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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > E90 / E92 / E93 3-series Powertrain and Drivetrain Discussions > N55 Turbo Engine Tuning and Exhaust Modifications - 335i Tuning > N55 Reliability (rod bearing problems?)



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      10-21-2017, 08:52 PM   #45
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If your not under your hood often, you may never know something is going on until it's to late. I've realized this about an I drive, everything is kept in miliage and will only show when service is overdue, unles your looking for it. What this means is you may never know what's going on under your hood til it's too late. The oil housings is the worst leak to have, and will cause a motor if not addressed, as this has been documented. I just bought a ton of goodies from a guy to just fell victim to an ofh leak. Belt was shredded all around the crank. An oil sample is the best and only way to tell what's wearing in your motor and will show every metal that's in there. Any one who says different has never had one done, and would think it's cheap insurance for any turbo motor.
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      11-03-2017, 03:42 PM   #46
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I’m not up to date on this issue, but I figured I should chime in, as people don’t often come to forums to write about NOT having problems.

My 2011 N55 has 183,000+ miles, and 100,000 of those have been with a Pure Stage 1+tune. The car is probably making around 330whp/400tq.

Overall, the car has been pretty reliable. The only thing I’ve had to replace on the engine was the water pump (twice) and the oil filter housing gasket. I’ve also replaced the plugs and belt, but I consider that standard maintenance.

I’m still on the original HPFP and have never gotten the engine walnut blasted. It runs fine, but it is throwing shadow codes for low fuel pressure, so the pump is obviously tired.

No signs of bad rod bearings yet.

That tells me that the issue may be caused by some other external event and probably isn’t caused by the material of the bearings unless they used different bearings for different cars.
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      11-03-2017, 03:55 PM   #47
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Unklejoe View Post
I’m not up to date on this issue, but I figured I should chime in, as people don’t often come to forums to write about NOT having problems.

My 2011 N55 has 183,000+ miles, and 100,000 of those have been with a Pure Stage 1+tune. The car is probably making around 330whp/400tq.

Overall, the car has been pretty reliable. The only thing I’ve had to replace on the engine was the water pump (twice) and the oil filter housing gasket. I’ve also replaced the plugs and belt, but I consider that standard maintenance.

I’m still on the original HPFP and have never gotten the engine walnut blasted. It runs fine, but it is throwing shadow codes for low fuel pressure, so the pump is obviously tired.

No signs of bad rod bearings yet.

That tells me that the issue may be caused by some other external event and probably isn’t caused by the material of the bearings unless they used different bearings for different cars.
Wow original HPFP !!! Thats a record for sure ! Glad to hear yours had been reliable ! Any coolant leaks or repairs related so far ?
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      11-04-2017, 07:56 AM   #48
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Originally Posted by Bours View Post
Wow original HPFP !!! Thats a record for sure ! Glad to hear yours had been reliable ! Any coolant leaks or repairs related so far ?
Actually yes, I forgot to add that I replaced the coolant reservoir at around 100k. That was a 15 minute job.

I’m preparing myself for the HPFP job, as I know my time will come. What sucks is that back when I was researching the car, the HPFP was like $400 new, but now the new ones are like $800 and reman ones are $400. I’ll probably go with a reman.
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      11-04-2017, 01:28 PM   #49
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Unklejoe View Post
Actually yes, I forgot to add that I replaced the coolant reservoir at around 100k. That was a 15 minute job.

I’m preparing myself for the HPFP job, as I know my time will come. What sucks is that back when I was researching the car, the HPFP was like $400 new, but now the new ones are like $800 and reman ones are $400. I’ll probably go with a reman.
thanks for shedding knowledge brother.

for the coolant reservoir, did yo have to perform bleed procedures after?
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      11-04-2017, 06:09 PM   #50
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Unklejoe View Post
I’m not up to date on this issue, but I figured I should chime in, as people don’t often come to forums to write about NOT having problems.

My 2011 N55 has 183,000+ miles, and 100,000 of those have been with a Pure Stage 1+tune. The car is probably making around 330whp/400tq.

Overall, the car has been pretty reliable. The only thing I’ve had to replace on the engine was the water pump (twice) and the oil filter housing gasket. I’ve also replaced the plugs and belt, but I consider that standard maintenance.

