BMW N73 Engine Reliability 2021 ( E65 , E66 , 760I , 760LI , Rolls-Royce Phantom ) 

I have one of the very few 760i (Short wheelbase) I have owned it for 10 years from about 80k miles to 140k miles. To drive and ride in it's an absolutely fantastic car. For me, I want a comfortable car that can be used to easily blast past slower vehicles that get in my way with huge reserves in handling that does not draw too much attention. I took over a BMW insured warranty from the previous owner. This has been totally worth it as I have had more in parts alone out of it. About 6 months into owning the car the check engine light started to flash on cold startup with lots of misfiring. This led to a major problem with my (very good at the time) BMW dealer. There did not seem to be enough information about the N73 coming from BMW with BMW telling the dealer to replace seemingly random parts. The whole process went on for about a year with the car going back to BMW HO in Bracknell for their research team to work out the issue and use my car to collect data from it (the N73 had to be a fixable engine because it is used in the Rolls Royce). The issue turned out to be problems in the lifters causing uneven valve opening after the Valvetronic takes over. Really after that (past 9 years 50K miles) there have only been a few issues but still very costly. Coolant pipe (failed twice) once again a week or so after the first time... Massive job heads off etc etc.. A single failed coil parch despite them only being a year or so old. 4 break dows due to fuel leaks 3 due to a fuel rail (maybe scratched during misfire investigation. They would replace the O rings on the injectors and the same one would fail about a week later. The final breakdown was 5 years later when a high-pressure metal line fractured. I think it was due to being removed so many times. Note -- BMW updated the pumps and lines at the same time and they are not compatible. Therefore my warranty had to pay for new pumps as well. Total 7K Cam sensor, started with the odd hot startup on a single bank only (no fault codes) followed by an odd exhaust noise when pulling away (sounded like a 4 cylinder with a big bore exhaust) (still no codes), finally, after two years, a cam sensor code was triggered and a new sensor fixed the problem. Starter motor (gave warning) -- Huge job to replace as the exhaust manifold needs to be removed one bank etc etc etc,. I always perform an intermediate oil change between CBS services with a BMW oil filter etc. (I am sure the stupid CBS 2 year oil services caused the lifter problem which cost BMW a huge amount of money...) Also, the car is hardly ever used for short trips so the oil gets fully hot every time the car is driven, I may consider moving to 6 monthly oil changes as I learn more about BMWs. One problem that nobody talks about. is the time it takes BMW to perform the required work. Parts are often on backorder or at least not in the country. To pull the motor down and back up there are lots of bolts that need to be replaced each time and it's very easy for something to not be available. This means the car can be off the road for months at a time (I keep an old and more reliable E38 for this). I guess the sorts of people who can afford this sort of thing from new has lots of time to spare to deal with everything. I have not been fussy with the brand of fuel (Vpower is expensive) however it really does prefer high octane fuel, on 96 it has a slight hesitation coming back onto the accelerator. Like my previous experience with BMWs, if properly looked after and all major issues and defects are fixed at 10 years or 100K they can have a second life that's better than their first life.

Thanks mate, I was wanting a F02 with N74 so pleased you done this video

Also, the injectors only cost $115 here in the US, that's for OEM Bosch.

I have a 2003 760li carbon black. Very rare car. I have had the hpfp rebuilt. 89k miles and gearbox seals and oil replaced. I love this car.

Great content Bmw doctor, can you do a video on e46 m3 please, what to look out for on the s54 engine and what to look out for buying please

Great video thanks. Can I ask though whether the PCV crankcase breather valves are a common problem with these engines and if so would they cause excessive oil use? Thanks.

Hey dean can you do an episode on 2013 650i gran coupes! Thinkin about getting one as a bigger sedan cause my 328s pretty small and got a 2nd one on the way

Thanks DOC You are crushing it !!

