BMW E90 320i workshop headakes - warning

[ebxr8240]

Ahh fit an Ecoboost engine in it...
Second thoughts DON'T...

[hodge_williams]

this thread is lol.

we have a e90 320i and I cannot praise it any more than I do. Other than the power difference between my xrt, the BMW S*^$S all over the xrt. It is an excellently built piece of equipment.

Sure it costs a bit to maintain, then again you get what you pay for.

Just reminder your partner that she needs to listen to all of the warnings that go on for weeks on the dash!

[MrEL]

Achtung!!!!!!

[happy1]

Hi again,
I'm surprised how many of you are blaming me for poor car maintenance of Wife's car. I already know that, and lack of maintenance really was not my purpose of this thread.

Neither was it about 'design flaws'. The E90 series is known for coolant leakages, oil leakages, faulty vaacum pumps, peeling interior plastics.
Its a 'premium' driving experience for those who wants a new car.
Yes, BMW is not a 'bad product' for those who wants a new, (0 to 3 year old car), and are happy to fork out for premium service cost also.
And as many of you are saying, with proper maintenance a BMW will keep running.
Now we are past that bit (hopefully), and getting towards my point of this thread:

In my view the E90 will not be a pleasant car to own once the warranty is no longer covering repairs. (that's why I mentioned 3 year old cars).
My main point with this tread was to describe how it appears that BMW has deliberately made the engine un-friendly to repair, just to make sure all work stays within their own aftermarket organisation.
One example is how the E90 engine has absolutely no timing marks, and the chain wheels on the cams have no fixed position. They are friction fit with a stretch bolt. I have not seen this before. And again, this does not directly correlate to 'small tolerances' and 'high performance'. If the factory wanted they could have engineered in simple ways of arranging the cam timing alignment. For example japanese motorbikes such as Hayabusa and GSXR always have timing marks to get chains back into position, and all sensor wheels etc has a specific spot to be put back into place.

In other words I'm not blaiming BMW for any 'design flaws'. I'm just stating the fact after looking through the disassembled E90 head, that there is no way of assembling this engine without all the specialist tools, due to the way they have choosen to design it.

It looks like the only forum member that has agreed to my point so far has been BudBud.

It was mentioned above how Isuzu trucks, and some other modern diesels needs a lot of special tools also. - Not a very good design trend for us backyard DIY forum members that enjoys doing some effort to save cost.

We can just hope the new engines such as Ford Ecoboost is not made the same 'robotic' way..

Anyway, not worth arguing this much further.
Thanks for the opinions, and interest in this thread.
Cheers

[GTP owner]

I am going to suggest that you are being blamed for the poor maintenance because you know your wife is terrible at it. That means you failed to do it too. I do all of our car stuff, while the wife just drives them. It is all up to me to book the services and preventive maintenance. She also knows to stop and ask me when a warning light comes on.

As for the E90 being unpleasant once the warranty wears out - well any car has its issues. But the new stuff tells you what is wrong through the computer. Yes it takes a specialist to do this, but welcome to the new world. No car is primitive any more. It is the same in medicine - we don't expect the GP to remove your appendix anymore. Any new car requires specialist tools - try removing a fuel pump out of a BA falcon: it needs special tools.

I think you perhaps vented, but got a reasonable reaction to your view. No point blaming everyone else for that.

[ebxr8240]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unkIVvjZc9Y



Maintenance OR..

[RASER]

Originally Posted by happy1

NEVER EVER BMW-products anywhere near my household again if my opinion is asked.

Cheers

That's old news!

VW are worse, they cannot even fix them from new under warranty

All i got to say is buy Japanese, and buy AussieAussieAussie...OihOihOih!

[XWGT]

Simply place the terms

Audi and CVT

or

VW and DSG

into google and see whats returned.

Add running the engine out of oil on several occassions, and I'm surprised the car didnt self destruct.

[snowcone]

quote - One example is how the E90 engine has absolutely no timing marks, and the chain wheels on the cams have no fixed position .- quote

Ford are just as guilty of this little cost saving measure too.

Ford Explorer 4 litre OHC V6 - 2 camshafts and no keys or splines or marks, and what makes it even worse is that they have faulty camchain tensioners guaranteeing that they will need disassembly some where around 100,00 kms.

[buickman]

I like Jags but could not afford a new one and keep it maintained.
But I look at this way if you cannot afford to buy and maintain a prestige brand of car new and get rid of them as the warranty runs out buying a second hand Euro or prestige British car comes with expensive maintained bills that you have to take into account.

[Fiesta_Man69]

Ford is no better. My WS 2010 Fiesta with 65K on it requires a new clutch: Cumberland Ford will supply and fit for $1430... for a light, cheap (lol) city runabout... Aftermarket costs less than half. Fords pricing is just insulting. And it ain't just the clutch: the rotors went at 40K, Ford wanted $640 for new discs and pads, aftermarket cost $270. Next car won't be a Ford, most probably a Korean....

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by buickman

I like Jags but could not afford a new one and keep it maintained.
But I look at this way if you cannot afford to buy and maintain a prestige brand of car new and get rid of them as the warranty runs out buying a second hand Euro or prestige British car comes with expensive maintained bills that you have to take into account.

Precisly...

[Polyal]

Originally Posted by XWGT

Simply place the terms

Audi and CVT

or

VW and DSG

into google and see whats returned.

Add running the engine out of oil on several occassions, and I'm surprised the car didnt self destruct.

As long as I can I will not touch any of the new fang-dangled gearboxs. Sure when they are right they might be good, change gear in a pooth-tenth of a sec etc...but when they pop then look out.

In saying that I love new tech and as others have mentioned it is all built to fine specs, they are simply not as durable as the old BTR et al so you have to be careful.

I still dont get this thread, if it was about a new Ford it would have been closed and people banging on about the forum being anit Ford. I dont know how a E90 could be abused so much within a sort span.

[Auslandau]

Originally Posted by Fiesta_Man69

. Next car won't be a Ford, most probably a Korean....

Yep ..... cos bad things only happen to Fords.

Thread has run its course ..................... well and truly.