The BMW N20 is a turbocharged four-cylinder

DOHC An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...

petrol engine A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends (such as ' ...

with

variable valve lift Variable valve lift (VVL) is an automotive piston engine technology which varies the height a valve opens in order to improve performance, fuel economy or emissions. There are two main types of VVL: discrete, which employs fixed valve lift amounts, ...

and

variable valve timing In internal combustion engines, variable valve timing (VVT) is the process of altering the timing of a valve lift event, and is often used to improve performance, fuel economy or emissions. It is increasingly being used in combination with var ...

which replaced the N53 (or

BMW N52 The BMW N52 is a naturally aspirated straight-six petrol engine which was produced from 2004 to 2015. The N52 replaced the BMW M54 and debuted on the E90 3 Series and E63 6 Series. The N52 was the first water-cooled engine to use magnesium/alu ...

in some markets) and was produced from 2011 to 2017 by BMW. Although the N20 is a four-cylinder engine, it is considered a replacement for the naturally aspirated six-cylinder N52/N53 because it powers equivalent models, producing similar horsepower to the N52/N53 with greater low-rpm torque and better efficiency. The N20 features a twin-scroll turbocharger, double-VANOS (variable valve timing),

Valvetronic The Valvetronic system is a BMW variable valve lift system which, in combination with VANOS, allows infinite adjustment of the intake valve timing and duration. The system claims to improve fuel economy and emissions, and negates the need for ...

(variable valve lift), direct injection, automatic stop-start and an electric water pump. The N20 was sold alongside the smaller displacement BMW N13 turbocharged four-cylinder engine. The N20 was placed in ''Wards Top 10 Engines'' in 2012. In 2014, the N20 began to be replaced by its successor, the

BMW B48 The BMW B48 is a turbocharged inline-four petrol engine which replaced the BMW N20 and has been in production since 2014. It was first used in the F56 Mini Hatch and has been used in BMW applications since 2015. The B48 is part of a modular ...

Class action lawsuit alleging timing chain guide failures

It has been well documented in online forums, that thousands of early production N20 engines were manufactured with faulty internal plastic timing chain guides. Evidence indicates that defective polycarbonate compositions were utilized in the manufacturing process for the timing chain guide, and as a result over a very short period of time the rigid plastic guides would break down and deteriorate in the engine with little or no warning. Upon failure of these internal plastic components, the timing chain slackens (becomes loose) and "skips time" by jumping teeth on upper cam shaft sprocket, a phenomenon that causes catastrophic damage to the engine by changing the piston-to-valve synchronization and causing these parts to contact each other. In 2017, a class action lawsuit was filed by several owners against BMW seeking redress for the faulty units. Plaintiffs in the BMW engine defect class action seek to represent a nationwide Class of consumers affected by timing chain guide and secondary chain failure and wear as well as several subclasses for states such as New Jersey, Illinois, Florida, Utah, New York, Colorado, Texas, Alabama, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, California, Wisconsin, Oregon and North Carolina. In 2018 BMW attempted to dismiss the class action lawsuit. In 2019 U.S. District Judge William H. Walls partially granted and partially denied BMW's motion to dismiss claims that it sold vehicles with a known engine defect. Walls also ruled that the automaker cannot escape the suit entirely.

Models

N20B16

Applications: 125 kW version * 2013–2016 F10 520i (Turkey and Tunisia only) * 2017–present G30 520i (Turkey, Tunisia, Vietnam and Greece only) * 2018–present

G20 The G20 or Group of Twenty is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union (EU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigatio ...

320i (Turkey, Tunisia, Vietnam and Greece only)

N20B20

Applications: 115 kW version * 2013-2016 E89 Z4 sDrive18i * 2013-2017 F25 X3 sDrive18i 135 kW version * 2011–2015 E84 X1 xDrive/sDrive20i * 2011–2017 F25 X3 xDrive20i * 2012–2015 F30 320i * 2013–2016 F34 320i GT * 2014–2016 F32 420i * 2011–2016 F10 520i * 2013-2016 F10 520Li * 2011–2016 E89 Z4 sDrive20i * 2014–2016 F22 220i * 2015-2017 Brilliance Huasong 7 MPV 160 kW version * 2012–2017

F20 F20, F-20, F.XX, or F-XX may refer to: * F20 manual transmission, a General Motors transmission * Northrop F-20 Tigershark, a combat aircraft * Farmall F-20, a model of Farmall tractor * Fokker F.XX, a Dutch airliner * Fujifilm FinePix F20, a dig ...

125i * 2013–2016 F10 525Li * 2015-2017 Brilliance Huasong 7 MPV 180 kW version * 2011–2016 E89 Z4 sDrive28i * 2011–2015 E84 X1 xDrive/sDrive28i * 2012–2017 F25 X3 xDrive28i * 2011–2016 F30 328i * 2014-2016 F32 428i * 2012–2016 F10 528i * 2013–2016 F34 328i GT * 2014–2016 F22 228i * 2014–2017 F26 X4 xDrive28i 2016–2018 F15 X5 xDrive40e

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bmw N20 N20 Products introduced in 2011 Straight-four engines Gasoline engines by model

Class action lawsuit alleging timing chain guide failures

Models

N20B16

N20B20

See also

References