BMW 340i B58 Blown Engine Teardown! How Did Someone Kill This Thing Already? Lets Find Out! 

You could tear apart a lawnmower engine and I’d tune in. There’s something oddly satisfying watching these auto autopsies!!

Yesterday I watched a video of this engine being assembled at the factory, today it disassembled in Missouri. Can't beat that. Thanks Eric.

A lot if not most of the gasket issues in BMW’s were realized after BMW changed to an O/C interval of 15k. They have since revised that down to 10k, but enthusiasts who take care of their vehicles change the oil every 5k-7.5k. These engines will last a LONG time if you take care of them.

Great job as usual! I was a tech for 37 years and now teach Auto Tech at the same community college I attended from 1980-1982. I teach engine repair and your adventure of flying parts is just another day during a lab. Valve keepers are the number one UFOs in the shop. The crank has to turn 2:1 to the cam. The reduction at the idler allows some of the reduction to be done there and the cam sprocket to be smaller. I worked at a VW dealer from 94-97. The VR-6 engine used the same tech. I read about it in a VW intro manual and VW bragged about how they were able to reduce the width of the cylinder head by 100mm (about 4 inches) so they could put the engine in smaller cars. GM also used this on the 3.4L. Chain from the crank to the idler and belt from there to the cam sprokets The location of the timing components is being driven by the insurance industry in Europe. In the US we have the IIHS that issues safety ratings. In Europe, they have Euro NCAP. Euro NCAP figures in pedestrian injuries as part of their ratings. The ratings are used by insurance industry to set insurance rates for vehicles. When a pedestrian is hit by a car, they often end up on the hood of the car. If there is space between the hood and engine and hood does not hit the engine as it is being crushed, the pedestrian suffers less injury. By putting the timing components in the back of the engine (with the corresponding "hump") there can be more space between the engine and hood. MB does this on their hoods. We get the hood hinges to do it here in the US, but not the pyrotechnic actuators the Euro cars have. We will soon have this tech in the US. Buried deep in the recently passed Infrastructure Bill is language that directs DOT to start the process of setting standards similar to Euro NCAP. There is a lot more of this stuff in the Bill as well MB came out with a 4 cylinder diesel in the 2010-2020 time frame with the chains on the back. I worked at a MB dealer from 2013-2016 and we had to have a $3500.00 engine stand because of that motor. The engine attached to a frame where the motor mounts were that connected to the engine stand. The crankshaft was 90 degrees to the axis of the stand. The engine was rotated by a geared hand that move it end over end to get to bottom and top of the engine for repairs.

I do believe this is the first engine that has attacked you on camera.

I can't even imagine the carnage if that counterbalance had come off the crank at 6000 rpm when the rod let go.

That “timing idler” is a speed step down pulley. Probably 1.5x speed reduction based on sprocket size. This allows the cam sprockets to be smaller than if they were driven directly off the crank. This helps with packaging and allows the cams to be closer to each other, but based on the valve angles these cams are spaced far apart from each other.

Never underestimate a wife's chair throwing skills.

Most of these I find extremely interesting and (oddly) relaxing. This one? The "accelerated disassembly" portions had me chuckling,, and thankful that as frustrating as it possibly was, that you weren't hurt. By the engine at least. We just won't talk about the argument with the chair

#5 valves looked like they may have had a steam clean. Always a clue.

I saw him taking the cam caps off first and I was thinking "hmmm... how is THAT going to work out?" Well, about as well as I expected, but that only adds to the charm and character of these videos! 😃

I love watching these videos, they remind me of my apprenticeship days at Roots motors. Started out stripping and cleaning the engines and transmissions ready for the mechanics to work on. Then being transferred through the departments, six months on trucks, six months on service, six months body shop. Then finally I found my place in the toolroom. Looking back they were happy days.

As someone who has also won and lost fights against furniture, walls, doors etc., I won't ask what happened. Hope you heal up fully and keep the videos coming

These tear down videos are so great, I find myself rewatching old ones while you upload a new one!

