[cclcal]

turbo line is the source of leak

[cclcal]

Bad news from dealer...but what I expected from stealers.

1. Turbo lines -4000$
2. Front seat occupancy sensor - 3300$

Advisor states no warranty, no recall, no TSB.

I asked if he contacted BMWNA, he says no, customers do that.
Ugh. Cocky and smug dealer.
No time to call BMWNA yet.

[Joe-BMW33]

Originally Posted by cclcal

Bad news from dealer...but what I expected from stealers.

1. Turbo lines -4000$
2. Front seat occupancy sensor - 3300$

Advisor states no warranty, no recall, no TSB.

I asked if he contacted BMWNA, he says no, customers do that.
Ugh. Cocky and smug dealer.
No time to call BMWNA yet.

430Scud Dave, you have the TSB on this? I thought I did but can’t find it.

[cclcal]

ill keep looking.

Spoke w BMW Genius, they will not cover anything. I asked if i can call BMWNA they said nothing will change.
Spoke w service manager - he said he will not extend any goodwill. I asked him to have his engineers look when the codes were 1st thrown and then cover it under warranty since it was thrown before warranty expired.

[cclcal]

Originally Posted by Joe-BMW33

430Scud Dave, you have the TSB on this? I thought I did but can’t find it.

any luck in finding TSB?
i cant find it

thanks

[shadow135i]

I just thought I'd add to this thread for anyone else like me and perusing these threads looking for issues with the revised N63 engines (now that they are invested). I saw the coolant leak photo of the turbo line in post #23 above and it looks identical to my "new to me" 2018 M550i leak I found after worrying when the prior owner mentioned having to top off coolant every few months. I read of a braided stainless coolant line fix that I saw on ECS tuning for these engines, but I'm not sure they work with the metal wye connectors on the updated engine and can't find anything concrete online about them. I'm still looking for a permanent fix at the moment because it sounds like BMW expects the fix to be either keep topping off coolant or making these lines a routine wear item in the future.

Anyway here are the photos I took of my leak yesterday and it is the exact same location for another data point.

[Joe-BMW33]

Originally Posted by cclcal

any luck in finding TSB?
i cant find it

thanks

Sorry, missed this. No luck on my end. It's out there in terms of instructions for techs to use the updated parts, but unfortunately, there is no extended warranty on the failure. There should be IMO.

[Joe-BMW33]

Originally Posted by shadow135i

I just thought I'd add to this thread for anyone else like me and perusing these threads looking for issues with the revised N63 engines (now that they are invested). I saw the coolant leak photo of the turbo line in post #23 above and it looks identical to my "new to me" 2018 M550i leak I found after worrying when the prior owner mentioned having to top off coolant every few months. I read of a braided stainless coolant line fix that I saw on ECS tuning for these engines, but I'm not sure they work with the metal wye connectors on the updated engine and can't find anything concrete online about them. I'm still looking for a permanent fix at the moment because it sounds like BMW expects the fix to be either keep topping off coolant or making these lines a routine wear item in the future.

Anyway here are the photos I took of my leak yesterday and it is the exact same location for another data point.

I have an '18 and the dealer did the upgrade for me with the braided lines. It took a putrid smell coming from the internal vents to get them to look hard for the leak, but once they found it, they did the upgrade.

Here is a cut and paste from my work order with part numbers if it helps. I did look up the part numbers after the repair and verified they used braided lines. The tech actually wrote this in the final comment.

[shadow135i]

Thanks Joe-BMW33 for that info! This is going to save me hours of searching.

[Joe-BMW33]

Originally Posted by shadow135i

Thanks Joe-BMW33 for that info! This is going to save me hours of searching.

My pleasure, happy to help.

[admranger]

Originally Posted by Joe-BMW33

I have an '18 and the dealer did the upgrade for me with the braided lines. It took a putrid smell coming from the internal vents to get them to look hard for the leak, but once they found it, they did the upgrade.

Here is a cut and paste from my work order with part numbers if it helps. I did look up the part numbers after the repair and verified they used braided lines. The tech actually wrote this in the final comment.

Did they do that under warranty or after your warranty expired?

[Joe-BMW33]

Originally Posted by admranger

Did they do that under warranty or after your warranty expired?

Under warranty, hence the “n/c” next to each line item. This was done under factory warranty. I’m sure CPO would have covered it as well.

[admranger]

Originally Posted by Joe-BMW33

Under warranty, hence the “n/c” next to each line item. This was done under factory warranty. I’m sure CPO would have covered it as well.

You mean N/C doesn't mean "Nice Car!"?

[Joe-BMW33]

Originally Posted by admranger

you mean n/c doesn't mean "nice car!"?

😂😂😂😂😂

[430Scud]

Originally Posted by Joe-BMW33

430Scud Dave, you have the TSB on this? I thought I did but can’t find it.

