Maybe recalls are the new black. Volkswagen, Porsche, Toyota; everyone it seems is getting in on the act! And now it’s BMW’s turn to put a screw loose. Quite literally, as it happens, in the case of BMW’s well utilised 3.0 litre straight six engine.
According to Scott Croaker from BMW Australia a potential loss of oil pressure can occur if a bolt attached to the engine’s VANOS valve system fails. No oil pressure means your silky smooth M135i engine, for example, goes bang!
While no faults or failures have been reported in Australia at this stage BMW is readying itself for a voluntary recall campaign.
“There was a couple of failures in China,” explained Croaker. “We looked at it closer and realised that the problem was not market specific, it was related to a component.
“As soon as we get the information we will raise the necessary process and issue the recall.”
The total amount of affected vehicles is still to be determined, but is expected to number around 2700 and cover two years of production. The engine is used in models such as the 1 Series, 3 Series, 5 Series, X3, X5 and Z4.
Most people will accept a potential fault with their vehicle, no matter how remote, so long as the manufacturer is open and transparent with them. Communicating and detailing the repair procedure in a timely manner will also win favour. And from limited detail that seems to be exactly the way BMW is handling this issue.
[Source: Drive.com.au | Thanks to Wayne for the tip]
2 replies on “BMW facing its own recall dramas”
BMW has had issues with their VANOS over decades now across a wide range of engines including the V12 in the Mac F1. Why can’t they build a reliable and fail proof VANOS (just a fancy word for variable valve timing) like every other manufacturers does. I’ve never heard of Honda having Vtec failures or any other manufacturers having variable valve timing unit failures. It seems to be BMW Achilles heel. They really need to get some engineers in there and sort this sh@t out. It’s starting to become a joke.
Well there has been a failure in Australia! My BMW M135i went “BANG”. It had not even had it’s first service. At just 8000 km I had a major engine failure, engine literally went bang. As if this wasn’t bad enough, BMW left me beside the road with a boot full of groceries to make my own way home after the car was towed away. Six days later I actually managed to get onto BMW Service and ask for a loan car. Up to this point no one from BMW contacted me, or returned my calls. I am completely disgusted with the shocking service I received from BMW. Will NEVER buy from them again. I have read on other sites about reported major engine failure with the BMW M135i in the UK.