BMW 550 Reliability

ASKED BY:

Fred Alvarez

FSC MEMBER:

Yes

CATEGORY:

General

TAGS:

2014 550i x-drive

Question

I’m considering purchasing a 2014 550i xdrive with the M sport package (3 other packages to boot) with 54k miles. I’ve been reading about these f10 n63 V8s biturbos and although the performance is high there seems to be a lot of negatives for these engines. From what I’ve been able to deduce this 2014 has a later reiteration of the n63 and supposedly has less problems than the earlier version but still have some significant concerns repair wise.

I think I know what I’m getting into and I am not afraid of maintaining (although not a DIY person) a performance engine but am trying to get some feedback from BMW aficionados. I certainly don’t want to buy a problem car that I can’t sell later on.

Question: is this model 5 series worth the effort or should I run away.

Do you have any thoughts? Looking at the car today.

Answer

Hello Mr. Alvarez, while there are some issues with these engines that the older engines may not have, the same is true for every engine from every manufacturer. The reason is that the engine are much more complex than they used to be, therefore, there are more things to break. Newer cars are not DIY friendly, so expect the expenses to maintain it to be higher. They are good cars and engines if you are OK with the more expensive maintenance.

The big issue with the engines was lack of oil changes, as long as they are done in 5000 miles or 6 months the number of issues will be far less. I would recommend getting all of the service records, if the oil changes were not done in the time frame outlined above I would stay away. The other item is the 4 wheel drive system, they can be problematic. Good luck with the car and please let me know if you have any other questions. Thank you.

Gil Neves