[rasa bmw]

Originally Posted by Rob330d

Intriguing discussions on engine issues.
Can anyone please tell me which type I have? (2006 e 92 330d se pre lci) Interested to learn if I've been wise with my 330d choice.
Love the car for all the reasons you guys do but it's the first car I've owned that I'm afraid of breaking!!
It's easily the most powerful car I've had but the first automatic. Tried a hard kick down last night at about 80 mph in D and dropped to 3rd from 6th. Is a 3 gear downshift normal at that speed?
Are the auto boxes able to withstand hard revving.
I know I've wandered off topic a bit here but can't help feeling that I need to be careful with this car as forums seem full of loving owners living in dread of lights on dash, DPF clogged, swirl flaps and the list goes on....
Funny that when I had less desirable cars in the past I worried less.

I really love the 330d coupe for its looks and power......but are they as bulletproof as some say?
Cheers
Rob

for me you have the most reliable (m57) shittiest for air filter change though,,little bit less bhp,,remap and get 300 bhp ish...

[nomiS330d]

Originally Posted by bayerischer

yes you are talking about blanking the swirl flaps. well guess what. my mechanic just did that coz my flaps were leaking, and that was probably due to the oil separator not being ever changed, so i will look at it. however, i am now considering buying a new intake manifold with swirl flaps, coz i lost power delivery, as others mention that too, however, some just refuse to acknowledge it. my mechanic and also other mechanics are suggesting to blank it saying you wont lose a drop of the power, but guess what, owners are complaining they lost some and i did too, so who is right!? and i suspect my fuel consumption went up and i think those flaps are there for a reason. i am even trying to eitgher call or visit and engine plant in Steyr austria where these engines and built, and ask someone who really knows his shit and not some joe knows it all without any credible claims

I’ve de-flapped 2 of these engines and honestly never noticed any difference in performance or fuel consumption what so ever! If I had of I would have put new flaps back in.

[Tambohamilton]

Originally Posted by ukbeemerboy

Main difference was M57 had an iron block, N57 is an alloy block and so lighter. On top of that the differences were mainly improvements over the M57 for lower emissions and Euro 5 compliance I think.

Old post, I know, but I *had* to comment... The M57T2 (aka M57 TU2) also has an aluminium block.

There are so many differences between the M and N series though. About all they have in common is that they're an awesome combination of quiet/powerful/economical/smooth...hard to beat, I think! Both of them can seem bullet proof or garbage, depending on use and servicing etc. Timing chains are the main mechanical difference, and it seems from forum experience that the N series is probably a tad more prone to failure...both series have had failures though.

[MrSweet1991]

Originally Posted by rasa bmw

for me you have the most reliable (m57) shittiest for air filter change though,,little bit less bhp,,remap and get 300 bhp ish...

Yeah, quite frankly the M57n2 has no worrying "common faults" which is the main thing you need to look into. Sure, they'll be an M57n2 story to cover just about anything, even timing chains but they're not know to be "common faults". The only things you need to look out got on the M57n2 is the brake vacuum pump which tends to leak oil (BMW £400+ or just get some gaskets for £6 from Poland haha) swirl flaps can deteriorate over time which leak oil on glow plugs and controller so get those blanked for piece of mind, I've done it and honestly a machine might be able to pick up a microscopic change in bottom end power but I couldn't feel nothing and I was genuinely focusing on that immediately after doing it!

Theres no crankcase breather filter built into the crankcase breather, if you have a higher mileage M57n2 engine consider the vortex breather for less maintenance or the loo-roll style for better filtering but needs changing every so often!

Thermostats will likely be failing/failed, if temp hovers in 70's its EGR if 80's its main stat but you may as well replace both lol

Timing chain isn't a "common fault" but ideally they should be changed around 100kish and the nice thing about the M57n2 is the chain is at the front! Easier to change, easier to hear the rattling if the tension/guides are starting to fail so thats a plus, I think n57 is at the rear and its known to have the same design flaw with the guides as the n47 which is probably the most worrying.

[Dowanm1]

Probably a silly question but can you put the N57 air box and maf etc on the m57 to get rid of the annoying air filter housing???