[lvblkjack]

Originally Posted by MyEvo8u

Didn't seem like they cared to much honestly, he put it on me to get in contact with BMWNA.

It's long shot but is it possible that, via some dumb luck miracle, you have a N26 instead of N20?

[MyEvo8u]

Originally Posted by lvblkjack

It's long shot but is it possible that, via some dumb luck miracle, you have a N26 instead of N20?

Nope, def N20

[CalCarNut]

Originally Posted by lvblkjack

N26's registered in participating states have 15yr/150k miles warranty on a long list of parts. Does a reman engine change that coverage?

When they replaced mine, I asked the SA..he said 'What's left on your new car warranty?". I said 3 weeks. He said that's what it's warranteed for...BUT BMWNA wouldn't leave you hanging if you had any issues for a while". Didn't define 'a while'...but I wouldn't count on it really unless it was within a few months. Funny..the car has 27K miles on it now and the engine 1200.

Too bad they didn't mistakenly drop in a 3.0L.......

[moegd55]

Originally Posted by MyEvo8u

Hey All!

Longtime lurker on the forums, thought I would share the bad news with everyone. Back in May of 2015, I took ownership of a new to me BMW 328i F30. I have had no issues with the car for 4 Full years! It was my baby and i never beat on it since I have another car to do that in. This car was met to be my daily for many years to come and I was also planning on becoming a loyal BMW customer with hope of getting the wife in a X5 within the next year or so.

Well let's jump into the issue that made my week go to hell. Driving to work approx. 55 MPH. I get the low oil pressure light followed by the Drivetrain malfunction light. I pulled over to the side of the road asap and had it towed to BMW. BMW called today, cause of failure was timing chain which then took the whole motor out. They want $11,000 to replace the motor...... I am super frustrated since I am a year out warranty and currently sit at 107,000 miles. There were absolutely no warning signs which makes me even more upset. As I said i don't beat on the car, i coded it to jump into eco-mode at all times. It rarely comes out of eco-mode and was never modified or tuned.... Other issue, I still owe $9,000 and was planning to either trade in this month for a new BMW or pay off in full due to balloon financing. Still trying to weight in on what to do here.

I do have a case in with BMW USA right now, but highly doubt they are going to cover anything. What pisses me off is that the failure occurred because of the timing chain issue that had an extended warranty.

So currently shit out of luck and kind of stuck in a huge predicament. I babied this car and always serviced it on time. Timing chains shouldn't go like that ever.....

I will keep you all updated, but as of right now. Pretty upset BMW owner. And I understand BMW doesn't owe me anything, but this is some screwed up situation.. Especially since there was an extended warranty for this.

EDIT: BMW USA already got back to me, their not going to cover the car at all.

EDIT #2: If you are reading this and you own a 2012-early 2015 N20. I would strongly recommend spending the money to have the new timing chain and guard put in, or trade it in now. I had no warning signs.

You didnt beat the car hard enough, BMW are made to be hard driven. Eco mode , start stop features and driving like a grand-ma all contribute to engine failures.

[Gen13 F36]

Originally Posted by lvblkjack

N26's registered in participating states have 15yr/150k miles warranty on a long list of parts. Does a reman engine change that coverage?

That 15 yrs/150k miles warranty are for emission equipment... not engine

[EvenKeel]

I'm not so sure driving the car in eco mode all the time is a wise decision.

What eco mode does is run the transmission into the highest possible gear as quickly as possible. The net result is that the engine is often lugging. This is especially more prevalent in the 4 cylinder motors where the off boost torque is less than the 6 cylinder engines. Whether this ultimately impacts the timing chain; I'm not sure. However, it's certainly not healthy for the motor, long-term.

[floridaorange]

^ that's along the lines of what I was thinking tbh. My n20 feels strongest and happiest after its been driven long and hard in sport - I'm not sure why but vs city stop start driving it's night and day.

[snakechild]

Originally Posted by moegd55

You didnt beat the car hard enough, BMW are made to be hard driven. Eco mode , start stop features and driving like a grand-ma all contribute to engine failures.

