Bro that’s not regular maintenance. Just because you “replace” parts that shouldn’t fail as often as they do, doesn’t make them reliable. Your trippin. All N54 owners gotta stop lying to the public. These engines are not reliable for the everyday person. This is a an actual race engine and needs to be treated as such. Where the engine fails is the accessory surrounding the engine. But still the internals are still fragile
It finally struck me why you point at everything with a toothbrush - so you can clear the crud off of what youre pointing at at the same time - brilliant!
You didn`t remove the crank snout. That is how you remove the chain from the crank. It is not necessary to take the engine completely apart just to replace the chain. And the chain usually lasts for a long time in these engines, unlike some other infamous BMW engines. The turbos aren`t too bad to work on. At least not in the 3 series. You need to drop the front subframe but that isn`t that hard and it shouldn`t take too long. the xi (all wheel drive) cars are usually a lot harder to work on though. The oil cooler lines are mounted to the oil filter housing, but this car didn`t have it. I believe the first year of production didn`t have the oil cooler. But it`s an easy upgrade to just change the oil filter housing. The housing would probably already be leaking anyways so it wouldn`t be that much more work to upgrade to a oil cooler when changing the gasket. Yes these engines like to leak oil, but other than that they are pretty solid engines today. That is after the high pressure fuel pump has been replaced and the injectors have been upgraded to the newest revision. This one was probably tuned by someone who really didn`t know what they were doing.
@@speedkar99 The hex head in the front of the crank is a bolt I believe. If you loosen that one the snout should just fall off or slide off. I've never taken one of these completely apart, only done basic maintenance so I can't tell for sure.
Am fixing an N52 (manufactured 08/2005), and I'm just finding blown gasket after blown gasket after blown hose. It's crazy how much oil and coolant the thing is just leaking. Also they ran the injection valve / spark plug harness connection behind the engine secured by a metal bracket with 2 screws which were genuinely impossible to get to. It was fun getting them out.
They might have been a failure for BMW's bottom line, with all the recalls for wastegate rattle, HPFP, injectors, but once you got that all sorted (which most did under warranty) to the revisions that worked, it was a great motor. Quite reliable, and surprisingly serviceable as long as you didn't need to touch the turbo side. Valve covers and oil filter housing gaskets weren't too bad, at least for a BMW :)
@@n54action right I forgot the water pump, fortunately a pretty easy fix too. My turbos were rock solid and didn't rattle after they were replaced, for 8 years. Might have been lucky! Also didn't need to do a valve cover gasket personally in 70k miles of ownership. Stock, no tuning, hard track driving. Lots of others have had to.
@@n54action the gaskets do not fail in 30k miles. You need a metal upgraded pcv and catch can (under $150) they will make 500whp without blowing a valve cover gasket for over 100k miles. Sounds like you had some uncle bumblefuck working on yours, thats usually the real problem with them.
@@markburkey6371 Stock plastic PCV's are the reason the VCG fails. The one way valve clogs shut and cannot properly vent crankcase pressure. Once you replace it with an aftermarket steel valve, you can vent tons of crankcase pressure without any issue. I have made over 700whp on a stock bottom end n54, and reliably 550hp on a 220k mile car. The 220k+ mile car NEVER blew a valve cover gasket after I replaced it and the pcv @roughly 160k miles. The car made that power for 60k miles before the engine was pulled and refreshed for another track car. He is currently making 750+hp on that same block + untouched liners.
If they are maintained and this is one of the best engines BMW ever made. You will have to replace turbos eventually if they haven't been done. But, the rest is all plastic crap breaking that's pretty easy to DIY.
My friend had a X5 with the N57. Car was great, low miles and drove really well. Maintained at the dealership. 80k miles in and turbo blew along with other crap. They ended selling at a lose. You will almost always loose a lot of money with these cars than most, whether the massive depreciation hit or high maintenance costs.
15:57 Two inches from his hand there is the MAP sensor on the intake Manifold as he's saying "I'm surprised there aren't any sensors on top of here". Unfortunately he's talking to us as someone that doesn't know these engine very well. I do know that the supporting parts for the engine have been troublesome in the past (Most anyone that has any experience with them knows about these parts such as the water pump and what once was a problem but is now very rarely, the HPFP) and if you don't keep up with the maintenance. However to call this engine "A Failure" is very Naive. It's extremely popular and used massively in high power situations due to it's robustness and that the internals are mostly forged giving it much more ability to stand high boost and high power. He does know this yet is calling it a failure? I think this is due to some bitterness he has with it or those that have used it or BMW itself. He over states some of the problems and generalizes in explaining some of the things as well (Such as oil leaks and head gasket) which leads me to believe he's not just a neutral mechanic in this tear down and in calling this incredibly successful engine "A Failure". He's not saying "Why did this engine fail?" He's calling the whole engine in general a failure which is the farthest thing from the truth.
I had one of these engines. Phenomenal in power and smooth. Now I have the newer N55 which went back to the same cheap direct injectors all other brands use. The new B58's switched over to a closed deck design. Proving to be a very reliable engine... Will still likely need to do valve covers every 80k tho lol
@@speedkar99 These have a lot of issues, but many dead N54s are bros trying to push 500+ whp tuned by their cousin who walks around in a cloud of vape juice. The turbos / wastegates are the big issue for normal people.
