BMW 1 SERIES COMMON PROBLEMS!

BMW 1 series common problems. BMW E81 E82 E87 E88

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[testadelcomputer]

10 years later, 118d 143cv N47 engine.
210.000 with the stock chain and it's still working as the first day.
I remember during the night i was praying not to break the chain.

[PaulOffordRacing]

Nice work George. I’m building a 116 Trophy car and I found an area where it rusts. It’s two U shaped box sections (one left one right) that is tacked onto the rear bulkhead, just in front of the petrol tank. In particular, it rusts in the corners and around the fuel tank mounting brackets.

[freman]

I have a 2007 E87 120i with the N46 motor. I urgently needed a car after a couple of trucks nose-to-tailed my VW Jetta (same year), and the BMW was the cheapest low kms car available. It is very nice to drive, it was specced with the M suspension so it handles pretty well. It is firm enough that it was unpleasant while I was recovering from being battered around in the accident though.

It does lose a bit of oil, and a bit of coolant, and there's a VVT error that comes up on hot starts and puts it into limp mode requiring a restart or two to get it going again. I'll get the motor, seal, and sensor replaced when I send it in for a service. They basically have to pull apart the engine to get at the sparkplugs anyway, it's just another layer, the cam cover, to get to the VVT motor and sensor.

I hit a feral cat driving home from work the other night, and it damaged the right fog light, so now the car is telling me to replace the fog lamp, presumably just the bulb.

I owned an MG Metro, and a 2.8 Audi A6. Honestly, this isn't causing me any major grief.

[craigroberts]

With the air vents, apparently you can just use some “back to black” and it sorts it (I’m going to be trying it soon)!

[AB-jktw]

Love our e88 with the n52 engine - lots of fun to drive and the car has been very reliable over the past 200 km

[miladhomayoun]

120i, e88
Bought it with 52k miles on the clock. Timing chain issue with 62k miles now. Both rear shocks went after a while, front shocks to follow soon after and now I have an issue with the low pressure fuel pump.
😊

[mickmarshall]

Vent discolouration: when I bought my 2010 model 2 years ago I cleaned them, then applied back to black from a bottle with a cotton bud. Dream fix!

[grahampickard]

E87 116i owned from new - issues we had were bonnet release failed. Fan connector rusted needing a new fan. Rear diff was never serviced so that got quite noisy. All ABS sensors failed twice. Timing chain eventually let go at 195, 000 miles. Other than that it was OK.

[Kofi_Mensahs_BurnerAccount]

I have an 06 116i. Timing chain tensioner was sorted before I bought it and the abs sensor is sorted so the major issues are sorted. I wouldn’t be able to run anything over the 120i as fuel bills would be prohibitive.

[Aser]

The fuel filler flap is also a really common problem on these, I still need to replace mine.

[mariobianchi]

The real 1 er by Chris Bangle! The nicest of them all.

[cb]

2008 118i E87 N43 M Sport Package 181000KM 1st owner. 100% original other than expected wear and tear, maintenance parts. New RF tires on the way. DIY projects planned: Rear CV joints, Hood Release cable (stretched), shocks F & R, and Thermostat.
:

[harryjobbins]

Ive got an e87 with the n47 engine (your videos on the 5 series have been fantastic on how to work on these engines) ive found that the LCD pannel in the radio can fail if it gets too hot ie left in hot sunlight for too long. Not a big issue as the radio doesn't fail but can be a bit annoying.
Keep up all the good work on the videos 👍

[jonowen]

Such great cars. I wish they were available in the US. Good video, George.

[martinhames]

Also I think they stopped the N47 when they got to the 14 plate reg. The main issues were with cars from 08 - 11

[brent]

Remembered you from the corsa page, you've gained a massive following. Nice! Good video too :)

[YusufIslam]

I ended up respraying the vents which makes it look perfect, no point trying to replace them. I think it's the sun too but I wouldn't be surprised if it's the heated AC that causes the corrosion.

[chrisnewbold]

The rear wash/wipe motor fails, as the water is fed through the wiper spindle. If/when the jets gets a slight blockage, the pump forces water into the motors drive system, followed by corrosion and unrepairable failure.

[martinhames]

You'll find a lot of the engine problems with the N47 are down to BMWs unrealistic service timings. To prevent chain failure you should be changing the oil every 6k miles not as they suggest think they say service every 12 - 18k miles.

[youtoob]

The E82/N47 (120d), the problem I came across is not the timing chain as such, but the chain tensioner and it's not a minor fix because the chain is at the back of the engine, so engine has to come out. Also, the injector seals can be a problem, I would recommend checking regularly under the engine cover for signs of carbon deposits.