[krhodes1]

One note - someone said something about replacing the small coolant hose because that would have been disturbed by removing the cooling fan to change the serp belt. There is zero reason to touch the cooling fan on an N52/N51 when replacing the belt, tensioner, or pulley (I own one of each). All that needs to come out is the air box ducting and the air box itself. All the room in the world.

I am assuming that messing with the fan must be an N54/N55 thing.

I'd add that the coolant should have been changed at least once by now, and I am a big fan of regular transmission oil changes, regardless of whether it is the slushbox or the stick.

[krhodes1]

Originally Posted by marvinstockman

Jing,

Just in case you didn't know, most of the items you list should have been covered by BMW's SULEV extended warranty, which runs 15 years and 150K miles.

Most of your future engine related issues should be covered. Your shop should know this.

Before anyone gets TOO excited, note that for the later cars, to be covered by the SULEV warranty, the car has to be *registered* in a CA emissions state. That changed in either 2010 or 2011. Earlier cars the warranty was worded differently and it doesn't matter where it is registered. In non-CA Emissions states prepare to fight a bit with the dealer to get things covered, as they probably won't be familiar with this, but once they contact BMW it should be all set. Quite a few threads on this around. Obviously, OP is in CA so he is all set.

For that reason, my N51 128i is registered at my home in Maine. It is merely "visiting" my home in FL - I'll be driving it back to Maine any day now... Probably worth the extra $150/yr in registration costs to have that warranty for the next few years, given it really does cover a lot of common and fairly expensive faults - basically anything that can increase emissions is covered. Also lets me keep the car on my agreed-value insurance plan that isn't offered in FL.

Good to be a snowbird on many levels!

[krhodes1]

Originally Posted by mainbearing

You can look up the items in the warranty booklet. The items vary a little by model year as far as I recalled.
https://www.bmwusa.com/explore/bmw-v...nty-books.html

The valve cover gasket ("Cylinder Head Cover Gasket Set") is covered, but not sure I saw oil pan gasket written anywhere. It is strange the VCG is covered but not OFHG or the oil pan gasket.

Not really odd - it has to be something that will directly cause an increase in exhaust or evaporative emissions. The valve cover leaking causes a vacuum leak which will directly affect mixture control. OFHG and oil pan gaskets don't. The OFHG can't, and I am pretty sure the OPG is "underwater" so to speak so it can't either. Too bad though - that's the expensive one, especially on AWD cars.

I'm actually surprised someone said they got a water pump covered - I don't recall that being in the list, but its been a while since I read it.

[Bmw1939]

Originally Posted by krhodes1

One note - someone said something about replacing the small coolant hose because that would have been disturbed by removing the cooling fan to change the serp belt. There is zero reason to touch the cooling fan on an N52/N51 when replacing the belt, tensioner, or pulley (I own one of each). All that needs to come out is the air box ducting and the air box itself. All the room in the world.

I am assuming that messing with the fan must be an N54/N55 thing.

I'd add that the coolant should have been changed at least once by now, and I am a big fan of regular transmission oil changes, regardless of whether it is the slushbox or the stick.

Not even. I replaced the belt, tensioner and pulled a month ago without removing anything. I believe the accessory pulley required a little adjusting.

By the way I also have a 2011 328i CA Sulev. I have yet to collect on any of it.

[krhodes1]

Originally Posted by Bmw1939

Not even. I replaced the belt, tensioner and pulled a month ago without removing anything. I believe the accessory pulley required a little adjusting.

By the way I also have a 2011 328i CA Sulev. I have yet to collect on any of it.

I've done it on both of my cars - it's too easy to get that crap out of the way rather than risk my dumb ass breaking any of it trying to work around it. Plus I have huge hands and arms and need all the room I can get. I have no doubt you did it, but that seems like more bother than taking four screws and two bolts out to get it all out of the way.

Plus then you can check/change the air filter while you are in there. An amazing amount of cack builds up in that filter box. And give a good hard look at the area of the OFHG.

My non SULEV 2011 328i has had none of the covered things go either. But 15 years is a long time, and that car lives the life of Reilly. It basically sits in an icebox in Maine 3/4 of the year without moving. My SULEV 128i though lives in the broiling heat of Florida, and I bet I will collect on a bunch of stuff in the next five years before that warranty is up - plus I will put 2x to 3x as many miles on it as the 328i in that time. It's already had coils and the VCG done before I bought it at 46K - came from Texas. It's a fairly impressive list of parts that is covered.

[Bmw1939]

Originally Posted by krhodes1

I've done it on both of my cars - it's too easy to get that crap out of the way rather than risk my dumb ass breaking any of it trying to work around it. Plus I have huge hands and arms and need all the room I can get. I have no doubt you did it, but that seems like more bother than taking four screws and two bolts out to get it all out of the way.

Plus then you can check/change the air filter while you are in there. An amazing amount of cack builds up in that filter box. And give a good hard look at the area of the OFHG.

My non SULEV 2011 328i has had none of the covered things go either. But 15 years is a long time, and that car lives the life of Reilly. It basically sits in an icebox in Maine 3/4 of the year without moving. My SULEV 128i though lives in the broiling heat of Florida, and I bet I will collect on a bunch of stuff in the next five years before that warranty is up - plus I will put 2x to 3x as many miles on it as the 328i in that time. It's already had coils and the VCG done before I bought it at 46K - came from Texas. It's a fairly impressive list of parts that is covered.

My dumbass had VCG and replaced a few years ago and paid for it! I didn't know about the sulev warranty.

[krhodes1]

Originally Posted by Bmw1939

My dumbass had VCG and replaced a few years ago and paid for it! I didn't know about the sulev warranty.

If it weren't for this forum, I would have had absolutely no idea about this, and I am generally good about reading the documentation that comes with my cars. But who reads the warranty book??

