2011 X5 xdrive35i-NIGHTMARE-Belt broke-total loss??

MarkH42 · 07-09-2018, 11:05 AM

My wife's 2011 X5 has 110K miles. A block or two from our house, the steering got really stiff and the check engine light came on, but she got it home and called me. I looked and saw that the serpentine belt had broken. The short story is that the breaking of this belt led to the engine needing replacement or total rebuild. BMW seems to be the only manufacturer who has nothing in place to prevent this from happening. I'm not a mechanic, but my understanding is that the tensioner pulley failed, leading the belt to break, which wrapped around the crankshaft tightly and was pulled into the engine in the couple of minutes it took my wife to get home. So, we had it towed to a local, reputable independent BMW shop. He replaced the belt and immediately the check engine light came back on. He determined the timing was off and, after researching, realized what had happened. This is not an uncommon occurrence. So, $3300 later, we had a new timing chain and they removed as much of the pieces and parts of the belt as they could find. (A number of other parts were replaced also, but I don't have the complete list). He said that there may be a few pieces of the belt that were inside the engine but that they should work their way out over time. We drove it for a few days and it went into failsafe mode. We limped back to the shop and he did a few other things, replaced a coil pack and it ran great until it just shut down and wouldn't start. He determined that a piece of the belt blocked the oil from getting to one of the cylinders, leading that cylinder to fail. He is of the opinion that the engine needs to be rebuilt, which would cost in the $4500 range since he has already replaced a significant number of parts. (The mechanic would have another shop rebuild the engine so he has nothing to gain from suggesting this.) With the car's value being in the $10-$11K range the day before the belt broke, I'm reluctant to throw that much at it, and who knows what else might happen next. He is trying to make a deal to sell it for parts in the $4K range and I'm waiting to hear back on that option.

I am open to suggestions at this point. Would BMW accept any responsibility for this obviously flawed system? Have any of you ever heard of this happening and might there be an option for resolving this that I haven't considered? Possible insurance claim? I'm grasping at straws here and would welcome any feedback. It was never a reliable car but my wife loved to drive it. I was prepared to spend a little extra to maintain it, but I sure didn't expect this.... Thanks in advance for the help.

omgboost · 07-09-2018, 12:44 PM

Sorry to hear that. My 35i pulley is going bad and I will be replacing mine soon. Looks like there's quite a few N55s from 3 and 5 series with bad tensioner pulleys.

PrescottX5M · 07-09-2018, 11:00 PM

First and foremost I am very sorry this has happened. I may be a newb around this site, but not to cars and not to BMW's. I currently have 4 and have built many motors including BMW's, the motors are purely in pro territory.

I'm sure quite a few may not comment as you know it's an advice thing..

1. I would take the 4K for parts if you can get it and afford it. I would support this by saying the rebuilding of the motor is only part of it. The putting in of the motor is a huge process. This includes dropping of the subframe, it comes out the bottom. Giant, Giant project. one thing leads to the other and the bill gets bigger. I have dropped the subframe in my E53 and it's a job! Most importantly how much time is this going to put you out? Also, your value with 110K is only salable to a certain market.

2. If you can't sell it through this mechanic sell it as a project. There are guys like me out there who might bite(i'm not looking). Disclose what happened "needs motor, otherwise perfect" A BMW shop guy might take it on and turn it(Ebay, Craigs). It's not like it has been wrecked or flooded.

3. If you decide to replace the motor consider finding a used complete motor(3K). I do believe the N55 long block could come from any N55 and the exterior parts could be exchanged(some one correct me here if I'm wrong, cams?). I've have had motors shipped from Atlanta to AZ. (Vines there has name that's been around awhile, the current reviews don't show this but worth a call, they should be able to tell you N55 exchange too.)
4. Consider
http://www.bavengine.com/other.html

5. rebuilder would have to be very reputable.

I'm amazed that anyone who builds a motor would tell you there might be debris in it and consider it ok to start. Think about how fine an oil filter is!

I was like "how the hell did that happen until I saw this:
https://autoscope.co/car-repair/bmw-...inside-engine/

MarkH42 · 07-10-2018, 10:37 AM

I really appreciate the feedback. Just FYI, I called the company you suggested in #4 and that engine is $7,500, so not really a feasible option. I will call Vines. I used to get parts from them back when I had BMW's in the 80's and 90's (when they were reliable...).

