My11 318i questions

[Stants]

Forgive me if this has been covered I've searched but it comes up with a whole heap of stuff that's not helpful or may not be relevant,

A colleague at work has his heart set on a my11 318i sport plus ? Has seen one in Liverpool and is wanting me to accompany him Saturday to give it the once over before he buys, I'm trying to dissuade him from the purchase as his car history/maintenance and general upkeep of vehicles leaves a lot to be desired.

I'm fairly well versed in most general mechanical bits , and hopefully will be able to spot any generic faults/leaks that would come up on a general inspection, but have no experience of ownership of German marques and what potential pitfalls may ensue

What I'm after is any pointers for specific faults & If anyone has any links to good buying guide for these it would be alot of help,

I'm assuming the engine on these is the N43 on timing chains (I've read about the horror stories with regards to tensioners and guides) but he's adamant that won't put him off,

Anything to help me give him a bigger picture or stop him from throwing his money down the drain would be greatly appreciated

[Elliot2000]

Tbh it’s a rubbish engine. But at least it’s a later production one than an early n43’s.

Take the oil filler cap and smell for petrol fumes on there - injectors like to leak fuel into the oil and causes lots of issues like washing the bores and thinnong out the oil. Rev it up to red line and let it drop back to idle - if it pops or crackles it’s probably overfuelling

They have electric water pumps which can pack up - check coolant strength as the coolant acts as a libricant in the pump and when run on just water or weak moxitre they can seize up or stop running. Manual gearboxes can whine or drone when cruising

[iSore]

Stants said:

Forgive me if this has been covered I've searched but it comes up with a whole heap of stuff that's not helpful or may not be relevant,

A colleague at work has his heart set on a my11 318i sport plus ? Has seen one in Liverpool and is wanting me to accompany him Saturday to give it the once over before he buys, I'm trying to dissuade him from the purchase as his car history/maintenance and general upkeep of vehicles leaves a lot to be desired.

I'm fairly well versed in most general mechanical bits , and hopefully will be able to spot any generic faults/leaks that would come up on a general inspection, but have no experience of ownership of German marques and what potential pitfalls may ensue

What I'm after is any pointers for specific faults & If anyone has any links to good buying guide for these it would be alot of help,

I'm assuming the engine on these is the N43 on timing chains (I've read about the horror stories with regards to tensioners and guides) but he's adamant that won't put him off,

Anything to help me give him a bigger picture or stop him from throwing his money down the drain would be greatly appreciated

Avoid, at all costs. I saw a 2013 318i Coupe (E92) at a dealers last week with the engine in bits after it grenaded. Mind you,. it had covered a whopping 38'000 miles.

Early or late, there are no good N43's. They are all fragile junk. What goes wrong?

The timing chain guides break up at anything over 30'000 miles, causing chain jump and worse, blocking the oil pick up with bits of plastic guide. This starves the oil pump and does the crank bearings in short order.

High pressure fuel pump.

Injectors!! These are a known disaster with several factory upgrades to try and get them to work for an extended period. They're only £250 each plus fitting and you generally need all four if the original Piezo units are fitted. That's a grand in parts, plus labour.

NoX sensor, measures oxides of nitrogen in the exhaust gasses. Only £350 plus VAT and fitting.

Coils - only 25 each for Bosch ones so not dear and easy to fit.

Brake vacuum pump - known to seize , stopping the exhaust cam dead and ripping the vanos unit off the end off the cam. Rare, but it happens.

The electric coolant pump isn't as bad as the N52 one is.

They leak oil.

Electronic oil pressure control valve can play up, resulting in varying oil pressure and oil pressure warnings.

Vanos units are quite reliable.

Just don't. They are fking horrible things, a litany of misfires, oil leaks and the spectre of some very, very big repair bills. Plus they're st to drive, slow and do 35 mpg.

Edited by iSore on Tuesday 22 January 23:40