BMW N63 Customer Care Package
- N63 engine on E70 X5
- N63 without cover
Many of you might be wondering what exactly is the N63 customer care package, and why this is being done. First of all, this is not a recall. I don’t think any of the components being replaced would leave anyone stranded if they fail. I believe BMW is doing this to improve the engine’s reliability and customer’s experience and expectations. As part of the customer care package, the fuel injectors, vacuum pump, and low pressure fuel sensor are checked to see if they have already been replaced with an improved part. If it has, then there is no need to replace them again. If they have not been replaced with the improved parts, they will get replaced. Besides these parts, all engines get new mass airflow sensors (I have never seen one fail), crankcase vent pipes (the plastic would crack all the time, but they were redesigned to withstand more heat), and seals for the intake pipe going into the turbo charger(they get hard as a rock and don’t seal right, but the material was redesigned). The second part of the customer care package is to check the timing chain for excessive wear through a test plan that actuates the vanos units to their limit positions and checks if the limits are too far off, indicating that the chain has stretched. I think only about 5-10% of engines need the timing chain done. Besides this, the second part of the CCP requires an engine oil change and programming to reduce the oil service interval to one year or 10,000 miles.
As BMW’s new reverse flow twin turbo V8, there are some problems that are going to arise, as is the case with any new design. When the twin turbo n54 came out, it had horrible problems with the high pressure fuel pumps, low pressure fuel sensors and high pressure fuel injectors. Well, the same fuel injectors and low fuel pressure sensors are used in the N63 engine, plus the reverse flow cylinder head design causes the injectors to be exposed to higher temperatures, which causes them to fail. Some of the early N63 injectors were failing so badly that they would fill the cylinders up with fuel, causing the engine to hydro lock. In all the time that these engines have been out, I have yet to see one of these come into the shop. It’s not as frequent as some people make it out to be. Usually the engines would run rough and misfire, the check engine light would come on and the cars would come to the dealer, and we would end up replacing all the injectors. In 2013 the injectors were redesign to withstand more heat, and after the original injectors were replaced with the improved new ones, we would rarely see them fail again. The low pressure sensors do go bad frequently, but you can’t even tell the difference in how the engine runs, and most of the time it wont even set the check engine light. The sensor has been redesigned also, so now they don’t fail as often.
- OK injector on the left, fouled injector on the right.
Overall I think BMW did a great job in stepping up to the plate and taking care of their customers and hopefully this will improve the company’s reputation in terms of reliability. All engines, not matter what company designs it, are going to have issues. The more technologically advanced an engine is, the more difficult it is to make it reliable, yet BMW engineers always find a way to make it happen. The N63TU is more advanced, powerful and reliable than the N63. The same goes for the N55 compared to the N54 (in my opinion). So if you have a BMW with an N63, get the CCP done and go enjoy your ultimate driving machine.
Hi Scott,
ReplyDeleteSorry it took so long to reply. You probably have resolved your issue at this point, but if not, here are my two cents. When the customer care package was done, the tech should have checked for the index number on the injectors. If they were at 11 or higher, he didn't need to replace them, but this doesn't mean they were not leaking. Since you are describing smoke in the mornings and obviously wet spark plugs, I would say you do have faulty injectors. You cannot mix the injectors that are index 11 and above with index 10 or below. Its not just the spray pattern. The newer ones are an improved design that have a cooling liquid inside to prevent such frequent failures, and the newer software that goes with them should also help.The software is part of the customer care package so your car should have it already. The soot you are talking about near the cylinder head area may be normal, but I would need to see pictures to evaluate further. I would not start messing with the vacuum hoses. It's a very complicated vacuum system and unless you're very familiar with it you could mess a lot of stuff up. The air mass meters were replaced with new ones when they did the customer care package, so they should be good. Most likely you have a leaking injector problem. I would start by replacing the ones that you found had a wet spark plug. I wouldn't recommend using rebuilt injectors, but if you want to give them a try, that's up to you. If they work then it would definitely save you a lot of money. The DME does need to be calibrated with the new injector flow rate numbers and the adaptations need to be cleared. This is very important or it won't run right. If someone is doing this work to your car please make sure they know what they are doing and that they have the right equipment. These engines are very delicate and can be messed up easily.