My mechanic has been looking for used motors and simply can't find one. He says this engine is problematic and so the demand for used engines outstrips the supply.

The article you attached pretty much says it all. I have just lost all faith in BMW as a company. I picture a room full of their best and brightest discussing how to make them fun to drive. They do great at this. Down the hall in a much smaller room is a smaller group of less qualified guys discussing to to make them reliable and still achieve the goals of the first group.

Barring a miracle from Vines or some other option emerging, I will likely sell it for whatever I can get as-is and consider it a $10K lesson to never own another BMW. I have driven a 2009 Porsche Cayenne at the same time my wife had the 2011 X5. Hers had three trips to the shop on a wrecker and mine has had zero. Even before this her maintenance costs were double mine. Again, I really appreciate your advice. BMW's out of warranty are for pros like yourself and not amateurs like me.

luv135i · 07-10-2018, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkH42

I really appreciate the feedback. Just FYI, I called the company you suggested in #4 and that engine is $7,500, so not really a feasible option. I will call Vines. I used to get parts from them back when I had BMW's in the 80's and 90's (when they were reliable...).

My mechanic has been looking for used motors and simply can't find one. He says this engine is problematic and so the demand for used engines outstrips the supply.

The article you attached pretty much says it all. I have just lost all faith in BMW as a company. I picture a room full of their best and brightest discussing how to make them fun to drive. They do great at this. Down the hall in a much smaller room is a smaller group of less qualified guys discussing to to make them reliable and still achieve the goals of the first group.

Barring a miracle from Vines or some other option emerging, I will likely sell it for whatever I can get as-is and consider it a $10K lesson to never own another BMW. I have driven a 2009 Porsche Cayenne at the same time my wife had the 2011 X5. Hers had three trips to the shop on a wrecker and mine has had zero. Even before this her maintenance costs were double mine. Again, I really appreciate your advice. BMW's out of warranty are for pros like yourself and not amateurs like me.

Ghasson sells n55s for 4k. That will be your best option.

http://ghassanauto.com/n55-engine/

Some people just end up getting a better deal by shipping the car to them than doing anything locally.

-c- · 07-10-2018, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luv135i

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkH42

I really appreciate the feedback. Just FYI, I called the company you suggested in #4 and that engine is $7,500, so not really a feasible option. I will call Vines. I used to get parts from them back when I had BMW's in the 80's and 90's (when they were reliable...).

My mechanic has been looking for used motors and simply can't find one. He says this engine is problematic and so the demand for used engines outstrips the supply.

The article you attached pretty much says it all. I have just lost all faith in BMW as a company. I picture a room full of their best and brightest discussing how to make them fun to drive. They do great at this. Down the hall in a much smaller room is a smaller group of less qualified guys discussing to to make them reliable and still achieve the goals of the first group.

Barring a miracle from Vines or some other option emerging, I will likely sell it for whatever I can get as-is and consider it a $10K lesson to never own another BMW. I have driven a 2009 Porsche Cayenne at the same time my wife had the 2011 X5. Hers had three trips to the shop on a wrecker and mine has had zero. Even before this her maintenance costs were double mine. Again, I really appreciate your advice. BMW's out of warranty are for pros like yourself and not amateurs like me.

Ghasson sells n55s for 4k. That will be your best option.

http://ghassanauto.com/n55-engine/

Some people just end up getting a better deal by shipping the car to them than doing anything locally.

Um yea the n55 has a couple issues but far from a problematic motor. Now the v8 was far more problematic. The n54 was also more problematic but the n55 was actually one of the more problem free designs.

When the belt brakes best practice is pull over safely and get off the road and shut the engine off right away. but when someone just decides to drive it home even if your a minute away you can have catastrophic consequences. So not really surprised something bad happened. Back when I had my first car over 20 years ago and the V belt broke I was just down my street, still shut her down and pushed it back home.

Have you kept up with your maintenance ? A bad belt is usually caught before it brakes but any car will have issues when a drive line belt brakes and you continue to drive on them. Luckily with the electric water pump overheating isn't as much of an issue but the engine is still running and it's very tight in their so when the belt is just sitting in their and the main pulley is running it's going to grab and screw stuff up.

