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Thread: X3 Engine Failure, $9,500 repair at 76,000 miles. BMW offers no goodwill.

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Location
    Illinois
    Posts
    3
    My Cars
    E92 328i

    X3 Engine Failure, $9,500 repair at 76,000 miles. BMW offers no goodwill.

    We really need help on this problem as our financial situation has changed since owning this car and just cannot afford this repair. About a month ago, we had our N20B20 engine fail on an 2013 F25 X3. The timing chain tensioner failed and the engine kept spinning thus wrecking itself. We take to a dealer and they say the cost to repair and we go to BMW customer service North America. They want all the service records for the car and we hand over everything we have. Full disclosure, there were a couple service intervals we were late on and we didn't have a record for one of them because we had a local shop do it and I don't have the record. Their engineering department wants nothing to do with the car and we stuck with the repairs.


    So, what do we do now? I get that we haven't maintained the car at exactly to the maintenance record and that's on us so I understand. Go ahead and get your "shame on you" comments out. But what I don't understand is the reasoning to walk away from this particular failure. Ok, if we had bearing issues or piston rings problems that would have been related to the degraded oil, then yeah, that failure was caused by us.


    Furthermore, this is actually a known issue for this car. There was a redesign you could opt in for to replace the tensioner that we only now found out about. Not a required recall for the car, but something you can get done if you wanted to. Obviously, we didn't take advantage of that.


    We are at a complete loss on this car so far. It has had a lot of problems leading up to this point for other issues that were parts that were not wear items. Left us stranded a few times in dangerous areas. BMW engineers do not want any part of it eventhough we didn't cause the failure with our negligence. There's gotta be somewhere we can appeal this decision. Anyone have any help they can offer?


    Thanks for your time.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Saskatoon, Canada
    Posts
    1,509
    My Cars
    '88 320i Mtech2; 2004 X3
    Regardless of whether or not you had all service records and fully complied with the recommended maintenance schedule, if this type of problem occurs outside of the warranty period I do not see that you have any chance of recourse from BMW or anyone else.

    Frankly, if you still want to stick with the X3, then find a good low mileage 2004-2006 (they all have the M54 inline 6 engine, either the B25 or B30).... you can find one for a lot less $$$ than your quote for repair. Or if you want to keep that same 2013 car then find out from a wrecker what a replacement N20B20 engine will cost and the cost to R&R the engine.

    Good Luck with your plans. BMW ownership has some risks but they are great cars when well maintained and not abused.
    ... forty-three years of driving before I get behind the wheel of a BMW .... and I am thinking, "why did it take me so long?"
    ... and then after another 4 years I can't believe that I have two of them !!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Edmond, OK
    Posts
    19
    My Cars
    Audi A6
    hi thiefblau. A lot of N20s did have an extended warranty on the timing guides (some also specifically on the timing equipment of the oil pump). But yes unfortunately BMW will require the full maintenance record and it all has to be on or before the due intervals. I've seen N20 timing equipment failure on cars that were dealer-serviced since new and BMW of NA flat out declined to cover it under extended warranty because the customer went over their intervals. So it does not surprise me that they'd deny your claim for being unable to prove that one of the oil services actually took place :-\ .

    If you have full coverage on it, you can try making a claim to your insurance and just eating the deductible.

    As to other resources, you can have mediation/ civil legal measures. You can also complain to the state's BBB. But again, it would be a tough fight. As the burden of proof would be on you to show that you stuck to their maintenance schedule and still the timing failure took place within the extended warranty period. With an oil service missing, they can argue that the car ran for X amount of miles over the interval with dirty oil that would have worn down the guides and caused the failure (which can happen with any engine really). I can certainly understand your frustration but that's what I think you'd be up against if you go in any of those routes.

    Having said that, the other option you have my friend (and this is the one I'd do), is to get a used engine from LKQ (they're the largest chain of junkyards in the US and have locations in every major city and a lot of smaller towns). They usually provide you with a 30-day warranty. And trust me if you can't blow it up after a few days of hard driving, you're good lol. I would recommend that once this engine is in and verified to be good after the warranty term... now on YOUR own time and schedule, replace the timing equipment with all new components. This way you'd know you not only have a solid engine, but the timing equipment is brand new and will not leave you stranded. Anyway, call LKQ with your VIN number and they'll help you out. As an alternative, you can also search on car-parts.com (which is a listing of inventory of junkyards throughout the US) and search for your engine there. I just took a peek and I saw engines from $8500 and as low as $3500 in a Midwest regional search.

    Best of luck and please let us know how this story develops!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Ca
    Posts
    6,981
    My Cars
    2001 525it
    I would call BMW North America and get them involved. The warranty on the engine was 7 years 70k. It is totally a known issue. Supposedly caused by the stop start function that you can actually turn off. Unfortunately BMW has made some really crappy engines for along time.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
    Location
    Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    7
    My Cars
    2005 BMW Z4 3.0i
    Hi all 2012 to 2015 (Jan build) F25 owners. My mechanic said it's not if, but when the timing chain guide will fail. I got our 2013 F25 from my sister in law with 110,000 klms on it (about 70k miles) and it had the whining sound. I opted to have the new chain/guide/oil pump kit installed and sure enough the mechanic said we were lucky because the guide was cracked and being held together by the squeeze of a bolt. The job took about 18 hours ($4,000 including spark plugs etc). They have been doing so many they found a trick method of not having to pull the motor out completely. The new white plastic turned brown soon enough, so one cannot tell if the guides are new later on. The new chain has 9,000 klms on it and everything is solid. Just one thing went bad after 5,000 klms, and the mechanic is still looking into why the oil level sensor stopped working. Maybe due to plastic parts floating around? Coincidence?
    Don't wait for it to break, because then you will most likely need a replacement motor. If you get a used engine, replace the timing chain before it goes back in. If you like the F25, get if fixed before it breaks. PS> Canada was not offered the extended warranty; only the USA.
    Last edited by Richard Blais; 03-18-2020 at 07:48 AM.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Ca
    Posts
    6,981
    My Cars
    2001 525it
    If I found out my car had this potential problem I would sell the car and change brands, BMW has been making some real crap in the last 10 years

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    warwick RI
    Posts
    2,522
    My Cars
    E30/E32/F25
    Apparently the redesigned guides are holding up, my brother has 60k on his 16 not a sound. Only issue he has is waste gate rattle cold... We run liqui moly and lowered his oil change interval level to every 5k Just to be safe
    Me E30 87/ 325i + F25 12/ M-Sport + E32 94/ 740i

    G/F’s E34 92/ 525iT + F48 18/ X1

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