New X1 Owner - dead engine

[4_ring_circus]

Hi,
I just purchased a 2012 X1 x-drive with a dead engine. It was a good deal, car has low kms and has a lot of options inside. I plan to either rebuild or swap the engine.

This is my first BMW, but not my first engine rebuild or swap. Last year I rebuilt the engine in a 2009 Audi A4 for myself.

This X1 will be for the wife, keeping it relatively stock besides painting the wheels black and all the silver will probably get wrapped in black as well.

Here are a few pics of the car before I picked it up:





I have already pulled the rims and tires off and sent out the rims for powder coating. I started digging into the engine yesterday, but turns out I don't have the proper 14mm socket - so to Princess Auto I go today after work.

Anyways I look forward to getting this car going.

I apologize in advance for all the noob questions I will have.

Cheers,
Mike

[AK_Wes]

Let us all know as you get questions, and I'm sure folks will answer any that they can.

Do you have any details on the engine failure or other information about the car relating to the mechanical issues??? I'm sure folks in the forum will be curious to know what the overall problem ended up being on this vehicle with "low miles".

Thanks!

[4_ring_circus]

As of right now all I know is that a reputable shop ran a compression test, drained oil and cut apart the oil filter. There were metal shavings in the oil filter and oil. Compression is said to be 0 across all 4 cylinders, but to me it looks like no one had the coils out.......I will do a compression test possibly tonight.

I am trying to diagnose the failure myself, I will update as I know more.

[05X3lover]

Originally Posted by 4_ring_circus

As of right now all I know is that a reputable shop ran a compression test, drained oil and cut apart the oil filter. There were metal shavings in the oil filter and oil. Compression is said to be 0 across all 4 cylinders, but to me it looks like no one had the coils out.......I will do a compression test possibly tonight.

I am trying to diagnose the failure myself, I will update as I know more.

Cool project, that's a gorgeous X1. Please do update your thread on your progress and what you find ultimately to be the cause of the engine failure. Fingers crossed you get lucky.

[4_ring_circus]

So I went out to buy a socket to remove the plugs and it doesn't fit. I bought a 14mm/9/16 thin wall spark plug socket. Can anyone recommend which one they were able to use in order to get the plugs out?
This has got to be the top engineering mistake when it comes to car manufacturing......stuff like this just rubs me the wrong way.

[kiloTHREE]

Don't get me started on triple squares, fuck you VAG.
I didn't buy mine from ECS because they are evil but they do have it for cheap:
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-schwaben...ive/sp-05-12p/

[4_ring_circus]

hahaha I'm a VAG guy, so I know exactly what you are talking about. How about those E-Torx sockets??

I saw that ECS has it for a fair price, but being in Canada I will be waiting for it for a long time.

[mreric]

Originally Posted by 4_ring_circus

So I went out to buy a socket to remove the plugs and it doesn't fit. I bought a 14mm/9/16 thin wall spark plug socket. Can anyone recommend which one they were able to use in order to get the plugs out?
This has got to be the top engineering mistake when it comes to car manufacturing......stuff like this just rubs me the wrong way.

i use this. worked fine

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[kiloTHREE]

Originally Posted by 4_ring_circus

hahaha I'm a VAG guy, so I know exactly what you are talking about. How about those E-Torx sockets??

I saw that ECS has it for a fair price, but being in Canada I will be waiting for it for a long time.

I never had much beef with those for some reason, I think because if you're in a pinch i just pounded a hex on there.
JIS vs phillips is one that really grinds my gears as well.

Try blunttech.com for shipping to the great white north, Steve does a lot of business with canada.

[4_ring_circus]

Originally Posted by mreric

i use this. worked fine

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Ordered the socket today, will have it on Monday. So compression test results coming.

[4_ring_circus]

Turns out the compression tester I have does not have the proper thread. I have just a generic one. Ordered that on Amazon. I am hoping that there will not be too many more special tools required.

Anyone know where I can find a repair manual in PDF? I am interested in the engine alone for torque specs and general information.

[kringer2]

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/

Not a PDF but you can print out sections.

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/

[4_ring_circus]

Thanks for the repair manual link!!

On saturday I was able to pull the front of the car and the valve cover......I think I have found the problem. I am just not sure how much damage there will be inside the engine. I will be pulling the oil pan and cylinder head this week in order to access what I will need.

Here are some pics:

[05X3lover]

Glad to see your project is under way. I hope you get it squared away, it's gonna be a great ride.

[4_ring_circus]

So last night I was able to pull the cylinder head, looks like the valve did touch the pistons. I am yet to confirm how many are possibly bent. The pistons and cylinder bores look great, cross hatching is still visible so I think I will get away with just a cylinder head rebuild.
Here are a few pics:







I will need to find some detailed instructions on how to set up the variable cam timing on the intake side....seems a bit like black magic to me at the moment.
I had to take it apart to get at the one cylinder head bolt......is there a different method for this?

[4_ring_circus]

Has anyone used the tools that are available on ebay for timing? Any reviews?
Is there something available that is reasonably priced?

[mreric]

i think there is a tool specifically made fro the N20 engine to the timing chain. i think there is video on youtube.

[4_ring_circus]

There are plenty on ebay that are in the $60 range, but I would like to find out which one actually works and is complete.
I would hate to buy another tool for this job and find out it doesn't work.

[4_ring_circus]

I know it's been a while, but I had a lot going on. I was finally able to get back into the garage and work on this thing. (Wife is not happy she had to wait this long)

Pulled the engine out and here is what I found:







As can be seen in the last pic, the failure was caused by the guides. Cylinder head damage (scoring) was caused by lack of lubrication.

I bought a replacement engine, full timing chain kit from FCP Euro. I picked the engine with all new timing components installed last night. Going to the garage today after work to clean up everything and start prepping the car to receive the new engine.

[AK_Wes]

Thanks for posting up the photos! I had a feeling this would be the culprit in your dead engine scenario.

How much did the new engine set you back?

[4_ring_circus]

The engine itself was 3500CDN plus I had the chain and guides replaced 1300CDN for the kit with the labour. I still need gaskets, oil, coolant etc.

[4_ring_circus]

Last night got the new engine to the shop, and started cleaning and assembling things.





This engine looks a lot cleaner than the one I pulled out.