Either way your not waking out cheap and your call weather to let it go or not. It's probably still cheaper to just fix it though as buy an engine from a salvage yard with low mileage and find an Indy shop that will swap it for a grand or two vs buying another vehicle of similar scale.

heatmizr · 07-17-2018, 10:19 AM

W
T
F
???

That's a new one. GOOD THING I HAVE THE V8 !!

Thecastle · 07-20-2018, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by heatmizr

W
T
F
???

That's a new one. GOOD THING I HAVE THE V8 !!

Haha good one! I'd take the chance of having a n55 eat a belt if I drove it a bunch of miles with my christmas tree lights on and no power steering weren't enough to shut it down. In exchange for less oil leaks, injector failures, vacuum pump oh, damn just a lot of expensive repairs. My X5 has already had more in repairs this year than the cost of replacing his N55.

omgboost · 07-20-2018, 05:31 PM

Don't the V8 need to replace tensioner pulley as well? It's just that it doesn't get sucked into the engine like the N55?

-c- · 07-20-2018, 11:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by omgboost

Don't the V8 need to replace tensioner pulley as well? It's just that it doesn't get sucked into the engine like the N55?

Well shit like that may happen but not in every vehicle, the N55 is used in TONS of bmws and this is a rare event.

Just like contracting a flesh eating bacteria from eating raw oysters !

Not everyone will get it but theirs a chance !

Now the V8, not even going their.......

RichardR0404 · 07-21-2018, 08:34 AM

still better than my runaway 35d. still waiting for a new motor and transmission from copart.but mine have 50k hours engine hour thou.....

