[9krpmrx8]

Bingo. Sucks man.

[9krpmrx8]

People just need to realize that unless you are the original owner, it's hard to know what kind of life your engine has lived.

I was looking at a mint bone stock 335is recently. This was a one owner car, 59,000 miles, dealer serviced. I had a friend look up the service history at BMW.

The car has it's first oil change at 14,529 miles.

The second at 27,284

third at 39,079

fourth at 48,271

and last oil change at 59,113 miles.

Now this still seems mint, but there is no way I am buying an N54 or N55 with that kind of mileage that has had OCI's of well over 10k. Almost 15k on the factory fill is nuts.

[mxchris727]

Originally Posted by 9krpmrx8

People just need to realize, unless you are the original owner, it's hard to know what kind of life your engine has lived.

I was looking at a mint bone stock 335is recently. This was a one owner car, 59,000 miles, dealer serviced. I had a friend look up the service history at BMW.

The car has it's first oil change at 14,529 miles.

The second at 27,284

third at 39,079

fourth at 48,271

and last oil change at 59,113 miles.

Now this still seems mint, but there is no way I am buying an N54 or N55 with that kind of mileage that has had OCI's of well over 10k. Almost 15k on the factory fill is nuts.

My car’s computer tells me up to 2 years or 18k when I reset the oil indicator. 15K is normal and not really an issue. I remember reading that the early N55s had production issues where the cranks were slightly out of round causing premature bearing wear.

[9krpmrx8]

Originally Posted by mxchris727

My car’s computer tells me up to 2 years or 18k when I reset the oil indicator. 15K is normal and not really an issue. I remember reading that the early N55s had production issues where the cranks were slightly out of round causing premature bearing wear.

15k is not normal and is an issue long term.

And I don't know where you read that about the production issues but I can guarantee it is BS. But if you have a reputable source for that info I would love to see it.

[Pladi]

I think the OCI is only really an issue if the car is burning oil (which alot of these do) and people neglect adding oil. Going 15k with keeping on top of fill ups is one thing. Going 15k and rarely adding oil is another.

Either way def an oiling issue and seems like alot of these just bought the car and now have bearing fails which obv indicates poor maintenance most likely.

[iqraceworks]

Originally Posted by mxchris727

My car’s computer tells me up to 2 years or 18k when I reset the oil indicator. 15K is normal and not really an issue. I remember reading that the early N55s had production issues where the cranks were slightly out of round causing premature bearing wear.

15K between oil changes on a turbo inline 6 cylinder motor making 300+ hp? Yeah....I'd stay away from that. Maybe...MAYBE...you could stretch to 7500 miles, but 15K is nuts. You don't buy a car that expensive, and skimp on oil changes.

[Rmtt]

Originally Posted by Pladi

I think the OCI is only really an issue if the car is burning oil (which alot of these do) and people neglect adding oil. Going 15k with keeping on top of fill ups is one thing. Going 15k and rarely adding oil is another.

Either way def an oiling issue and seems like alot of these just bought the car and now have bearing fails which obv indicates poor maintenance most likely.

I read some of these threads and it screams out to me that aside from poor maintenance, that maybe one of the previous owners maybe tracked the car.

I haven't seen inside a BMW oil pan, but if it's a conventional setup...I can imagine Auto-cross events could cause some oil starvation issues at times.

[Volasko]

Originally Posted by iqraceworks

15K between oil changes on a turbo inline 6 cylinder motor making 300+ hp? Yeah....I'd stay away from that. Maybe...MAYBE...you could stretch to 7500 miles, but 15K is nuts. You don't buy a car that expensive, and skimp on oil changes.

Well it became 15k miles when BMW had oil changes as part of their included new car service coverage!

[Ozzie335i]

Originally Posted by Volasko

Well it became 15k miles when BMW had oil changes as part of their included new car service coverage!

As you hinted at, all good for BMW bottom line, lease peeps, and people who exchange cars every three years, but not subsequent owners.

