ARE NEWER BMW'S BETTER? 2018 BMW X2 B48 2.0L Turbo FAILED Engine Teardown (Only 95K miles and DONE!)

To buy parts go to www.Importapart.com or email us at [e-mail]
I teardown a new engine every week, sometimes more! at nearly 200 videos of engines torn down, I've covered a lot of engines and a LOT of failures.
Here are some of my favorites:
Toyota Prius Engine Lets Go BAD • BLEW UP A PRIUS?! 2010...
The Worst Of the Ecoboosts, 1.0L Teardown • JUNK Ford Ecosport 1.0...
Honda Accord J series V6 carnage • Obliterated Honda Acco...
Audi S6 5.2L V10 Damage Everywhere! • DEVASTATED Audi S6 5.2...
GM 1.4T Cruze/Trax Massive Overheat • Overheated Chevy Cruze...
Today we tear down a BMW B48 2.0L Turbo Engine from a 2018 BMW X2 with 95,000 miles. This is a core return, which means someone replaced the engine in a car that failed with a used engine, and this is the original engine. Aside from the mileage, I had no other information on this engine so tearing it down was kind of a mystery. I haven't torn down too many late model BMW engines but this failure was fairly interesting.
Why am I doing this? My name is Eric and I own and run a full service auto salvage business called Importapart. Part of our model includes buying and dismantling core/blown engines to salvage the good parts from. We do not rebuild engines, merely supply parts to those who do!
I really hope you enjoyed this teardown. As always I love all of the comments, feedback and even the criticism. Catch you on the next one!
-Eric

[@Cartier_specialist]

I love that you don't have a long tedious intro and music. Other channels could learn from you.

[@NightStalkers-hx3dq]

But there is the lame attempt at humor.......

[@MontanaDirtRoads]

What's a long tedious intro to you?

[@Savvynomad225]

@@MontanaDirtRoads” start your engines…” with a car revving

[@MontanaDirtRoads]

@@Savvynomad225 agreed,my "intro" is just clips of old past videos lol

[@BillWrightabc]

Yah know, Eric, you do always say, "...even the criticism..." Dude, there is nothing to criticize. My wrenching days are long over, yet my Saturday evening is would not be the same without an I DO CARS fix. No dissing, only kudos. Thank you!

[@watkikel]

Ditto. Saturday night tear down has become a tradition with friends, coworkers, and myself. We enjoy what you do and thank you!

[@NightStalkers-hx3dq]

Hot fire awaits engineers who put the timing system on the back of engines.

[@Troy_Built]

Instead of fixing their cooling systems they decided to over-engineer the timing system.

[@kennethross786]

My 2006 Explorer has the best of both worlds - a crank-driven jack shaft and camshafts driven off the jack shaft with chains front AND rear.

[@neilquinn]

This is what would make me the most nervous about buying any vehicle with these engines. Timing guides failed on these in the past. I can't imagine the cost of a full engine out repair.

[@zxggwrt]

Imagine what awaits those who put water pumps behind the timing chain system 🔥

[@Markworth]

All of the "technology" already exists. Cam in valve cover. Fuel pump in valve cover. Rear timing. Water pump behind timing cover. Wet timing belt. Boom, you're pulling the engine every 60k. Awwyeah. Ford will probably do it first, if their recent abominations are any indication.

[@high_drivexxx]

Automotive Engineer for Honda here. Those BMW motors are pretty solid. Toyota uses them in the base Supra. The rod bearings looking like new at 100,000 miles kind of proves that. BMW makes some great engines. It's the emissions regulators and accounting teams that force us to use plastic cooling systems. It's not just BMW. If you don't replace the cooling system at 100,000 for any car past 2008, you're on borrowed time.

[@BillMalcolm-tn3kq]

I agree that the metal machined parts of this B48 engine look rugged and extremely well made and machined. Lots of savings could be made by making things less well and still last well enough. But no, some dinglebunny accountant comes along, you claim, and tells the engineers "Ve must sev 5 cents by using a plastic water pump impeller". Right, that and three bucks will get me a cup of what passes for coffee these days. Makes no sense no matter how one looks at it. Emissions? A water pump impeller made of plastic that lasts forever in a dump, if not in the engine. A metal one is easily recyclable. I look at that "oil cooler" and see O-rings tortured into crazy shapes on the block used as oil "seals". Suddenly, German rationality is ditched. Look at Honda screwing the J35 with DI, using $3 injectors that fail at 50K miles, as South Main Auto has shown. Honda sells a cheapo six pack even at its dealers for this "wear" item. Plus who knows how much labor to replace them, when it's only a 30 minute job, according to happy mechanics reporting in at beating the book rate by a country mile. Hell, the timing belt lasts twice as long. I've seen accountants at work, and they generally come round to reason, and blaming "emissions" for use of plastic parts is pure hogwash -- nothing, I mean NOTHING, to do with it. Discarded plastic in landfills lasts for ever,; scrap metal is easily recycled. You're not getting your excuses past me, I'm an engineer too. I mean, even the most cost-cut engine I've seen here, the Hyundai 1.6 turbo, made out of spider webs and 1 mm thick alloy lasts 100K miles. So these robust BMW engines have to have built-in failure points -- on purpose. Same with everyone else. Otherwise we have to assume engineers are all Jekyll and Hydes, which is absurd. Like running rubber toothed belts in oil at Ford and VW, and those useless DI injectors at Honda. Or VW using expensive special iron on their otherwise dog's breakfast of a 2.0 liter turbo four. That's the stupidest mechanical design I've seen torn down on this channel -- a complete nightmare. Much as I hate to agree with Internet opiners, I see a conspiracy to produce junk. 95% good, and then crap that will obviously fail. Not the way my mechanical engineering career went, but it wasn't in automotive which seems like scam city.