These are great engines when they run. Make a lot of power under the curve and feel stronger than their rated output. Those rod bearings don't look that bad actually for a BMW N54/N55. The rod bearings in these engines are an early application of Glyco G-488 (rod side) and G-444 (cap side) bearing materials. Glyco calls these "intelligent" bearing materials and they have a softer surface that is meant to wear away and then reveal a progressively harder surface over time. So, that wear you see might have been there for quite a long time. It's some kind of tin/nickel alloy and usually looks a bit dark after they have worn in.
👍 never heard of that, thanks for the comment info. I'm still not sure if that is a good or bad design 😂 Apparently it's meant to be a better longer lasting bearing surface design. 🤔 maybe soft spots wear away in the areas of high harder metal spots below, revealing the high spots of the harder surface below. So the crank is rolling on a nice smooth even bearing surface. 🤷♂️
@@michaelbrinks8089I honestly don't know how they work in practice. A lot of N55s have rod bearing failure but it seems secondary to starvation issues. BMW has since switched to IROX sputter coated bearings and those seem to be great.
@@speedkar99 No problem. I have to say I don’t know how good this material is in practice because everyone seems to have switched to the sputter coated bearings now.
I'm surprised there are so few comments relating to the rarity of this kind of internal failure under 550whp. Yes, it can and does happen from time to time at lower power. However, this engine was probably running 25-30+psi and 600+whp. Even with leaking injectors wiping oil off cylinder walls or whatever other issue you can imagine. They're still reliable internally. I realize I am a biased N54 owner. However, I'm running ~575whp on upgraded turbos and I've had one single engine problem in the last 5 years, which was a faulty crank position sensor. Not even a common issue, but anything is fair game on a 15+ year old engine. That said, about 5 years ago, I did spend $4-5k and a lot of time and effort replacing almost everything I possibly could that's external to the engine. Ultimately, the N54 is an absolute blast and it can be reliable with proper maintenance and some effort. I really have 0 concerns about longevity at 575whp. Quality tuning, be cautious with boost down low, stay on top of maintenance, etc. and all is good.
100% its the people what can't afford the maintenance that ruin it. Guy locally trying to sell a n54 and he listed 6 things the bmw service dept listed as needing service for like 15k he did literally ZERO preventative maintenance
Looks like a lot of folks in the comments got their butts handed to them by N54s. The only reason for N54 hate because it’s a phenomenal engine and has been recognized as such by everyone that matters.
You are right about the diaper boxes, very handy for sure. I love how you tell it like it is lol. How is your neighbors house going. Thanks for another fantastic and informative video!
M54 is the BMW equivalent of the Volvo red block. Stout, strong, nearly bulletproof. The one in my E53 X5 has almost 200K miles and starts instantly with no smoke, no leaks, no tickies and has never been opened. @@speedkar99
It's a very sad story, the route of unreliability BMW has gone down since my days, the 70s and 80s, when a BMW would EASILY run for 320,000+ miles before even needing to consider a rebuild.
@@trundlepufpendants I've seen them in the junk yards. The A20A3 and A4 were the pinnacle of the series. Many are going to scrap as they are so old now. I hope he will find one!
If you get an N54 car stick to 2009-2010 model year because they have the updated MSD81 ECU where as the 2007-2008 years have the very problematic MSD80 ECU.
@@speedkar99 I have a 2010 528i. I’ve had to replace the valve cover and do a transmission service where I replaced the ATF pan with a metal model from O’Reilly’s that has a replaceable filter and a drain plug. Next on the list is the oil pan gasket but it’s not bad enough to mess with now. 264k miles and a really nice car.
Very informative video; thank you. They can be troublesome engines but they are not so bad when given proper maintenance. Stay away from any tuned N54 engines - that is just asking for trouble.
Mine is tuned with methanol injection. But I hardly ever run it with the tune on. At 150k. Just replaced my own turbos with Vargas upgraded ones. I'm 57 and the car hauls butt still.
03:56 "..absolutely coated in oil which is a typical BMW...." I came here for your dry sense of humor. Edit: 4:35 I knew that sooner or later you were going to get into trouble with your brother and your wife for using their clothes as oil spills cleaning rags..
They can actually melt pistons on OTS tunes too, provided there isn't adequate cooling from the intercooler. It's quite common to see in tuned N54s, despite how careful their ECUs are.
@@somerandomusernamenobodyhas I have been tuning n54s for the better part of a decade and NEVER seen an engine failure on an ots map. Unless the engine was already damaged, or MAYBE seen a forum post about one of the trash cobb tunes everyone knows are bad. I have seen ots maps expose bad plugs, valve cover gasket leaks, push injectors harder and expose one of those failing, overspin turbos (usually stock inlets causes this, too restrictive, its like a putting a sock in a vacuum cleaner), but never damage the internals. Truly believe the stock turbos do not make enough wind / generate enough cylinder pressure to do this damage. This engine was making easily double stock power when it failed, probably lean on a bad tune aswell. On either a single turbo or (most likely) chinese upgraded twins.
@@fry.mastersay #6 injector failed, it'd be really easy for a hole to burn through a piston even on a stock tune if the O²/knock sensors don't catch it in time...using poor fuel quality could hurt as well but only mixed with the other common n54 issues...
@@markburkey6371 False. A lean condition on a cylinder will almost always cause a misfire + disabling of the cylinder altogether on n54's or any modern bmw. M54's even will use the coil pack ionization sensing to determine if an indirect injector is clogged...
The only thing I saw that I liked was that beefy bedplate incorporating the main caps. I'll be that last cylinder failed because the ring ends butted together.