This was a cool teardown love the explosions. These autopsies on these engines keep us guessing till the issue is found. Thank you very much for another awesome video. 😀🇨🇦

B58 is one of the greatest 6 cylinders ever made. Really enjoyed seeing this teardown.

I've binged watched a few of Eric's engine tear-down videos now, and the message that is coming across is: Don't deffer maintenance and change your engine oil in accordance with the manufactures recommendations! - If you don't follow these simple rules YOUR engine could end up in his workshop.

Just imagine the fun putting one of these back together !

As a Retired Technician, I enjoy watching 👀 you tear down the motors. Trouble shooting for the failure was one thing I that fascinated me. I told my Wife what I was watching 👀, she said "WHAT?". Yes I'll keep watching. Thanks for taking the time from your work to make these videos. 😲👍

Just drove my B58 100+ miles today…interesting to see what it actually looks like 👍🏻

Like you videos! No joke, these motors coast a fortune. My uncle’s 2013 bmw 535i hydro-locked too (he drove through a small puddle of water, nothing too big according to him..) and insurance foot the bill which was over $22k. BMW installed new engine etc…I end up buying it from him down the road 😀

Well, that one was action packed!! Between a malevolent chair and and a Beemer motor throwing bits about, you've taken a beating this week. Cant wait for next week already.....👍👍 Seriously, excellent vid. Love ya work.

For future reference , in case you want to showcase that style of valvetronic. There’s an Allen on the face of the valvetronic motor that will turn the e-shaft to full operation or no operation

Great job in diagnosing that disaster, I never would have guessed that was what happened to that engine

You gotta love a camshaft that uninstalls itself. 👍

Thanks for the info. Nice to watch a teardown of a B58 like the one in my car

Learned a lot about my engine in my bmw. Awesome info. Thanks

Eric I just watched this video for the first time. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do more engines you haven't worked on before, this was hysterical!

Good to know that you were pleased with this engine overall, I was really interested in this one because the B58 seems to be a much more reliable powerplant from BMW, compared to years past, but it was great to see a teardown like this. Thanks for the upload!

Valvetronic is extra difficult to take apart. The springs can be really dangerous as you've seen. I once had a spring unleash its tension on my thumb, it survived but it was not nice. If you want to work on valvetronic engines that should run after working on them really do get the proper tools.

Love the little 'bloop' as the tensioner piston went visiting

The engine wanted to make you work for it! Fun teardown, thanks for sharing!

I haven't watched the video yet, but I wanted to thank you for these teardowns. They provoked me into checking on my own car. I was low on oil and overdue for a change, so I took care of both just yesterday.

The B58 is possibly one of the best 6 cylinder engines on the market today. Even with stock parts 500 - 600 hp is possible without problems with larger turbos and software optimizations.

As an owner of a B58 engine in my G30 BMW this was very interesting. Keep up the good work.

man the result at the end cant be anymore satisfying haha great job and thank you for putting out a video explaining what causes this kind of issues well done 👍

This is more of an Exorcism of an Engine than an a teardown. Parts popping off is like demons leaving the unit. Awesome content, this is however crazy lol.

I'm a bmw tech and I have seen a few of these engine self destruct like this due to sucking up water. Also, I'm pretty sure the extra timing chain in the back of the engine is for either a vacuum pump or a high pressure fuel pump on diesels. These blocks are based off the B series diesels which proceeded it.

The slow mo is fantastic. Really laughed on this on! Thanks. Great video!!

so grateful i found your chanel,as i 'm an engine guy your videos are so satisfying.

Nice teardown and analysis. I own a M240i B58 myself and i love it. Best and most reliable engine ive ever owned.

By the way , the red stuff on the upper conrod bearing is a wear resistant coat meant to make them withstand the oil starvation that can be caused by repeated use of the stop start system.Also interesting is that they moved away from the bedplate design

Love your videos. Informative, always giving useful preventative advice. And you are well spoken, sir. A Pleasure.

