyback installed.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to get used to the sound and power of this loaner 320xi

... interesting both of you have the MPPK.

[Feddersen]

Yes and the torque is of course 12.5% higher with MPPK. However BMW uses the same rod bearing in the M2 and even the M3/M4 so I don't think it should be due to the extra power.

I had the sort of knocking as well and the oil temperature went way up. Then i pulled over and the engine cooled down. After that episode there was no sign of anything wrong. I did a test start and nothing sounded wrong and the car pulled normal. However the engine was most likely already doomed at that time because it failed completely shortly after.

[rphz]

Originally Posted by Feddersen

My N55 died due to rod bearing failure after 70.000 miles. The car was fully serviced, service was done way before it was due and always by BMW. All in all it has about 500 miles of tracking.

Correction: Could also be crank shaft bearings. We never found out. Engine was discarded.

So did you keep the car after the engine replacement? If so, did you have to go through a break-in period? Any issues with the new engine or any complications or other problems due to the engine swap?

Based on how few reports there are of N55 engine failures and how many people are installing piggyback tunes with more hp/tq gains (JB4, Dinan, etc) or FBO upgrades, I can't image how a conservative MPPK tune could be contributing to this issue.

One thing that my dealer mentioned about oil when talking about this issue was that they have been using 10W30 oil (at least in Colorado) and have recently switched to 10W40. My last oil change in 3/2017 was with 10W30. It is my understanding that the difference would be that at operating temperature (on the hot side with respect to the N55), in general, 10W40 will lubricate better than 10W30 since it will be thicker, but will be less effective when cold. Related?

[Feddersen]

Yes, I still have the car and I went through a break in period. The only problem was that it spilled some oil and the gasket ring for the oil pan had to be replaced. This was done under the new warranty for the engine.

The old engine had some oil usage and I was affraid affraid that is was related to the failure which I described in this thread: http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1360100 . And yes, the new engine has no oil usage, no more spill and is actually i bit more powerfull. It feels like the power is coming about 100-150 refs earlier than before. So somewhere there is a small difference.

[Bestodabest]

Originally Posted by rphz

So did you keep the car after the engine replacement? If so, did you have to go through a break-in period? Any issues with the new engine or any complications or other problems due to the engine swap?

Based on how few reports there are of N55 engine failures and how many people are installing piggyback tunes with more hp/tq gains (JB4, Dinan, etc) or FBO upgrades, I can't image how a conservative MPPK tune could be contributing to this issue.

One thing that my dealer mentioned about oil when talking about this issue was that they have been using 10W30 oil (at least in Colorado) and have recently switched to 10W40. My last oil change in 3/2017 was with 10W30. It is my understanding that the difference would be that at operating temperature (on the hot side with respect to the N55), in general, 10W40 will lubricate better than 10W30 since it will be thicker, but will be less effective when cold. Related?

10W30 and 10W40 should both have roughly the same viscosity when cold (10W), with the latter being thicker when at operating temperature (40).

https://bobistheoilguy.com/motor-oil-101/

[rphz]

Originally Posted by Feddersen

Yes, I still have the car and I went through a break in period. The only problem was that it spilled some oil and the gasket ring for the oil pan had to be replaced. This was done under the new warranty for the engine.

The old engine had some oil usage and I was affraid affraid that is was related to the failure which I described in this thread: http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1360100 . And yes, the new engine has no oil usage, no more spill and is actually i bit more powerfull. It feels like the power is coming about 100-150 refs earlier than before. So somewhere there is a small difference.

Thank you for all of the info you have provided. The only other question I have is did your new engine come with a warranty, or did you purchase one? If it came with one, can you share any details on the type of coverage provided and if this was standard or something you negotiated for?

Originally Posted by Bestodabest

10W30 and 10W40 should both have roughly the same viscosity when cold (10W), with the latter being thicker when at operating temperature (40).

https://bobistheoilguy.com/motor-oil-101/

Thanks for the clarification. The more I think about this, the more it bothers me that they haven't been using 10W40 from the start.

[F32Fleet]

Originally Posted by rphz

Thank you for all of the info you have provided. The only other question I have is did your new engine come with a warranty, or did you purchase one? If it came with one, can you share any details on the type of coverage provided and if this was standard or something you negotiated for?

Thanks for the clarification. The more I think about this, the more it bothers me that they haven't been using 10W40 from the start.

NFW I'd use a 10w-X in a modern non-M BMW. I call BS by the guys in Colorado because it's almost criminal to spec such a heavy cold temp oil with the winters that they have. You need good cold flow properties. That's a 0w or 5w period.

Oil starvation is another possibility (high G turns when tracking or autocross for example) for bearing failure.

[Lincoln Hawk]

Why are they all doing this the same thing happened to me at 83k on a stock vehicle. Im getting a new motor by bmw dealer but is it just a ticking time bomb?