[@Methylphenidate2803]

Toyota/Lexus UR, GR series entered the chat. Not trying at argue with an engineer but this is to prove your point that some companies accounting teams are interested in using higher quality rubber hoses and not using plastic water pumps, like Toyota, Honda, Mazda and Subaru. Maybe even Mitsubishi although it is a dying breed.

[@high_drivexxx]

@@Methylphenidate2803 Oh how naive you are. Toyota/Mazda/Subaru are all using the same cheap processes. It's called injection 3D molding. No company is using plastic water pumps as of 2009 either. What they tried is using plastic impellers for a while. "Higher quality rubber" is so painfully incorrect. All manufacturers such as BMW, Toyota, and whoever use the same quality rubber". Generally, quality companies like Continental will make the hoses. The big differentiator is that a performance car tends to run at higher temperatures naturally. Your average Toyota is tuned to underperform generally compared to something like a Camaro SS. Thus, it will make that rubber last a bit longer. Finally... You should really be replacing these "high quality rubber" parts every 8-10 years on any car. Not doing so means you aren't too knowledgeable on how a car works and are on borrowed time. Gaskets/hoses/etc. degrade with heat and lose mass. It wasn't until the last 5-7 years that new materials were compounded to better tackle this issue, but those are all aftermarket. This is one of those moments where it's better to remain silent than to speak and assure someone you are not informed.

[@high_drivexxx]

@@BillMalcolm-tn3kq You're not wrong. ALL companies are 100% taking shortcuts. I blame it on regulations and greed mainly. The US wants 70& of a car to be able to rot into the earth environmentally after its use. What does this mean? It means corn-based plastics and shortcuts just to be able to produce a car.

[@williamlynn2639]

Ahhhh no

[@thateuropro]

Hey so I actually service BMWs almost exclusively here in Charleston I own JU Automotive. Where you said that the oil filter housing wasn’t the cause but the affect of overheating I can almost guarantee that it is the cause of the overheat. They typically break in that spot and do cause overheating and sometimes mix oil and coolant or vise versa. Love you !

[@jeremystockford533]

And that broken housing will dump every bit of coolant out of the engine super quick. Speaking from experience.

[@neilquinn]

Some questions for you: (1) how frequent is the injector issue where they could hit collide somehow? (2) do you think the plastics in this engine will fail like past bmws from heat cycling? (3) what are odds someone will need to get to timing components before 200k miles?

[@luckgrip252]

​@@neilquinnI only have knowledge on diesel powered BMW engines. 1) Injectors on those are pretty sturdy, a bad injector happens pretty rarely in my experience. 2) The plastics on all the cars will eventually start to deterioate and break/crack, in my case on my F10 530d I had to change the plastic coolant tube that attaches on the left side of the head, that bastard was shooting coolant all around (everything's fixed now). 3) Timing chain should last 200k miles or a little more, but you'd have to consider changing it earlier than that, I myself have 245k km / 150k miles on the odometer, haven't yet changed the chain, timing system looks to be healthy. Regular oil changes help reduce the risk of timimg related issues - I change oil every 10-12k km (6-8k miles)

[@blackwidowrsa]

do you know if they make aftermarket metal alternatives?

[@module79l28]

*effect, not affect. 😉

[@ImCrimson]

I love how I can just come sit down with my Sunday morning coffee for video upload that's just NICE. No shouting, no drama (except throwing shade at manufacturers), just some relaxing wrenching

[@jet328i2]

I agree. That’s why I’m here….

[@caseyjones1999]

Back in the early 2000s when I was into e30s every used one I would get, I learned the first thing you did was replace the entire cooling system!

[@502Chevy]

So true! My ‘02 330ci got the whole cooling system replaced every 60k miles.

[@hokie9910]

Yes sir, and then most of the electrical system and then about every gasket on the engine. JUNK

[@ricksays7133]

That's my experience with E30s too. But then that's almost the case with old cars I've had. I've replaced radiators, water pumps, thermostat, cooling and heater core hoses on my 30 year old Celica too. However I can say the Toyota will run without issues despite having coolant leaks compared to the E30 325i I used to drive.

[@hokie9910]

@@ricksays7133 God bless Toyota engineers.

[@donaldvincent]

Give me my 2004 Lincoln Town Car 4.6L 2 Valve. Three or Four years ago I had the mandatory heater hose nipple break off on the interstate. I lost all coolant. I only noticed when power reduced as it went into the "Air Cooled" mode running on 4 cylinders and 4 pumping air. Got it off the road safely with reduced power. I had the intake and hoses replaced, refilled coolant and that is it. Total repair was $600 done by a professional mechanic. it is now 20 years old and 225,000 miles. No check engine lights. Drives and looks new, only the drivers seat gives its age away. Ill change that soon enough.

[@zjan4me]

Dude! My wife loves to listen to you in the background and watches all you're tensioner and water pump shenanigans. Today she has suggested that you need a clear safety tote (she even gave it a Rev 3 designation!) for your convenience. She actually has learned a ton about engines and to my surprise has even spoke about engine topics while we're driving down the freeway! Keep up the great work!

[@fensterlips]

I’ve had 5 BMWs from a 1996 535i and to the 2015 X5 with the 6 I’m driving today. I’ve only had one give me trouble on the road. A 2000 323i that gave up its alternator at 235,000 miles. I think it’s to be forgiven. It sounds like some of you guys have had bad experiences but I really haven’t.

[@gerardtrigo380]

An engine condemned for a blown head gasket. In my day (60's and 70s) that would have been $100 to $200 to R & R the heads plus $80 to rework the heads. (New valves and springs and milling the head level. The only way we would throw the engine away would be if the block itself was warped, extremely rare.

[@grahammonk8013]

Rainman Ray had a Ford engine he wrote off as he said just replacing the gasket was 14 hours, never mind doing anything with the head....

[@hijinks21]

Thanks Boomer

[@gerardtrigo380]

You are welcome.@@hijinks21

[@mysock351C]

The problem is that these small displacement turbo engines have a very high specific power output so there is LOTS of pressure and heat involved. When a head gasket fails it’s usually pretty cataclysmic. I lifted a head on a late-model small turbo motor from preignition and it ended up spraying coolant right out of the side of the engine. The scary part was that once things returned to normal the bolts still had enough tension to allow the steel shim gasket to seal and it even passed a compression and leak-down test. But, the reduced bolt tension allowed trace amounts of coolant and exhaust to seep by, which eventually would end up trashing the engine due to coolant contamination and rust. If you catch it right away it’s fixable, but by the time it gets to this point, it’s cooked.

[@nvcnc]

sure, they were ruggedly simple...and that's about it. Not necessarily powerful unless you had a swimming pool worth of displacement, drank through tanks like no ones business, and many still weren't even all that reliable. Many vehicles past the 90s, specially many Japanese ones, will gladly eat up miles upon miles. Hell, even my old BMW got beaten on daily and had over 160,000 miles on it. Engine purred like a kitten and pulled smoothly. This all comes at a cost. You can't just fix modern cars in your backyard like you could back in the day.

[@johnpurdum8126]

I saw a drift race engine builder use the side of the engine to mount it to the engine stand. Used an adapter plate like you would for the rear but setup to use the motor mount instead

[@johnpurdum8126]

Nevermind 🤣

[@frankmiller95]

That was a common practice with old, iron block BMWs. We used the oil filter mounting bolt holes.

[@kennethwilson1140]

I have a couple of cousins that live in Germany that are BMW enthusiasts, when they have noting better to do they drive their BMW's but when getting somewhere counts they drive something else (an Audi for one and the other has a Mercedes) neither of them use their BMW's as daily drivers. They also have a slightly crude nickname for BMW in Germany that translates as "Bavarian Manure Wagon".

[@danielorozco1728]

So why are they enthusiasts since they don't trust their engines?

[@aaronshapiro2542]

@@danielorozco1728 Because the high strung twitchy engine that revs real high but might explode is FUN, but a boring old Toyota is going to get you where you want to go every single time.

[@SincerityAF]

"Broke My Wallet"

[@luckgrip252]

Then they're kind of less of an enthuziasts. I myself drive my bmw as a daily. Averaging 3-4k km / month with my F10 530d xDrive. Fixing whatever needs to be fixed while I'm in garage or I'm in a pickle while being near parts store. One "Pickle" situation happened because of the plastic coolant tube that's attached to the head, 40€ and 3hrs on the side of the road and now it's running great, no coolant leaks.

[@danielorozco1728]

@@luckgrip252 I own a e92 N55 BMW and drive it almost daily, cars are meant to be driven. I guess you're german? The problem I have is that here in Mexico there's no one that truly deeply specializes on BMW engines, so I have no one to directly ask for advice so I have to watch videos and forums, hoping there's nothing too complex that I cannot do myself. Anyway how much do mechanics know about BMWs where do you live, mate?

[@jimihendrix731]

My neighbor bought a 2019 X3 with 60k miles and kept it for only 6 months because it already was having major problems. BMW made phenomenal cars in the 80’s and 90’s. They make unreliable status symbols now for people who think having a lot of debt and getting a loan on a some they can’t actually afford somehow equates to being wealthy.

[@stephenw2992]

They dont call them Bavarian Money Wasters for nothing

[@joskd8491]

poor people buy new BMW's, rich people drive old Toyota's

[@frankmiller95]

The last good, solid BMW engines were designed by Paul Roche.

[@kinggjaye8122]

​@@joskd8491 No they don't 😂

[@thetalkingboard]

The oil filter housing being plastic was most certainly the cause of the failure. And for less than $100 you can get an upgraded all metal housing from multiple aftermarket sources to prevent this problem. And so could BMW for that matter. If they cared.

[@hordesoflocust]

lot's of plastic on that motor - inexcusable for motor of that money - but that's what its come to

[@mysock351C]

From all the crusties on the water pump and elsewhere it probably ran low on coolant which is what doomed it to failure. This is alluded to by Eric’s comment on the thing basically being the Sahara desert inside. While the metal housing will do a much better job of circulating the exhaust gasses that have taken the place of the coolant without melting, the outcome would have probably been the same.

[@Enthusiastlist]

@@hordesoflocustevery new engine is like this if not worse.

[@kurtjammer9568]

A lot of vehicles have that plastic oil filter housing..nothing wrong with it...just change it every 5k miles and don't overtorqure it

[@WFCinSC]

pretty sus that we've never seen you eat a Snack Pack...

[@tdotw77]

I know right! I was mentioning the snac paks every video cause they're sitting there ever single video, but he never responds! Eric, oh Eric, why for art tho pudding pops sitting there for eternity, week after week there they sit. On a crowded engine-filled set of shelves, sitting out of place, lost in space! 🚀🤦🏻‍♂️🥄🥣🤔😂

[@Rob_S_Z06]

It’s the Billy Madison Easter egg since he’s a Sandler look a like😂

[@thelonelywolf88]

I bet if he eats one, he'll get flashbacks of that one Mercedes engine lol

[@WFCinSC]

@@Rob_S_Z06 guess he filled up on bananas... still sus

[@dingdongandthegoon450]

"...but you guys know i'm not a normal person." - haha, you are the best

[@bilphil74]

I would love to see you tear down a 2.4 SRT4 that came in the 2003 Chrysler PT Cruiser GT with the aluminum intake. If you can get your hands on one. Great video as usual.

[@peterpeter5666]

those had cylinder cracking issues if im not mistaken

[@bmwlane8834]

The early B48 had a defective coolant return line. It would empty pretty quick. It killed some engines.

[@ahwee77329]

I am a bmw tech. B48 b38 b58 are solid engine . Because people cheap out on the maintenance thats why they break . Or used aftermarket part or some shop have no idea what they doing.

[@chadhaire1711]

Replacing cooling parts is NOT maintenance Gomer----it is called REPAIRS

[@inakipedroche7210]

ive had 2 minis, a b38 and a b48, both had the oil cooler changed at around 62k km(38.5 k miles) otherwise all good with both of them

[@adamra187]

Brutal that's hardly any mileage. I'm considering the new JCW and somewhat hesitant.

[@valengreymoon5623]

They just keep making engines more complicated than they need to be, and having the timing system at the BACK of the engine, is a real a**hole move. Not to mention the over-use of plastic parts where they shouldn't be.

[@Jihadbearzwithgunz]

The Germans seem to like to do this and I hope the engineers that thought this was a good idea have nightmares for the rest of their natural lives

[@rolomaticz5009]

Even Caterpillar and Isuzu is doing it now on large L6 semi truck engines, not to mention using a belt drive oil pump in the engine. It's planned obsolescence.

[@billgraff4809]

Timing BELTS running in oil is probably the single worst trend in modern engines. Using plastic for parts that should be metal is just a tick behind. Failures from these two happen regardless of how well one maintains the vehicle. Sad.

[@valengreymoon5623]

Engines designed to eat themselves right out of warranty, so people have to buy a replacement. Makers just don't believe in quality anymore, only volume and profits.

[@jensharbers6702]

@@billgraff4809 Well, the BMW M52 and any other Engine of that era used plastic chain guides and they rarely fail. The ones I pulled from a 2003 M57TU engine with 330k km were in pristine condition. A bit more on the brittle side than new ones, but after 20+ years of permanent heatcycles, i think thats okay. A friend of mine has currently 600k km on an unopened gasoline engines, still runs strong. Plastic guides DO work, when the chain and guides are well engineered.

[@josephalaindaigle3194]

The X patterns on the cylinder walls is a crosshatch pattern to retain oil,very important!

[@mediocreman2]

Looking at the the build quality being much better than that Subaru engine you recently tore down is interesting. Unfortunate that BMW uses cheap plastic for their cooling system.

[@502Chevy]

I was once told that European cars used “bio degradable” plastic engine parts vs “recyclable” plastic parts on other brands. Might be true: on my M54 Bimmer you WILL replace the coolant expansion tank every 60k. Or else….. Meanwhile my ‘11 F150 Ecoboost went 160k on the original “de-gas bottle”, it being strong as day one when I traded it.

[@E90_Zay]

My 2009 N51 is doing great at 146k. No turbos, no DI with HPFP, cooling system serviced and no leaks. Just a solid daily driver. Knock on wood.

[@rolomaticz5009]

The turbo heat cycles on that engine warped the engine block, it's common on all turbo applications where the turbo is directly mounted to the center of the exhaust manifold.

[@liver.flush.maestro]

4 cylinders with a flat plane crank like this one have second order vibrations naturally, requiring 2 balance shafts if made to be smoother and higher revving.

[@rudolphna54]

It is true that 4 cylinders with a flat plane crank (which is like, 99.999999% of them except those weird Yamaha R1s) have second order vibrations, but often smaller displacement ones do not have them (balance shafts) as the size and weight of the pistons directly affect the magnitude of the vibrations and if balance shafts are necessary or not.

[@darylmorse]

@@rudolphna54 A 2L I4 definitely needs balance shafts. I'd be surprised if any auto manufacturer makes an I4 without balance shafts.

[@rudolphna54]

@@darylmorse Many do. My VW has a balance shaft less 1.5 I4, and the previous 1.4 also didn't have them. the Honda 1.5 doesn't have them. I don't believe the 2.0L in my old 2012 Focus had them either.

[@fritsified5952]

@@darylmorse Be surprised, by far most I4's don't have balance shafts.

[@raoulrr]

@@fritsified5952 Pretty much all current German-made 2.0L 4's have balance shafts: VW/Audi, Mercedes, BMW. Some even have 2 of them. Not sure about japanese or murican ones.

[@sdrape4964]

16:37 😂 Be careful. Last time I did that, my wife got knocked up! 😂😂

[@jkim6200]

Are you going to burst through the screen? Bust a nut?

[@ladalout245]

I like your balanced, factual, philosophical, non judgemental theories and conclusions when summarising the probable reason for the overall engine failure. I'd say manufacturers could learn a lot from your teardowns, it's often hard to predict what will fail when designing an engine and easy to apportion blame after the event. That said, the use of plastics, for whatever the reason, appear to be the weak link most of the time. At least this engine appears to be much improved, when compared to previous versions.

[@diesellady1]

Criss cross / or hash marks on the cyl walls are honing marks. If you can still see them, engine is good. If they are worn off, time to bore and rehone!

[@diesellady1]

Re hone!

[@JohnSmith-pl2bk]

@@diesellady1 Just break any "glaze" in the bore to establish an OEM cross hatch surface to bed in new rings... Had that done on a 1975 Datsun 120Y (B210) after 180k kilometres (112K miles) Like new performance again..(all 69 horses back in the corral)

[@marathoner43]

As always Eric, thanks for the Saturday night entertainment. Happy Memorial Day everyone, and thank you to those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom.

[@Foxbody302]

Amen.

[@dirtfarmer7472]

Yes sir our service men & women are the best, we owe them for our freedoms

[@petermcateer1354]

Stumbled across this video today researching a used X3, which also uses the B48. This is really nice work... staight forward, detailed, factual, no drama, no forced humor. Keep it up!

[@skivijimmy]

I really want to thank you for your videos. It's very relaxing to watch your videos at the end of a hard day of work. Again, thank you so much. God bless you and your family

[@JoeRocket-sf6qs]

X pattern crosshatch from final machining of the bore.champion plugs suck,you all know it.

[@RogerFleury-rh9wr]

117th! Eric, how’s the engine that you were going to send to Ray in Florida for the van repair going? Roger in Pierre South Dakota

[@akashmohan999]

My n63 nightmare engine in my 550i just crossed 100k miles last week. Still runs as smooth as glass somehow. Imma see if i can get the n63 high score.

[@ReflectedMiles]

I used to be a BMW fan, but after countless overheats and water pumps over so many years, I don't think they really care about reliability and longevity, and unfortunately that has extended to most German cars I have owned, the only huge exception being a VW TDI which got around 50 mpg and ran forever while needing very little attention other than regular maintenance. It was sold when it had nearly 300k miles just because a larger vehicle was needed. I would not go back to the other German brands, though. Their reputations greatly exceed their realities.

[@greebj]

If you pay shop rates an old BMW can bankrupt you. If you do the work yourself a good well cared for example can be a hell of a lot of car for cheap. You can win big when a great car is out there almost scrapped just because of maintenance items nobody wants to pay for.

[@ricksays7133]

I have been driving a Porsche 968 for almost a decade and the only thing that went wrong were some old parts being worn, a common issue with its ring pinion gear in the gearbox, and some oil leaks caused by worn seals and gaskets. Basic maintenance is easy to do on it, and it's been problem free for most of the time I drive it. It never overheated and everything seems purpose-built for durability and performance.

[@andrewmooreandrewrmoore7615]

Buy VW get a TDI. Change the oil every 10k at most and regular filters you will have an engine that goes on and on and on. At 50 mpg. You Yanks don't know what you are missing. Just don't do lots of short journeys with it.

[@philf4086]

Yep, we had a 2011 BMW X3 and we started leaking cooling from the expansion tank at about 55000 miles. Replaced the tank - then sold the car.

[@tonyburns5388]

My 2014 mini cooper s was the first model to have the B48 motor. I have 218k on it an it’s been tuned for most of its life and it’s still running strong.

[@579433]

One of my "go to's" when chillin in the office. Always the best .

[@edgismi7840]

We sell these quite well. The fwd engines are more expensive than the rwd versions. The problems i usually find are blown head gaskets and cracked pistons. If there is a loss of compression in one ir the cylinders then you have a crack in the piston between the rings.