Sorry for late reply Joe, I haven't been on this forum in months.
I don't have the TSB or anything. I just know in my records from previous owner it was performed and listed as "oem factory recall".

[shadow135i]

Wanted to update this thread for those that might be looking into doing this themselves like I did this past weekend.

Thanks again Joe-BMW33 as I was able to order the correct parts and have everything I needed to get this job done myself!

So I only replaced the turbo return coolant lines on mine and my reasoning was two-fold:

1. The return lines are the highest heat stressed lines in the system if you look at the cooling schematics. This is because they are routed above the turbos (heat rises) and the "cool" coolant supply is actually routing from the engine return, so the supply lines are as hot as the engine return for the high temp circuit. And anecdotal evidence I was able to gather from the internet showed me that the failures, at least for the TU2 version of the engines, are occurring from the turbo return line side, with the supply lines looking to be holding up for the most part.
2. I was lazy and didn't want to completely remove the turbos along with the associated oil and coolant supply lines. Though note for others you do still have to remove the oil supply line for the passenger (right-side when in the car) turbo in order to get to the coolant return line.


Also, some helpful notes for others who brave taking on this job:

1. BMW still doesn't give us a simple coolant drain plug so in order to drain the system you need to disconnect the lower radiator hose that feeds the main mechanical coolant pump. It makes a huge mess that I haven't found a good solution for so I just clean the area in the engine bay as best I can to keep coolant from corroding things, but I'm sure there are spots I missed that I couldn't access or see.
2. These engines have to be vacuum filled to prevent air traps from forming in the cooling system. You can get some cheap kits from the internet but you will need an air compressor or, as in my case, a vacuum pump with the right quick connect fitting to pull a good vacuum on the empty system.
3. Applies to 2018 M550i's at least - WARNING: Make sure both the high and low temp expansion tanks are filled to the max level before doing this as both systems will be bled using this procedure. If the low temp circuit is low you could damage things in that circuit following this procedure. To initiate the car's bleed procedure after filling the system (with the above mentioned vacuum tool) you need to do the following steps: Turn on the low beam headlights and hazard flashers, buckle the driver side seatbelt, press the start-stop button 3 times in quick succession (a confirmation on the dash will show "diagnostic mode active" if you did it quick enough), turn on the A/C to max heat (84 F for those in the US) and the fan blower speed to the minimum setting, start the car (idle speed should stay at 1200rpm), rev out the engine to 3500rpm for 10s at a time 5x with 30s breaks in between at the higher 1200rpm idle, car will idle at 1200rpm for about another 8 minutes after you finish the 3500rpm revs and then finally lower back down to the normal 800rpm, after that you repeat the 3500rpm 10 second holds for 5x with the 30 second 800 rpm idle, finally after that you can shut off the car and wait a couple of hours for the engine to cool down and top up the coolant reservoir if it dropped any from when you started the test.


Good luck to others who attempt this themselves and hopefully you guys will have more info to start with than I initially had!

[Jlha24]

Originally Posted by shadow135i

Wanted to update this thread for those that might be looking into doing this themselves like I did this past weekend.

Thanks again Joe-BMW33 as I was able to order the correct parts and have everything I needed to get this job done myself!

So I only replaced the turbo return coolant lines on mine and my reasoning was two-fold:

1. The return lines are the highest heat stressed lines in the system if you look at the cooling schematics. This is because they are routed above the turbos (heat rises) and the "cool" coolant supply is actually routing from the engine return, so the supply lines are as hot as the engine return for the high temp circuit. And anecdotal evidence I was able to gather from the internet showed me that the failures, at least for the TU2 version of the engines, are occurring from the turbo return line side, with the supply lines looking to be holding up for the most part.
2. I was lazy and didn't want to completely remove the turbos along with the associated oil and coolant supply lines. Though note for others you do still have to remove the oil supply line for the passenger (right-side when in the car) turbo in order to get to the coolant return line.


Also, some helpful notes for others who brave taking on this job:

1. BMW still doesn't give us a simple coolant drain plug so in order to drain the system you need to disconnect the lower radiator hose that feeds the main mechanical coolant pump. It makes a huge mess that I haven't found a good solution for so I just clean the area in the engine bay as best I can to keep coolant from corroding things, but I'm sure there are spots I missed that I couldn't access or see.
2. These engines have to be vacuum filled to prevent air traps from forming in the cooling system. You can get some cheap kits from the internet but you will need an air compressor or, as in my case, a vacuum pump with the right quick connect fitting to pull a good vacuum on the empty system.
3. Applies to 2018 M550i's at least - WARNING: Make sure both the high and low temp expansion tanks are filled to the max level before doing this as both systems will be bled using this procedure. If the low temp circuit is low you could damage things in that circuit following this procedure. To initiate the car's bleed procedure after filling the system (with the above mentioned vacuum tool) you need to do the following steps: Turn on the low beam headlights and hazard flashers, buckle the driver side seatbelt, press the start-stop button 3 times in quick succession (a confirmation on the dash will show "diagnostic mode active" if you did it quick enough), turn on the A/C to max heat (84 F for those in the US) and the fan blower speed to the minimum setting, start the car (idle speed should stay at 1200rpm), rev out the engine to 3500rpm for 10s at a time 5x with 30s breaks in between at the higher 1200rpm idle, car will idle at 1200rpm for about another 8 minutes after you finish the 3500rpm revs and then finally lower back down to the normal 800rpm, after that you repeat the 3500rpm 10 second holds for 5x with the 30 second 800 rpm idle, finally after that you can shut off the car and wait a couple of hours for the engine to cool down and top up the coolant reservoir if it dropped any from when you started the test.