Thanks SpeedKar99 for confirming the BMW timed obsolescence bias. The timing chain captive on the crank is a clear indication that they expect the consumer to replace the car before the timing chain. Also the plastic oil pickup tube and $$ injectors 😅
My only real gripe with the N54 is the plastics. I’ve got a 2007 335i that I’ve had for 11 years or so. It just keeps taking more mods and running like a scalded dog. It’s at 135k right now and I see no reason I can’t make it to 200k.
Failure? Pretty sure the N54 won best engine of the year several years. Mine has been one of the most reliable cars I have owned. If you can't turn a wrench, and have zero mechanical skills, yah probably not the car for you. If you enjoy wrenching, and tuner type vehicles the N54 cannot be beat in it's price range. Buy a good one for 8k, put 5k in maintenance in it and it will eat most cars on the road, and do it in style. If you want Toyota type reliability then enjoy the 120hp and plastic bud light can feel.
I have 2004 toyota prius . I replaced its engine 4months ago from then there is an issue while it is running on freeway hybrid battery is not being charged but when i apply break and keep it stop park car it is charging. Then , i also replaced its inverter and hybrid battery but the problem is same there. Can u plz suggest me what’s the problem with it and what should i do.
i have owned 3 n54’s. One of them made 500whp on the original turbos at 220k miles. its all about proper maintenance + education. they will make you a better mechanic or you will fail and give up.
@@n54action well when all the stars line up I'm sure it will be okay but today's supposed gearhead is no gearhead. They don't usually bust open their engine, build it up, and get their hands dirty. Maybe its an age thing but power today is about using a factory engine to push the limits. So not only do they gamble with fate but they also accelerate wear and tear. Age of the engine has an impact too so think ticking time bomb for those loose and wild versus what maybe you and other responsible owners will manage with their cars, taking utmost care of oil and other items like sensors.
@@jamesmedina2062 650whp is totally safe if you have a proper tune. I have a customer who has been making that on a 100k-180k motor over the last 4 years. unopened n54 with a metal pcv, catch can, index 12s and a single turbo + port fuel injection. My tune.
N54 felt great in actual driving. In comparison N55 single turbo feels lumpy in power delivery (despite having better numbers). My N54 did fail on the camshaft (VANOS control) - massively expensive fix if it wasn't under warranty.
@speedkar99 had mine 7 years. Been running 565bhp now for 3 years. Regular oil changes and proper maintenance done..it's a beast. Just idiots give it a bad name.
@@speedkar99 he's talking about the clam shell steel seals eating the clamshells, you can get an entire kit from FCP euro with lifetime warranty for around 1500, new clamshells, new seals, etc. and if it's pure unreliable performance, why does mine have 183K miles?
Ngl I just did my valve cover gasket on my 2010 bmw 535i and the engine ceased right after that, cylinder 4 & 6 gave up idk 🤷🏾♂️ how that happened remind you a keep fresh oil at all time
@@speedkar99 yeah! I was a Suzuki tech for the last few years & only saw a couple. They were rebadged Daewoo cars, also sold by GM & Isuzu (iirc). Decent build quality, I think, I didn't see many, and none for warranty work.
Amazed at how hung up we in the US are about the air pollution yet recycle all the oil fumes back into the combustion, then out the tail pipe. We see the results of that in loss of efficiency, carbon build up, cat problems, O2 sensor failure. I guess that's all part of the give or take. Its a pity it takes recalls to sort out engineering problems. How efficient is that? I know nothing of these engines but they do look well built & as the commentators have said, once sorted out, run like fine German engineering. Leaks though like a Harley. 😉 That robin (bird) sounded POed in the first part of the video. Thanks Sdk99!
dude we are hung up with air pollution? How do you figure? There are only smog tests in a handful of cities and in the other 98% of counties there are none. You can ask the EPA yourself and they will tell you that SEMA bought them out. Pro-industry and EPA does not mind all the cars going catless because they will do nothing about it. Why do you think hundreds of catless downpipes are sold??? But back to your point you make a good one. My answer is that they really don't care about you. They work for industry. Port injection is way better for the atmosphere. It is cleaner and 15 times less soot. What DI does is use maybe 5% less fuel and allow sightly higher compression. But it's dirty as hell. Remember Ford, VW, and Toyota went back to port injection in mixed use.
Auto Manufacturers will wax poetic about how green they are, and then put plastic covers on engines that guarantee they'll eventually leak toxic oil and fluids out into the environment.
And last half as long as they could. They decided decades ago that their owners don't own their cars long enough to care how long they last beyond warranty. And I'm sure they're happy with the side effect of selling more cars more often While preaching about fuel economy and environmental responsibility and the transition to electric, yada yada
Here in the UK we had lots of people complaining about premature N47 failures on fully serviced cars leading to horrendous repair bills and BMW just didn't want to know. Long story short, the BBC investigated it on a program called "watchdog" and commissioned a respected engineer to strip one down on air and provide an opinion. He concluded the timing chain wasn't designed to be changed and should last the life of the car so the design was defective. Many failed after less than 60,000 miles. The outcome created so much bad publicity BMW changed their stance and set up a free phone line and started paying for repairs on fully serviced vehicles. Reputation suffered but it seems they didn't learn. Here's a short clip of the program: ua-cam.com/video/HQpQIi7gI_U/v-deo.htmlsi=052uN6Cy8IAsuFCn
Some other yter said "If you can't afford a new BMW, you can't afford a used one either" Nice cars though, but not very premium in some regards (plastic sht)..