[@gluckhunterjr.9344]

I have a B46c in a ‘20 Mini Countryman. It only has 30k miles and we barely drive it so I pray it doesn’t cause me heart ache anytime soon. So far so good with it though. Also have the ‘20 S58 X4M with 23k miles. No issues there either. I just keep the oil changed 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@cyronader]

I have a BMW 328i with N20 engine. had it since 2014. Oil changes done every 5k miles. 55k total miles so far. No problems so far!

[@zhihengli8051]

N20 timing chain issue fix after 2015 Jan

[@Minto107]

55k is like new

[@alexhentschel1080]

i have a 2018 330 with a b48, very cool to see the internals. i think its a generally pretty well built engine, due in part to input from toyota as you can get this engine in the supra. forged crank and connecting rods and arc/lds coated cylinders. there are folks pushing 500hp reliably with the some of the later gens.the cooling system can be problematic, specifically the line to the expansion tank which had a recall.

[@Spiritualwarfare587]

I think thats the case with this engine here on video they tunned Pressure got to high for gasses to leak. I have same engine and is solid. Only when engine is cold little rattling from waste gate, + i had to change coolant cup. I was loosing coolant and no leaks. Was the cup evaporating

[@eponymous7910]

Problem is the coolant line recall was only limited to a couple of countries, even though it affects all B48's of a certain vintage

[@jessekauffman3336]

The old engines from the 70,s and the 80,s were so much easier to work on and longer lasting then to days

[@thelonelywolf88]

Because now German cars want to be the most technologically advanced cars on the road

[@glennspreeman1634]

Compare to C&C equipment channel where apparently somebody dumped gravel into a dozer engine!!!

[@wallacejeffery5786]

Real gravel

[@darylmorse]

As I used to own a 2018 X2, I found this teardown interesting. It's too bad it's not possible to tell why it overheated with certainty, the leaking water pump is high up on my list of suspects. I think you''re right that the owner didn't run it completely to death, but the check engine light must have been on for a while given how hot it got. It looks like the engine can be rebuilt with the block being decked and perhaps also the head. Not sure why you're surprised that it has balance shafts. I4 engines all have secondary imbalance and I would be surprised if anyone makes an I4 without balance shafts. The x-pattern on the bores is called crosshatch, but surely you know that. Were you looking at something else? It was thoughtful of you to let the water pump spend a few minutes in the passenger seat of your M3 before it goes to the crusher.

[@JohnSmith-pl2bk]

Another commenter who works with these engines stated that the burnt through plastic water to oil cooler housing DOES melt and dumps the coolant in seconds...right where that hole was on the one Eric took off! Time for an aftermarket ali housing to be manufactured???

[@AbbStar1989]

Love this channel, love Erics' humor, love seeing crappy engines being torn down. It's a win all round, wouldn't you say?

[@greebj]

His good deed for the day is completed, there's now one less intact 4 banger BMW engine in existence

[@dil6969]

4:05 - Stephan Papadakis did a whole build series on his B58-powered drift car quite a while back, and he welded up a bracket for side-mounting the engine on his stand. It seems like the only safe way to do it while retaining access to the timing chain components.

[@santaclause2875]

Another great episode, Eric, thanks so much !!! As an old fart (real old) I'm amazed at the complexity of today's modern engines. And to me, so much unneeded complexity, and all for what? Increased power, fuel economy, etc??? I'm just stuck in the past, I guess, and reminiscent of the multitude of American small block V8's (trouble-free) I owned and drove the bejesus out of, from shore to shore.

[@ditherdather]

This is the exact same type of engine in my 2018 X1. It currenly has 48k miles. It's been very good to me thus far.

[@kenrosenberg6778]

didn't know the crank was a four torx bolt pattern... lol alot of people complain about doing crank cub when tuning this engine and the B58. I'm gonna assume the B58 has some what of the same bolt pattern so this was very interesting. I thought the B58 sounded amazing. Now it seems like alot of work if you want to make power. (I'm drunk @3:48am)

[@dylandorsey1721]

I can guarantee you the oil filter housing went out. Coolant leaked for a long time. That housing cracks and leaks as early as 60k miles. Left unchecked and not replaced with an aluminum variant or new plastic oem. Can quickly lead to air in the system and causing an overheat situation.

[@jockobacumbo623]

I wonder if the X pattern on the bore is caused by extended oil service intervals, usually 10-11k miles for the first three years with the maintenance package that comes with new BMW’s? I suggest everyone do 5k mile oil changes for new beamers and used as well unless you don’t keep your vehicle over 100k. If everyone did that though, you would probably have less beamers in the junk yard for mechanical issues.

[@Kenjis9965]

I kind of wonder if the 4 cyl ones having overheating isn't perhaps the owner not doing maintenance or something.. They tend to be less expensive (lots of older X2s and stuff for the low 20s for example) and perhaps the owners aren't taking it to the right places to have work done I had a 228 with this engine and man. I'm kinda shocked by how complex it is. For what it's worth it never gave me a lick of trouble in the time I had it and was extremely smooth and powerful

[@paulhudgins5120]

All these choices are great but what about a oldie but goodie Ford 4.6l 2V , never seen them on the channel.

