Not been on here for a while I bought my 2013 330d m sport 5 years ago and tbh I’ve only had to spend money on servicing in all that time except for replacement of the rocker gasket. I have always had the old girl serviced when it asked for it. but about a month ago i started her up to a loud knocking sound . I took her to my local bmw specialist who I have used for over 20 years for all my previous BMW’s. He informed be of the dreaded crank failure she’s badly broken. so I found a complete engine out of a crash damaged car with 81k on it,mine had done 120k I’m now in the process of doing the chains crank bearings etc and rocker gasket before fitting the replacement engine. I’m keeping my Egr valve and cooler as bmw replaced them under recall. so 4k for the complete engine and £1800 for all the new work for peace of mind. The car probably isn’t worth all the hassle but I’m not in the situation at the moment to buy a new car as to get the same spec as what mine has and she’s in very good condition it was 8k ish. yes maybe I’d have been better buying another 330d but in my mind in 18months or maybe more it could happen again. So now I know the new engine is future proof for the years to come. He told me he’s has many n57 engines failing and it’s a big problem with BMW’s. never thought I’d have it happen to me but goes to show you never know.
Although it sounds like a painful financial hit, it did makes sense if you appreciate the car for what it is, and no way you could buy another one for £5.8K. Hoping this engine goes you many, many miles of perfect service. Out of interest, what is it that makes the N57 crank go bump? Asking as I have a friend with a 2013 330d.
Perhaps “I have always had the old girl serviced when it asked for it” gives a clue to one reason for crank failure. Many on this forum are of the mind that an interim oil change is a sensible idea. That, and not warming the engine before using high revs or WOT. Short trips also won’t help as the engine won’t reach optimum running temperature. Of course all the above applies to any vehicle’s engine.
+1 on the extra oil changes. All my cars get it done at 6k or 12 months. Easy diy job and no need to buy the most expensive oil just as long as it has ll04 or whatever on the can.
The problem is the BMW oil change interval in the UK appears to be designed to cause the engine, cam chain and turbo to fail at a little over 100k miles. In the USA the oil change interval is half that of the UK. For the police the interval is even shorter than that. If you look at the oil filter and oil after 18k miles it's terrible, all sludged up.
My old force it was 6000 mile intervals between services for motorway and traffic cars. Thats a full service not just an oil change. In the days of the Volvo T5s it was quite common for front tyres and discs to need changing every service. The workshops could not cope and the intervals were extended to 9000 miles
It makes no sense tbh my mechanic said there’s no tell tail signs they just go. There is an updated bearing going back in supposedly with bigger holes for the oil
