Tag: bmw 550i

BMW N63 Problems to Expect – Reliability Report

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Hey guys and welcome back to the SimpleCarGuy channel. BMW N63 is a twin turbo V8 engine that has been powering fast BMWs for over a decade and today we will talk about the common issues, technical updates, best and worst years to buy and my 4-year experience with the engine.

History

The BMW N63 replaced the naturally aspirated N62 V8 engine and had many improvements over the years. It was also the first hot-V layout, first direct injected and first turbocharged V8 engine from BMW.

This engine begun production in 2008 and is still being used in many BMW vehicles. Of course, over the years there were 3 technical updates creating 4 different versions of the engine, adding more horsepower and torque, improving reliability and making a better engine overall. There are lots of forum posts and groups discussing different issues on different version of the engine and it can be a little difficult to keep up. I have sorted through most of this information over the 4 years I had this engine in my BMW 550i and organized it in this video. I will explain the difference between each version and what was updated as well as what BMW models the specific version of the engine was used in. Let’s get to it!

BMW N63

The original N63 engine was first used in the E71 X6 and produced 402 HP and 443lb ft of torque and later used in the 550i, 750i, X5 and X6 between 2008 and 2013 with the exception of the 650i where it was used from 2012 to 2017.

Common Issues:

If you have heard horror stories about the N63 engine, it was probably about this version of the engine, but there are a few common issues across the entire run. To start with, most of these engines will burn some oil. This original version will do so excessively and it’s important to make sure you never run low. In addition to burning oil, the timing chain is a weak point on these and becomes an issue at higher mileage. As soon as you can hear any chain rattle, it should be replaced as soon as possible. Another common failure on this engine was the HPFP and injectors which caused the engine to stutter, lose power and run very rough in most cases. On top of these, there were also issues with mass air flow sensors, vacuum pump, low pressure fuel sensor, turbo seals and crankcase ventilation lines.

Obviously, that is a huge list of common problems on these original BMW N63 engines, but luckily BMW took ownership of the problem and issued a voluntary recall called the Customer Care Package where they revised the service internal from 15,000 to 10,000 miles and fixed or replaced any issues related to the timing chain, fuel system, battery, vacuum pump, crankcase vent lines and more! This helped many owners at the time and prevented many unhappy owners in the future. If you are looking at a BMW with this engine [show cars again], check that this service has been performed or the items have been serviced individually. This is a must.

BMW N63TU

Clearly that was a lot and BMW realized that they had some major issues they needed to fix here and that’s what they did. In 2012, they have redesigned most of the engine in the Technical Update 1. The new engine was now known as the N63TU and it got an updated timing chain, forged rods and crank, new pistons, turbos, injectors and HPFP. On top of that, they changed the VANOS system to the one used on the N55 engine and updated the crankcase ventilation on a new valve cover among many other things. Not only did all of these changes make a huge difference in reliability, it also added 42 more HP and 37 lb ft of torque. This engine was used in the same range of cars as the previous version. [list on the screen]

Common Issues:

That’s a lot of changes, but did any of this help? Actually, YES! The BMW N63tu is a much more reliable engine, but being a typical BMW, it still has its common issues. Oil consumption is typical if thinner oils are used or not changed as often and it can burn a quart of oil between changes, but if you see some smoke out of the tail pipes, it could be much worse as it could be an indicator that the valve seals need to be replaced. My friend had this happen at 35k miles, but the dealer covered it completely. As per BMW, the engine has to be pulled out of the car to do this job and it can get very, very expensive if out of warranty. Of course, there are other minor issues that can creep up on this engine, but nothing too excessive. I’ve seen reports of leaking   here and there but nothing engine destructive. A much better and more reliable engine.

BMW N63TU2

Next update came in 2016 and the biggest change this time was switching to twin-scroll turbochargers giving the engine a wider powerband. Other changes were mostly there to support the turbo upgrade and to optimize the engine. The stock power levels remained the same and so did the reliability. This engine was used in the 750i as well as the M550i between 2016 and 2020. [list on the screen]

Common Issues:

Luckily these changes have made the N63TU2 engine even more reliable with not many common problems. The oil consumption has been reduced and if you change your oil every 7000 miles, you shouldn’t have these issues. A couple problems I’ve seen come up from time to time were leaky coolant lines as well as issues with intercoolers which were covered by a service bulletin from BMW. Overall, a very solid engine.