[@hrsjohnny]

x pattern is called honing. It's done in the factory so oil sticks to the cylinder wall better. If used motor still have it it's a good sign. It means it's not worn out and well maintained.

[@-BuddyGuy]

I don't know who BMWs material scientist is for gaskets, hoses and o-rings but he has been working for them for about 30 years now and he settled on the self disintegrating stuff in his first week and then put his feet up on the desk

[@jamesdoe9531]

The B48 is a very reliable engine! 200.000 miles should be no problem with this engine! I own a BMW 430 with a B48 i dont have any problems at all! I tuned it up to 300 horsepower!

[@miniaddict4534]

As the former owner of a Mini Cooper S with a B48 engine, I’ve been waiting for this moment!

[@BigBoxDodge2020]

You are quite the business man. I'm glad you're doing well. Unlike that Hot Head BMW.

[@markae0]

22:09 why didn't you state the valves are bad? stuck open from the shadow

[@I_Do_Cars]

The valves were open because the head still had valvetrain and cams mounted. Normally I don’t leave them complete so they’re only open when there is a problem.

[@K0Kaz]

One good thing about most modern German engines (for Eric) is they don't have dipstick tubes to fight. I have to say for 95k, this one is really clean inside so I'm guessing it got better than the usual BMW 10k change intervals.

[@renchjeep]

I absolutely HATE having no engine oil dipstick on the B48 in my 2018 MINI Cooper S. 5k oil and filter changes for me, and a lot of the reasoning behind that is I can't actually look at the oil on the (non-existant) dipstick.

[@imtheonevanhalen1557]

Ya know that water pump should be in a car seat.....jeeez, the nerve of some people!!

[@davidg3944]

And I hope he rolled the window down at least an inch so it could breathe!!

[@MDBenson]

On the subject of "noooo don't tear the bottom end apart!" - I would be very keen to check and have a machine shop check and re-deck the block, which needs all the rotating assembly removing to do. The block likely isn't warped, it's usually the heads that warp unless you go HAM and run the thing forever with a blown gasket (not the case here, clearly, this one was probably shut off as soon as the coolant temp warning came on) but anywhere that hot gases have tracked over the block outside of the liners it might have scarred the surface a little, I'd have thought, as that isn't material that's designed to contain hot gases. At the very least, having the block professionally re-finished is 100% worth is on an engine that new with that kind of value.

[@provocyclist]

I worked on a B48 a couple weeks ago at work, lady complained of coolant leakage. Discovered it was leaking from that topmost gasket on the oil filter/cooler housing. Also the GFRP on the housing had broken in the same place too.

[@Mark-zz9rt]

Sunday mornings with coffee and engine tear downs, so relaxing. Who wife’s think they’re crazy too.😁

[@cra3y]

The working temp of nowadays BMW (and therefore Mini) engines (started with N series) is about 105-110C (221-230F) due to "ecology things". If something went wrong with electric pump or piloted thermostat, there will be disaster like that.

[@caseymuzio7609]

I would love to see you get some sport bike engines in like a yahama r1 or a zx10r

[@Johnny-ln2xx]

Doing a lookup in brain, cold storage section, so take it for what it’s worth. At 23mins you mention X pattern cuts in the bore. If I remember right the x pattern is part of the bore cut and is to help evenly wear and seat the rings.

[@afhostie]

I know someone with an n20 with around 100k, 12 years old out of an x1 automatic. The timing chain / guides was replaced under warranty before it had issues.

[@bradgreen987]

Anytime you hear the words, "somebody's been in there", that's a death sentence. Quality work shows in the end and is expensive. Never be cheap 😢

[@PassiveSmoking]

"I just broke my tool". Ouch, man!

[@Rusty-METAL-J]

"Take the extension out"! would be great on T-shirts as s motivational phrase.

[@Rusty-METAL-J]

If you make a millions on it maybe I can get $50K.

[@luistello2996]

Oil coolers/filter housing goes bad all the time, they cause a lot of failure across the car. B48, B58

[@robertwest3093]

I love the new engine parts hardness tester! Also I think that the move to rear timing chains is for added revenue on the service side of the dealership to make up for slow sales maybe?

[@miketdavies]

Hope the water pump made it home safely!

[@davidnelson6893]

Yes with a slet belt Peace out

[@jfan4reva]

I suspect that may be a 'crusher' car (in spite of the not terrible leather seats)

[@NishantDuttanoirvembre]

I have b48 in my 2016 coopers pretty fast with lots of torque

[@robertnichols2283]

Painting the engine vs putting a tag on it: I’m thinking that it’s because it’s easier for a nefarious character to take the tag off than to take the paint off

[@renchjeep]

Good to see the condition of the internals on this B48, as I have one in my 2018 MINI Cooper S. Well, actually mine is a B46, but they should be the same, right? At 50k miles now, no issues whatsoever, and it doesn't seem to burn hardly any oil, maybe 1/2 quart of RedLine 5W30 Euro TD oil between my 5k oil/filter changes. I just switched over to Mobil 1 5W30, so we'll see if that continues. The B48 timing chain location definitely had me a bit frightened, as the timing components on my 2011 N18 MINI Cooper S were supposed to be rather weak, although mine seems to be fine at 127k miles now. I did have a head gasket failure on my N18 at like 88k miles, combustion gases into cooling system (much like the failure on this B48 you tore down), but that was on me due to not correctly bleeding the cooling system after a coolant change. I couldn't find a local place to resurface that head, so I bought a good used 38k mile head from a Euro auto salvage joint, all new BMW gaskets and such (no timing components except the upper chain guide and the TTY bolts that needed replacing on the cam gears etc.) and all has been good since then. Thanks, Eric, for the great tear-down videos! Keep them coming, man! Take care, and stay cool.

