BMW N20 vs B48: Which is Better?

[@bucketfootbaseball]

Having owned cars with both, I find the B48 to have a more linear powerband that feels much less like a normal turbocharged engine. The N20 has much more turbo lag and had that slam you back into the seat feel when the turbo kicked in. The B48 has a more naturally aspirated engine feel.

[@dalisobanda5575]

So which one is better in your own opinion?

[@bucketfootbaseball]

@@dalisobanda5575 B48

[@8020Media]

B - Thanks for taking the time to share your experience. We agree and like the B48 more for sure.

[@Minto107]

​@@dalisobanda5575 depends if you like turbo lag or not... Personally I hate turbo lag so went step further and bought one that has no turbo lag... The G20 330e. It's a beast

[@Fernando_Quintana]

Amazing video THANK YOU!

[@8020Media]

F - Thanks for the feedback! We hope it helped.

[@framebangin4banger]

good boy just what i needed

[@8020Media]

F - Thanks for the feedback! Hope it helps.

[@benjamin4321]

😂

[@attilato2445]

You never spoke about the upgrade the N20B20A had on its Timing chain Guides .

[@8020Media]

A - We aren't going to go into the specifics of the updates, but thank you for sharing.

[@gilvenda5444]

i m thinking of getting a 428i or a 430i? 428i has n20 and the 430i b48. its better to pay a litlle more and buy the b48 right?

[@ihwanchn]

Womp womp

[@gilvenda5444]

@@ihwanchnwtf do you want

[@8020Media]

G - Certainly the B48.

[@Parker989]

I heard that the n20 after 2015 was more reliable than the b48, but it was more expensive to produce

[@8020Media]

P - We like the B48 over the N20.

[@quiksr20]

I want to preface my comment with I came from an N20 ( have owned 10+ bmws going back to the E30 ) and currently own a B48.. What drives me crazy is if you "KNOW" you have had valve cover gasket issues and coolant issues in the past ( crappy o-ringed hoses with plastic fittings, oil filter housing cracking etc ) Why not FIX the design so it doesnt happen.. Why let these stupid nagging problems keep happening over and over and over and over and over.. Its like hey we built this extremely great engine with all these features but ignored problems that have been plaguing us for 20+ years... Go poach a Honda engineer for 10 mins and ask them how to fix the coolant system so the issue never happens again. I have a B48 and just had to spend $2500 to fix a plastic oil filter housing, bunch of hoses with o-rings that shrink and another plastic coolant flange... What was wrong with just a regular hose and hose clamp which has worked fine for 100 years? They just gave us a ton more failure points.. /rant over.. I love our B48 X3 but some of these problems just make you shake your head.

[@8020Media]

Q - Thanks for taking the time to share your experience! Unfortunately, we agree.. However, the newer engines are looking solid!

[@quiksr20]

@@8020Media Yeah I dont believe the motors will flat out fail like the N20 with chains.. Outside of some if these hiccups I do think the B48 is strong and its damn smooth esp with the ZF8..

[@GA-yy8bp]

I agree with your statements that poor engineering design should not be allowed to go forward year after year. What model year is your X3 if I may ask? Supposedly, BMW fixed the crappy O-ring design and change to a composite oil filter housing. They redid all of the clamps and even fixed the valve cover gasket / design. The problem is that they have not made this widely known and you have to pull it out of your BMW tech. Model years 2020 forward received the changes.

[@quiksr20]

@ Mine is a 2018 hopefully the new oil filter housing wont have this issue.

[@ChieffinOnReefer]

B48 hands down ! Its a b58 with 2 cylinder missing a centrally balance properly not like the n20 which was chain driven I'm pushing almost 400hp /410 Ft-lbs on my b48 , put almost 70k miles on it with the tune . I want to see if M35i parts are compatible to do a Frankenstein build and make more powerrrrrr❤

[@8020Media]

C - We agree with you! Thanks for sharing your experience.

[@alexisguillen2233]

What mods do you have done to make that much ?

[@cmwalona]

I had a 2013 N20 engine in a X3. Sadly I didn’t know about the lawsuits and issues. My BMW dealer never mentioned anything either. I started having massive issues around 85k miles at 9-10 year mark. BMW knew the engines had valve and timing belt issues and basically told me I was S.O.L. They quoted me 12k to repair engine. Had a 3rd party repair for around 6k and immediately sold it. If I hadn’t maintained and taken proper care of it, I wouldn’t be so disappointed in BMW. Every vehicle needs maintenance and will have issues, I always had it properly maintained and serviced. That N20 cost me roughly 10k in 2 years. I used to be a big BMW fan, so disappointed in BMW, I went replaced it with a Honda. Have an older M54 powered BMW too and besides its love for drinking gas, it’s been much more reliable engine.

[@8020Media]

C - Sorry to hear this... However, thanks for taking the time to share your experience!

[@quiksr20]

Yep very familiar, My N20 was pretty rock solid for 100k miles and then the timing chain entered the room.. Something that never happened on my E36 and im now in the same spot as you.. Do I buy another BMW? I want a 230i but I just spent $2500 + to fix the oil filter housing on our X3 that Im not comfortable buying another B48 unless theres a recall or the issue is resolved in a future update.. I maintain my cars to a T and these are just mfr defects and have nothing to do with maintenance. This is all due to BMW cheaping out using plastic where metal should be used.

[@8020Media]

Q - Unfortunately, this is true....

[@quiksr20]

@@8020Media Great video none the less!

[@anjdog2003]

B48 a great engine

[@8020Media]

A - Certainly is!

[@xytras1979]

Really nobody wants to talk about the upgraded / top of specs B48 engine - the one from JCW ' and M35i models ! It is a B48 after all - very few real datas/ specs found on Internet . I dare to say that this upgraded B48 variant is the BMW first modern attempt to create a real M engine with 4 cylinders - maybe the correct name for this is S48 :) ! ...history will tell

[@8020Media]

x - Thanks for sharing.

[@laukmray]

Maybe market strategy, If you want to buy S48, why dont you buy the b58 inline 6?

[@laukmray]

Just one more sharing, I saw a P48 engine is designed for DTM racing

[@xytras1979]

@@laukmray Because in my country you pay alot more taxes for a 3.0 than for 2.0 ( more that 10 times) !

[@qw-]

B48. End of the story

[@8020Media]

Q - Both are great engines, but we also prefer the B48.

[@timkebienda1809]

B48. The end. Why is your video so long ?

[@8020Media]

T - For the people that are considering either engine.