Whether you are looking for a BMW 528i, BMW 535i or a BMW 550i you should know which problems to expect on BMW F10 5 series cars. I summarize the biggest problems and issues with each model of the car as well as split the F10 problems based on the years as a lot changed over the years. BMW 5 series went through a facelift or a LCI (Life Cycle Impulse) where it got newer and improved engines, more modern styling and boost in power in most cases. BMW has also solved some of the problems along the way so you can expect the newer cars to be much more reliable than the older cars.
Hey guys welcome back to another video on the simple car guy channel in this video we’re going to be discussing some of the more common problems so you can expect an a bmw f10 which is the 5 series the 5 series generation of this car was made from 2011 all the way to 2017 so as you can imagine a lot of the issues have changed over the years new ones came up and
The older ones have been sold by bmw so let’s get into it let’s discuss what those issues actually are to start with i’ve had my bmw 550i xdrive for a little over two and a half years and i’ve been doing all of the maintenance and took care of the car all by myself originally my car was a certified pre-owned from a bmw dealer here in chicago and i’ve had zero
Issues for the first year of ownership while the car was still under the dealer warranty after the warranty expired i replaced the ignition coils spark plugs engine oil filters basically just the maintenance stuff so the most expensive job on this car would be the ignition coils and the spark plugs but i did that myself and only cost me a few hundred dollars you
Can check the video out in the description below so somebody else i’m gonna be concentrating and discussing the us-backed cars i don’t really know much about the european and other markets right off the bat we can split the cars into two different groups the pre lci cars which were manufactured up until 2014 these are the early cars and the later cars there were
Manufacturers from 2014 to 2017 i would absolutely recommend getting the later cars as those have a lot more features or at least some better features but they’ve also had a lot of issues that have been fixed from the previous models another thing to mention is that these cars have a really good build quality i’ve had this car for like i said for two and a half
Years it doesn’t have any rattles all the buttons everything inside fuels like it’s brand new even looks really really modern and the paint quality is actually really good as well so there’s a lot going for this car don’t get discouraged by this video and you know look at all the issues that i’m gonna mention lots of cars have issues but i just wanted to make sure
You’re aware of what you’re getting if you’re thinking of getting an f10 bmw like this some of the problems that come from the design that is basically across all models is that these cars have run flat tires which will damage the rims over time or at least get them deformed it’s definitely not uncommon you know when you get the low profile tires and these rims
That aren’t you know they’re supposed to be lightweight so they do crack from the run flat tires and they’re low-profile just not a great combination another common issue is watering getting in the back of the car through the trunk as well as a backup camera and sensors misbehaving especial in cold weather there’s a little bit of water or something gets in there
And they basically stop working or report false positives now let’s get a bit more specific and talk about each car individually the five series of the generation came in three different variants here in the united states for the gas engines and those are the ones i’m going to be discussing the first one and the least powerful is the bmw 528i the second one will
Be the 535 i and the most powerful one is the 550 i will not be discussing the m5 in this video as i don’t have any experience with those cars bmw fight when i came with two different engines over the years the first one was the m-52 which came in the early cars the ones manufacturers from 2010 to 2011 it’s a pretty reliable car but it’s getting a little bit older
So i would recommend looking for things such as oil and coolant leaks as those are the most culprits when it comes to these engines which could cause the engines to overheat and once your engine overheats you’re going to have plenty more issues such as the head gaskets and different issues with leaking coolant or oils from around 2012 to 2016 the bmw replaced an
52 engine with the n20 engine it’s a 4 cylinder 2 liter turbo engine compared to the straight six engine that the car had before these engines are a lot more efficient but they do have a lot more problems as well especially with the timing chain issues the chain tensioners rod bearings overheating there’s plenty of issues on those engines if you’d like to see more
Information on that specific engine you can check out my bmw z4 videos as i have that same engine in my bmw z4 since bmw 528 is the entry-level to the 5 series in the us lineup it’s definitely a good contender for somebody that doesn’t really care about the speed as much as they do about the comfort this car is very comfortable i would recommend getting 528 but
Only a 2013 and newer car i wouldn’t go for the early cars now let’s move on to something a little more fun and powerful the bmw 535 with the n55 engine that came on that car from 2011 until 2017 they didn’t make any engine changes or swaps during that time 535 with the n55 engine is probably the most reliable out of the three cards that we’re discussing today
Bmws are known for making decent straight-6 and this is one of their best however i wouldn’t recommend the 2011 so the very first year car as those cars do have many issues outside of the engine people have experienced many issues in the early cars such as increased battery drain issues fuel pump issues leaking oil filter gaskets belt tensioners going bad turbos
Have issues in these cars as well but a lot of people have had them replaced under warranty so it’s no longer such a big issue however you will experience oil leaks coming from the filter housing valve cover gaskets that go bad as well other than that you might also run into fuel injectors and most likely you have to replace the call of the ignition coils and spark
Plugs once again this is mostly for the older cars so definitely recommend getting something a little bit newer now if you’re anything like me and you like some performance out of your car 550 is the car you’re looking for unfortunately bmw 550 is a very complicated beast it has lots of issues bmw 550 comes with two different variations of the n63 engine up until
2013 the bmw 550 use the n 63 engine and starting from 2014 model years the engine was upgraded to the n 63 tu which is a technical upgrade as far as i remember and actually fixed a lot of the issues i’m gonna mention about the early cars today now let’s look at some of the common issues that were under n63 and the n 63 tu engine cars although a lot more common
Under early cars than 63 engine consume a lot of oil ignition causes and parks are also some of the items are going to have to replace on both engines around fifty to sixty thousand miles the timing chain has also been a very common issue on these cars a special in the newer ones the 2014 and newer cars don’t seem to experience as many issues with the timing
Chains however it is still common among all of those cars slightly less common to the timing chain job on the n63 engine but also a lot more severe is the valve stem seal job the valve stem seal job is actually a very expensive job due to the engine having to be taken out out of the car in order for this fix to be performed properly you can expect to pay anywhere
From five to seven thousand dollars for this to be done at a bmw shop maybe a little bit less if you go to a privately owned place but it’s still very expensive so if you find a card that’s cheap but somebody’s telling it just burns a little bit of oil this may be the cause so it’s definitely something worth checking out before gambling on the card it burns oil
As i mentioned earlier these cars do burn oil so it’s kind of a fine line between burning oil which is normal and then burning a lot of oil which can cause you know a six thousand dollar job that needs to be done in your car now i’ll give you the list of some of the more common issues on the pre lci cars most of the early cars have suffered from fuel injectors high
Pressure fuel pump issues engine vacuum pumps fuel system low pressure sensors fresh air intake turbo seals crankshaft ventilation leaks lines cracking in there as well timing change fuel pump many many issues the good news is that bmw has released a n63 customer care package and some of the highlights are that when you bring the car in for this they don’t call it a
Recall but it’s pretty much a recall and there’s actually been lawsuits about this as well so read on and read up on that a little bit you’ll learn so much more but some of the highlights are that the timing chain usually gets stretched they will check for that and make sure it’s not stretched and if it is they’ll replace it they’ll also check your fuel injectors
The mass airflow sensors crank crank kake’s event lines the battery engine vacuum pump lopez low pressure fuel pump sensors and actually many other items on the list as part of the customer care package bmw has changed the oil interval to 12 months or 10,000 miles but most owners would actually recommend that you change it all five to seven thousand miles as this
Will definitely help with making these engines run longer a lot of the owners have noticed much better reliability on these cars after the ccp has been performed on their car so it’s something i will definitely look for on the carfax or whatever however you check the history of the car as it gives you a little bit of peace of mind so as you can see the early n63
Engine definitely had a lot of issues however bmw did fix most of those issues in the end 63 tu version of the car for this reason i’ll definitely recommend getting the newer 2014 and newer bmw 5 50s this brings us to my car bmw 550i lci meaning 2014 to 2017 version of the car with the n63 tu engine bmw has really put some work into this engine as it has about 40
More horsepower it goes from 402 to 440 for a lot more torque it’s a very solid performer and it’s a lot of fun to drive as far as issues specific to this engine there aren’t any big ones other than the ones i’ve mentioned in the common issues for the 550 so in conclusion i would definitely recommend getting the 535 or a 550 that is 2014 or newer model years as
It will have plenty of power and pretty good reliability you’ll definitely enjoy this car because i know i do enjoy mine of course it’s a big luxury sedan so it’s not for everybody these do cost a little bit more to maintain than you know your standard car but it’s definitely worth it so thank you guys so much for watching happy driving i really hope you enjoyed
Watching the video not see in the next one two different engines over the
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BMW 5 Series F10 Problems to Expect By SimpleCarGuy
