when the warranty expires

[Area-52]

I am loving my (new to me) 2009 135 convert, and still have about 18 months on the CPO warranty.
After reading the my car's history, I am already sweating what will happen when the warranty expires.

A few of the things I am uneasy about.
I am not too keen about BMW quickly switching the piezo injector to the bosh just after 2 years and also ditching the twin turbos in favor of the single unit on the N55. Was there something wrong with that set up.
Electronic water pump and lack of warning when it goes south.
Why not have engine coolant temp gauge? I was told by the service guys that usually when the overheat "idiot light" pops on, the engine may be cooked to the point of some damage.
Not liking the "no oil dipstick"
BMW's Lifetime transfluid definition also scares me. We learned it on the BMW R1200RT bikes that there is no such thing as lifetime lube, as BMW quickly revised the specs or change intervals on final drives after failures started to take place.

Is the N54 power plant /autotrans a good match? Is it a keeper? or is it something that should be upgraded once the warranty comes to an end.
I am kicking myself for not getting the manual trans, I am missing it... even tho the car has paddle shifters with the auto trans, it is not even close.

Can anybody relay some reassuring words about the E88 - N54 powertrain longevity and reliability.

thank you

[dorkdog]

Is that crickets I hear??

[b1aze]

From spending enough time on these forums as well as some other N54/N55 specific forums, it becomes pretty clear that the N54 and 6MT as well as Steptronic transmissions are pretty much diamond plated as far as the shortblock goes. Yes, the N54 turbos have their quirks, but these cars can make so much power so easily that a lot of people can overlook a lot of the other "issues." A lot of people have been making over 400whp and dont seem to be running into longevity issues even after ~40k+ miles (which may not sound like a lot, but compared to other cars making similar power, they usually need extra regular maintenance and headaches).

I personally dont disagree with a single point you made. I dont think anything was necessarily wrong with the N54, but i can assure you that it was more expensive to not only manufacture but also to repair if/when things needed service. The wastegate rattle is probably the biggest "problem" with the whole powertrain and we benefit from an 8yr/82k mile extended warranty on them. Whats even better, is the wastegates arent generally serviced by themselves and a whole new manifold/turbo/wastegate setup is likely installed (yippie!!).

As far as the water pump, its a fairly well documented problem and while it does seem to happen without warning or reason, as long as you actually shut it down and dont try to drive it further, you should be ok. Also, AFAIK, the job itself is relatively easy to do and only ~350 in parts for a whole new pump and thermostat. The dealer may (see: WILL) want to charge you an arm and a leg for it, but if youre out of warranty, its not a bank-breaker. If youre actually worried about the water temp and would like to monitor it, a JB4 PnP setup will allow you to hijack the oil temp gauge and use it to monitor water temp with the same exact temp scaling. For ~300 shipped used and a 25minute install, its a nice piece of mind and you dont even have to use any of the increased-performance maps, though i challenge you to try it and not leave it on map5 :devil:

I tried to drop the hint to my SA about the 6MT and Diff fluid "lifetime fill" issue and she just kinda shrugged her shoulders and said "I really cant do anything about it" so i will likely be giving both a douching this spring/summer.

Were all enraged about the lack of a manual oil level check. I just dont see how they can justify it.

[doublevanosrc]

Originally Posted by b1aze

the job itself is relatively easy to do and only ~350 in parts for a whole new pump and thermostat.

350 for a water pump? You sure about that i swear i saw someone on here where they go for like $600 since they're the electric pumps.

[b1aze]

Originally Posted by doublevanosrc

350 for a water pump? You sure about that i swear i saw someone on here where they go for like $600 since they're the electric pumps.

If you contact any of the BMW Parts dealers on here, you will get one in the 350 ballpark. At least thats what i have seen a few times around here.

[awns729]

Originally Posted by Area-52

I am loving my (new to me) 2009 135 convert, and still have about 18 months on the CPO warranty.
After reading the my car's history, I am already sweating what will happen when the warranty expires.

A few of the things I am uneasy about.
I am not too keen about BMW quickly switching the piezo injector to the bosh just after 2 years and also ditching the twin turbos in favor of the single unit on the N55. Was there something wrong with that set up.
Electronic water pump and lack of warning when it goes south.
Why not have engine coolant temp gauge? I was told by the service guys that usually when the overheat "idiot light" pops on, the engine may be cooked to the point of some damage.
Not liking the "no oil dipstick"
BMW's Lifetime transfluid definition also scares me. We learned it on the BMW R1200RT bikes that there is no such thing as lifetime lube, as BMW quickly revised the specs or change intervals on final drives after failures started to take place.