BMW N63TU3

The last version of the BMW n63 engine is the N63TU3 which is once again used in the top-of-the-line versions of each series. There is a lower powered version making 456hp and 479lb ft that’s used in the regular X5 and X7. This engine received a new ignition system and improved thermal shielding for the crankcase and cylinder head and even forged rods from the S63 engine. The valve stems have been updated as well. The more powerful version of the N63TU3 is used in the M versions of the 5, 7 and 8 series as well as X5, X6 and X7 SUVs. [but not actual M5, M7, M8 etc] It includes all of the updates already mentioned as well as larger turbochargers, different ignition system, rebalanced crankshaft with new main bearing shells, piston skirt coating and electric arc wire sprayed cylinder walls. All of these upgrades result in massive power gains making 523 HP and 553lb ft of torque and it’s not even an S63 motor.

Common Issues:

There isn’t too much information on these engines as far as reliability just yet as they are still fairly new, but since the valve stems have been upgraded among many other things, the engines seem to no longer burn oil even with hard driving. Overall, the N63TU3 is the most reliable and most powerful N63 engine with a decade of improvements and upgrades.

Best and Worst Years:

So, what are the best and worst years to buy a BMW with the N63 engine? In my opinion, unless you are willing to deal with the issues or they have already been completely taken care of, I would skip the original N63 engine cars and go for 2014 or newer models to be safe. [put list of years when switched]. Of course, if you got the cash, the latest N63TU3 is a beast and makes for a very fun driving car with no reliability issues but will cost a pretty penny. [Driving X6M] I think that N63TU and N63TU2 are a bargain at the moment with decent reliability and power figures and that’s the ones I would go for.

Personal Experience:

As I mentioned earlier, I owned a 2014 BMW 550i for over 4 years, so I had the N63TU engine and I have to say, it was VERY reliable for ME. In all of that time, all I have had to do was change the ignition coils and spark plugs around 60k miles and of course changed the oil every 5k miles! This is very important to keep these running smoothly.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, this engine gets a bad rap based on the early years, but many issues have been fixed on the second iteration of the engine and further perfected over the years. I wouldn’t hesitate to own another N63 powered BMW as long as it’s 2014 or newer and has been taken care of properly over the years. A healthy BMW N63 provides a very powerful, fun, sporty and torque-y driving experience that’s hard to get anywhere else. Check out my BMW N20 reliability report video and stay tuned for the BMW N55 video coming soon. Thanks for watching, leave your thoughts, suggestions and comments down below and I’ll see you in the next one.

BMW 550i Journey – 4 Year Ownership Report

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Hi guys and welcome back to the SimpleCarGuy channel. BMW 5 series is one of the most popular luxury sedans on the market and I’ve had the pleasure of owning this one for over 4 years. Welcome to my 4-year ownership journey with the BMW 550i where I will talk about why and how I bought it, problems over the years, some of the mods I’ve done, why I’ve had it for all these years and finally, why I sold it.

WHEN/WHY/HOW I BOUGHT IT:

About 4 and a half years ago I was driving a 2009 BMW 335i Coupe and was looking to upgrade to the BMW 435i M-Sport. It was a logical choice as both were 2 door sport cars with a 3-liter turbo engines, great design and very sexy curves. I visited all dealers in my area as there were practically no second-hand cars at the time and what I found was overpriced coupes that didn’t have the options I wanted and sales people that didn’t seem interested in selling me the car. There was one guy that seemed more interested in talking about cars rather than just trying to sell me a car and he offered me to go drive any car I wanted on the lot. We jumped into a few cars and most were great, but I was really, really impressed with the 475hp and lots of torque from the N63 V8 engine in this BMW 550i. It was smooth, comfortable and pulled harder than it had a right to being a big 4 door sedan. I never looked or even driven a 5 series until this time and I was impressed. The car only had 34000 miles and all of the options you could imagine. We’ll talk about those later in the video. I offered him $5000 less than what they were asking for and after some negotiations, I worked out a good deal and a set of 4 new run flat tires to boot.

PROBLEMS OVER THE YEARS:

BMW V8s are not known to be the most reliable and at the time, I didn’t have a garage I could wrench on this car if something were to happen, so I was a little worried. Luckily the car came with a little over a year of warranty. I never needed the warranty and honestly this was one of the most reliable cars I have ever owned. Here is everything I’ve had t o do to the car over the years. I changed oil every 5-6k miles, I changed the rear brakes and later on the front bakes and I replaced the sparkplugs and coils after a misfire when I did a hard pull on the highway. Luckily, I didn’t have, high pressure fuel pump, injector or any kind of oil leak problems that people bring up every time they hear a BMW N63 engine. I’ve made a video on Problems to expect on these cars and if you’ve watched it, you’ll know that the problems are mostly on the pre-LCI, 2013 or older version of the car.