[Ozzie335i]

Originally Posted by iqraceworks

15K between oil changes on a turbo inline 6 cylinder motor making 300+ hp? Yeah....I'd stay away from that. Maybe...MAYBE...you could stretch to 7500 miles, but 15K is nuts. You don't buy a car that expensive, and skimp on oil changes.

Not picking on you iqw, but you just provided further reasoning for proactive rod bearing changes. Especially when the oil pan gasket is being changed. Mind you I did it as I intend on keeping my ride around for a while.

[iqraceworks]

Originally Posted by Ozzie335i

Not picking on you iqw, but you just provided further reasoning for proactive rod bearing changes. Especially when the oil pan gasket is being changed. Mind you I did it as I intend on keeping my ride around for a while.

Maybe for an N55 (known for issues)......but not for an N54.

To each their own......I could really care less if people want to change bearings.

This is just my opinion..... nothing more nothing less.

[9krpmrx8]

Originally Posted by Rmtt

I read some of these threads and it screams out to me that aside from poor maintenance, that maybe one of the previous owners maybe tracked the car.

I haven't seen inside a BMW oil pan, but if it's a conventional setup...I can imagine Auto-cross events could cause some oil starvation issues at times.

It is definitely a known issue on N55's that are tracked. There is a reason the M2 and M235iR have a different oil pump and sump setup.

[9krpmrx8]

Originally Posted by iqraceworks

Maybe for an N55 (known for issues)......but not for an N54.

To each their own......I could really care less if people want to change bearings.

This is just my opinion..... nothing more nothing less.

Yes because you never see N54 failures due to worn rod bearings.............

[Pladi]

Oh boy these threads are like the new black holes that they keep finding in the universe.

[Kevindshea]

Originally Posted by LiqourSnurf

So I recently purchased a 2011 335I XDrive with about 94,500 miles.

The car drives wonderfully, I've put on about 1,000 miles. I love it, great acceleration, the exhaust sounds wonderful, the turbo sounds great too. But I began to notice a sound I thought was the exhaust, was coming from under the hood. Up to this point I heard nothing bad about these engines, just that they are better than the N54 about needing carbon buildup removed every 10,000 miles. So I bought a car that drives very well, and as far as I could hear, had no rattles and no lights.

Then today I had my brother press the gas pedal for me and I hear, not a nice exhaust note, but a rattle (after the car has warmed up).

I took this video after a very brief warm up, just enough to get the temperature gauge up, but I'll hear a rattle like this under hard acceleration and letting off the gas after acceleration.

EDIT: I don't think I've heard it in higher RPM ranges, but around 2K, you'll hear in the video.

Please tell me it's something cheap.

OTHER VIDEO (not mine) the comment section mentions VANOS solenoids. How do I determine which one it is?

Update: 10/10 rod bearing, sitting on this car until someone interested in a project comes along.

How much do u want for the car ? Where r u located? How did u arrive at 10/10 rod bearing conclusion? I would remove the v/c and check if there is any broken vanos gear bolts ? They are alum and can make funny noises like that -if only 1 or 2 is broken u wouldn’t necessarily have a cel yet . The frequency of the noise may sound like rod bearing, but if u listen up top when it’s happening you may be more likely to hear it near the vanos gear adjusters up top.

[Kevindshea]

Originally Posted by LiqourSnurf

What's the best way to quiet that up for a couple days? I definitely have copper in my oil filter

Best way to make noise go away would be to diag the noise more accurately- these guys could be correct , but I have heard many rod bearing noises and vanos units w broken bolts and it sounds more like vanos unit clattering due to broken bolts to me. Luckily easy enough to remove valve cover and inspect vanos units. Note that you can also have a vanos unit w loose alum bolts making noise too they don’t have to be broken. Do yourself don’t guess or let anyone guess on your behalf. Even metal / copper in the filter is not a real diag. There will be more than you would like to think in most filters that came off seemingly healthy engines. Would be crazy to not check the vanos gear bolts for tight and not broken. Keep in mind some of these social media video diags resulted in engine replacements which means the car got rod bearings and vanos units free w replacement engine which covers up the sloppy lack of diagnosis.