So auto start stop is bad for the car...? I use it occasionally and if it's going to contribute to wrecking it. I'll turn it off. Haha.

[moegd55]

Originally Posted by snakechild

So auto start stop is bad for the car...? I use it occasionally and if it's going to contribute to wrecking it. I'll turn it off. Haha.

apparently, we are smarter than BMW engineers

[Mr Podman]

For a variety of reasons, auto start stop is a stupid idea.

So is naming a four door car a Gran Coupe.




podman

[snakechild]

Originally Posted by moegd55

apparently, we are smarter than BMW engineers

haha. I love this forum.

Honestly I've disliked the time I have used it. It felt slow and sluggish every time.

Drove to work with sport mode today. And it was amazing.

[Linc0909]

Originally Posted by Zanity

Negative, I coded ECO PRO at start up with auto start stop coded OFF. These are 2 separate codes. My car starts in eco pro with auto S/S OFF. The reason why I did this is because I want the car to warm up in eco pro's lower RPM settings. I found comfort sometimes pointlessly stays in gear up to 2500 rpm on a cold start.

It holds it at higher rpm during cold starts to warm the drivetrain up faster. Optimum mpg is at operating temperature, so your just taking longer to warm up to get the most ideal mpg.

[moegd55]

Originally Posted by snakechild

haha. I love this forum.

Honestly I've disliked the time I have used it. It felt slow and sluggish every time.

Drove to work with sport mode today. And it was amazing.

I usually put it in eco mode when I feel like I'm spending too much money on gas, but it only last 5min and then back to sport mode. Can't resist

[Gen13 F36]

Originally Posted by snakechild

So auto start stop is bad for the car...? I use it occasionally and if it's going to contribute to wrecking it. I'll turn it off. Haha.

Auto start/ stop is not bad if the corresponding part/ engine can take the abuse...ie timing chain, starter, battery and etc.

Originally Posted by Mr Podman

For a variety of reasons, auto start stop is a stupid idea.

So is naming a four door car a Gran Coupe.




podman

Hey, leave my Gran Coupe out of this

[MyEvo8u]

I think I am going to put a new motor in the BMW. Even though I'll be out 7 grand, hopefully this one will last haha.

Or do you guys think it is a stupid idea? Need some input.

[SantaEugence]

Originally Posted by MyEvo8u

I think I am going to put a new motor in the BMW. Even though I'll be out 7 grand, hopefully this one will last haha.

Or do you guys think it is a stupid idea? Need some input.

What's the car worth? How long are you keeping it for? Maybe better off getting a second hand engine... I don't whether there are steps that can be taken to prevent his fault, but if you got a second hand engine then pay for the chain to be replaced before you fit it to the car then at least you know it's in good shape

[Hobie18]

Look at the option with the lowest cost / loss.
What is the cars value with a running engine?
Factor in the cost to replace the engine (probably used) by an independent garage.
If you go with this option sell it before any warranty runs out.

Look at the salvage value for selling a non running car to an auto recycler.

Parting out a car could be more time and trouble than any additional cash you would receive.

Sadly I have gone through these decisions with 2 previous cars.
1) MazdaSpeed6 where the timing chain stretched and caused timing gears to jump. Also factory known defect where Mazda only extended the warranty to 7/70 when my car had 90,000 miles on it. A $1,600 repair, followed 15K miles later by a burned valve due to carbon buildup from Direct Ignition. $3,200 valve replacement. Sold car shortly later.
2) GMC Acadia - wife's car, Camshaft journals in the engine heads wore down cause timing chain to jump on gears to the point where engine heads needed replacement. (Known issue on GM 3.6 liter that was revised in later years). Faced with a $6,500 replacement for an SUV with 157K where I would only just recover the cost, I sold it to a auto recycler for $2,000.


I drove numerous previous vehicles for well over 100K without any engine problems. Then 2 engines in a row.

I bought my F30 after seeing friends drive BMWs for 200K+ without any issues. I didn't expect this from BMW.