Good luck to others who attempt this themselves and hopefully you guys will have more info to start with than I initially had!

I'm looking to do the exact same thing, do you have the exact part numbers for the lines you replaced! How difficult was this to do? I'm a novice so any step by step instructions would be great.

[shadow135i]

Jlha24 Here is my order with what I paid for each in USD. You won't need part#17138482531 if you do just the return lines like I did as that is the mounting bracket for the supply side hoses. I wasn't sure which was which at the time I placed the order so I just bought both. One thing I don't show on here is you will need the screw to mount the new hoses to the bracket. I ended up having it in my overflow of random bolts that I keep laying around "just in case" but it is a M6x30mm for your reference. I think in the dealer invoice from Joe-BMW33's post above shows the correct BMW part number if you want to order the bolt with everything else. The only "special" tool I needed to do the job was a longer O2 sensor socket as the typical one I use doesn't work on this engine since the sensors are set deep into the heat shield on top of the engine.

As far as difficultly of doing the job I would say as long as you have a good way to get the car up in the air so you can get the panels underneath removed to drain the coolant then you can do this job. After draining the coolant I had the car back on the ground for the rest of the job until I needed to put the plastic panels underneath back on. I used an apparatus I have in my garage called a quickjack that makes it easy to get the car about 24" up in the air for me to be able to roll underneath and do what I need under the car. There are a lot of plastic panels and brackets around the engine to remove, but as long as you take your time and don't rush anything it's not really that bad just tedious. Make sure you have an organized way to keep everything grouped together so you don't lose anything. FYI it took me around 14 hrs to do this job total as this was the very first time I have worked on this engine platform. The hardest thing for me was removing the aluminum cross brace at the front of the car just on top of the radiator, but that was because I figured BMW didn't design it to be forced out and spent a couple of hours researching if there was anything else I should be removing. I finally saw a guy remove his on youtube and he just forced it back toward the engine enough with a prying screwdriver to pop it out so I did the same. I also have had other BMWs so I already have the E-torx sets and am familiar with their quick connectors and whatnot so if you have never worked on one I would give yourself a weekend to get it done.

[Lancelot]

I had the same happen to me, at the same exact location as mentioned here.
Mine is a 2017 M550i, so it has the rubber hoses. 93,000km (60k miles give or take)

Dealership wanted to change only the left turbo coolant hoses, I had them change both left and right, since the labour costs are very expensive you don't want to go through it twice...

Cost was about 2000 EUR, mostly labour since the parts are not super expensive, but BMW France agreed to take 60% of the repair costs (excluding fluids), I argued this was an original design flaw, corrected from 2018 on... hope this can help some of you.

[Lancelot]

There’s something oddly satisfying with having these new coolant lines

As you can probably see the upgraded lines are all steel braided lines, should be good for another 10 years

Thanks for valuable insight @all (and Joe-BMW33 for the detailled part list and advice), this is really helpful to be able to go to the dealership knowing what’s going on and what to check

otherwise they might have just changed the broken pipe and i’d have had to go back in 6 months for the other turbo coolant line :-/

[Joe-BMW33]

Originally Posted by Lancelot

There’s something oddly satisfying with having these new coolant lines

As you can probably see the upgraded lines are all steel braided lines, should be good for another 10 years

Thanks for valuable insight @all (and Joe-BMW33 for the detailled part list and advice), this is really helpful to be able to go to the dealership knowing what’s going on and what to check

otherwise they might have just changed the broken pipe and i’d have had to go back in 6 months for the other turbo coolant line :-/

Awesome, happy to help. These are definitely a long term fix. BMW should really extend the warranty like they did for the thermostat, active grills, etc.

[raychsh]

Originally Posted by cclcal

2018 M550 - same issue here. Been topping off coolant into the expansion tank every few weeks.
I dont have any smell nor puddle anywhere. No dried coolant that I can see.

was told to remove engine cover to look for dried coolant down in the V.

May I ask which reservoir went dry? there are 2 coolant reservoirs, One at almost in the V and one in the back.