welcome back to exotic car play place everyone thanks for joining in on this
beautiful sunny afternoon today we are going to dive in and touch on that very
sensitive subject BMW reliability and how we can improve
reliability forever with our BMWs let's get into it now
so before we touch on those tips that are going to improve the reliability of
your BMW first we must put this out there
you realize BMWs of course our luxury cars and most of them are
high-performance and with all of that said you'd have to expect elevated
maintenance cost that's just going to be the case it won't expect the car to just
keep running and running and running like a small four-cylinder car buy a
Honda Civic as an example those cars are made to just keep going you can abuse
them neglect them but they're running on low compression they generally don't
produce a lot of power and as a result the simplicity of the car in general is
going to yield reliability but BMWs of course higher performance more luxury
more complexity there is elevated maintenance costs associated with this
but let's talk about some of the tips that you need to understand so you can
massively improve the reliability of your BMW so tip number one is
understanding what the problems that currently exist in large scale for your
particular BMW whether you're buying one or whether you own one already you
really should understand what you're up against before you even get into this
whole program of course every single BMW often has numerous individualized issues
but it's not unique for BMW Porsche and IMS bearings you had bad transmissions
and Toyota's and Lexus Acura's also with bad transmissions and talking about
premium cars Ferraris that are burning down Lamborghini Gyarados with weak
clutches it doesn't matter what you're driving most cars have something that is
a problem for them so it's understanding that problem that's going to help you
solve that problem so what kind of vehicle do you have for example right
here what do we have we have an S55 engine tucked away in this BMW m4 these
are great cars they range anywhere from about 414 horsepower up to about close
to 480 horsepower depending if you get the GTS or any variation there abouts
but they do all share that twin-turbo 3 litre straight-six engine they produce
huge amounts of power there very durable for the most part but I'll
give you some examples of some things you want to address with these cars
number one you would expect leaks with these that's not uncommon so always take
care of your coolant issues but another thing that is typical for these things
is carbon fouling wait till you've got a few K's on there then you may have to
deal with carbon fouling issues but the big one is the crank hub issue
everybody's aware of that by now if you've been looking or shopping for one
of these current generation m4s then you'll know the crank hub issue is
something that's outstanding this also does impact the m3 m4 as well as the m2
competition currently uses the same generation as 55 engine so you just need
to understand how to deal with that the thing is with the crank up issue it's
built in such a way that too much torque against it spins it and results in a
catastrophic failure so understanding that then how do we mitigate that
basically there is a keyed version an aftermarket solution to fix that so stay
ahead of it if you're worried about it deal with that before it becomes a
catastrophic failure and another example is what do we have here this is an e 90
or a 92 generation m3 these have the four liter naturally aspirated v8 engine
they make about 414 horsepower and because they're naturally aspirated
they're likely never see that car again and as a result this is highly sought
after by enthusiasts to find a good version now yes you can get these in a
double clutch on a manual gearbox which inherently are fairly robust they shift
very slick leave however there are issues with these I mean like you find
in the e60 m5 because this is sort of the same generation
these all have issues that are relatively common because the s65 in
here is similar to the S 85 that you find in the v10 engine in the m5 and
that is throttle actuators those fail why because they have plastic gears how
do you get ahead of that well you can't really but you should do your research
to understand some of the solutions and there are some options for people that
you can send these out and either get them rebuilt with metal gears or just
maybe have a spare one on hand that you can swap out for yourself they are not
an inexpensive part but that's part of the game another thing is rod bearings
not uncommon with these cars of the s65 or the s85 engines understanding that
that's a problem how do you deal with a rod bearing issue
like that do the research but generally as a rule 60 to 80,000 miles would
suggest that you're starting to get down to the roots of the bearings your your
main rod bearings and as a result you may want to do that bottom end bearing
job before it spins a bearing and destroys your crankshaft and it becomes
a very very large job to rectify so that's not a huge job it can cost you a
few thousand dollars but that's great insurance if you want to keep the car
running nice again either an e 90 or a 92 335 in the same body style there's
lots of problems stay ahead of the coolant system problems for example the
electric water pump and thermostat are very commonly going out because they're
plastic housings they're poorly built and manufactured and the heating cooling
cycles are sure to take a toll guaranteed if you make a hundred
thousand kilometers or about sixty thousand miles you've done well for
yourself I would consider changing those in advance they are expensive for labor
