F11 535D N57 Engine failure!
Discussion
Hi guys looking for some advice please. A bit of background on the car, Its a late 2010 F11 535D I bought it on 55k miles as a BMW AUC from BMW Nottingham in July 2014. Since then the car has been serviced by my local specialist (Using genuine parts and VAT registered garage) that I know well and everything has been done before required, never run low on oil, always warmed up before going quickly etc etc. The car is now on 97k miles and does do some towing of my racecar but out of the 42k miles i’ve put on the car probably 2k have been towing. 2 weeks ago it developed a rattling noise at anything above 2k rpm. It happened as I was pulling up from a 100 mile commute and I was about 1000 yards from home at the time so I pulled up and had a listen. To me it sounded like top end but a chat with some of my more experienced friends said bottom end.
I got the car recovered to my specialists who also thought bottom end. They thought that BMW might offer some goodwill on the work needed so at this point I got it recovered to Sytner Harold Wood just over a week ago now. Dealing with Tom in service who seems very helpful and keen to do everything possible to get sorted although very busy so quite tough to get him on the phone. They stripped the engine down last week and have found the big ends on 1 cylinder have welded themselves to the crank, they inspected the centre main to check for running on low oil and confirmed it was all okay. They applied to BMW to see what they would offer as goodwill and that is the last I’ve heard.
They are suggesting new crank, rods, bearing and piston rings. One of my concerns is why its happened on a very well looked after car and they don’t really have an answer for that either, another concern is how much swarf from the damaged bearing has got its way around the engine, coolers, turbos etc. Fingers crossed when I can get hold of service they will have good news on goodwill although the silence is making me think that might not be the case so now looking into my other options.
Should this kind of problem just be expected? Within my close family we have 5 BMW’s and this car is my 3rd BMW in the last 8 years. I buy them as I don’t expect problems like this, I can understand turbo’s need replacing with high miles, DPF issues, injectors etc but not a failure of the bottom end of the engine. It’s really made me doubt the faith I had in the car (got to be honest its been faultless until now)
I know people will say should have got a warranty but as I said I wouldn’t have expected this kind of failure at this mileage and was happy to take the risk knowing how well the car is looked after on things like the turbos etc.
So now i’m looking for advice on my options if BMW don’t come back with a suitable offer.
Rebuild current engine at specialist, fit second hand engine, sell the car as is and obviously take a massive hit on the price for it not running? Ideally I would like to fit a new engine from BMW but just the bare engine alone is £11k+ surcharge and thats for a recon engine, then would have fitting although I could fit myself if needed but would rather leave to the pro’s.
It seems hard to find the correct engine and a chap I know who owns a breakers said the demand is high for this engine recently. It also turns out a friend of mine with the same car had to have the engine replaced for the same issue (Wish i’d known this before as might have been more inclined to put a warranty on it)
Has anyone else heard of these failures on N57 engines?
Any other ideas for getting it back up and running would be much appreciated, Sorry for the long read just trying to see what peoples thoughts are and if i’m right to be surprised by the failure?
Thanks
James
I got the car recovered to my specialists who also thought bottom end. They thought that BMW might offer some goodwill on the work needed so at this point I got it recovered to Sytner Harold Wood just over a week ago now. Dealing with Tom in service who seems very helpful and keen to do everything possible to get sorted although very busy so quite tough to get him on the phone. They stripped the engine down last week and have found the big ends on 1 cylinder have welded themselves to the crank, they inspected the centre main to check for running on low oil and confirmed it was all okay. They applied to BMW to see what they would offer as goodwill and that is the last I’ve heard.
They are suggesting new crank, rods, bearing and piston rings. One of my concerns is why its happened on a very well looked after car and they don’t really have an answer for that either, another concern is how much swarf from the damaged bearing has got its way around the engine, coolers, turbos etc. Fingers crossed when I can get hold of service they will have good news on goodwill although the silence is making me think that might not be the case so now looking into my other options.
Should this kind of problem just be expected? Within my close family we have 5 BMW’s and this car is my 3rd BMW in the last 8 years. I buy them as I don’t expect problems like this, I can understand turbo’s need replacing with high miles, DPF issues, injectors etc but not a failure of the bottom end of the engine. It’s really made me doubt the faith I had in the car (got to be honest its been faultless until now)
I know people will say should have got a warranty but as I said I wouldn’t have expected this kind of failure at this mileage and was happy to take the risk knowing how well the car is looked after on things like the turbos etc.
So now i’m looking for advice on my options if BMW don’t come back with a suitable offer.
Rebuild current engine at specialist, fit second hand engine, sell the car as is and obviously take a massive hit on the price for it not running? Ideally I would like to fit a new engine from BMW but just the bare engine alone is £11k+ surcharge and thats for a recon engine, then would have fitting although I could fit myself if needed but would rather leave to the pro’s.
It seems hard to find the correct engine and a chap I know who owns a breakers said the demand is high for this engine recently. It also turns out a friend of mine with the same car had to have the engine replaced for the same issue (Wish i’d known this before as might have been more inclined to put a warranty on it)
Has anyone else heard of these failures on N57 engines?
Any other ideas for getting it back up and running would be much appreciated, Sorry for the long read just trying to see what peoples thoughts are and if i’m right to be surprised by the failure?
Thanks
James
iSore said:
Main bearing failure - not unknown on the 535d/640d and others with that engine.
Interesting I haven’t been able to find anything on the internet when i’ve looked. Thankshornetrider said:
I'll be interested to see the outcome here. Being brutally honest, if you get any goodwill I'd be pleasantly surprised. You've bought an AUC then taken it out of the dealer network for servicing (which may be the nail in your coffin), whilst not running a warranty. The car is now almost at 100k miles. On the other hand I agree you shouldn't be seeing this kind of behaviour either. Toughie.
If they don’t offer anything then I am liable for the £1500 strip down too! They did say as long as the garage is Vat reg and uses BMW parts and have the invoice trail then they have to treat it the same (Obviously I was happy to hear this but not sure how correct it is!) Got everything crossed!
Does anyone have any recommendations for BMW engine rebuilders? I thought i’d found a good second hand engine for sale but turns out its knackered too!
roofer said:
Gosnays down the Southend road by Mawney avenue are a reputable builder. Not sure on their familiarity with this engine though.
Ah i’d not thought of them I used them in the past for line boring a race engine! iSore said:
I've no idea then, sorry. I only know of decent places oop North.
No probs thanks! BMW have requested invoices of the genuine parts used for the services which have now been sent to them, dont know if thats a good or bad thing?!
Right well it took a while but all sorted!
I got a phone call from the garage with the news that BMW would pay all but the labour for the job which left me with £4200 to pay and they kindly knocked the rate down a bit which brought the total to £3700. I gave the go ahead and they also put me in a very nice brand new 640D as a courtesy car. Roughly 3 weeks later I got the call to say its all done and ready for me to collect. Obviously I’d rather not of paid £3700 but I feel happy with the ending and hopefully the rebuilt engine will be good for a long while! I’ve opted for a BMW warranty on the car now anyway so hopefully no more unexpected bills to pay!
Just thought I would update. Thanks
I got a phone call from the garage with the news that BMW would pay all but the labour for the job which left me with £4200 to pay and they kindly knocked the rate down a bit which brought the total to £3700. I gave the go ahead and they also put me in a very nice brand new 640D as a courtesy car. Roughly 3 weeks later I got the call to say its all done and ready for me to collect. Obviously I’d rather not of paid £3700 but I feel happy with the ending and hopefully the rebuilt engine will be good for a long while! I’ve opted for a BMW warranty on the car now anyway so hopefully no more unexpected bills to pay!
Just thought I would update. Thanks
Unfortunately the rebuilt engine failed again 2 weeks ago on my way to Germany (thankfully still in England) BMW have been good with sorting me a courtesy car and they approved a new engine on Tuesday. Will update with any more progress. Bit disappointing for it to fail again but they are being helpful at least on the whole!
I think when I had the problem initially a new engine with no fitting was around £12k and they had them sat on the shelf in the UK.
I haven’t really heard much from them at all but as someone said this won’t be claimed on my warranty as its only just been rebuilt so fitted parts warranty or whatever they deem the cause to be. They said it cylinder 6 big end this time rather cylinder 1 last time. My guess is swarf from the last failure in an oil cooler or turbo line etc which has then killed the new engine. Ever since it was rebuilt I commented to them the oil temp got hotter than it used to although they weren’t concerned. My biggest concern moving forwards is any damage to the turbo’s from the 2 engine failures as I really need it to be reliable!
I haven’t really heard much from them at all but as someone said this won’t be claimed on my warranty as its only just been rebuilt so fitted parts warranty or whatever they deem the cause to be. They said it cylinder 6 big end this time rather cylinder 1 last time. My guess is swarf from the last failure in an oil cooler or turbo line etc which has then killed the new engine. Ever since it was rebuilt I commented to them the oil temp got hotter than it used to although they weren’t concerned. My biggest concern moving forwards is any damage to the turbo’s from the 2 engine failures as I really need it to be reliable!
Charlie Croker mk2 said:
I would love to know what the original cause of this is and to see if we can do any preventative maintenance , my bet is on blocked oil way ( sludge or even foreign body ) ultimately caused by to long oil change intervals ???
They never found out apparently, I always got the car serviced sooner than the CBS based intervals but still was around 15k miles between oil changes (Better than the 19k the i drive recommends) They inspected the centre main for evidence of it running low on oil which they said was fine and no signs of that. Main problem now is that the engine is dead again! Its really knocked my confidence with the car and partly the brand but maybe I just need to get over that.I’ve still not got my car back 
I have had it back many times since my last post but just had problem after problem! Supposed to be picking it up today just waiting to hear if its ready, Fingers crossed all sorted now as its been a nightmare! Will do full update once I’ve got it back.
I have had it back many times since my last post but just had problem after problem! Supposed to be picking it up today just waiting to hear if its ready, Fingers crossed all sorted now as its been a nightmare! Will do full update once I’ve got it back. Gassing Station | BMW General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff