N57 Which Oil? Engine known for bearing failure

[H4MP]

Hi guys,

I don't know how much you have heard about these engines but I'm OK the FB N57 forum, I see alot of bottom end failures on these engines even when they are serviced every 5k miles. I mean it does improve the longevity but it is still an issue. What are your thoughts about this? I read somewhere BMW stated use 5w40 oil as a fix?

[marti]

Interesting about the 5w40....as Ive already had one bottom end failure at 80k (serviced every 8k) and my new one is still running on 5w30....

[H4MP]

I don't know what design change they made between the M57 and N57, but they have made a very robust setups In to an average/poor engine. I have seen many bottom end failures on 530d's, X5's.

I wonder if anyone can shine some light on this issue. Bmw never really addressed the problem

[X5Sport]

Mine still uses 0w30 Castrol FST Synthetic as it has since new. I don’t push the engine hard at all so no idea why they should suffer bottom end issues. N-series are long gone as they were replaced by the B-series. The 4-cyl unit was known for timing chain issues. I also allow the engine to warm before realky using the turbos, and the same coming home as there’s a two mile 30 limit between home and the A1. That allows everything to cool/warm and should be kinder to the power unit as well as the turbos.

[Leslie]

Serviced every 5k and still failing ? its not oil related then , could possibly be injectors flooding the sump with diesel or failed dpf regens doing the same as I'm sure the bottom end would be otherwise very robust indeed as is likely based on the M57 design which was near bombproof .

[H4MP]

It's along the lines of oil starvation, apparently there's a number of items. The bearing tolerances are very tight, there's the thrust washer on bearing 3 that has issues. The chain guides break down and cause oil starvation in oil pickup. 5w40 suggested as at higher temperatures the oil is losing its lubricity. These are just some of the things I have come across

[Greydog]

Oil changed every 5k ? I would question that statement as in it's first 3 years of life (BMW Warranty period) it more than likely was under BMW's own extended service regime. I have seen/owned cars with a Full BMW History 4 years old that had annual BMW inspections but only had 1 oil change. While I personally change oil and filters annually (normally between 3 and 5k these days) it would be a little foolish to ignore it's early life where it could have been driven hard or not hard enough equally as bad. Modern diesels we know are complicated beast with Turbo's, DPF's, EGR's all contributing to oil degradation, oil coolers really have to be in good nick and clean. Oil starvation would point me towards clogged pick up (why what's clogging it) or failed seals in and around the pump.

[StuBeeDoo]

I have seen/owned cars with a Full BMW History 4 years old that had annual BMW inspections but only had 1 oil change.

I would concur with ^^^ that. When I bought my F25, it was 5.5 years old and had recorded 72k miles. It had full BMWSH. All 5 annual inspections stamped in the book, but it had only had 3 oil & filter changes.

[H4MP]

Despite the oil intervals there's an inherent design fault, would be interesting to know. Considering BMW 6 cyls normally are regarded as the best in the business this is very poor from them. The fault should have been acknowledged and fixed. As the N57 was used in a broad range of cars

[StuBeeDoo]

At the end of the day, there are various theories bandied about the internet. ........And theories is all they are.
Until BMW come clean, and in my opinion if they were going to they would have before now, the general public isn't going to know what the official line is.
I wouldn't have thought BMW would want to lay themselves wide-open to a class-action lawsuit - which is why they are keeping schtum.
You pay your money and you take your chance. Before I bought my F25 I read plenty here, and I had a couple of conversations with a local independent who was previously a MasterTech at a large BMW-franchised dealership group. Only then did I decide to bite the bullet and buy the car.
If you're going to agonise about the likelihood of an N57 going bad, don't buy a car with an N57 in it.
For what it's worth, the MasterTech's take on it (at the time I bought my car, six years ago) was that yes there are a few N57s with bottom-end issues, but not as many as there were M57s that fatally swallowed their swirl flaps resulting in not only damaged valves but also damaged pistons and bores.

[H4MP]

I agree with you, partly the swirl Flaps on the later cars were not an issue, and there was a fix, to just blank them off. I had bottom end failure and it cost me £7200 from an indie. The M57 was generally bullet proof. You expect cars to become more reliable not go backwards

[X5Sport]

It’s no different with the latest models either. OK it’s not engines on the i4, but BMW has (along with other manufacturers) had to issue a number of recalls. The last one for the i4 was a sub-contractor made coolant changeover valve - similar to a three-way central heating valve - which leaks below -10°C. Cold for the UK, but average for large parts of the US, Canada, Europe and Asia.

It’s an all plastic part (poor materials choice again) and if it fails the first warning is the car won’t drive due to the battery heater unit failure, and those are megabucks apparently. There’s a low coolant warning switch in the expansion tank, but the failure occurs before that triggers. Oops!

The same valve component is used across a number of cars.

[StuBeeDoo]

It's nothing new with BMW. In late '72 my uncle bought a brand new E3 3.0s, having previously had an E3 2500 from new.
The 3.0s had a rattly engine from the day he picked it up. To start with, BMW wouldn't accept a warranty claim. Eventually uncle kicked-up a stink and BMWGB agreed to foot the bill for a replacement engine, even though they insisted there was nothing wrong with the original. Strangely, the new engine was a lot quieter.

Despite being a hardcore BMW fan (he had several before the 2500), who always bought new every 18 months - 2 years, that 3.0s was the last BMW he had for 20 years or so, because the experience with BMWGB left a nasty taste. His next BMW would be an E39.

[Wayfarer]

At least BMW cover the engine under their excellent extended warranty cover and it’s not been classed as a known manufacturing fault by the warranty companies.
Unlike the previous Land Rover 3.0 diesel engines used extensively in the Discovery and Range Rover products, where even Land Rover own extended warranty excluded this well documented and fairly common bottom end failure and one had to rely on a goodwill claim from Land Rover.

[H4MP]

At least BMW cover the engine under their excellent extended warranty cover and it’s not been classed as a known manufacturing fault by the warranty companies.
Unlike the previous Land Rover 3.0 diesel engines used extensively in the Discovery and Range Rover products, where even Land Rover own extended warranty excluded this well documented and fairly common bottom end failure and one had to rely on a goodwill claim from Land Rover.

What mileage is it covered till?