[niruvrs9669]

Update:

We took the delivery of our repaired X5 and took it straight to Mysore and back to Bangalore. The drive was as engaging as before except for the road under repair . Will post my observations on the engine performance w.r.t earlier performance.

Thanks to the BMW team - Navnit Motors, Bangalore (Manager Mr.Mohammed Ahhasan & team), for fixing the issue reported swiftly and have the repairs/replacements done with complete transparency, it does build a lot of confidence in the brand. I was kept in the loop on all the important milestones and work executed through out.

It took about 2 months to dismantle, diagnose, report, procure the necessary parts under warranty and complete the installation and test drives, which is reasonable in my opinion given the technicality involved.

We were also given a loaner car 320d, which has different dynamics and is lot more fun to drive . Given our country's ever improving road conditions especially the National Highways, sedans are not a bad choice for Indian roads anymore !

Now, the root cause of failure: Not much could be gathered from the snapshot apart from the initial observations posted in this thread during our workshop visit. However, the best part is the short block replacement done by BMW which definitely is more reassuring at this point.

I'm planning to get the oil changes done every 7,500 Km instead of 10,000 km as suggested by few experts in this forum.


Gratitude to all the fellow bhpians, Senior bhpians - Turbanator & my friend Venkat who had provided priceless support, help and guidance during the entire repair process..

[georgesunnyt]

Originally Posted by niruvrs9669

Update:


Now, the root cause of failure: Not much could be gathered from the snapshot apart from the initial observations posted in this thread during our workshop visit.
.

I think the cause of failure has something to do with these three things in this order: DPF, EGR, 0W30 LL04 oil and engine design.

1. DPF regeneration causes engine oil dilution. Diesel is injected during the exhaust stroke and a portion of this might pass through the edges of the piston diluting the engine oil. This might also be a factor for pre mature timing chain wear in some BMW vehicles. An alternative engineering solution for this would be to have a seperate injector just before the DPF away from the engine.

Here's a video explaining this

https://youtu.be/lJtENVwAEpk

2. EGR brings in soot to the combustion chamber which can possibly contaminate engine oil again. Oil vapour from the crank case breather and exhaust gas from the EGR mix in the intake manifold to form soot. An alternative engineering solution would be to have a oil catch can to prevent formation of soot.

3. 0W30 oil is thinner than something like let's say a 5W40 rated oil. A thinner oil is mainly used to increase fuel efficiency. A thicker oil like 5W40 would be better for engine protection. Add oil dilution due to DPF regeneration and the 0W30 oil becomes even thinner.

4. Since points 1, 2 and 3 put additional strain on the engine in terms of lubrication, maybe the parts that failed should have been designed better so as to account for this.

On why the OEM does not implement these alternative engineering practices is probably because they are liable for the car only till the warranty period ends and the number of early failures is too small to justify the added costs of engineering.

As a customer, the most legal way to extend life out of these engines without any compromise on its pollution control systems is to change oil earlier than the OEM recommendation.

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Whatever people say, I am sure manufacturers know best how much juice they can extract from a particular engine.

In most general scenarios, you are right. But there are some exceptions.

BMW used to sell MPPK kits (M performance power kits) for some of their cars. For the F30 320D, this was a ECU swap with another ECU running a more powerful map and included no other hardware changes. This is quite similar to a remap. BMW providing this with warranty and no other hardware changes does imply that the 184ps 320d was detuned from the factory.

[niruvrs9669]

The X5 (referred to earlier in these posts) has now clocked 1,94,000 km. Probably one of the longest running BMW in Bangalore now .

Recently, the front transmission shaft broke down near 'U' joint with a mild under chassis impact on a badly undulated tar road, leading to a cracked gear box and gear oil leakage. With the recurring thud-thud noise by the broken shaft, we stopped the car within 1 km of driving and got it towed back to the service station. I was given a big fat estimate of Rs.15 lacs+ by the BMW workshop.

The transmission shaft was earlier replaced under warranty - somewhere in the year 2020 when there was an under body impact during an overtake maneuver on a single lane road enroute Goa.

