Convince me to spend money: “new” car edition

[Buster]

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N54 was problematic for the reasons you describe, but they are 2-3 engine generations later from that 6. They were phasing that engine out in 2012.

N55 and B58 have been very stout.

And I refer to rankings of manufacturers, not data from the manufacturers themselves. People whining about blowing up their engines with JB4’s on the internet aren’t exactly the most representative data source on the planet either.

Probably the worst thing lately is the blown V8’s burning oil. But that’s not really a dead on side of road issue.

The V10s explode.
VANOS
N63

and didn't the old 4.4 have problems? I can't remember it all.

[ExtraSlow]

Anecdotes are my favourite data class.

[killramos]

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The V10s explode.
VANOS
N63

and didn't the old 4.4 have problems? I can't remember it all.

The V10’s aren’t that bad. Rod bearings like the V8. But V10 and M tax is killer when repairs needed. Below average maybe not not fatally flawed.

The SMG3 is definitely hot shit tho.

S63 and the other 4.4 issues are the oil burning I mentioned. To my knowledge all the V8 turbo cars burn oil.

[Buster]

I didn't include the HPFP issues, because those technically aren't the engine, but that was a major issue

[90_Shelby]

Rod bearings and burning oil, are these acceptable in the BMW community?

"Normal wear and tear" or "regular maintenance"

[killramos]

I mean they haven’t made the rod bearing issue cars for 10 years now lol

Burning oil while less than ideal doesn’t really affect reliability.

I think buster has just been living in a cave wrt cars for 10+ years

[JustinL]

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The old n/a engines (except for S54 which ate bearings every 30k kms lol)

The S54 had a bearing issue that was covered by a recall in the early days, but rod bearings are hardly the weakness of this engine.

[ThePenIsMightier]

What does Consumers Reports say?

[90_Shelby]

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What does Consumers Reports say?

Mid pack below Dodge, Ram and Subaru.

[rage2]

Anecdotal but I had Alamo rebuild 2 turbos way back in the day. Both failed within months. New replacement turbos were fine. Old school basic turbos. Soured me on rebuilds.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

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Anecdotal but I had Alamo rebuild 2 turbos way back in the day. Both failed within months. New replacement turbos were fine. Old school basic turbos. Soured me on rebuilds.

Yeah I’m pretty sure this is a bad rebuild, not sure why they rebuilt it when there was no issue found and no auth. Feeling pretty salty about having to pull this apart again.

[Buster]

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Anecdotal but I had Alamo rebuild 2 turbos way back in the day. Both failed within months. New replacement turbos were fine. Old school basic turbos. Soured me on rebuilds.

never thought about it, but this kinda makes sense. I assume that turbos have insane tolerances, which would be hard for someone to match by hand on a bench?

[riander5]

I have 5000 km on a B58 (57000 - 62000) without any issues so far. Use this data as you see fit

[killramos]

I have probably 80,000km between an N55, an S55, and a B58 and have never had a single issue.

I had the Fuel door sensor cable short on my 235 and throw a CEL, but I wouldn’t fault that as an engine issue though.

[riander5]

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I have probably 80,000km between an N55, an S55, and a B58 and have never had a single issue.

I had the Fuel door sensor cable short on my 235 and throw a CEL, but I wouldn’t fault that as an engine issue though.

Yea I didnt do too much research on the S engines as they weren't in my price range / didn't have AWD for year round needs, but I definitely echo everything you've said on the evolution of the engines.

B58's unmodified thus far have been super reliable according to most BMW forums / owners. N55 seemed good too but B58 reviews made me look for a 2016 + 3 series

[Buster]

It sounds like B58s are pretty reliable.

[riander5]

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It sounds like B58s are pretty reliable.

I mean, toyota uses em. Can't be that bad

[heavyD]

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The old n/a engines (except for S54 which ate bearings every 30k kms lol) were all stout for sure, those are still available in some models.

Even the turbo 4 is pretty reliable. But the turbo sixes have been hot garbage for a long while (not the engine itself, but auxiliary issues like turbos and high pressure pumps).

I cannot comment specifically on the diesel.

Also surely manufacturer reliability ratings never lie, and we all know 60% of the time stats are 100% correct.

This is totally incorrect. The N55 was a very solid engine and the B58 just may be the best overall engine in the world when you consider it's reliability and service in a variety of different applications. Ever since BMW switched to N55/B58 with ZF8 transmissions their reliability has ascended amongst the best in the industry, considerably higher than their german rivals. My N55 and S58 engines have never seen the oil level drop from full even using full BMW oil intervals and I have never had to make an unscheduled visit to a BMW dealership for my M2 or X3MC. These cars feel as rock solid as an early 90's Toyota product.

[Buster]

Congrats to BMW for making a reliable engine?

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

I have to admit I really like the B58 in my dads 2017 M240i. Excited to buy it off him in a couple years when he orders a new M2.