I’m still on the original HPFP and have never gotten the engine walnut blasted. It runs fine, but it is throwing shadow codes for low fuel pressure, so the pump is obviously tired.

No signs of bad rod bearings yet.

That tells me that the issue may be caused by some other external event and probably isn’t caused by the material of the bearings unless they used different bearings for different cars.
Impressive! I strive to get to 300k miles on my car So far, so good!
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      11-05-2017, 10:31 AM   #51
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Unklejoe View Post
I’m not up to date on this issue, but I figured I should chime in, as people don’t often come to forums to write about NOT having problems.

My 2011 N55 has 183,000+ miles, and 100,000 of those have been with a Pure Stage 1+tune. The car is probably making around 330whp/400tq.

Overall, the car has been pretty reliable. The only thing I’ve had to replace on the engine was the water pump (twice) and the oil filter housing gasket. I’ve also replaced the plugs and belt, but I consider that standard maintenance.

I’m still on the original HPFP and have never gotten the engine walnut blasted. It runs fine, but it is throwing shadow codes for low fuel pressure, so the pump is obviously tired.

No signs of bad rod bearings yet.


That tells me that the issue may be caused by some other external event and probably isn’t caused by the material of the bearings unless they used different bearings for different cars.
I am curious what oil you have been running and if you used the same oil consistently over the 183,000 miles.
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      11-10-2017, 07:21 AM   #52
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71K miles no mods.

Maint / repairs:
- Plugs
- Belt / tensioner
- muffler replacement for exhaust flap
- water pump

No other engine related repairs. No OFHG or valve cover leaks (yet).
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      11-11-2017, 06:56 AM   #53
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Unklejoe View Post
Actually yes, I forgot to add that I replaced the coolant reservoir at around 100k. That was a 15 minute job.

I’m preparing myself for the HPFP job, as I know my time will come. What sucks is that back when I was researching the car, the HPFP was like $400 new, but now the new ones are like $800 and reman ones are $400. I’ll probably go with a reman.
Thats one hell of a reliable car you got there !!!

You are still on original radiator ? Original coolant hoses ? What about coils ?!
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      11-12-2017, 01:16 AM   #54
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Just valve cover, and water pump for my car. Just did oil sample. Was missing air filter for long time as well!
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      12-12-2017, 01:37 PM   #55
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Peen View Post
Just valve cover, and water pump for my car. Just did oil sample. Was missing air filter for long time as well!
Go show this 9000+mile report to all the engineers in this community preaching you need to change your oil every 2k miles. Oh and you use ethanol, better make it every 1000 miles. All that damn ethanol in your oil sure looks like it's wreaking havoc on your motor and oil!

LL-01 is literally one of the toughest oil standards in the industry. E.g. Castrol Edge LL-01 is praised on BITOG as a miracle oil yet these guys think they need 60wt race oils in daily drivers LOL. There is a good chance many people are using too thick of an oil.

Absolutely crazy to think some on these guys (ADE) are developing products, and driving development of products, for our platform.

Last edited by bbnks2; 12-12-2017 at 01:42 PM..
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      12-25-2017, 11:10 PM   #56
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seriously 100k miles with upgraded turbos and tune? Probably the first post I have seen saying that.

I have seen people get power hungry and run meth on upgraded turbos to over 550 whp and after 20k+ miles the engine goes to shit

I might upgrade to pure stage 2 soon but am avoiding it thinking it would lower engine and transmission reliability.
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      12-26-2017, 02:37 PM   #57
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Originally Posted by Vampire335i View Post
seriously 100k miles with upgraded turbos and tune? Probably the first post I have seen saying that.

I have seen people get power hungry and run meth on upgraded turbos to over 550 whp and after 20k+ miles the engine goes to shit

I might upgrade to pure stage 2 soon but am avoiding it thinking it would lower engine and transmission reliability.
Isn’t this the same transmission on N54’s? If so theyre pretty reliable, no?
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      12-26-2017, 10:11 PM   #58
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Unklejoe View Post
I’m not up to date on this issue, but I figured I should chime in, as people don’t often come to forums to write about NOT having problems.

My 2011 N55 has 183,000+ miles, and 100,000 of those have been with a Pure Stage 1+tune. The car is probably making around 330whp/400tq.