[@jppagetoo]

Coolant leaks led to low coolant, overheated, warped the head and got blow by into the rest of the coolant system making it worse. The oil was changed often! At least they didn't blow it up.

[@DanniV8]

I like how they cast a spot for a dip stick but don't use a dip stick. Probably share the casting between petrol on diesel engines (B48 and B47)

[@JohnSmith-pl2bk]

Looked like a sensor for oil level on the oil pan exterior???

[@DanniV8]

@@JohnSmith-pl2bk Yes, it does have an oil level and temperature sensor, like all BMWs have had for as long as I can remember. But if you look at the oil pan @ 27:20 right under where the oil filter housing was, you'll see the cast where the dipstick would go if this oil pan was in a diesel BMW. In petrol versions, the hole for the dipstick is just closed. It's the same on 6cyl as well, they also share castings for the oil pan between petrol and diesel (B58 & B57)

[@lewispommells234]

Any chance you could tear down a ZF 8 speed transmission?

[@EletriqueGaming]

I think the bores look like that because of the steel bore lining BMW somehow adheres to the aluminum block. The B58 has this so I imagine the B48 does also. The bores should be magnetic.

[@theghostofloki]

Have a 2018 BMW N20. It's been really good to me just an oil return line.

[@databeestje]

I think BMW is waiting for the cooling engineer to retire they hired in the 80's, any moment now.

[@davidnoble868]

"cooling system problems since the late 80s..." Nah...more like the early 40's when we were shootn' em full of holes. 😉

[@anthonyxuereb792]

Not a laughing matter, besides, it went both ways. BMW 801 radial engine was air cooled.

[@unknownguy1123]

The wastegate rattle is still a thing on the new b series engine. But there's a "fix" for it but they still make noise after the noise

[@CaptainSpadaro]

I was impressed to see that this uses a semi-closed deck block. To your point about the overheating issues, it doesn't help that a sizable number of BMW owners are not car savvy. They see the warning lights/messages, but don't understand what they mean. They just keep driving until the car won't go anymore, then lie to the mechanic(s). That said, BMW doesn't do themselves any favors by making practically the entire cooling system out of composites. Some things need to be metal.

[@de_beunhaas]

Can you please do a vr6?

[@yakacm]

Imagine the time before power tools? Doing all this by hand with ring spanners must have been a chore, even socket sets must have been a god send when they came along.

[@Rusty-METAL-J]

Buy American made tools. They're made to last, not break, and if 1 does they'll replace it for you Lil or no charge.

[@Dandle01]

Cylinder walls are Electric arc wire sprayed which is what leaves the pattern.

[@iamalittlepepper]

I guess it is a bright spot that oil filter housing are made out of plastic these days? At least the engine gets shut down when it melts?

[@tsimpson007]

Thank you Eric Saturday would not be the same with out your video. I am long past holding a wrench but injoy the teardowns.

[@davidmurray7232]

Mate from Tamworth Australia. What do you do with them chains..

[@jeffreyshepherd8488]

I like to picture he has a giant stash somewhere with THOUSANDS of them

[@albinklein7680]

I own an engine machine shop and I donate (almost) all the chains to various art projects and schools.

[@LokiAvenger]

2015 N20 owner - It sounds like hell always, but has yet to explode. I try not to think about it.

[@cristianpirtac3996]

Me too, but I started charging the problematic parts in advance. Charging oil every 6 months will not save the gaskets, done the oil filter block, next year is for cover gasket, changed already the coolant and Mikey mouse flange. It is relatively easy to work on N20. I believe with proper care this engine will last if you do not go crazy on tuning. 93k 2018 engine.

[@cosmos2382]

​@@cristianpirtac3996n20 used in 2018?

[@cristianpirtac3996]

@@cosmos2382 replacement engine, unfortunately, previous engine development a noise because fist oil change was done at 14600 miles 2 years 7 months. So I was lucky, a second hand car but with a new engine, still better to buy from a BMW dealer.

[@robertturnbull2903]

Oil cooler is the cause of the headgasket failure. All coolant leaks from system and engine overheats very quickly.

[@VoVilliaCorp]

Feel kinda bad for the BMW owner, looks like they made an attempt to keep up with the servicing for the engine and still ran into an issue with it. But the good news is, Eric got lots of good parts out of it!

[@TheGnarTube]

My B58 is burning 1 qt of oil every 1800 miles. Lol

[@TecKnowTech]

What’s crazy is those cars give you multiple warnings for overheating ⚠️ and some how ppl will continue driving them till they blow up. 😂