Well, I am a sad BMW owner tonight.
You often read about bearing failures on S54's, VVT faults on 318i's, Transfer Case Failures on E53 Xdrive's and you read threads thinking man it sucks to be this guy.... Well today I am that guy.
The N47 motor won motor of the year in 2010. My particular motor won even more awards than that, the sequential twin turbo diesel N47S.
These motors have been plagued by issues though, the first is High Pressure Fuel Pump issues, and then the main issue, timing chain failures - Whilst BMW has revised the design and issued recalls for fixes for models in production, the X1 has never been included in that. The issue derives from a manufacturing fault with the crankshaft sprocket - This causes the timing chain to stretch over time. Other examples of poor engineering include guides that allow too much movement of the chain, as well as extended service drains.
Essentially the N47 motor is a masterpiece, but also a ticking bomb and today mine ticked its last tick.
2010 BMW X1 23d Xdrive N47S
FULL BMW Service History with Motorplan Extension to 7 years.
Motorplan Expired June 2017
114 000km
What you are looking at is the enclosure of the camshaft position sensor, and what you are seeing is where there should be a timing chain -
Mine failed.
The chain and HPFP is positioned at the rear of the N47 Motor, any inspection or engine work will require removal of the motor, essentially, we don't know if valves have been damaged as I have no had a chance to do a compression test. I am deeply depressed about this.
No amount of maintenance or foresight could have prevented this, and I want to make it clear - The usage of the vehicle has ZERO affect on the chain, I am reading up on this and finding N47's with less than 30 000 miles snapping chains. This is a BMW engineering defect, even the tamest usage has seen similar failure and I would like to make a point of saying, I drive my car hard, and I enjoy my car, but I also maintain my car.
The next step is to strip the nose and remove the motor - The crank will likely need to be replaced, ECS quotes $1240 or R18 000.00 for the part alone, thats besides the engineering costs, new timing change and guide and any potential valves and sundries such as gaskets and lubricants - This folks is catastrophic motor failure.
It would be naive to not replace the HPFP while the motor is out, as well as attend to replacement pulleys, belts, tensioners and other wear and tear items, including having the two turbo's inspected and water pump changed. This is an unplanned expense, and as such I apologise for the Journal coming to a halt.
As I progress I will keep the thread up to late - I have not lost my faith in BMW or this vehicle, I am disappointed that given the extreme maintenance and care I provided the car, that I ended up being a statistic too.
So, sad Mike out, I took delivery of a Clubman Cooper today for my new startup so I guess its going to be pulling some weight from here on - Lets see, maybe this is an opportunity to go a little crazy with the N47 diesel motor moving forward. I am positive and I will share the experience with everyone following.
Thank you to those who offered to assist me with towing the car and for everyone on Social Media and the Club Pages for your advice.
Mike
mgwaiting:
