2013 X5M Engine Failure

[quick]

S63 is not an engine to modify especially with a high tune. To help with the driveablity (pig off the line), I first bought a SB (transformed the car) and then decided to try out BT stage 1 ( 60 hp/50 tq), which is not much follows the factory power curve) but enough to give a seat of the pant difference yet enough to make the X5M enjoyable to drive without risking and always worrying about these high HP tunes

The last few miles are always easy miles, let it run for a minute or two prior to shutting it off. I also pop open the hood after any drive to help let the heat out just to keep the temps down. Oil changes every 5k miles and so far at 44,000 miles, things are going smooth.

If you want to play safe, do not tune an E70 X5M, it already has the fuel injector issues so why further compromise the longevity of the engine by messing around with the AFR's?

[0-60Motorsports]

Originally Posted by quick

S63 is not an engine to modify especially with a high tune. to help with the driveablity (pig off the line), I first bought a SB (transformed the car) and then decided to try out BT stage 1 ( 60 hp/50 tq), which is not much but enough to give a seat of the pant difference and enough to make the X5M enjoyable to drive without the high HP tune

I always open the hood after any drive to help let the heat out

What does SB and BT stand for?

[Thecastle]

Originally Posted by pdX5M

"When the computer said to"....there's part of your problem man. What the iDrive system recommends and what should actually be done to maintain an M car are two very different things.

Synthetic oils and their additive packages hold up really well over the long term and most find that 10K miles is a pretty conservative milage for modern lubricants.

The #1 cause of bearing failures is dirt in the engine. Usually caused by the poor filtration from hot air intakes that folks are so found of adding. #2 is engine missasembly, #3 is insufficient lubrication, basically racing the engine when the oil is cold or using a heavy weight oil that isn't in spec.

This guy probably has a 7 owner car that didn't have maintenance done to it like air filter changes and regular oil changes, with the correct oil or worse someone tried to fix a problem using 10W-50 like the older S62's. Using that oil and racing the car is a sure fire way to have poor bearing lubrication and quick wear.

https://www.speedperf6rmanc3.com/con...20Bearings.pdf

[Thecastle]

Originally Posted by quick

S63 is not an engine to modify especially with a high tune. to help with the driveablity (pig off the line), I first bought a SB (transformed the car) and then decided to try out BT stage 1 ( 60 hp/50 tq), which is not much but enough to give a seat of the pant difference and enough to make the X5M enjoyable to drive without the high HP tune

I always open the hood after any drive to help let the heat out

I think the S63's have shown to be pretty reliable even with big turbos, but no engine is indestructible. Especially as the mileage piles up on these cars. I think at stock and near stock levels on a well maintained engine without a hot air intake to fill the oil with dirt, you should have a pretty reliable machine. It also matters how much you use the extra power. Since I tow all the time with my X5M I plan to keep the car totally stock, I often have the car floored on uphill grades while towing to maintain speed in overdrive. No need to blow the engine up because its under constant high load.

[quick]

Originally Posted by 0-60Motorsports

What does SB and BT stand for?

Sprint Booster and Burger Tuning

[frankenm]

Chalk up another failure to the board

120k miles head gasket failure and knocking - this is going to sit for a while was planning to sell but guess not for now ...

[Dawgz]

Originally Posted by frankenm

Chalk up another failure to the board

120k miles head gasket failure and knocking - this is going to sit for a while was planning to sell but guess not for now ...

Whaaaaaaaat how much boost were you running?

[frankenm]

Originally Posted by Dawgz

Whaaaaaaaat how much boost were you running?

Target was 18 and never went above it, logs show peak boost was 17.9 on Map 6 w/ jb4 in the run that killed it

I think that y connector for the coolant breaking has a major roll in the head gasket failing - the head gets zero coolant flow when that piece breaks and just dumps it right onto the turbo exhaust manifolds not long to overheat the aluminum and break something

I didn’t pinpoint the knock and will have to wait until tear down to determine what the issue is the engine still runs and doesn’t throw codes yet so I think I should be ok to repair the engine

[Dawgz]

Originally Posted by frankenm

Target was 18 and never went above it, logs show peak boost was 17.9 on Map 6 w/ jb4 in the run that killed it

I think that y connector for the coolant breaking has a major roll in the head gasket failing - the head gets zero coolant flow when that piece breaks and just dumps it right onto the turbo exhaust manifolds not long to overheat the aluminum and break something

I didn’t pinpoint the knock and will have to wait until tear down to determine what the issue is the engine still runs and doesn’t throw codes yet so I think I should be ok to repair the engine

Dang it should be able to take much more than 17psi

How many miles?