Here are few questions to the experts in this forum;

1) Noticed that the front transmission shaft doesn't have a metal shield protecting it. It's very easy to get damaged with a mild impact. This is the second time. Is there a work around to get this issue fixed ?

2) The car was insured with Bajaj Allianz with an Engine Shield package. Replacement/repair being covered only if it's an external impact / accident. Just few scratches on the engine guard is good enough a proof to the insurance agency ?

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by niruvrs9669

2) The car was insured with Bajaj Allianz with an Engine Shield package. Replacement/repair being covered only if it's an external impact / accident.

I don't think you will need engine protection for this and your regular policy should be enough for the claim. As long as the dealership can confirm the damage is due to an impact rather than wear & tear, you should be ok. They can surely manage this claim if this is indeed the case.

BTW, am curious how did they replace the shaft under warranty when it was a case of external damage?

[androdev]

Originally Posted by niruvrs9669

The X5 (referred to earlier in these posts) has now clocked 1,94,000 km. Probably one of the longest running BMW in Bangalore now .

Wow, that's an impressive usage. Would love to know more about your overall experience (major costs, reliability aspects, general upkeep tips and your general assessment of the car)!

2) The car was insured with Bajaj Allianz with an Engine Shield package. Replacement/repair being covered only if it's an external impact / accident. Just few scratches on the engine guard is good enough a proof to the insurance agency ?

It's a good thing that you have engine shield add-on, without which this would a nonstarter for an insurance claim. These are consequential damages and regular insurance policy doesn't cover them. As long as you can prove that the damage is because of underbody accident and not because of wear-and-tear, you are 100% eligible for insurance cover. It helps to take pictures and videos at the accident spot to prove the nature of the accident.

Some insurance providers/surveyors go to great lengths to deny a perfectly legitimate claim - so please be alert - make sure insurance surveyor and service department don't collude to deny your claim. Get the service department to give you in writing that the damage is due to accident and not wear and tear, so that they don't go back on their word later.

Once the insurance company accepts the claim, then you have to deal with total loss vs repair based on the IDV, etc.

[niruvrs9669]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

As long as the dealership can confirm the damage is due to an impact rather than wear & tear, you should be ok. They can surely manage this claim if this is indeed the case.

BTW, am curious how did they replace the shaft under warranty when it was a case of external damage?

Thank you for your valuable feedback Turbnator as always . I did visit the service station to identify the possible impact area, which had plenty of scratches.

To answer your question about earlier replacement under warranty, the car was covered under 6 year service + repair package then, which also helped during the short block replacement in 2021.

[niruvrs9669]

Originally Posted by androdev

Wow, that's an impressive usage. Would love to know more about your overall experience (major costs, reliability aspects, general upkeep tips and your general assessment of the car)!

It's a good thing that you have engine shield add-on, without which this would a nonstarter for an insurance claim. These are consequential damages and regular insurance policy doesn't cover them. As long as you can prove that the damage is because of underbody accident and not because of wear-and-tear, you are 100% eligible for insurance cover. It helps to take pictures and videos at the accident spot to prove the nature of the accident.

Some insurance providers/surveyors go to great lengths to deny a perfectly legitimate claim - so please be alert - make sure insurance surveyor and service department don't collude to deny your claim. Get the service department to give you in writing that the damage is due to accident and not wear and tear, so that they don't go back on their word later..

Thank you for sound piece of advice Androdev, will follow

On the over all experience of owning and driving the x5 30d for last 8 years;

Although we had our share of troubles and fixes, the vehicle is a real gem. The commanding seating position, driving comfort, effortless over takes, road presence, performance, mileage followed by professional BMW service back makes it an absolute favourite at the price point.

Service + Repair package is a must for mile munchers like me (in excess of 20000 km per year).

With overall satisfactory ownership, I’m now eagerly waiting to experience the B58 - Petrol in X5 form (booked and waiting for the allocation). Will most probably retain the B57 for another 50,000 Km.