BMW N55 Problems to Expect - Engine Reliability

For over a decade, BMW N55 was one of the main engines that BMW has used in it's cars. Overall, it's a good engine, but of course there were some early issues and many issues still remaining on this engine. In this video, we take a look at all of the major issues you can expect on the BMW N55 engine, some of the minor issues that can come up as the engine ages as well as how to take care of the engine so that it doesn't destroy itself. I also share some of my person experience with the N55 engine and how I rebuild one. We talk about rod bearing issues, high pressure fuel pump, charge pipe, different gaskets and oil leaks, water pump and VANOS solenoid failures. Some of these issues have been carried over from the BMW N54 engine but many have also been solved.

BMW 335i M-Sport Project Playlist:
BMW N55 Engine Rebuild:

*— MUST HAVE CAR ITEMS — *

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:27 Overview
01:09 Rod Bearings
02:22 HPFP
03:20 Charge Pipe
03:59 Valve Cover, Valve Cover Gasket
04:51 Oil Filter Housing Gasket
05:22 Water Pump
05:53 VANOS Solenoids
06:44 Minor Issues
07:46 Personal Experience with N55
08:45 Recommended Maintenance
09:19 Best & Worst Years
______
------------------------------
Links are affiliated where possible.
This means if you click on the link and purchase the product, I will earn a commission.

[manubrasa]

I have a BMW 335i N55
2015 with 172 thousand miles and runs super smooth BMW is all good

[DeletedAccount-tuzb]

My 2015 435i has 170, 000 miles. Such a smooth and trusty engine.

[Iryna]

Great content dude! Learned so much, going to keep watching

[bimmerfan]

very well put together video, keep them coming! I love my n55 in my 235i and it's good to know things to look out for.

[Designer_R]

This engine has also one more weak point that was not mentioned by anyone: coolant pipe from engine to radiator, its the biggest pain in the ass. Solution: replace with aluminium pipe. (Heads only)

[matthewwhitehouse]

Love ur videos keep uo the content just bought a 2013 535i 65k miles 1 owner :)

[scarfdestroyer]

Had just about every issue in the video on our 2015 e84 35i. Valvetronic motor and shaft was certainly the most complicated repair I have ever attempted. Way harder than timing and vanos on my e36!

[leoteruel]

Great video, the only fatal thing about early n55 engines is the rod bearings issues and although it is more common on the older versions of the car it still happens from time to time in newer versions. I have a 2012 135i, I changed my rod bearings preventively and used the calico coated king rod bearings. Hope the car wont spun the rod bearings....if problem is on the rods then guess im still prone to it.

[farkhanjaber]

Have a 2011 135i just found out my valvetronic servo motor & eccentric shaft are screwed. Lasted around 181000km though.. so i guess that's something. Regarding the HPFP, is the newer version just PnP?

[Ramokolo]

Rod bearing issues are new to me with this engine variant. I thought it was with the M3 V8 only

[midwestdiaries]

Got my valvetronic, eccentric shaft and valve cover replaced recently at 97k miles. The shaft was pretty worn. An expensive job as well, was quoted 3.2k from an indy shop. Did the job well and got back running again. Will probably be getting Trans + Diff service soon(another 1k) and getting catless downpipe+PE mod. Couldve done all of these if I didn’t have to get the valvetronic issue but atleast its bulletproof now!

[danielrivera]

What is it with bmw & using shitty seals😭 after I did a long list of maintenance, it turns out EVEN the oil pan gasket fails relatively early on n55s as swell. Still wouldn’t want any other Lego car tho ❤️

[briannguyen]

Rod bearing is kind of weird to hear about for the N55 platform.

[stockex]

Whats your favorite oil for the N54/ E-Series N55?

[NoBoyaLib]

had to change engine on my x5 2015 35i 😭 65k miles only

[RobboElRobbo]

2011 n55 160000km and i'm pretty sure the rod bearing issue is super rare

[deeleem]

I have a 2011 335i. It has a rough idle and sometimes stalls when you come to a complete stop. The only code I am getting is MIXTURE TOO LEAN. I got it smoked tested and they found no leaks. Could this be causing by fuel injectors? Car does not have long cranks and starts up right away. My oil does smell like gas and the all 6 spark plugs look very dark and black with less than 10 miles on them.

[mateuszgrozdanovic]

And then comes my N55 with a head gasket leak at 100k:(

[Kacpa]

Maybe a better solution is to just swap in older N52 and call it a day? Since E90 had both, it should be easy using E90's ecu and other parts on most N55 BMWs?

[howardkahn]

first of all when you have a valve cover leak you must also replace the valve cover, plus the gasket, costs $2, 200 at the dealer, the electric water pump costs $2, 300.00 at the dealer to replace, when the transmission pan leaks you must replace the plastic oil pan which includes the transmission filter+ gasket, costs at the dealer $1, 600, and when the main rear seal leaks it costs well over $3, 000.00 to repair, and when your extended coolant tank leaks you also must replace the plastic tubes that connect to the engine which costs at the dealer $1, 200, . these things will certainly fail with less than 50, 000 miles and hopefully within the 4 year mfg warranty, in your 2014 X1 Xdrive M equipped 35i n55 engine...i know, cause they failed in mine in it's 5th to 8th year between 40 and 49, 000 miles which was all out of warranty, also the battery failed in it's 5th also the 4 brakes pads had to be replaced and when you replace the brake pads you must also replace the rotors this costs $1, 700 dollars at the dealers.... so if you are going to buy this vehicle used make sure this work was done, make sure you put this auto up on a lift and have a good mechanic look for additional