Doc, which 7 series do you recommend when it comes to reliability? 745, 750 or 760

Cool information What about the 3L, 3.5L & 3.6L (V8 engines)?

could you please do one video on reliability of N74 engines? I’m thinking of getting a m760i but not sure about the reliability Thanks!

Great video

Hi, could you point me to the bank 2 exhaust cam position sensor is please, looked everwhere and can't find any info, on a 2003 760Li n73. thanks.

Please also make a Video about the B57

Doc, I've got an odd question about the N73. I'm looking for affordable salvage source V12 engines for performance use. My question pertains to removing the Valvetronic setup. I've never had a cylinder head in my hands to know. After reviewing a million photos it appears that the raised Valvetronic cam is mounted on top of the standard position base. You can see the standard position camshaft journal below the raised pedestal journal in the front of the cylinder heads. My question is this, is there enough material below the standoffs for a camshaft in the standard position? Or would it require casting a camshaft tray for the intake cam base of the journal?

I have a 2004 e65 with the n73 only problem I have with this car is bad smoking when it gets hot and front coolant pipe leak on reservoir which is common I have cleaned the carbon out changed all the plugs coils pcv valves hoses And it will rev up and down sometimes on its own

Nice to hear that there’s actually a bmw 7 series that’s actually somewhat reliable (for a bmw at least). But the only 7 series I’d buy is the electric one that was just announced.

Hi Dean, is M47 throttle body interchangeable with N47? Thanks in advance

I'm having issues with my 2013 760Li that seemed to start right after I had the plugs changed... Losing power, does NOT want to go up hills, poor acceleration... My tech looked through the codes and said he couldn't pinpoint the problem and didn't want to just replace 12 injectors willy-nilly for $6800... Do you have any thoughts or suggestions I could relate to him? I love the car, but it's not fun to drive anymore 😢

Hello, i have bmw e65 n73 too, it is a fantastic car. I had the hpfp s rebuild now, because of error code 2924... now the rail pressure is good - no codes for that... But now it shows an another error code: (P1016 - wastegate control pressure is higher than expected) - what it means?! Can you help me please? Thanks!

I have a 2008 760Li, outside of regular maintenance and the age of the car it’s by far the best car I’ve ever owned hands down! I have a 2012 S65 AMG great but the 760Li is much more smoother

Don’t forget the alternator gasket fail on these

Loving the content Dean you are fast becoming the BMW Guru if not already 🇬🇧🇬🇧👍👍

Hello boss, how can I get the products in Africa

Thoughts on N74?

Hey doctor, can you provide the vendor that supplies the HPFP rebuild kit?

The valves do not get fouled from carbon build-up. It's from the intake plenum sucking oil from the valve cover (see back cylinders) or you can have a bad valve seal. The fuel injectors will fail mostly from a broken pintel return spring which will cause a leaking injector. After all, fuel rail pressure can exceed and will go over 800 psi. The injectors will not stick, unless the coil fails and they wom't open anyway. The N73 is not an old mans engine. The N62 is much worse with issues. Also, the N73 suffers from the alternator bracket oil leak and inside coolant pipe leak which are both a Beech.

This video is short so seems to be good news lmaoo

Is BMW have just one good engine?? Or every of them is bad

What about n74

Remember people, the engine is pretty good. the rest of the car is not, in the case of the E65/66. As much as I love BMWs, and often think the complaints about ownership are overly dramatic: the E6X 7 series models are a technological marvel of engineering, and hot garbage simultaneously. They can be a great value however, and I think if you are going to insist on buying the most horrible chassis bmw every made, you should at least go for the v12 right? I don't feel this way about many other BMW models, I've always had great experiences with every model I've owned except for a 2004 745i.

are the emissions worse on a carbonised engine? pointless making these cleaner engines that become dirtier later on in life if emissions become worse than before.

Good evening friend, how are you? I sent you a message on your instagran, I need your help, I would like to talk to you to see if you help me solve my problem with my BMW 318i please.