[Efthreeoh]

The small cooling system line runs on top of the radiator and is clear of the cooling fan. There is no need to remove the small cooling line to remove the cooling fan. Removing the cooling fan takes 3 minutes; one electrical connector for the fan motor and one small Torx screw. It unclips and slides right up and out. Removing it makes the replacement of the belt and tensioner easier because it gives more room to work. As stated, it is not necessary.

[krhodes1]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

The small cooling system line runs on top of the radiator and is clear of the cooling fan. There is no need to remove the small cooling line to remove the cooling fan. Removing the cooling fan takes 3 minutes; one electrical connector for the fan motor and one small Torx screw. It unclips and slides right up and out. Removing it makes the replacement of the belt and tensioner easier because it gives more room to work. As stated, it is not necessary.

I don't think he said anything about removing the coolant line - he said possibly breaking it or damaging it or something when removing the fan, so you should replace it after doing this.

I mean, OK, yeah, removing the fan would give MORE room, and sure it's easy to remove, but when there is already all the room in the world, why would you possibly bother? As I said, I JUST did this work on my 128i, and did the 328i last year. or the year before It about takes longer to get the tools out and put away than to change these parts already.

Now the guy who says he did this with all the air intake stuff in place - he's a glutton for punishment. And looking at my 128i anyway, I'm actually not sure how he did it, and the 328i is basically identical. Can't look at that one, it's 1600 miles away in cold storage.

All the room in the world - immigrant families could live between the block and the fan:

IMG_20200927_143955165 by kevinr1916, on Flickr

[mecheng77]

I'm surprised your ESS failed so early. When I replaced my VCG I sprung for a new OEM BMW valve cover so that I don't have to worry about it cracking but I left the ESS as it is very expensive

[Medusa]

Originally Posted by JingChai

My 2011 328i just hit 80k today! I got it back in 2015 with 39k miles.

So far the eccentric shaft sensor, oil pan housing gasket, oil pan gasket, transmission shifter seal, front brake rotors, and serpentine belt tensioner have been replace.

The valve cover gasket, VANOS solenoid, and water pump are still original.

Now that the car is 10 years old and with 80k miles, should I be aware of anything else that might need attention going forward?

I have a 2011 328i as well. I bought 2 years ago with 34K miles, now at 62K. Recently SES light came on and took to indy shop. Vanos code came up and I boought new Vanos solenoids. A couple of days later the SES was back on and same Vanos code. I was about to get some maintenance done like OFHG, VCG, etc. since car was leaking oil. So when I took car in to do VCG they called and told me they found out what the Vanos issue was. Some bolts on Vanos unit broke and they found 2 in oil pan. Found out there was a 10 year extended warranty on the Vanos unit for some models around my year and included mine due to the known bolt issue. So the BMW dealer had my car towed from indy shop (had to be authorized dealer per BMW) and I got a new Vanos unit, a new VCG, and oil change for FREE!!! (Around $3800 worth of work). The 10 year date starts when your car was first in service and my 10 period would have been up in about 6 months. Had this happened 7 months later I would have been S.O.L. I should probably start a thread about this Vanos unit 10 year extended warranty. This is my first time owning a BMW and I'm hoping to drive the car another 250K with it being well maintained.

[krhodes1]

Originally Posted by Medusa

I have a 2011 328i as well. I bought 2 years ago with 34K miles, now at 62K. Recently SES light came on and took to indy shop. Vanos code came up and I boought new Vanos solenoids. A couple of days later the SES was back on and same Vanos code. I was about to get some maintenance done like OFHG, VCG, etc. since car was leaking oil. So when I took car in to do VCG they called and told me they found out what the Vanos issue was. Some bolts on Vanos unit broke and they found 2 in oil pan. Found out there was a 10 year extended warranty on the Vanos unit for some models around my year and included mine due to the known bolt issue. So the BMW dealer had my car towed from indy shop (had to be authorized dealer per BMW) and I got a new Vanos unit, a new VCG, and oil change for FREE!!! (Around $3800 worth of work). The 10 year date starts when your car was first in service and my 10 period would have been up in about 6 months. Had this happened 7 months later I would have been S.O.L. I should probably start a thread about this Vanos unit 10 year extended warranty. This is my first time owning a BMW and I'm hoping to drive the car another 250K with it being well maintained.

There are already lots of threads about the vanos bolt issue, recall, and extended warranty. But nice that your indy knew about it and pointed you in the right direction rather than raping you for the work. THAT is an indy to stick with - honesty and knowledge is a wonderful combination!

One of my 2011s is out of the extended warranty already, one has a half year left. Though the one that is out is a SULEV, so should still be covered by THAT warranty for five more years.

[Medusa]

Originally Posted by krhodes1

There are already lots of threads about the vanos bolt issue, recall, and extended warranty. But nice that your indy knew about it and pointed you in the right direction rather than raping you for the work. THAT is an indy to stick with - honesty and knowledge is a wonderful combination!

One of my 2011s is out of the extended warranty already, one has a half year left. Though the one that is out is a SULEV, so should still be covered by THAT warranty for five more years.

Ok thanks, I'm new here. I will definitely stick with my indy! He also noticed an ignition coil was going out and change it and only charged me for the part - no labor and even let me ride in one of his loaners for days while my car was at dealer. I asked him about buying an extended warranty and he advised to just put aside $150/mo for a car fund. I just got OFHG, VCG, drive belt and tensioner, front arm bushings, and new vanos unit. I've had the car for 2 years and that's all I've done except tires, oil changes, and a couple of spark plugs/coils. I bought the car at CarMax and have no idea what was done prior. The car only has 62K miles but it's almost 10 years old so hard to determine when to get what at normal intervals. Any advice?