Carbon build up is notorious with any direct injection engine which is most these days, this fella has no idea, he is not a mechanic by any means, he is a backyard mechanic that spins B.S
Not a problem, there's so much else that needs to be replaced on a regular basis on a BMW (Bring Mir Werkzeug) engine that the cumbersome chain setup is just a minor nuisance :P
For my money the bmw is hands down better than some broke ass Honda. Living in Orange County myself i can’t believe I even see them outside off Santa Ana
@@michaelbabakhanian516 Agree. Mine is at 198,000km so similar to yours. Well maintained and any worn parts replaced. Zero code, no misfire, nothing. The joke was regarding 1:12
Anyone who thinks the N54 was a failure doesn’t know how to perform basic regular maintenance. Mine’s on 172k miles running 450hp and it’s rock solid.
Awesome!
Im pushing well over 500 on mine with 17ts,custom tuning etc with very few issues,just turned 133k miles
Bro that’s not regular maintenance. Just because you “replace” parts that shouldn’t fail as often as they do, doesn’t make them reliable. Your trippin. All N54 owners gotta stop lying to the public. These engines are not reliable for the everyday person. This is a an actual race engine and needs to be treated as such. Where the engine fails is the accessory surrounding the engine. But still the internals are still fragile
I've got 187K on my 335i N54. Original engine, turbos and transmission. Everything has been replaced. LOL
@@BryanChance yes that’s not reliable. Still a badass car
I've been waiting too long for this video. I'm N54 shopping right now. I think I need therapy.
An older n52 is better
@@greathey1234 yeah I have one right now and it's just so slow for the gas I'm spending. My friends with n54s get much better mpg than I do
Sorry. I shot this back in summer and I'm playing catch up
@@gabrielpuebla5930I agree. N54 is way better as long as you fix the issues.
@@gabrielpuebla5930if an n54 is getting better gas mileage than an n52, something is wrong with your motor...
It finally struck me why you point at everything with a toothbrush - so you can clear the crud off of what youre pointing at at the same time - brilliant!
It's also his brother's toothbrush.
That's how it started ...when I cleaned a throttle body with my brother's toothbrush
@@rudolphguarnacci197Èfghg⁷…7⁷67_⁴⁵
Can u make😘
I have N54 with 300.000km its running smooth without any problems. Really happy with this beast
Don't boost it
@@speedkar99 just stage 1
I have downpipe
Upgraded intercooler
Kn filters
Muff delete
If engine blows i throw car away
@@speedkar99 I've been daily driving my N54 for years with over 500 hp and loving it! It has over 317,000.
@@friguy4444how do you do it? Did you upgrade any certain parts?
Oil consumption?
You didn`t remove the crank snout. That is how you remove the chain from the crank. It is not necessary to take the engine completely apart just to replace the chain. And the chain usually lasts for a long time in these engines, unlike some other infamous BMW engines.
The turbos aren`t too bad to work on. At least not in the 3 series. You need to drop the front subframe but that isn`t that hard and it shouldn`t take too long. the xi (all wheel drive) cars are usually a lot harder to work on though.
The oil cooler lines are mounted to the oil filter housing, but this car didn`t have it. I believe the first year of production didn`t have the oil cooler. But it`s an easy upgrade to just change the oil filter housing. The housing would probably already be leaking anyways so it wouldn`t be that much more work to upgrade to a oil cooler when changing the gasket.
Yes these engines like to leak oil, but other than that they are pretty solid engines today. That is after the high pressure fuel pump has been replaced and the injectors have been upgraded to the newest revision. This one was probably tuned by someone who really didn`t know what they were doing.
Totally missed the crank snout...is there something else I have to take off or does it just slide out?
@@speedkar99 The hex head in the front of the crank is a bolt I believe. If you loosen that one the snout should just fall off or slide off. I've never taken one of these completely apart, only done basic maintenance so I can't tell for sure.
Am fixing an N52 (manufactured 08/2005), and I'm just finding blown gasket after blown gasket after blown hose. It's crazy how much oil and coolant the thing is just leaking. Also they ran the injection valve / spark plug harness connection behind the engine secured by a metal bracket with 2 screws which were genuinely impossible to get to. It was fun getting them out.
They might have been a failure for BMW's bottom line, with all the recalls for wastegate rattle, HPFP, injectors, but once you got that all sorted (which most did under warranty) to the revisions that worked, it was a great motor. Quite reliable, and surprisingly serviceable as long as you didn't need to touch the turbo side. Valve covers and oil filter housing gaskets weren't too bad, at least for a BMW :)
@@n54action right I forgot the water pump, fortunately a pretty easy fix too. My turbos were rock solid and didn't rattle after they were replaced, for 8 years. Might have been lucky! Also didn't need to do a valve cover gasket personally in 70k miles of ownership. Stock, no tuning, hard track driving. Lots of others have had to.
@@miketdaviesXdrive car water pump jobs are absolutely deadly.
@@n54action the gaskets do not fail in 30k miles. You need a metal upgraded pcv and catch can (under $150) they will make 500whp without blowing a valve cover gasket for over 100k miles. Sounds like you had some uncle bumblefuck working on yours, thats usually the real problem with them.
@@fry.mastern54s will not last that long at that power level without at least a leaking valve cover...let alone a bunch of other things going bad...
@@markburkey6371 Stock plastic PCV's are the reason the VCG fails. The one way valve clogs shut and cannot properly vent crankcase pressure. Once you replace it with an aftermarket steel valve, you can vent tons of crankcase pressure without any issue. I have made over 700whp on a stock bottom end n54, and reliably 550hp on a 220k mile car. The 220k+ mile car NEVER blew a valve cover gasket after I replaced it and the pcv @roughly 160k miles. The car made that power for 60k miles before the engine was pulled and refreshed for another track car. He is currently making 750+hp on that same block + untouched liners.