07-09-2018, 11:05 AM	#1
MarkH42 Registered 1 Rep 2 Posts Drives: 2011 BMW X5 3.5i Join Date: Jul 2018 Location: Birmingham, AL iTrader: (0)	2011 X5 xdrive35i-NIGHTMARE-Belt broke-total loss?? My wife's 2011 X5 has 110K miles. A block or two from our house, the steering got really stiff and the check engine light came on, but she got it home and called me. I looked and saw that the serpentine belt had broken. The short story is that the breaking of this belt led to the engine needing replacement or total rebuild. BMW seems to be the only manufacturer who has nothing in place to prevent this from happening. I'm not a mechanic, but my understanding is that the tensioner pulley failed, leading the belt to break, which wrapped around the crankshaft tightly and was pulled into the engine in the couple of minutes it took my wife to get home. So, we had it towed to a local, reputable independent BMW shop. He replaced the belt and immediately the check engine light came back on. He determined the timing was off and, after researching, realized what had happened. This is not an uncommon occurrence. So, $3300 later, we had a new timing chain and they removed as much of the pieces and parts of the belt as they could find. (A number of other parts were replaced also, but I don't have the complete list). He said that there may be a few pieces of the belt that were inside the engine but that they should work their way out over time. We drove it for a few days and it went into failsafe mode. We limped back to the shop and he did a few other things, replaced a coil pack and it ran great until it just shut down and wouldn't start. He determined that a piece of the belt blocked the oil from getting to one of the cylinders, leading that cylinder to fail. He is of the opinion that the engine needs to be rebuilt, which would cost in the $4500 range since he has already replaced a significant number of parts. (The mechanic would have another shop rebuild the engine so he has nothing to gain from suggesting this.) With the car's value being in the $10-$11K range the day before the belt broke, I'm reluctant to throw that much at it, and who knows what else might happen next. He is trying to make a deal to sell it for parts in the $4K range and I'm waiting to hear back on that option. I am open to suggestions at this point. Would BMW accept any responsibility for this obviously flawed system? Have any of you ever heard of this happening and might there be an option for resolving this that I haven't considered? Possible insurance claim? I'm grasping at straws here and would welcome any feedback. It was never a reliable car but my wife loved to drive it. I was prepared to spend a little extra to maintain it, but I sure didn't expect this.... Thanks in advance for the help.
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07-09-2018, 12:44 PM	#2
omgboost Lieutenant 56 Rep 415 Posts Drives: 2012 X5 35i Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: East Coast iTrader: (0)	Sorry to hear that. My 35i pulley is going bad and I will be replacing mine soon. Looks like there's quite a few N55s from 3 and 5 series with bad tensioner pulleys.
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07-09-2018, 11:00 PM	#3
PrescottX5M New Member 2 Rep 10 Posts Drives: 2011 X5M Join Date: Jun 2018 Location: Arizona, USA iTrader: (0)	My 2 cents First and foremost I am very sorry this has happened. I may be a newb around this site, but not to cars and not to BMW's. I currently have 4 and have built many motors including BMW's, the motors are purely in pro territory. I'm sure quite a few may not comment as you know it's an advice thing.. 1. I would take the 4K for parts if you can get it and afford it. I would support this by saying the rebuilding of the motor is only part of it. The putting in of the motor is a huge process. This includes dropping of the subframe, it comes out the bottom. Giant, Giant project. one thing leads to the other and the bill gets bigger. I have dropped the subframe in my E53 and it's a job! Most importantly how much time is this going to put you out? Also, your value with 110K is only salable to a certain market. 2. If you can't sell it through this mechanic sell it as a project. There are guys like me out there who might bite(i'm not looking). Disclose what happened "needs motor, otherwise perfect" A BMW shop guy might take it on and turn it(Ebay, Craigs). It's not like it has been wrecked or flooded. 3. If you decide to replace the motor consider finding a used complete motor(3K). I do believe the N55 long block could come from any N55 and the exterior parts could be exchanged(some one correct me here if I'm wrong, cams?). I've have had motors shipped from Atlanta to AZ. (Vines there has name that's been around awhile, the current reviews don't show this but worth a call, they should be able to tell you N55 exchange too.) 4. Consider http://www.bavengine.com/other.html 5. rebuilder would have to be very reputable. I'm amazed that anyone who builds a motor would tell you there might be debris in it and consider it ok to start. Think about how fine an oil filter is! I was like "how the hell did that happen until I saw this: https://autoscope.co/car-repair/bmw-...inside-engine/
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07-17-2018, 10:19 AM	#7
heatmizr Captain 153 Rep 709 Posts Drives: E70 X5 50i M-Sport Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Charlotte, NC iTrader: (0)	W T F ??? That's a new one. GOOD THING I HAVE THE V8 !! __________________ heatmizr [Todd] g26 i4 e40 - Clean Machine e70 X5 50i M-Sport "The Boss" Loaded e90 328i - sold e36 M3 - Gone to become a track star
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07-20-2018, 05:31 PM	#9
omgboost Lieutenant 56 Rep 415 Posts Drives: 2012 X5 35i Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: East Coast iTrader: (0)	Don't the V8 need to replace tensioner pulley as well? It's just that it doesn't get sucked into the engine like the N55?
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07-10-2018, 10:37 AM	#4
MarkH42 Registered 1 Rep 2 Posts Drives: 2011 BMW X5 3.5i Join Date: Jul 2018 Location: Birmingham, AL iTrader: (0)	I really appreciate the feedback. Just FYI, I called the company you suggested in #4 and that engine is $7,500, so not really a feasible option. I will call Vines. I used to get parts from them back when I had BMW's in the 80's and 90's (when they were reliable...). My mechanic has been looking for used motors and simply can't find one. He says this engine is problematic and so the demand for used engines outstrips the supply. The article you attached pretty much says it all. I have just lost all faith in BMW as a company. I picture a room full of their best and brightest discussing how to make them fun to drive. They do great at this. Down the hall in a much smaller room is a smaller group of less qualified guys discussing to to make them reliable and still achieve the goals of the first group. Barring a miracle from Vines or some other option emerging, I will likely sell it for whatever I can get as-is and consider it a $10K lesson to never own another BMW. I have driven a 2009 Porsche Cayenne at the same time my wife had the 2011 X5. Hers had three trips to the shop on a wrecker and mine has had zero. Even before this her maintenance costs were double mine. Again, I really appreciate your advice. BMW's out of warranty are for pros like yourself and not amateurs like me.
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07-21-2018, 08:34 AM	#11
RichardR0404 Private First Class 31 Rep 189 Posts Drives: 2013 BMW X5 35D Join Date: Dec 2017 Location: Calgary iTrader: (0)	still better than my runaway 35d. still waiting for a new motor and transmission from copart.but mine have 50k hours engine hour thou.....
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