Overall, the car has been pretty reliable. The only thing I’ve had to replace on the engine was the water pump (twice) and the oil filter housing gasket. I’ve also replaced the plugs and belt, but I consider that standard maintenance.

I’m still on the original HPFP and have never gotten the engine walnut blasted. It runs fine, but it is throwing shadow codes for low fuel pressure, so the pump is obviously tired.

No signs of bad rod bearings yet.

That tells me that the issue may be caused by some other external event and probably isn’t caused by the material of the bearings unless they used different bearings for different cars.
Wow this made my day lol

Im 93k

Belts, pulleys, tensioner
Ofhg
Valve cover due to bad pcv
Water pump and thermostat
Surge tank
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      12-29-2017, 07:47 AM   #59
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Quote:
Originally Posted by E46toE90 View Post
Wow this made my day lol

Im 93k

Belts, pulleys, tensioner
Ofhg
Valve cover due to bad pcv
Water pump and thermostat
Surge tank
105k here. I've replaced the above and more...

Add:
* Valvetronic motor
* manual transmission (2nd gear synchro was starting to grind when shifted hard)
* power steering rack (leaking)
* passenger side wheel bearing


All common issues on the E9x and E8x... Good ole' German engineering.
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      12-29-2017, 09:39 AM   #60
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Originally Posted by bbnks2 View Post
105k here. I've replaced the above and more...

Add:
* Valvetronic motor
* manual transmission (2nd gear synchro was starting to grind when shifted hard)
* power steering rack (leaking)
* passenger side wheel bearing


All common issues on the E9x and E8x... Good ole' German engineering.
What were failing valvetronic motor symptoms bd how difficult was it to remove and replace?
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      12-29-2017, 09:49 AM   #61
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Originally Posted by dleccord View Post
What were failing valvetronic motor symptoms bd how difficult was it to remove and replace?
Electric clicking sound when locking or unlocking the car. A little rough idle. Took 5 months for mine to throw a code.
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      12-29-2017, 12:15 PM   #62
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Electric clicking sound when locking or unlocking the car. A little rough idle. Took 5 months for mine to throw a code.
I never had any clicking. Electronics must've went on the motor. I went to start the car up and valvetronic was dead. Eccentric shaft was stuck at minimum valve lift. Car wouldn't turn over. I didn't get any noise from it until I set the eccentric shaft to max lift manually. Then it clicked and threw codes until I unplugged it. I think it had "failsafed" to max lift. upon removing my batteyr the car tried ot re-learn the stop points and it finally died at minimum lift upon first crank.

I think my car had been running off the throttle for months... car threw an occasional valvetronic code, but I had no idea the DME was disabling valvetronic due to faults until it finally fully died. Idle was a bit lumpy and the car appeared to be running off the throttle plated in MHD logs. It now drives fine with valvtornic disabled (still lumpy idle and fault codes present obviously).
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      01-06-2018, 06:47 PM   #63
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Quote:
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Electric clicking sound when locking or unlocking the car. A little rough idle. Took 5 months for mine to throw a code.
elaborate on clicking sound. mine seems to do the same i cant say its in engine. when i unlock i hear noise but i just thought it was dme waking .
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      01-06-2018, 09:44 PM   #64
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elaborate on clicking sound. mine seems to do the same i cant say its in engine. when i unlock i hear noise but i just thought it was dme waking .
It's very distinct and happens on both wake(unlock) and locking. It is different than the fuel pump priming sound when unlocking. Pretty sure I posted a video of mine somewhere.
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      03-01-2018, 06:48 PM   #65
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Rod Bearing Failure

Just wondering of there are any updates on the cause of n55 rod bearing faiures?
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      03-02-2018, 04:20 AM   #66
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I'm at about 87k so far on the car. Brought at 50k and So far the only issues I have had were:

1. Valvetronic eccentric shaft actuator
2. Coolant reservoir
3. HPFP(just one)
4. Coolant leaks non stop!
5. passenger door actuator
6. Endlinks
7. starter
8. may have a vacuum pump on the way out.
9. Battery

Everything else has just been preventative maintenance or Mods. As for the Rod bearing issues im willing to bet occur from not using the correct oil and changing oil frequently i.e 5k miles max. There is no way i'm letting this car run 10-15k between oil changes.
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