I got mine from its original owner at 178k stock, now its at 199k and pushing 450hp. Its been problem free apart from water pump and a few gaskets.
If they are maintained and this is one of the best engines BMW ever made. You will have to replace turbos eventually if they haven't been done. But, the rest is all plastic crap breaking that's pretty easy to DIY.
Miles or kilometers? Either way impressive
10:42 Him putting back the oil pump cover perfectly timed with this background thud
My friend had a X5 with the N57. Car was great, low miles and drove really well. Maintained at the dealership. 80k miles in and turbo blew along with other crap. They ended selling at a lose. You will almost always loose a lot of money with these cars than most, whether the massive depreciation hit or high maintenance costs.
15:57 Two inches from his hand there is the MAP sensor on the intake Manifold as he's saying "I'm surprised there aren't any sensors on top of here". Unfortunately he's talking to us as someone that doesn't know these engine very well. I do know that the supporting parts for the engine have been troublesome in the past (Most anyone that has any experience with them knows about these parts such as the water pump and what once was a problem but is now very rarely, the HPFP) and if you don't keep up with the maintenance. However to call this engine "A Failure" is very Naive. It's extremely popular and used massively in high power situations due to it's robustness and that the internals are mostly forged giving it much more ability to stand high boost and high power. He does know this yet is calling it a failure? I think this is due to some bitterness he has with it or those that have used it or BMW itself. He over states some of the problems and generalizes in explaining some of the things as well (Such as oil leaks and head gasket) which leads me to believe he's not just a neutral mechanic in this tear down and in calling this incredibly successful engine "A Failure". He's not saying "Why did this engine fail?" He's calling the whole engine in general a failure which is the farthest thing from the truth.
I always wanted to know how those oil pumps worked, thank you very much! Great video.
You are welcome
I had one of these engines. Phenomenal in power and smooth. Now I have the newer N55 which went back to the same cheap direct injectors all other brands use. The new B58's switched over to a closed deck design. Proving to be a very reliable engine... Will still likely need to do valve covers every 80k tho lol
Yeah I hope the B58 holds up better than this
@@speedkar99 These have a lot of issues, but many dead N54s are bros trying to push 500+ whp tuned by their cousin who walks around in a cloud of vape juice. The turbos / wastegates are the big issue for normal people.
It's awesome hearing a real review on the ol N54. But why replace the valve cover every 80k?
Gasket leaks on the passenger side, plastic cover can warp, and the built in crankcase valve should be replaced anyways to keep oil out of the intake.
Have a b58 at 90k, so far so good. 500hp 550 tourqe
These are great engines when they run. Make a lot of power under the curve and feel stronger than their rated output. Those rod bearings don't look that bad actually for a BMW N54/N55. The rod bearings in these engines are an early application of Glyco G-488 (rod side) and G-444 (cap side) bearing materials. Glyco calls these "intelligent" bearing materials and they have a softer surface that is meant to wear away and then reveal a progressively harder surface over time. So, that wear you see might have been there for quite a long time. It's some kind of tin/nickel alloy and usually looks a bit dark after they have worn in.
👍 never heard of that, thanks for the comment info. I'm still not sure if that is a good or bad design 😂 Apparently it's meant to be a better longer lasting bearing surface design. 🤔 maybe soft spots wear away in the areas of high harder metal spots below, revealing the high spots of the harder surface below. So the crank is rolling on a nice smooth even bearing surface. 🤷♂️
@@michaelbrinks8089I honestly don't know how they work in practice. A lot of N55s have rod bearing failure but it seems secondary to starvation issues. BMW has since switched to IROX sputter coated bearings and those seem to be great.
@@chrisbradley3224 Your comments got me curious and make me wanna start reading/learning about these bearings parts I never heard about.
That's an interesting material! Thanks for that information
@@speedkar99 No problem. I have to say I don’t know how good this material is in practice because everyone seems to have switched to the sputter coated bearings now.
I'm surprised there are so few comments relating to the rarity of this kind of internal failure under 550whp. Yes, it can and does happen from time to time at lower power. However, this engine was probably running 25-30+psi and 600+whp. Even with leaking injectors wiping oil off cylinder walls or whatever other issue you can imagine. They're still reliable internally.
I realize I am a biased N54 owner. However, I'm running ~575whp on upgraded turbos and I've had one single engine problem in the last 5 years, which was a faulty crank position sensor. Not even a common issue, but anything is fair game on a 15+ year old engine. That said, about 5 years ago, I did spend $4-5k and a lot of time and effort replacing almost everything I possibly could that's external to the engine.
Ultimately, the N54 is an absolute blast and it can be reliable with proper maintenance and some effort. I really have 0 concerns about longevity at 575whp. Quality tuning, be cautious with boost down low, stay on top of maintenance, etc. and all is good.
100% its the people what can't afford the maintenance that ruin it. Guy locally trying to sell a n54 and he listed 6 things the bmw service dept listed as needing service for like 15k he did literally ZERO preventative maintenance
If you ever happen on an S54 I would love to see you tear it down. To me, it’s the best engine they have built.
Looks like a lot of folks in the comments got their butts handed to them by N54s. The only reason for N54 hate because it’s a phenomenal engine and has been recognized as such by everyone that matters.
Look forward to seeing a tear down of B58 in another 10 years!!
Oil pump internals are incredible! what an epic design for a part
You are right about the diaper boxes, very handy for sure. I love how you tell it like it is lol. How is your neighbors house going. Thanks for another fantastic and informative video!