[quick]

Originally Posted by Dawgz

Dang it should be able to take much more than 17psi

How many miles?

Think 120,000+ miles

[frankenm]

Yes mileage is 120k to be honest I’m not all that surprised this happened always felt this engine was a ticking time bomb after I had injector issues when I bought it 4 years ago

Always changed oil at 5k miles or so and used 5w-40 tried various brands used royal purple for the past 2 years since it seem to like it more

[Dawgz]

Originally Posted by frankenm

Yes mileage is 120k to be honest I’m not all that surprised this happened always felt this engine was a ticking time bomb after I had injector issues when I bought it 4 years ago

Always changed oil at 5k miles or so and used 5w-40 tried various brands used royal purple for the past 2 years since it seem to like it more

I think 80-100k seems to be the life of these.

[Thecastle]

I wouldn't go so far as to say that 80-100K miles is the life of these, at least not stock. Tuned is always going to lower the life span some, especially the more you run the engine outside of its original output parameters. I've seen plenty of X5M's in the 140K+ range, On cars.com there are 8 for sale with more than 120K miles. Heck I've seen plenty of low performance engines die in the 120K range. This isn't a low stressed, low rpm diesel. The S63 is a lot more reliable than the S85's...

Just as a contrast my 329K powerstroke 7.3 diesel, has cost me more in repairs/maintenance than my 60K miles X5M over the last year. My diesel has needed 4 injectors, new battery cables, new a/c compressor, new power steering rack, new air intake (cracked), new valve cover wiring harnesses, new crank position sensor, new injection pressure regulator valve, new fuel filter assembly. and it still leaks oil like the Exxon Valdez.... This coming from a "bullet proof" till 500K engine..... Which needs still probably another 4 injectors at $500 a pop, new oil pan gasket, new oil cooler gaskets, and etc. So The X5M is very high maintenance, but its not worse than so called bullet proof vehicles in some senses.

[apriorius]

Originally Posted by daniel717

You went through all the trouble of registering for a BMW Enthusiast forum, just so you could post that you will never own one again??

Well, yeah. This thread was useful to me when the issue first occurred so I thought contributing to the body of knowledge concerning these motors was the right thing to do.

As far as my attitude with BMW’s, my experience has shown me these cars are advertised as ultimate driving machine. Yet you occasionally drive them anywhere near their capabilities and they fall apart. Happened with this X5M, happened with my E46 subframe cracking. They just don’t go the miles.

[apriorius]

Originally Posted by pdX5M

"When the computer said to"....there's part of your problem man. What the iDrive system recommends and what should actually be done to maintain an M car are two very different things.

I get that now. I don’t think it’s particularly honest or right that BMW advises inadequate maintenance. In fact I think it’s planned obsolescence and unfair and dishonest business practices. Not sure how they get away with it.

My car was never tracked and never modded. Dead stock. I don’t drive slow but I’m far from a speed demon. Biggest workout was an occasional WOT freeway pass on road trips. I haven’t had a moving violation in over 15 years.

Either way I’m out. Breaks my heart, I love this car, but if I follow instructions to the T and a $100k car doesn’t make it 100k miles you can’t expect me to come back for more.

[frankenm]

Originally Posted by apriorius

I get that now. I don’t think it’s particularly honest or right that BMW advises inadequate maintenance. In fact I think it’s planned obsolescence and unfair and dishonest business practices. Not sure how they get away with it.

My car was never tracked and never modded. Dead stock. I don’t drive slow but I’m far from a speed demon. Biggest workout was an occasional WOT freeway pass on road trips. I haven’t had a moving violation in over 15 years.

Either way I’m out. Breaks my heart, I love this car, but if I follow instructions to the T and a $100k car doesn’t make it 100k miles you can’t expect me to come back for more.

This is a problem with our society, we just throw away things every few years and replace them with new ones, the tech world is another great example ...

Our legislations won't do anything because money

Auto industry as a whole could do a lot better in building machines designed to last generations instead of a few years, we have the technology there just is not profit.

BMW honestly should recall the X5M like they did with the N63 engines - they CLEARLY have issues that need to be addressed and a few days at a shop could do wonders for them.