WHY I KEPT IT FOR 4+ YEARS:

Whether it was luck or I just did a decent job at maintaining the car and not beating on it too much, it obviously has been very reliable for me. So, was that the reason why I kept the car for so long? Usually, I get bored of a car after a couple of years, I sell it and I get something different, but in this case, this car just had too much to offer and never felt outdated even after 4 years. Not only was this car powerful even by today’s standards, it had a very smooth power delivery (include 0-60 video), felt absolutely planted and stable at high speeds and handled road trips better than any other car I’ve ever been in. What I loved the most about it though, was how understated it was. I love flashy cars as much as the next guy, I mean, I have a blue Z4, but there is something about a car that looks like a big ol boat but performance on par with a lot of sport cars. Using launch control, it can do close to 4 second 0-60 and around 4.5 seconds for a regular start. If you remember that this car weights around 4400lbs, has space for 5 people and a few suitcases, features like heads up display, comfort access and soft closing doors, 18 way adjustable seats and you can even open the trunk with your foot, it becomes obvious why I would keep this car for sol long.

THE MODS:

Part of keeping the car understated, but also giving it a little bit of attitude and removing some of the mid-level manager feel of the car WAS to add a few mods. I didn’t touch any performance modifications on this car as I wanted to keep it as reliable as possible and I was happy with the amount of power it had, anyway.


One of my pet-peeves on modern cars is fake chrome and orange reflectors. The first thing I did was replace the chrome kidney grills and shortly after, the orange reflectors with grey ones, which I think fit the car much better. In fact, this was my first video that I posted on this channel, even before I thought of becoming a “Youtuber”. You can say that this simple mod started me on this YouTube journey and gave me confidence to continue working on cars. Over the next few months, I blacked out the chrome pieces in the bumper, on the side of the car and even on the door handles. Adding a spoiler to the trunk and tinting the windows completed the look I was going for.

One other item I would definitely recommend upgrading on the interior would be the navigation system. I added CarPlay functionality to modernize the car and bring it into this decade.

Thinking back on this, I do wish I would have gotten better wheels for it and maybe put a sporty exhaust on it, but it would also ruin the entire understated feel of the car I tried to maintain.

WHY I SOLD IT:

Now comes the big questions, why did I sell this car I liked so much? I wish I had a very elaborate and cool story to tell here, but honestly it was mostly because I haven’t been driving it since the pandemic started. Back when I was commuting 50-60 miles every day, this car made perfect sense, but now just watching it sit there for days at a time, not being driven, just didn’t make sense and she had to go to a better home. Of course, the fact that the prices are way higher than I could have sold it even 2 years ago and the fact that I have 3 more vehicles at home made that decision a little bit easier. Overall, these are still a great deal in my opinion as long as you know how to take care and maintain these beasts. I really do hope the feature owners enjoys and cherishes the car as much as I have over the years.

WHAT AM I BUYING NEXT?

This, of course, brings up another question, what will I get next? Well, since it doesn’t look like I will be going back to the office for at least another half a year, I will most likely keep driving what I have and keep getting better in the snow in my rear-wheel-drive Z4. I also, like the idea of BMW I3 and how quirky and weird it is, but eventually I will need a vehicle that’s be really good in winter. BMW Z4 is my current main ride and as fun as it is in the snow, it’s not very good once we have over a few inches. I’d love to hear your recommendations on what I should get next. Should I got for the BMW M550i, maybe a 6 series or should I be looking for Porsche? Leave your comments down below.

With all of that said, I’m sad to see my BMW 550i go, but more fun and fast cars to come in my future. Thank you, guys, so much for watching and I’ll see you in the next one!

BMW 550i Free Exhaust Mod

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In the video below I will be testing whether it is worth opening the exhaust valves on a BMW 550i with an n63 engine.

On BMW engines such as the N20, N54, N55 and many others people have been doing what is known as the GOLF Tee exhaust mod. That’s when you stick a golf tee into the vacuum line that goes to the exhaust valve.  Unfortunately, on this and a few other cars, that would not work as the valve is CLOSE and NOT open by default. It only opens when the car is in high revs or high-power demand.

I wanted to experiment and see if keeping them open at all times would the exhaust note better. So, I used some metal zipties I had laying around and ziptied the valves open.

Let’s see if it made any difference and if it’s worth the trouble.

In my opinion, it gave slightly throatier sound on idle and around 3000 RPM. I would totally recommend it as a cheap and easy mod to make you exhaust sound just little better. Of course, this isn’t anything like installing proper sport exhaust, but something is better than nothing. I also wanted to mention that I drove the car for a few miles and no codes or other issues came up. Let me know what you think, could you hear a difference via the camera mic? Leave your comment below and don’t forget to like the video and subscribe to the channel.