Me neighbor's house stalled.
Probably an economic thing.
It's framed, roofed and windows. That's it.
You are welcome. I like the diaper boxes, they're Stronger than the Amazon box.
Great tear down vid thanks for sharing
You are welcome
Great video. Not to be confused with the M54 which is a fantastic engine.
Agreed ...the older ones were more reliable
M54 is the BMW equivalent of the Volvo red block. Stout, strong, nearly bulletproof. The one in my E53 X5 has almost 200K miles and starts instantly with no smoke, no leaks, no tickies and has never been opened. @@speedkar99
It's a very sad story, the route of unreliability BMW has gone down since my days, the 70s and 80s, when a BMW would EASILY run for 320,000+ miles before even needing to consider a rebuild.
Now it's about performance at any cost...
to be fair it was tuning that likely killed this one. People could not tune in double the power in previous eras
Still waiting for a Honda A20A3 I like what you do!
The world still waiting for a stock one to blow up 😂
@@trundlepufpendants I've seen them in the junk yards. The A20A3 and A4 were the pinnacle of the series. Many are going to scrap as they are so old now. I hope he will find one!
Didn't know an A series existed..
@@speedkar99 I hope you get one, and show us! I really like your videos!
If you get an N54 car stick to 2009-2010 model year because they have the updated MSD81 ECU where as the 2007-2008 years have the very problematic MSD80 ECU.
This is fantastic! I suffer from BMW but I also enjoy working on them so this is one engine I e never worked on.
Nice! Which one(s) do you have?
@@speedkar99 I have a 2010 528i. I’ve had to replace the valve cover and do a transmission service where I replaced the ATF pan with a metal model from O’Reilly’s that has a replaceable filter and a drain plug. Next on the list is the oil pan gasket but it’s not bad enough to mess with now. 264k miles and a really nice car.
Man i love this guy and his videos i love all of them. Though my is an e46 3.0 and I had the same problem on piston number 4 on m54 engine
Did it burn the ring lands?
Yes they were gone and the cylinder wall was in a bad shape
Old post, quite common on an m54 cars. Car running lean with cracked PVC tubing. Not catching it in time is the results you are experiencing.
Does big end #5 on the crankshaft look bad? The damaged piston was #6 and big end #6 looks OK.
BMW love their plastic ... Cheap and breaks exactly on time right after the warranty period.
Valve covers 🤦♂️
Very informative video; thank you. They can be troublesome engines but they are not so bad when given proper maintenance. Stay away from any tuned N54 engines - that is just asking for trouble.
Yep! The thing is it adds up so fast on these BMW.
Mine is tuned with methanol injection. But I hardly ever run it with the tune on. At 150k. Just replaced my own turbos with Vargas upgraded ones. I'm 57 and the car hauls butt still.
03:56 "..absolutely coated in oil which is a typical BMW...." I came here for your dry sense of humor.
Edit: 4:35 I knew that sooner or later you were going to get into trouble with your brother and your wife for using their clothes as oil spills cleaning rags..
🤐🤐🤐
sweet!!!! thank you for posting this!!
Great video bro, love the N54
Sorry, my mistake. The bearing shells are still on the bearing.🙃
Is it your Outback BP at 0:43 or some of your clients?
My Outback. Haven't posted much on it except the cooling issue it had.
I tore it down....more videos to come.
This engine must have been running atleast 600hp to have a melted piston…
Probably!
They can actually melt pistons on OTS tunes too, provided there isn't adequate cooling from the intercooler. It's quite common to see in tuned N54s, despite how careful their ECUs are.
@@somerandomusernamenobodyhas I have been tuning n54s for the better part of a decade and NEVER seen an engine failure on an ots map. Unless the engine was already damaged, or MAYBE seen a forum post about one of the trash cobb tunes everyone knows are bad.
I have seen ots maps expose bad plugs, valve cover gasket leaks, push injectors harder and expose one of those failing, overspin turbos (usually stock inlets causes this, too restrictive, its like a putting a sock in a vacuum cleaner), but never damage the internals.
Truly believe the stock turbos do not make enough wind / generate enough cylinder pressure to do this damage. This engine was making easily double stock power when it failed, probably lean on a bad tune aswell. On either a single turbo or (most likely) chinese upgraded twins.
@@fry.mastersay #6 injector failed, it'd be really easy for a hole to burn through a piston even on a stock tune if the O²/knock sensors don't catch it in time...using poor fuel quality could hurt as well but only mixed with the other common n54 issues...
@@markburkey6371 False. A lean condition on a cylinder will almost always cause a misfire + disabling of the cylinder altogether on n54's or any modern bmw. M54's even will use the coil pack ionization sensing to determine if an indirect injector is clogged...
Love my n54 ❤
Great video as always. Hope you do a volvo hybrid rear end and other volvo issues some day.
if you kept oil in it and did regular maintenance they are reliable and fun.
Reliable is a stretch.
I hate all turbo direct injected engines. The n52 was good because it has neither
Yeah. I have an n52 teardown video discussing this, linked in the description
I have a worn valve seals on my Hyundai engine, can I replace them without removing the head?
No
@@speedkar99 thanks.
"if the wastegates are working" hurt my soul haha me rn
It's so true.
The only thing I saw that I liked was that beefy bedplate incorporating the main caps. I'll be that last cylinder failed because the ring ends butted together.