I ve seen the affects of hydro locking years ago on a Dodge v6 that a mechanic friend was working on in his shop. Seems as though a mutual friends daughter drove through standing water after a flash flood with the family Caravan. I couldn’t believe how one of the con rods was twisted and snapped two like playdough! So it was no surprise when you discovered that number five con rod was probably damaged by ingesting water. Love the video, and also glad to hear it was operator error, not a design flaw. As a BMW fan I was relieved, because I would love to have a Bimmer with this motor!

Always enjoy your tear downs! This block could see life as a cool coffee table. It even has extra holes you could do some cool lighting with. 😜

I think if you remove the Valvetronic motor from the side of the head, it will relieve the tension from those springs. On the N52/54/55 there is an allen head on the back of the Valvetronic motor you turn to release the tension before removal.

That’s awesome! These videos are very educational and well done… Thanks

Thank you. Good to know this failure was caused by human error and not poor engineering

Super cool teardown man, I love your sense of humor and i'm pretty sure I might have watched every single engine teardown you've done, keep it up man love the channel Edit: I died laughing at those self removing camshafts

That was entertaining watching parts fly off the engine! 😂

Excellent video. One of the best. Keep up the amazing work!

Love the forensic analysis aspect of this channel

Man, I wish more manufacturers made inline 6s.

i remember on papadakis racing channel he had some kind of problem also with the valve train when he was trying to take them off, i'll have to go rewatch that episode

Kudos for showing the spring mistakes. I don't think I could have left those in the video. That says more about you than me 😍🤩😄

This is the funniest of all the channels I've subscribed to! Parts flying is fun!

We need to see the tear down of the chair that attacked you! 🤣

I love your teardown videos! Please keep up the great content!

Brother I lmao the couch when the unplanned cam bounced out. Good shit.

As an N20 owner, that timing chain joke made me cry

Finally. I'm running so much boost on mine

The first explosion would definitely make me wear safety glasses before continuing...

Why, WHY is this channel so freaking satisfying to watch?!? I just love it. The BMW content is probably not up most people's alley, but that's what my channel is about, both cars and motorcycles. If you ever get a chance to tear down a BMW K1600, I'd love to be there to watch, lol. I'll even help you clean up the leftover pizza and beer. HA! leftover pizza and beer. Yah, not gonna need to clean up THAT... :)

This was very satisfying. Especially the analysis at the end. I did not know hydrolock on a cylinder was a thing.

This was a good one. These engines are stout and make 500hp with E85 and the newer TU HPFP. That coating they have on the bearings looks really good, might not have rod bearing issues like you occasionally see on the N55s.

Little tip for getting to the head bolts without taking the valvetronic apart, if you use a wrench to turn the cam you can sometimes get to the head bolts without removing the cam, did it on a b58 a couple months ago because I didn’t wanna take the valvetronic apart and it wasn’t too bad. hope that helps for next time 😁

6:25 Taking that cam off "BMW explosion says it all" lmbo!!! Great vid man

this was very interesting to watch, I enjoyed this. Thanks for the content!

I was really surprised how small those cylinder bores were in comparison to the block. Really thick block walls. I bet that thing is made to handle a lot of boost. Too bad it didn't help this time.

Thanks for this video on the b58, I think it’s the best bmw engine to come out in a long time, it looks to be built like a tank. A guy locally is running one tuned to 500+ hp and has methane injection and some bolt ons, he has had zero issues in the last two years/45k

I was watching you tear it to bits and thought those big springs look pretty strong and a few seconds later you confirmed they are pretty strong

I really enjoy your videos, I get a kick out of all of the destruction. I don't know much about engines but I do know that there is a Mahle aluminum casting plant in Morristown TN. I did some work there many years ago. Keep up the great videos

Actually it's kinda fun watching the parts blow off 😂

That "mystery" chain is the lower timing chain. It is driven from the crankshaft and drives an intermediate sprocket, which in turn drives the upper timing chain.