Keep us posted on the class action suit. I recall Mini owners had some success with a similar suit.

[Hobie18]

Look at the option with the lowest cost / loss.
What is the cars value with a running engine?
Factor in the cost to replace the engine (probably used) by an independent garage.
If you go with this option sell it before any warranty runs out.

Look at the salvage value for selling a non running car to an auto recycler.

Parting out a car could be more time and trouble than any additional cash you would receive.

Sadly I have gone through these decisions with 2 previous cars.
1) MazdaSpeed6 where the timing chain stretched and caused timing gears to jump. Also factory known defect where Mazda only extended the warranty to 7/70 when my car had 90,000 miles on it. A $1,600 repair, followed 15K miles later by a burned valve due to carbon buildup from Direct Ignition. $3,200 valve replacement. Sold car shortly later.
2) GMC Acadia - wife's car, Camshaft journals in the engine heads wore down cause timing chain to jump on gears to the point where engine heads needed replacement. (Known issue on GM 3.6 liter that was revised in later years). Faced with a $6,500 replacement for an SUV with 157K where I would only just recover the cost, I sold it to a auto recycler for $2,000.


I drove numerous previous vehicles for well over 100K without any engine problems. Then 2 engines in a row.

I bought my F30 after seeing friends drive BMWs for 200K+ without any issues. I didn't expect this from BMW.

Keep us posted on the class action suit. I recall Mini owners had some success with a similar suit.

[natesi]

I think your only realistic option is to put another engine in it.

I mean, you can either pay $7K to repair this one, or get another car altogether. And you're not going to get a replacement car, like your 3 series, for 7 grand -- that's for sure.

As it is, I'm not sure what you could sell it for. I suppose worst case scenario is that you fix it, then sell it -- for maybe like $15K?

[bimmerdean]

I own a 2013 BMW 328i xdrive and I've had it only for about 2 years and a few months, worked great, nothing happened until a few days ago when the low oil pressure sensor came on, then the drivetrain malfunction sensor came up. Anyway, I took it to BMW they thought it was most likely a timing chain issue, and said the engine was toasted, I then took it to another mechanic shop who works strictly on BMW's and they opened it up and saw a lot of oil sludge built up which is weird since I always got my oil changed and serviced. Anyway now I have to buy a used engine and installed which is going to run me $5,000 easily. It sucks...

[Kailec]

Originally Posted by deanmajidy

I own a 2013 BMW 328i xdrive and I've had it only for about 2 years and a few months, worked great, nothing happened until a few days ago when the low oil pressure sensor came on, then the drivetrain malfunction sensor came up. Anyway, I took it to BMW they thought it was most likely a timing chain issue, and said the engine was toasted, I then took it to another mechanic shop who works strictly on BMW's and they opened it up and saw a lot of oil sludge built up which is weird since I always got my oil changed and serviced. Anyway now I have to buy a used engine and installed which is going to run me $5,000 easily. It sucks...

Curious, how often were you changing your oil?

[CajunBMW]

Originally Posted by deanmajidy

I own a 2013 BMW 328i xdrive and I've had it only for about 2 years and a few months, worked great, nothing happened until a few days ago when the low oil pressure sensor came on, then the drivetrain malfunction sensor came up. Anyway, I took it to BMW they thought it was most likely a timing chain issue, and said the engine was toasted, I then took it to another mechanic shop who works strictly on BMW's and they opened it up and saw a lot of oil sludge built up which is weird since I always got my oil changed and serviced. Anyway now I have to buy a used engine and installed which is going to run me $5,000 easily. It sucks...

I have an ind shop I went to all the time for my old e46. I had asked them about repairs on F30s and what they thought about those 3 series. They of course liked them a lot but told me that they saw a lot of sludge in the turbo 4s coming off of warranty that had used a 10k oil change routine. I think I said this in another post. Interesting that your car had the same issue. Ultimately I used this info to convince my wife that the way to go is a turbo 6 for our next BMW. Couldn't quite convince her the 8 cylinder was needed! Good luck.