Man, if you pull one of those mickey mouse hoses off without it breaking apart, you may as well go buy a lottery ticket. I've pulled like 50 of those in various F30's, E90's, F10's, etc and not a single one was even remotely intact, and that's including cars with 70k miles on them. The plastic cooling system components really do not survive out here in Arizona.
I'm in SoCal and surprisingly did mine 2 weeks ago on a 95k mile N26 and I had to cut my hose because I couldn't get that flange off. Was surprised it made it that long.
Needed an excuse not to do away with my little 175k mile 428i. Cars had it's issues, timing chain, thermostat and compressor being the heavy hitters. But routine maintenance on the rest of the smaller preventative measures like arms, bushings and gaskets have kept the car going fighting the Texas heat. Appreciate you guys giving the n20 some love. The M54 in my 330ci has proven itself and looking to see that the L5 in the junker V70 T5 I just picked up can do
I’ve owned N20’s, B48’s & B58’s. The N20 is by far the least reliable, but I wouldn’t say they are terrible. If it weren’t for the timingchain failing, which is a big failure, this engine would be solid. I’ve only had my thermostat get stuck open and had to be replaced. Due to gearing, a lot of these 28i’s cars feel quicker in the lower end compared to the 30i’s cars with the B48. Outside of that, B48’s are a much better engine and I am glad to see BMW was able to improve the N20 into what it is now. The N20 is definitely an interesting engine, seeing that’s BMW’s modern day turbo 4.
does the tstat being stuck open give you a code? particularly (U0079 Control Module Comm Bus G off). i feel like mine may be stuck open but that's the only code i have. everything else is fine and car doesn't have any other issues.
@@anthonyt7642 Man, it’s been over 6 years since I got that code, but it did for sure give one. Give the car a drive and see if the temps stays lower than it should. Means it’s stuck open.
I have a supercharged 01 Explorer Sport 2dr with the 4.0 V6. It came with a German made Cologne 4.0 SOHC v6 and the timing drive on it is very similar to the newer BMW engines cept for the fact that it has 4 or 5 chains, one of which is on the backside of the passenger cyl head on the back of the motor and most ppl pull the engine out just to replace the timing drive components because of that chain on the back of the motor. And the sprockets aren't keyed or anything just like the N20. Im actually rebuilding the turbo on my sister's N20 which is why I came upon this vid but I've seen a bunch of vids by you guys before. Good stuff.
timing chains can feel lose at times due to the tensioner not having oil pressure to apply pressure and due to where the cams and crank are at but id say its definently best to do it while your there then take a gamble on a 100k+ mile set of original chains.
Awesome video, more so because I own the same car... Would you guys say that the timing chain is the only major reliability thing to worry about when it comes to the N20?
Any trends with steering rack noises you guys have noticed? mine makes a racket going over bumps and the new bushing BMW sells only works when tighening down way to much
Just a question for those that might have experience on the high compression N20. I'm fitting in forged 11:1 piston with stock rods on it. I have a hybrid turbo capable of pushing 24 psi of boost. I'm just wondering is it okay to push 24 psi since I have forged piston now ?
Short answer: YES... unreliable open-deck garbage with the worst plasma liner. Im building an N20 with forged internals and flanged ductile iron sleeves. How you gonna replace the most reliable BMW engine ever with the worst ever? SHAME
