[e46m3lol]

Hey guys I am back for the second time around as I had to shut down my first thread due to some issues that came about with BMW NA. Anyway... after a few weeks we finally tore the engine apart, cylinder head and valve train are in great shape but we found out that piston number 1 cracked due to too much boost.

What makes this a strange scenario is that the usual suspect in these blown N20 motors is the damaged connecting rods but that is not the case with my motor. Rod bearings, connecting rods, crank shaft, and even the cylinder walls are undamaged.

The vehicle has a tad bit over 18k miles, oil changes done every 5-6k miles. I was running the JB4 on map 1 with 91 pump gas at the time of the engine failure.

All the engine work is being done by my good friend Sergio (owner of EcElite Autmotive in Huntington Beach CA)

[Liquidpaper]

Subd. Looks interesting.

[CalCarNut]

Welcome back E..thanks for the update.........looking better..back on the road soon for sure.

[e46m3lol]

Originally Posted by SoCalDave

Welcome back E..thanks for the update.........looking better..back on the road soon for sure.

Thank you sir
I've been staying off the forums as it makes me sad looking everyone enjoying their 2 series

[den525]

What's with the title? M235i killer engine?

[e46m3lol]

Originally Posted by den525

What's with the title? M235i killer engine?

I have a 228i with an N20 that was faster than a 235i... hence the name "235i killer"

[Liquidpaper]

You know, the N20 is very pretty with all of the interior guts exposed and the cosmetic panels off.

[e46m3lol]

Originally Posted by Liquidpaper

You know, the N20 is very pretty with all of the interior guts exposed and the cosmetic panels off.

Indeed... I've always looked at engines as beautiful pieces of art. So many mechanical pieces working as one to create a little monster

[SteveInfante]

It's mathematical art. Good to see you are getting it rebuilt. Issue with BMW NA huh? ha ha.. I bet.

[e46m3lol]

Originally Posted by SteveInfante

Issue with BMW NA huh? ha ha.. I bet.

Yeah... being that I work for a BMW dealership didn't really help my situation either

[den525]

Originally Posted by e46m3lol

I have a 228i with an N20 that was faster than a 235i... hence the name "235i killer"

Oh I thought it was a mistake... Thought you meant engine killer.

Just curious how much was spent and what was done to get the n20 engine faster than the n55 stock ?

[FSociety]

Originally Posted by e46m3lol

Yeah... being that I work for a BMW dealership didn't really help my situation either

Originally Posted by den525

Oh I thought it was a mistake... Thought you meant engine killer.

Just curious how much was spent and what was done to get the n20 engine faster than the n55 stock ?

^^ +1

[2msport]

Did BMW cover any of the rebuild? parts? How much is it costing to rebuild?

What was your estimated HP and LBs before the failure?

[AUSf22]

Good to see that the beast is on it's way back on the road. You are paving the path for the rest of us 228 owners to follow in the future. Thanks for being the first, I guess you are copping the problems that we will know to avoid in the future!

[tencazzo]

Congrats with comeback! What advice would you give to N20 drivers who want to tune the engine? ECU tuning vs Box? How much gain to achieve without hurting the engine? Is it necessary to change some hardware or flashing software is enough? I am asking you all this, because of thinning about ECU flash of N20 in my 220i, which is going to have the same PS and torque as 228i. Taking in consideration that the only difference with motors at 220i and 228i is compression ratio, I am wondering if such a power gain for 220i will be too unhealthy? What do you think?

[CalCarNut]

Originally Posted by tencazzo

Congrats with comeback! What advice would you give to N20 drivers who want to tune the engine? ECU tuning vs Box? How much gain to achieve without hurting the engine? Is it necessary to change some hardware or flashing software is enough? I am asking you all this, because of thinning about ECU flash of N20 in my 220i, which is going to have the same PS and torque as 228i. Taking in consideration that the only difference with motors at 220i and 228i is compression ratio, I am wondering if such a power gain for 220i will be too unhealthy? What do you think?

Thought connecting rods, etc were also different between the 2 engines..........

[e46m3lol]

Originally Posted by den525

Oh I thought it was a mistake... Thought you meant engine killer.

Just curious how much was spent and what was done to get the n20 engine faster than the n55 stock ?

I actually had the opportunity to run a few modded N55 and N54 vehicles in which I won so I can confidently say I was faster than a stock N54 or N55. Anyway... Realistically speaking I would say that for the price of ALL the mods that I have on my car (well over $18k), you're way better off just buying a car with a bigger motor and building that up. I wanted to push the limits of this car and be known for having one of the fastest 228s and I am happy with that.

[e46m3lol]

Originally Posted by 2msport

Did BMW cover any of the rebuild? parts? How much is it costing to rebuild?

What was your estimated HP and LBs before the failure?

Negative... Bmw didn't cover any of this rebuild. I have to pay for it all out of pocket. Here is a quick list of parts that were needed... This doesn't include the few thousand in labor.

I went into my whole car build knowing I was going to be pushing the limits of the motor and at any given time something like this could happen and unfortunately it did

[e46m3lol]

Originally Posted by AUSf22

Good to see that the beast is on it's way back on the road. You are paving the path for the rest of us 228 owners to follow in the future. Thanks for being the first, I guess you are copping the problems that we will know to avoid in the future!

Glad to hear that I can be of help to the community. However I'm still scratching my head as to why the connecting rod didn't snap or bend before the piston did

[e46m3lol]

Originally Posted by SoCalDave

Thought connecting rods, etc were also different between the 2 engines..........

Not too sure about the difference in connecting rods from the 220i engine and the n20/n26 found in the 228i but the n20 and n26 do share the same part number (11247624616).

[CalCarNut]

Originally Posted by e46m3lol

Not too sure about the difference in connecting rods from the 220i engine and the n20/n26 found in the 228i but the n20 and n26 do share the same part number (11247624616).

Yeah..pretty sure the N20/N26 are about the same..but the 220 (or 320 for that matter) I thought had quite a few differences..compression, pistons, rods, etc...

[CalCarNut]

Since you work for BMW Dealer..hope you're getting an employee discount at least.......