Is the N54 power plant /autotrans a good match? Is it a keeper? or is it something that should be upgraded once the warranty comes to an end.
I am kicking myself for not getting the manual trans, I am missing it... even tho the car has paddle shifters with the auto trans, it is not even close.

Can anybody relay some reassuring words about the E88 - N54 powertrain longevity and reliability.

thank you

As far as switching the injectors and twin turbo -> single, those things dont worry me too much. There haven't been any reported issues related to those specifically (at least as far as my reading on these forums). Engineers will constantly be revising the design for one reason or another, so while I'm sure there were reasons for the change, I don't think we're part of a bad lot of cars or anything.

I'd be kind of surprised if the coolant temp light didn't come on with enough warning for you to pull over safely.

And as far as the lifetime fluids go, just change them at reasonable intervals and you should be fine.

I don't see why N54 + auto would be a bad match. Not sure what you meant exactly.

No dipstick sounds scary because the sensor could fail. I would hope that the engineers though tthis out, and there's some sort of redundant circuit or failsafe so that we can't go low on oil. Being an engineer myself, this seems pretty obvious to implement for something as vital as engine oil.

Also keep in mind, this 1 series forum will have lots of complains. And people see posts about HPFP failures and wastegate rattle, and they assume it's a very, very wide spread issue and that the car has problems. While that could be true, we really have no idea for sure by looking at just the raw number of complaints here. What if we're a minuscule percentage of 1 series owners? What if relative to other honda civics with problem X, a smaller percentage of 1 series owners are having some problem Y? We really don't have a way of knowing. Having said that, I don't see a huge number of complaints come up on this board, so I don't worry about any major issues. You can look at 335 reliability as well for more info since they have the same engine.

However if something does go wrong after warranty, you may end up wtih hefty repair bills. But this cost will almost always be less than buying a new luxury car. My guess would be you're always better off risking repairs with luxury car just out of warranty than straight up shelling out the cash for a new 1 series. I'd think keeping the luxury car longer as long as you know it's maintenance history would be the cheaper gamble most of the time.

[ptack]

80+k miles and no problems in the last 40. Going strong.

[Area-52]

Ptack, good to hear... thank you .
I am watching this tread like a hawk

[doublevanosrc]

Originally Posted by ptack

80+k miles and no problems in the last 40. Going strong.

[slim_e90]

E88 N54 6AT. I've had no issues in the last 40k miles. It's now at 65k and strong as a freight train. Last 25k mi have been on Cobb stg 1 aggressive.

[BrokenVert]

When the warranty expires the oceans will rise up and consume you. This will be a relief from the hordes of zealot rabbits that have been eating through your doorsills for the previous week.

[Venom]

Originally Posted by BrokenVert

When the warranty expires the oceans will rise up and consume you. This will be a relief from the hordes of zealot rabbits that have been eating through your doorsills for the previous week.

LOL! Good thing I don't have doorsills!

[Area-52]

Originally Posted by BrokenVert

When the warranty expires the oceans will rise up and consume you. This will be a relief from the hordes of zealot rabbits that have been eating through your doorsills for the previous week.

Hahaaha... good one... no really
Ok sounds good, I will sleep much better tonight then,
knowing that on the same week the warranty runs out something WILL NOT break on my beauty.

PS: every time I walk up to this car - from a distance.
Every time it just looks more like alittle beauty. Yeah I know this is just self cheerleading.. kind of. This is one car that actually looks nice with a ragtop On or OFF, period.

[BrokenVert]

Originally Posted by Area-52

Hahaaha... good one... no really
Ok sounds good, I will sleep much better tonight then,
knowing that on the same week the warranty runs out something WILL NOT break on my beauty.

PS: every time I walk up to this car - from a distance.
Every time it just looks more like alittle beauty. Yeah I know this is just self cheerleading.. kind of. This is one car that actually looks nice with a ragtop On or OFF, period.

Well all that being said Ive had injector and turbo problems and I'm currently tracking down a very suspicious noise that comes from the intake when the car is cold. It isn't the turbos again because theyre holding boost and earlier today (a rainy day) I was putting down consistent 5.7s on my winter tires.


I know what you mean about the stares, ive been doing that for the better part of five years.