Another 2.0 exhaust manifold

P

Paradroid

Member
 Lancashire
I've only had my Z4 a couple of weeks and reckon the exhaust manifold is cracked. Saw all the threads on here about it which made me go and check it, and I reckon it's got a problem.

The car is exactly 4yrs old and only 23k on the clock, but even so the BMW dealers I spoke to weren't interested in any sort of assistance with the problem, even if I spent £564 getting it serviced there.

My thinking is why spend a fortune replacing the manifold with another one made of chocolate - getting it welded properly could make it better than new. What do people think? Would you weld all four joints to avoid more trouble in future.

What are they like for welding - does it need preheating and postheating, or is it a simpler job?

Car going into my local garage on Saturday to confirm if it's cracked. I'd put money on it though :headbang:
 
I feel for you,i have been there :cry: -i read a post on here from someone saying BMW now fit 'uprated' manifolds,keep us informed will you?
 
Mine went and was replaced under warranty - I spoke to the guy in BMW who admitted the original ones were made poorly and the replacement ones they now fit are a better quality - so should not crack again. Hopefully........
 
Georgio said:
Ouch, that's not good for a new owner.
What are your symptoms?
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It would be interesting what the symptoms are, did your engine light come on, and what made you think it is the manifold, three questions all at once, sorry :roll:
 
And did you read the codes off yourself or did uncle BMW do it?
Just wondering as I'm becoming increasingly suspicious of anything to do with dealers.
After my light came on a few weeks ago, I read it, reset it and it's yet to return; I wonder if I'd gone to a stealer if they'd found that I 'needed' a new manifold as well.... :)

andysat said:
For myself it was just the dreaded emission light :cry:
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Georgio said:
And did you read the codes off yourself or did uncle BMW do it?
Just wondering as I'm becoming increasingly suspicious of anything to do with dealers.
After my light came on a few weeks ago, I read it, reset it and it's yet to return; I wonder if I'd gone to a stealer if they'd found that I 'needed' a new manifold as well.... :)

andysat said:
For myself it was just the dreaded emission light :cry:
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Sorry for thread hi-jack :oops: -it was an indy,replaced manifold,two 02 sensors,software updated,smoke tested for leaks,just waiting for mine to come on again to go to the stealers,apparantly they have better equipment to diagnose my 29F4 code problem.
 
GaryH said:
Mine went and was replaced under warranty - I spoke to the guy in BMW who admitted the original ones were made poorly and the replacement ones they now fit are a better quality - so should not crack again. Hopefully........
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That's reassuring as my dealer said the same when mine was fitted recently. I quizzed him and my spider senses were all out for any b**ls*it, but the chap seemed genuine.
 
Right folks, I have a confession to make, I might have been a bit hasty on this one! :oops:

I went out to the Zed one day last week to check it, and when I started it, it sounded really rough. Like something was blowing. Ever since then I've thought I could hear something, so my local garage checked it over and pointed out it's the induction I've been hearing. I don't know what was up with it that one time I started it, will have to put that down to a one-off.

One interesting thing my mechanic said is he thinks the problems with the manifold come from the cats being too high up i.e. too close to the exhaust ports. I thought they were just pre-cats in the manifold, but they are full cats apparently.

My car says 7k until a service is due, but I'm going to get it in for a full service in the next week or two, and get some new brake pads on it. If there's enough cash left to change the tyres it should be transformed.

Sorry for the false alarm!
 
lol - keep the beer tokens for the exhaust manifold when it does go :rofl:

By the way, not sure if youve bought one, but I spent £360 on a BMW warranty - best money I ever spent on my 2.0, so far its saved me about 2k on

- new wiper motor
- new vacuum pump
- new exhaust manifold
- Oil seal gasket needed replacing somewhere in the engine as it was leaking
- New fuel injector after the car broke down on me 2 weeks ago

Plus its worth having just in case the roof goes. I say just in case, i think its more a case of "when" as opposed to "if" !!! So if you havent got one, I would seriously consider one.
 
for what it's worth, another one gone here. Identified when the car was in to replace an ignition coil.

Here's my Z4 adventures with a car from new (with 40k miles over 5 years)

1. Differential replaced on the car after ~100 miles

2. Alloys failed 3 times.

3. Windows randomly going down or not going down when they should - still an occasional problem. Service department never figured out the problem. Still broken.

4. Aircon/HVAC broken. In three times, misdiagnosed and never fixed. Still broken.

5. Quoted £115 to replace broken exhaust bracket. Genuine BMW part cost £20. Took to a local garage. The repair was so trivial and fast to make I wasn't even charged.

6. Broken rear spring

7. Failed coil

8. Exhaust manifold has cracked.

:(
 
Welcome to the forum, that's not a good advert for a car, especially when it's multiple failures on the same part.
Put it down to a Monday/Friday special... :wink:

2db said:
for what it's worth, another one gone here. Identified when the car was in to replace an ignition coil.

Here's my Z4 adventures with a car from new (with 40k miles over 5 years)

1. Differential replaced on the car after ~100 miles

2. Alloys failed 3 times.

3. Windows randomly going down or not going down when they should - still an occasional problem. Service department never figured out the problem. Still broken.

4. Aircon/HVAC broken. In three times, misdiagnosed and never fixed. Still broken.

5. Quoted £115 to replace broken exhaust bracket. Genuine BMW part cost £20. Took to a local garage. The repair was so trivial and fast to make I wasn't even charged.

6. Broken rear spring

7. Failed coil

8. Exhaust manifold has cracked.

:(
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Some more info on cat configuration. They were intentionally located close to the engine so they could be brought up to temperature quicker, reducing the period of time of poor emissions quality. This obviously means more stress on the manifold, contributing to the problem, but the root cause is inferior material and welding, not cat placement.

All modern cats operate in two stages, I forget the exact chemistry involved, but one stage generates oxygen and the next stage consumes it. On the N46 & M54, BMW choose to put each stage in a separate can, for the N52, they put them both in the same can, though the two stages are still evident. You could call one a pre-cat or one of two main cats, but it's just semantics. They both do essential operations that involve catalysts, but they are not identical in function.
 
I know this is the problems section of the forum but anyone got anything positive to say about the 2.0l! Bought an 06 4 months ago and just building some confidence in it - reading through this link makes me wonder about the purchase - 'till I see it again sat outside the house...we shall see.
 
I've had my 2.0 for 4 months and apart from the emission light coming on once I've had no problems and really enjoyed Zed ownership.
Ok so the four pot isn't comparable powerwise to the 6 cly. engines, but it does me and this is coming from a 111s Elise so I do enjoy a bit of fun!
For my pains I agonised about which size engine to go with, but in the end I went with the 2.0 with a good blend of power/economy/servicing/insurance.
Maybe in the future I'll upgrade to a bigger engine, but at the moment I'm enjoying the whole Zed package.

paulgs1000 said:
I know this is the problems section of the forum but anyone got anything positive to say about the 2.0l! Bought an 06 4 months ago and just building some confidence in it - reading through this link makes me wonder about the purchase - 'till I see it again sat outside the house...we shall see.
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