the parts are a little pricey as well but it's something you don't want to be
stranded on the side of the road so you can help your reliability by staying
ahead of the coolant maintenance via flush as well as the water pump
thermostat and even possibly the radiator there's a whole host of hoses
in these a 90 and e92 generation cars that are also known to fail so stay
ahead of them if you're in the engine compartment doing work doing maiden
maintenance always change your serpentine belt water pump thermostat
and any and any coolant hose you can possibly get your hands on oh that I
also forget steering rack another potential issue in these m3s now you
want another example how about the vehicle behind me and what do we have
here is an x6 but it's not specifically the x6 it really comes down to the drive
trains that are a bigger problem what do we have here the X drives 50 I now what
that means is this has the 4.4 liter twin-turbo v8 which is commonly used in
a lot of different cars from the x6 the x5 you can get them in the 5 Series cars
7 series cars they're actually utilized throughout a lot of the lineup now
generally the rule they're exceptionally well made engines there they're strong
fast economical very very great engines except for one key problem and it's the
excessive amount of heat that you get create
within the via the engine because within the via the engine as it's a v8 there
are mounted the two turbos they tucked them in tight so you're reducing turbo
lag well it's great for performance but the problem is all that excess heat
tucked away in the via the engine of the slightly older versions of the n63
engines which you would call this v8 creates a lot of problems for example
you start cooking parts within the via the engine oil consumption issues are
prevalent as well as leaks valve cover gaskets and all kinds of other parts
that start to fry in there get brittle break down either leak or just stop
working because there's electrics as well that run through these engines so
that can lead to a lot of premature failures both mechanical and electrical
it's a disaster timing chains potential issue in these as well so what's the fix
for that well understanding what the bulletins are saying from BMW they've
learned over the years that there's problems they have to address it because
things like this we're going through a lawsuit so BMW had to get their act
together and figure out how to solve that problem
well it's heating so one major way to do that is shielding so they started better
shielding the turbos from the rest of the engine compartment they started
doing that in the later generations of that n63 but there's still a lot of that
common problem so understanding what the fixes are and making sure that either
the bulletins is meant is taken care of or any recalls associated with that that
may be involved in that are looked after so you do want to do your research
understand what the updates are and get it taken care as soon as possible so
give you another example right here we have a X 535 D this is a slightly older
generation this is an e 70 body style so it's not the latest but it's certainly
not that old it's just slightly outgoing anyhow that is a diesel engine it's a
great engine and everybody knows that matter of fact they got many awards when
it first came out way back however there are some problems of course being a
diesel engine you have to expect things like glow plugs you know you have to
budget for that at some point I would expect those to go out somewhere between
125 and 175 thousand kilometers so just knowing that and budgeting for that when
you get over a hundred thousand kilometers start expecting some of those
problems also down underneath this side of the engine
also down on this side of the engine you have what they call the path also down
on this side of the engine you have what they call an active de F tank at the
very back tucked away underneath they have what they call a passive tank for
the diesel exhaust fluid but it's this active one that becomes a problem from
time to time now understand this you need to dig this is where I can share
some of this knowledge with you guys because that has been a problem but BMW
extended warranties way beyond the 5-year warranty
because they knew it was a problem they didn't brag about it they didn't
advertise about it however there was a problem with those diesel tanks there's
a heater within the diesel exhaust fluid tank and that has been an issue through
and through now if you had under two hundred thousand kilometers and under
ten years even though you were way beyond that five year warranty they did
extend it out for those cars that again as I say one hundred twenty thousand
miles or ten years time if you still fell within that time frame you're still
able to get that fixed free of charge and it's not a cheap fix either I
believe it's their nut two to twenty five hundred dollars to swap that out
and again also because it's a diesel there's additional emission systems on
this to keep it running clean just understand where the problem areas are
either budget for it or do your homework as I just mentioned about the pass about
the active tank that you can get ahead of that and there may be some ways for
you to save some cash as I just explained to you right there but at the
end of the day just understand whatever car it is that you're interested in or
that you're currently driving that you do know what those particular problem
areas are that you do the research you check the bulletins the forum's you do
your NHTSA for recalls and just do all your research maybe there's places and
sometimes there's weasel clauses that get you some of these repairs done ahead