I know my failure is from that plastic piece UNDERNEATH the turbos used to distribute coolant between the water pump and the two separate heads breaking, it is beyond me why the engineers at BMW thought this was a good other than it is just planned to break.

[quick]

Any and every performance vehicle has some issues after all, performance does come at a cost, right?

Porsche air-cooled 911's: Leaky engine cases/oil leaks (has one)

Porsche 997 TT: Coolant pipes, camshafts, rear spoiler pumps etc (owned one)

Mercedes AMG's: E63's Head stud issues, airmatic suspension (has one)

Ferrari's: Regular maintenance requirements, depreciations (soon)

BMW's (V8's) have had issues... Older one's were great

These marques would surely put big grins on your faces but at a cost though

Although these cars have gotten older but they are still expensive cars and still need the required maintenance albeit some inheritance quirks

When I bought the X5M, I didn't want to pay $65,000 for the F85 so I bought an 5 year extended warranty to cover the unexpected expenses.

18 months and 6000 miles later, the bitch is still going strong without a single glitch.

I can't imagine every single E70 X5M is as unreliable as some of the members make them look like.

All bets off once you decide to modify them and can't really blame the manufacturer.

[Thecastle]

Originally Posted by apriorius

I get that now. I don’t think it’s particularly honest or right that BMW advises inadequate maintenance. In fact I think it’s planned obsolescence and unfair and dishonest business practices. Not sure how they get away with it.

My car was never tracked and never modded. Dead stock. I don’t drive slow but I’m far from a speed demon. Biggest workout was an occasional WOT freeway pass on road trips. I haven’t had a moving violation in over 15 years.

Either way I’m out. Breaks my heart, I love this car, but if I follow instructions to the T and a $100k car doesn’t make it 100k miles you can’t expect me to come back for more.

I wouldn’t expect you to make the same mistake.

How many previous owners did your x5m have before you got it?

[daveingigharbor]

My 2012 X5 M just had a seized up motor and I am trying to figure out what to do. Car had 84k miles and had been modified with stage two tweaks. Ran great until I romped on it through a tunnel to hear the glorious exhaust sounds. Was music to my ears until things got quite and the car stopped. The shop had a BMW master tech come by and he said it is most likely the main bearings that caused the engine to seize.
I love the car and the colors (Monte Carlo Blue/white and black interior. Just weighing the cost to repair VS the hit selling it as is. Paid $22k in March, guessing I will be in $15k to fix it. This thread has been a help as far as sorting so things out in my mind.

[Dawgz]

Originally Posted by daveingigharbor

My 2012 X5 M just had a seized up motor and I am trying to figure out what to do. Car had 84k miles and had been modified with stage two tweaks. Ran great until I romped on it through a tunnel to hear the glorious exhaust sounds. Was music to my ears until things got quite and the car stopped. The shop had a BMW master tech come by and he said it is most likely the main bearings that caused the engine to seize.
I love the car and the colors (Monte Carlo Blue/white and black interior. Just weighing the cost to repair VS the hit selling it as is. Paid $22k in March, guessing I will be in $15k to fix it. This thread has been a help as far as sorting so things out in my mind.

How often did you do oil changes?

And did you JUST get the car a few months ago?

[daveingigharbor]

Dawgs - Just got the X5 mid March. Put less than 1,000 miles on it due to the Covid-19 issues. An oil change was just done by the previous owner, who seemed to take great care of the car. I am the third owner. Car had the Velos tune, exhaust tweaked, turbos tweaked, etc. I have always warmed my cars up before romping on them. I am truly heart broken over this, as the logical thing to do is sell it as is or to part it out. Finding another one in the same condition and colors would be tough and I am guessing I will not own another X5. Probably will just be and E39 guy. Guess doing the $2,500 rod bearing update in my E39 M5 was a cheap fix.

[Dawgz]

Originally Posted by daveingigharbor

Dawgs - Just got the X5 mid March. Put less than 1,000 miles on it due to the Covid-19 issues. An oil change was just done by the previous owner, who seemed to take great care of the car. I am the third owner. Car had the Velos tune, exhaust tweaked, turbos tweaked, etc. I have always warmed my cars up before romping on them. I am truly heart broken over this, as the logical thing to do is sell it as is or to part it out. Finding another one in the same condition and colors would be tough and I am guessing I will not own another X5. Probably will just be and E39 guy. Guess doing the $2,500 rod bearing update in my E39 M5 was a cheap fix.

Wow that's insane. How many miles?