Interesting video thank you. The only other B58 I have seen go the same way, was the green M140i 'HULK' car which was a stage 2 trackday toy. The owner had the standard sump and got oil starvation which resulted in exactly the same piston / con rod coming through the block.

Classic BMW. Reliable, not overpriced. 11/10 will be. I enjoy.

The chair hired this engine to work your nose over again. 🤣 I can see this video quickly jump up in views since this is the current Supra's engine.

Self removing camshaft, COOL. A little JB weld and you can put the piston back together.

On a binge of your videos and love the new lingo I am learning. Piston McNuggets and engine gravel are new favorite phrases. One idea for the waiting room. Start collecting the engine gravel and fill an old oil pan. Viola, engine gravel zen garden.

Sorry to hear you hurt yourself. Hope you get feeling better, I know your a trooper and would put out the videos anyway.

I fought the chair and the chair won I fought the chair and the chair won

That explosion #3 was almost crown jewels height

The B series BMW engines are modular, the petrols and diesels share many components including blocks, timing gear etc. That “idler pulley” is where the chain driven high pressure pump is mounted on the diesels.

And why I enjoy watching a person taking a part a engine I will never know. But I really like the sound the air gun makes when he speeds up the video, sounds like laser guns.

Hi I have a question, I looked up the engine for sale and found it for sell new/used in the 5k-8k range si I was wondering where did you find that it retailed for "over 21 grand" (21:33), but great video overall, super interesting to see these being directed for science!

Love the videos, it would be cool to see you do an Infiniti 2.0 turbo variable compression engine. It's a bit newer so I imagine it'll be awhile

These are great, the BMW inline 6 teardowns really show the generational difference between the N55 and B58. Thanks!

The cam chain tensioner firing off into the distance barely missing you and your gentleman's area was hilarious.

FYI, Inline 6 engines don't require a balance shaft due to their almost perfect balance of primary and secondary forces.

That timing chain design including the crank pulley/vibration dampener is identical to the M57 3.0 diesel. N54/55 have cartridge rail for the chain. This is much easier to time and avoids the old crank hub slippage. Where the idler pulley is on B58 is where the diesel HPFP is located.

6:39 WUUUUGGHH! Another great tear down. A pity it sucked in water, as the rest of the components gave the impression it was pretty clean and well maintained.

There is something so satisfying about watching you create an absolute mess, as if I’m a part of it, and then I never have to clean it up. More interesting engines such as these are the best content, though. That, and carnage.

I’m impressed with the engineering of this engine. I especially like the chain tensioner design that threads into the side. Makes more sense than just having 2 little 10mm bolts holding it on.. Even though rods and crank were damaged the designs look really sturdy, right down to that big ol lower girdle thing B58 ftw 🙌

The hydrolock explains it well. I'm surprised it ruined the crankshaft, as Papadakis and Aasbo use a stock one in their FD Supra engine, pushing over 1k whp if I'm not mistaken. After seeing the block take the brunt of that incident and not destroy everything, I'm further sold on that platform.

Re that cracked counterbalance: Some of you might have seen those Pakistani workshops which FIX EVERYTHING that comes in broken. They'd just tap it straight; weld the crack, grind it flat enough to clear the rod; bit of a manual balance (maybe); and then pop it back in for another few decades! Saves thousands!

Great job on determining the issue 👏

Trivia: the old Subaru engines (EA79 block) had straight cut gears for timing at the back of the motor. With that set up, if you lost timing you had other problems to worry about.

This is the perfect engine to take apart in the backyard. I can envision it now hunting around half the time for "some damn thing that just went flying off". Apparently the Germans are still planting mines just in engines now.

I'm not much into cars, but this channel is quite entertaining.

Always satisfying looking this motor be torn down apart always looking forward to your videos