This engine has also one more weak point that was not mentioned by anyone: coolant pipe from engine to radiator, its the biggest pain in the ass. Solution: replace with aluminium pipe. (Heads only)
Had just about every issue in the video on our 2015 e84 35i. Valvetronic motor and shaft was certainly the most complicated repair I have ever attempted. Way harder than timing and vanos on my e36!
how much did it cost to DIY , parts etc? just for comparison a good BMW specialist mine cost 2 k with a few other things being done while the engine was out of course
Great video, the only fatal thing about early n55 engines is the rod bearings issues and although it is more common on the older versions of the car it still happens from time to time in newer versions. I have a 2012 135i, I changed my rod bearings preventively and used the calico coated king rod bearings. Hope the car wont spun the rod bearings....if problem is on the rods then guess im still prone to it.
I just bought a 2014 x5 35i. Is that a solid year for the n55? It has 60k miles, only gets driven a few thousand miles per year and has been maintained perfectly with oil changes every 2500-3000 miles and taken to the dealer for everything.
First thing I did when I bought my 2016 435i with 62k miles was install a crank seal guard. $20 on Amazon and protects the seal from sucking in a broken serpentine belt if/when the oil filter housing starts to leak.
VANOS GEARS!!!!! The vanos gears had aluminum bolts that would back out & break causing oil pressure loss & in turn causing the oil starvation. These bolts were later replaced with steel bolts. There's a TSB on this.
Got my valvetronic, eccentric shaft and valve cover replaced recently at 97k miles. The shaft was pretty worn. An expensive job as well, was quoted 3.2k from an indy shop. Did the job well and got back running again. Will probably be getting Trans + Diff service soon(another 1k) and getting catless downpipe+PE mod. Couldve done all of these if I didn’t have to get the valvetronic issue but atleast its bulletproof now!
Rod bearing issues are from not priming the oil system after you open up the oil system by replacing something like the oil cooler or filter housing gaskets.😅
I've been a German mechanic for 10 ish years and the only reason I've seen rod bearing failure is the above comment or people putting 20k on an oil change
What is it with bmw & using shitty seals😭 after I did a long list of maintenance, it turns out EVEN the oil pan gasket fails relatively early on n55s as swell. Still wouldn’t want any other Lego car tho ❤️
Have a 2011 135i just found out my valvetronic servo motor & eccentric shaft are screwed. Lasted around 181000km though.. so i guess that's something. Regarding the HPFP, is the newer version just PnP?
Maybe a better solution is to just swap in older N52 and call it a day? Since E90 had both, it should be easy using E90's ecu and other parts on most N55 BMWs?
@@ReePooDo I have driven 535i and several 6 cylinders cars, na, turbo and supercharged. I am not fun of this needlessly turbocharged newer bmw inline 6s.
I have a 2011 335i. It has a rough idle and sometimes stalls when you come to a complete stop. The only code I am getting is MIXTURE TOO LEAN. I got it smoked tested and they found no leaks. Could this be causing by fuel injectors? Car does not have long cranks and starts up right away. My oil does smell like gas and the all 6 spark plugs look very dark and black with less than 10 miles on them.
Oxygen sensor before catalytic converter defective - Mass-airflow sensor defective - Defective injectors - Intake-manifold pressure sensor defective - Intake-air temperature sensor defective - Camshaft position sensor defective - Defect in high-pressure fuel system - Defect in low-pressure fuel system - Intake system leaking - Oil cap not sealingh Leak in exhaust system before oxygen sensor behind catalytic converter - Poor-quality gasoline All of those could cause that code from what I have researched. The basic systems that could cause it would be air or fuel. I’m your case it seems that there is more air than fuel causing the lean code. Usually when that happens it could mean that somewhere there is more air getting in than normal ie intake gasket leaking hoses crack etc or it could mean that not enough fuel is being injected for the air supplied. You had stated you ran a smoke test leading me to believe it is more on the fuel system. Could be clogged injectors depending on your milage. Have you ever tried putting injector cleaner in a couple tanks of gas?
first of all when you have a valve cover leak you must also replace the valve cover, plus the gasket, costs $2,200 at the dealer, the electric water pump costs $2,300.00 at the dealer to replace, when the transmission pan leaks you must replace the plastic oil pan which includes the transmission filter+ gasket, costs at the dealer $1,600, and when the main rear seal leaks it costs well over $3,000.00 to repair, and when your extended coolant tank leaks you also must replace the plastic tubes that connect to the engine which costs at the dealer $1,200,. these things will certainly fail with less than 50,000 miles and hopefully within the 4 year mfg warranty, in your 2014 X1 Xdrive M equipped 35i n55 engine...i know, cause they failed in mine in it's 5th to 8th year between 40 and 49,000 miles which was all out of warranty, also the battery failed in it's 5th year...... also the 4 brakes pads had to be replaced and when you replace the brake pads you must also replace the rotors this costs $1,700 dollars at the dealers.... so if you are going to buy this vehicle used make sure this work was done, make sure you put this auto up on a lift and have a good mechanic look for additional leaks.....
@@iraqtv11 plenty of cars that have major issues before, this isn’t exclusive to one car brand. But keep wishing my m2 will have problems one day, I’ll let you know when it does.
Better to buy a Toyota !!!!! I own 2018 M2 I don't think its worth the money. Generally speaking badly engineered. Previously owned 2008 135i 3ltr sports manual for 7 years many problems.
I have a BMW 335i N55
2015 with 172 thousand miles and runs super smooth BMW is all good
My 2015 435i has 170,000 miles. Such a smooth and trusty engine.
im at 149k and thinking about doing rod bearings. are you still on your original ones?
I have a BMW 335i N55
2015 with 172 thousand miles and runs super smooth BMW is all good 😊😊😊
Mines at 82k miles so far everything good . Time to at least do charge pipe than walnut blasting .
This engine has also one more weak point that was not mentioned by anyone: coolant pipe from engine to radiator, its the biggest pain in the ass. Solution: replace with aluminium pipe. (Heads only)
Mickey Mouse flange?
Love how simple this guy is
Had just about every issue in the video on our 2015 e84 35i. Valvetronic motor and shaft was certainly the most complicated repair I have ever attempted. Way harder than timing and vanos on my e36!
how much did it cost to DIY , parts etc? just for comparison a good BMW specialist mine cost 2 k with a few other things being done while the engine was out of course
Great video, the only fatal thing about early n55 engines is the rod bearings issues and although it is more common on the older versions of the car it still happens from time to time in newer versions. I have a 2012 135i, I changed my rod bearings preventively and used the calico coated king rod bearings. Hope the car wont spun the rod bearings....if problem is on the rods then guess im still prone to it.
how were the rod bearings when you took them out?
@@nishimiya I changed them at 60k miles. Theye were in good shape.
I just bought a 2014 x5 35i. Is that a solid year for the n55? It has 60k miles, only gets driven a few thousand miles per year and has been maintained perfectly with oil changes every 2500-3000 miles and taken to the dealer for everything.
Rod bearings are only a failure because people put 10 to 15k on an oil change and beat the hell out of their car lol
Fun thing, I have an aftermarket metal charge pipe. The welds for the stupid metanol ports started to leak in multiple locations, after a few years.
First thing I did when I bought my 2016 435i with 62k miles was install a crank seal guard. $20 on Amazon and protects the seal from sucking in a broken serpentine belt if/when the oil filter housing starts to leak.
very well put together video, keep them coming! I love my n55 in my 235i and it's good to know things to look out for.
Forged crank and connecting rods, nice. N55
VANOS GEARS!!!!! The vanos gears had aluminum bolts that would back out & break causing oil pressure loss & in turn causing the oil starvation. These bolts were later replaced with steel bolts. There's a TSB on this.
Great video! Love how you talk about what years they changed certain components. And which years to buy. 👍🏻
Got my valvetronic, eccentric shaft and valve cover replaced recently at 97k miles. The shaft was pretty worn. An expensive job as well, was quoted 3.2k from an indy shop. Did the job well and got back running again. Will probably be getting Trans + Diff service soon(another 1k) and getting catless downpipe+PE mod. Couldve done all of these if I didn’t have to get the valvetronic issue but atleast its bulletproof now!
Hey bro, your total job for replacing tge eccentric shaft and the motor was $3200? Or just labour?
@@dnup9392 Total parts+labor
Ok. You didnt have extended waranty?
@@dnup9392 Unfortunately no. Bought the car used from 3rd owner
Change the oil at 4500-5000 miles. It’s the long oil change intervals that cause the VANOS actuator failure plus shaft wear.
Rod bearing is kind of weird to hear about for the N55 platform.
My brothers n55 got fucked at only 110km
Rod bearing issues are from not priming the oil system after you open up the oil system by replacing something like the oil cooler or filter housing gaskets.😅
I've been a German mechanic for 10 ish years and the only reason I've seen rod bearing failure is the above comment or people putting 20k on an oil change
@@jeffa.8976 what do you mean by priming the oil?
@@kris985 By turning the motor over with the injectors disabled. 10 sec turn over…20sec off. Do this 3 times.
Love ur videos keep uo the content just bought a 2013 535i 65k miles 1 owner :)
How has been?
Following up. How’s the car man?
How is the car?
What is it with bmw & using shitty seals😭 after I did a long list of maintenance, it turns out EVEN the oil pan gasket fails relatively early on n55s as swell. Still wouldn’t want any other Lego car tho ❤️
2011 n55 160000km and i'm pretty sure the rod bearing issue is super rare
One of the more common ones on the early engines according to all of my research.
@@SimpleCarGuy yeah there's that big e90post thread but if you actually poll people who own these cars it's such a small percentage who had the issue
Probably happens mostly to people who don't check their oil and don't let it warm up fully
@@NoBaconForYou you can't check the oil on an n55
@@RobboElRobboyes you can lol 😂
Rod bearing issues are new to me with this engine variant. I thought it was with the M3 V8 only
Great content dude! Learned so much, going to keep watching
Had the waterpump fail in the winter, by running constantly and draining the battery...
Nice one, thanks!
Have a 2011 135i just found out my valvetronic servo motor & eccentric shaft are screwed. Lasted around 181000km though.. so i guess that's something. Regarding the HPFP, is the newer version just PnP?
Great video!
Maybe a better solution is to just swap in older N52 and call it a day? Since E90 had both, it should be easy using E90's ecu and other parts on most N55 BMWs?
You’ve never driven a 335i 😂
@@ReePooDo I have driven 535i and several 6 cylinders cars, na, turbo and supercharged. I am not fun of this needlessly turbocharged newer bmw inline 6s.
yeah of course why wouldnt you make it a slow ass 330i like wtf
And then comes my N55 with a head gasket leak at 100k:(
had to change engine on my x5 2015 35i 😭 65k miles only
I have a 2011 335i. It has a rough idle and sometimes stalls when you come to a complete stop. The only code I am getting is MIXTURE TOO LEAN. I got it smoked tested and they found no leaks. Could this be causing by fuel injectors? Car does not have long cranks and starts up right away. My oil does smell like gas and the all 6 spark plugs look very dark and black with less than 10 miles on them.
I would check maf sensor and o2 sensors. Do you have the code number?
@@roomtempcereal
Code: 2BCO
Got new oem MAF. Still same issue. Wouldn’t the car throw a o2 sensor code if it was thar ?
@@deeleem1724 probably is ur car stock
Oxygen sensor before catalytic converter defective
- Mass-airflow sensor defective
- Defective injectors
- Intake-manifold pressure sensor defective - Intake-air temperature sensor defective - Camshaft position sensor defective
- Defect in high-pressure fuel system
- Defect in low-pressure fuel system
- Intake system leaking
- Oil cap not sealingh
Leak in exhaust system before oxygen sensor behind catalytic converter
- Poor-quality gasoline
All of those could cause that code from what I have researched. The basic systems that could cause it would be air or fuel. I’m your case it seems that there is more air than fuel causing the lean code. Usually when that happens it could mean that somewhere there is more air getting in than normal ie intake gasket leaking hoses crack etc or it could mean that not enough fuel is being injected for the air supplied. You had stated you ran a smoke test leading me to believe it is more on the fuel system. Could be clogged injectors depending on your milage. Have you ever tried putting injector cleaner in a couple tanks of gas?
Plugs or injectors. Try pluhs first
Whats your favorite oil for the N54/ E-Series N55?
Castrol 0w40
first of all when you have a valve cover leak you must also replace the valve cover, plus the gasket, costs $2,200 at the dealer, the electric water pump costs $2,300.00 at the dealer to replace, when the transmission pan leaks you must replace the plastic oil pan which includes the transmission filter+ gasket, costs at the dealer $1,600, and when the main rear seal leaks it costs well over $3,000.00 to repair, and when your extended coolant tank leaks you also must replace the plastic tubes that connect to the engine which costs at the dealer $1,200,. these things will certainly fail with less than 50,000 miles and hopefully within the 4 year mfg warranty, in your 2014 X1 Xdrive M equipped 35i n55 engine...i know, cause they failed in mine in it's 5th to 8th year between 40 and 49,000 miles which was all out of warranty, also the battery failed in it's 5th year...... also the 4 brakes pads had to be replaced and when you replace the brake pads you must also replace the rotors this costs $1,700 dollars at the dealers.... so if you are going to buy this vehicle used make sure this work was done, make sure you put this auto up on a lift and have a good mechanic look for additional leaks.....
I hate to say this, but you NEED to find a quality independently owned/fan shop.
My f87 has 0 problems (50k miles)
50k is nothing wait until 130
@@iraqtv11 wait till almost 3 times the miles, I would expect something to go wrong by then.
@@GerardoHernandezF87M2 plenty of cars out there that 200k without major issues unlike BMWs and I’m a bmw guy myself but I have to be honest
@@iraqtv11 plenty of cars that have major issues before, this isn’t exclusive to one car brand. But keep wishing my m2 will have problems one day, I’ll let you know when it does.
@@GerardoHernandezF87M2 Lol I have 170k on my 435i.
BMW are a nightmare is like a race car two laps and then you have to fix it jjjj
Better to buy a Toyota !!!!! I own 2018 M2 I don't think its worth the money. Generally speaking badly engineered. Previously owned 2008 135i 3ltr sports manual for 7 years many problems.
Agreed although RWD toyotas have the JDM tax
Fragile junk. I'll stick with Honda.
Hell yes you should be worried owning any BMW Będziesz Miał Wydatki
To be honest I find them to be a lot easier to work on.