Thanks SpeedKar99 for confirming the BMW timed obsolescence bias. The timing chain captive on the crank is a clear indication that they expect the consumer to replace the car before the timing chain. Also the plastic oil pickup tube and $$ injectors 😅
As mentioned in another comment, you can remove the snout of the crank in order to get to the chain without removing said crankshaft
If bmw could make the exhaust manifold from plastic, they would.
Coming soon!
Made me laugh out loud
My only real gripe with the N54 is the plastics. I’ve got a 2007 335i that I’ve had for 11 years or so. It just keeps taking more mods and running like a scalded dog. It’s at 135k right now and I see no reason I can’t make it to 200k.
Failure? Pretty sure the N54 won best engine of the year several years. Mine has been one of the most reliable cars I have owned. If you can't turn a wrench, and have zero mechanical skills, yah probably not the car for you. If you enjoy wrenching, and tuner type vehicles the N54 cannot be beat in it's price range. Buy a good one for 8k, put 5k in maintenance in it and it will eat most cars on the road, and do it in style. If you want Toyota type reliability then enjoy the 120hp and plastic bud light can feel.
5K in maintenance is where many people draw the line though.
Nice video 👌
do M57 next
Send me one !
I have a 2008 535i with the n54 no issues what so ever no oil leaks no weird noises I’m at 149k my daily driver
Nice! Keep it maintained and don't think about tuning the boost.
i didn’t know these had problems like that! i’m not a bmw guy though but the way dudes talk about them, i expected them to be a bit more reliable but
This guy rocks !!!!
Thanks
Does BMW use the same black plastic as my Under Armor sports bottle?
Ah yes after my first nightmare of a N54 I’m buying another one 🤣
I have 2004 toyota prius . I replaced its engine 4months ago from then there is an issue while it is running on freeway hybrid battery is not being charged but when i apply break and keep it stop park car it is charging. Then , i also replaced its inverter and hybrid battery but the problem is same there. Can u plz suggest me what’s the problem with it and what should i do.
i have owned 3 n54’s. One of them made 500whp on the original turbos at 220k miles. its all about proper maintenance + education. they will make you a better mechanic or you will fail and give up.
I like how you put it...it'll make you a better mechanic 🤣
500 is not stock...🫠🫠🫠happy melting pistons
@@n54action well when all the stars line up I'm sure it will be okay but today's supposed gearhead is no gearhead. They don't usually bust open their engine, build it up, and get their hands dirty. Maybe its an age thing but power today is about using a factory engine to push the limits. So not only do they gamble with fate but they also accelerate wear and tear. Age of the engine has an impact too so think ticking time bomb for those loose and wild versus what maybe you and other responsible owners will manage with their cars, taking utmost care of oil and other items like sensors.
@@jamesmedina2062 650whp is totally safe if you have a proper tune. I have a customer who has been making that on a 100k-180k motor over the last 4 years. unopened n54 with a metal pcv, catch can, index 12s and a single turbo + port fuel injection. My tune.
@@speedkar99 keep driving a camry, Ill keep driving 600+hp bmws.
N54 felt great in actual driving. In comparison N55 single turbo feels lumpy in power delivery (despite having better numbers). My N54 did fail on the camshaft (VANOS control) - massively expensive fix if it wasn't under warranty.
Agreed. N54 is pure unreliable performance!
it did not feel all that zippy to me on acceleration but at highway speeds and higher speeds it does well
Vanos has reduced in cost, you can find the VANOS solenoids around the 70-120 USD mark per solenoid for reliable ones.
@speedkar99 had mine 7 years. Been running 565bhp now for 3 years. Regular oil changes and proper maintenance done..it's a beast. Just idiots give it a bad name.
@@speedkar99 he's talking about the clam shell steel seals eating the clamshells, you can get an entire kit from FCP euro with lifetime warranty for around 1500, new clamshells, new seals, etc. and if it's pure unreliable performance, why does mine have 183K miles?
twin turbos what could go wrong?
Ngl I just did my valve cover gasket on my 2010 bmw 535i and the engine ceased right after that, cylinder 4 & 6 gave up idk 🤷🏾♂️ how that happened remind you a keep fresh oil at all time
So what happened? They have you without oil in it?
@ it’ just simply gave up .. the oil was fresh.
🤔 might try adding permatex black tar like non hardening gasket sealer to the stock rubber gaskets anytime you take it apart.
Okay good to know
It's not the engine the problem. It's the owner
Some extent
Suzuki Verona, 2000-2006
Factory mid-sized sedan with a FWD inline 6.
Good to know. Very uncommon though.
@@speedkar99 yeah! I was a Suzuki tech for the last few years & only saw a couple. They were rebadged Daewoo cars, also sold by GM & Isuzu (iirc). Decent build quality, I think, I didn't see many, and none for warranty work.
Isn’t that an n55 the intake manifold at least is from a n55 because it has a hole to cool the ecu. N54 have ecu by firewall n55 below intake manifold
Amazed at how hung up we in the US are about the air pollution yet recycle all the oil fumes back into the combustion, then out the tail pipe. We see the results of that in loss of efficiency, carbon build up, cat problems, O2 sensor failure. I guess that's all part of the give or take. Its a pity it takes recalls to sort out engineering problems. How efficient is that? I know nothing of these engines but they do look well built & as the commentators have said, once sorted out, run like fine German engineering. Leaks though like a Harley. 😉 That robin (bird) sounded POed in the first part of the video. Thanks Sdk99!
dude we are hung up with air pollution? How do you figure? There are only smog tests in a handful of cities and in the other 98% of counties there are none. You can ask the EPA yourself and they will tell you that SEMA bought them out. Pro-industry and EPA does not mind all the cars going catless because they will do nothing about it. Why do you think hundreds of catless downpipes are sold??? But back to your point you make a good one. My answer is that they really don't care about you. They work for industry. Port injection is way better for the atmosphere. It is cleaner and 15 times less soot. What DI does is use maybe 5% less fuel and allow sightly higher compression. But it's dirty as hell. Remember Ford, VW, and Toyota went back to port injection in mixed use.