of time as well as you just want to be reliable you don't want to be breaking
down on the side of the road so take care of these within the typical wear
timeframe so tip number two is a very very important one and that is any
actual proper maintenance well I know all you guys are thinking the ia I've
heard this one before of course you've got to do maintenance this is a luxury
car and as I said before often running at a high performance but the problem is
there's a lot of plastic in these engine compartments within the BMW's they do
that for number one to comply with recycle
initiatives in their home country but also its its cost savings there's no
doubt about it we know that it's a cheaper way to manufacture it's easier
to put together and it's just lower cost increases the margins for the
manufacturer so knowing all of that coolant is imperative to change way
ahead of time if the manufacturer is telling you if if BMW is saying do it
within X amount of kilometers I would highly recommend doing a little bit
ahead of that stay ahead of that because clean antifreeze is always a good thing
dirty antifreeze starts changing ph's and the corrosion within can start
deteriorating engine parts internally water pumps radiators a lot of things
start running out stop working properly as intended as well change some of those
parts thermostats and the accessible whoo coolant hoses when at all possible
the easy stuff catch the low-lying lying fruit when you can another big piece of
maintenance absolutely must is the oil changes I know everybody you guys oh I
just do it as per manufacturer but that's not adequate they're saying
change it every X amount of kilometres it's programmed that way because even if
the oil itself can sustain of many heat cycles and miles and hard-driving
it doesn't mean all the other parts are there's been numerous cases where
there's breakdowns of the actual filter and the filter starts to collapse and
then you start getting other debris through the oil as well as it stops
filtering pop properly so you have to do your oil service way before they
recommend as well as your oil filter now another big reason to oil is so
important is because oil doesn't just lubricate your bearings and your
camshaft lobes it actually does a lot of things it also supplies feed for your
van oil systems which is your variable valve timing and it's utilized in a lot
of other functions within the engine if you have bad oil it doesn't just wreak
havoc on the actual engine but there's a lot of other small system pumps and
hoses and lines that can take a beating as well dirty oil takes a toll on or
rings as well so you could start developing leaks if you start prolonging
your oil changes do the oil changes way in advance my personal opinion I would
stick to something more normal typical you know in that five to eight thousand
mile range would be more what I would expect to be doing oil services that
don't extend it out way like they're telling you that's far too
much that's a marketing gimmick and that's only to be competitive with all
the other manufacturers that are also trying to extend your oil changes that's
not a good thing do yours oil and coolant services very important so tip
number three is a good one and that boils down to the owner you and me and
looking at this car right here we what do we have this e 92 m3 again that we
spoke of earlier now it's like any other car it's got four wheels it's got a
steering wheel headlights taillights looks like a Honda Accord well it
doesn't they I mean these are far nicer however generally it looks like a lot of
cars on the road but there's a lot of differences what's going on unde
underneath the skin with the BMW these are designed with much tighter
tolerances and unfortunately sometimes those tighter tolerances lead to
conditions that are less than favorable for example as I mentioned earlier the
rod bearings do you realize the rod bearing tolerances that's how tight the
rod bearings essentially wrap around your crankshaft journals that is a very
very tight measurement on an S 65 or an S 85 engine the v10 they're very tight
is in other words they're about twice as tight as your average car and as a
result if you don't give it the proper oiling in other words has to be thin
enough when it's cold but also they be able to sustain high revs so it has to
be the right blend of oiling but it also not only has to have the right oiling it
has to have the right treatment when you start these cars they need a little
extra warmup time sure you get in a Dodge and the thing rattles and clanks
and makes a little noise but there's enough slop and tolerance in there that
there's no extra wear and tear engines like these are super tight when you put
it together there's barely any movement whatsoever and because of that if you
don't give it enough warmup time and you rev it up or right away and you go and
you drive off and drive really hard really fast you start to prematurely
wear out the bearings why the berries are tight they don't get a chance to
loosen up and the oiling is still cold so it doesn't get a chance to push its
way between the rod bearing and the journal of the crankshaft so therefore
you see accelerated wear right off the hop with one bad driving experience you
can impose a whole lot of wear and tear that whole principle carries forward to
a lot of other parts within the BMWs so at the end of the day you drive the
wheels off your car drive it hard it's made for it but do make
do take care of it do get a hold of those problem areas and deal with them
sooner than later thanks a lot everybody I know you enjoyed the video I really
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bye bye