Idk. If maintained right and not modified it will last.
After taking care of a whole bunch of stuff yeah
I love the New video 😁
Thanks
Don’t buy a n54 if you’re not prepared to get your hands dirty the car is fun tho make it worth it.
You need to review a Ford Barra engine. Those were built like tanks.
What time was that built ?
I’d suggest slowing down the tear down just a bit…like the earlier videos
Alright.
There is sensor on the manifold bro, you just looked at it 😂
10:20 The bug in the background chillind and minding his own bugs busnesses.
10:22 WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?
Cant wait for a fca hurricane i6 teardown. Twin turbo chrysler product says it all
That would be cool.
I'm just looking for a Hemi engine to teardown
Has anyone ever told you that you sound like Bear from Bear In The Big Blue House?
No, they say I sound like full house
@@speedkar99 Which character?
Auto Manufacturers will wax poetic about how green they are, and then put plastic covers on engines that guarantee they'll eventually leak toxic oil and fluids out into the environment.
And last half as long as they could.
They decided decades ago that their owners don't own their cars long enough to care how long they last beyond warranty. And I'm sure they're happy with the side effect of selling more cars more often
While preaching about fuel economy and environmental responsibility and the transition to electric, yada yada
And what happens to all that plastic at the end of its life?
Can't be recycled..
That intake manifold not for N54
That motor is a fuckin’ beast!!😊
When tuned right, yes.
this failure was likely caused by a leaking injector not head gasket. these engines never blow head gaskets
Here in the UK we had lots of people complaining about premature N47 failures on fully serviced cars leading to horrendous repair bills and BMW just didn't want to know. Long story short, the BBC investigated it on a program called "watchdog" and commissioned a respected engineer to strip one down on air and provide an opinion. He concluded the timing chain wasn't designed to be changed and should last the life of the car so the design was defective. Many failed after less than 60,000 miles. The outcome created so much bad publicity BMW changed their stance and set up a free phone line and started paying for repairs on fully serviced vehicles. Reputation suffered but it seems they didn't learn. Here's a short clip of the program:
ua-cam.com/video/HQpQIi7gI_U/v-deo.htmlsi=052uN6Cy8IAsuFCn
Complete engine tear down to change timing chain!?
Not quite. This one faces the front of the vehicle
@@speedkar99but the crank has to come out right?
@@jamesmedina2062 , you just need to unbolt the snout on the front
My man, 80 years ago Germany and Austria were actually one thing... Nobody cared
I thought WW2 broke out because of Austria
N54 is a great engine, one of the best
It sure is. After a whole long list of things are taken care of.
i still respect it because it have timing chain
Nothing says "German Luxury" like a plastic intake manifold and valve cover. Lol.
You could say that about any brand these days. Look under a modern Toyota lately?
@@On2wheels94luckily he did dissect a Toyota now did he?
Yeah
@@On2wheels94 I didn't know Toyotas branded themselves as luxury vehicles.
you are a engin doctor man , you shoul;d change the channel name to be the Engine doctor
Nah.
Speedkar was an 2D old racing game I used to play as a kid back on windows 98
Some other yter said "If you can't afford a new BMW, you can't afford a used one either" Nice cars though, but not very premium in some regards (plastic sht)..
Agreed....these are very over rated cars under the hood
Notification Squad!🔥🔥🔥
im at 110,000 miles and mine is run great, 2009 lci
Don't over boost it
It ain’t a BMW if it ain’t leaking oil.
Carbon build up is notorious with any direct injection engine which is most these days, this fella has no idea, he is not a mechanic by any means, he is a backyard mechanic that spins B.S
Some engines are more prone to it than others.
Every time I watch one of these videos I get scared of that motor.
Not a problem, there's so much else that needs to be replaced on a regular basis on a BMW (Bring Mir Werkzeug) engine that the cumbersome chain setup is just a minor nuisance :P
So much sympathy
So im hearing to not get an n54 if u cant afford the maintenance, super unreliable. But it kicks ass.
So is all the bmw engine garbage 🗑 or it’s just that particular one I was thinking about buying a 5 or 7 series bmw
N52 engines are really good
Buy Audi if you want German otherwise buy Lexus . BMW, Mercedes are money pith .
@@neti_neti_ Mercedes is not that bad of a car I own a Mercedes and it’s been good to me
Take a look at the b58’s😎
Yes. Check the link my in description for the n52 teardown video
For my money the bmw is hands down better than some broke ass Honda. Living in Orange County myself i can’t believe I even see them outside off Santa Ana
that zephir tom shirt i think is not yours , probably is your brother shirt ...i know cause is not your type of shirt
Hmm
Anyways, toothbrush guy knows some shit! Thumbs up!
Glad you appreciate it
13:10
Bring your kid to work day
They're so "unreliable" the cam shafts even disappears.
i have 120,000 miles N54 with zero issues. it all depends on the previous owners and oil change intervals
@@michaelbabakhanian516 Agree. Mine is at 198,000km so similar to yours. Well maintained and any worn parts replaced. Zero code, no misfire, nothing. The joke was regarding 1:12
Change the title to : "why I'm a failure of a n54 owner" 😘
got nothing on the 2grfse or 1urfse :)