Bxe engine!

mickwat155

Hey all,

Im looking for peoples thoughts and opinions and even experiences whether its good or bad on the bxe engine..

Ive seen on English forums they got a bad review.. conrods been put through the block and new engines been fitted.. but it was brought down to poor service history and longlife oil changes.. ive a mechanic friend who has had three cars with bxe engines and no problems.. so would they be a good all rounder with a fully stamped service history? ive probably answered my own question already but the more info the better.

im basing my query on the 2008 leon 1.9

Thanks all

Pov06

Your mechanic friend's cars are ticking time bombs. That's all that can be said.

mickdw

mickwat155 wrote: »

Hey all,

Im looking for peoples thoughts and opinions and even experiences whether its good or bad on the bxe engine..

Ive seen on English forums they got a bad review.. conrods been put through the block and new engines been fitted.. but it was brought down to poor service history and longlife oil changes.. ive a mechanic friend who has had three cars with bxe engines and no problems.. so would they be a good all rounder with a fully stamped service history? ive probably answered my own question already but the more info the better.

im basing my query on the 2008 leon 1.9

Thanks all

As far as I'm aware, the bxe is highly likely to collapse is a heap with a big hole in the side of the block. I don't think servicing to the book is any guarantee either.

Bpmull

I know of one case of a 2008 passat full vw service history serviced before interal if anything one owner minded like a baby a few months ago 65k miles conrod straight out through the block. There is no accounting for it or quantifying or predicting whether or not it will go.

You will always be taking a certain amount of a chance buying one although I suppose you take a chance with any second hand car but this is a known fault. So basically you need to ask yourself can you deal with the engine going in this in 6 months and move on and say sh!t happens if not you need to look elsewhere. As there are no cheap fixes to the problem.

colm_mcm

Statistically, how many of them actually do this?

Tony Beetroot

Statistically how many don't?

colm_mcm

I'll tell you once someone gives me a rough percentage of the ones that do.

As an example, there were 1700- odd 1.9 tdi Octavias registered in 2008 here.
There were 5000 Volkswagen 1.9 tdis regged in 08

8200 Audi/seat/skoda/vw 08 1.9 tdis

Would these be likely to have BXE?

We aren't falling over scrapped uncrashed vws, so whilst it clearly happens, I don't think it's a huge percentage.

dgt

Doesn't the BLS suffer too?

As far as I understand from what I've been told its sh*te rods, something to do with the way they're made. A BKC will fit right in and has only minor differences (compression ratio, an engine mount and some pipework) again so I've been told. Maybe Mr Dalton can shed some light if theres truth to that?

I have heard of people adapting the older pd engines to fit

Bpmull

colm_mcm wrote: »

Statistically, how many of them actually do this?

I suppose no one knows but you are probably talking a few out of every hundredh. But even if it's only 3 out of 100 that's still high risk. As risk is made up of probability and severity. Probability low unlikely to happen severity very high as car is basically write off unless you can find a replacement secondhand engie and fit it and they are like gold dust.

Tony Beetroot

dgt wrote: »

Doesn't the BLS suffer too?

As far as I understand from what I've been told its sh*te rods, something to do with the way they're made. A BKC will fit right in and has only minor differences (compression ratio, an engine mount and some pipework) again so I've been told. Maybe Mr Dalton can shed some light if theres truth to that?

I have heard of people adapting the older pd engines to fit

Very easy adapt all above.

mickwat155

To follow up on this would the axr engine be any better? I've my daily with an axr engine an I've had it since last April an the only thing to go wrong since I've owed it was the power steering pump to fail an that's it really..

Bpmull

colm_mcm wrote: »

I'll tell you once someone gives me a rough percentage of the ones that do.

As an example, there were 1700- odd 1.9 tdi Octavias registered in 2008 here.
There were 5000 Volkswagen 1.9 tdis regged in 08

8200 Audi/seat/skoda/vw 08 1.9 tdis

Would these be likely to have BXE?


We aren't falling over scrapped uncrashed vws, so whilst it clearly happens, I don't think it's a huge percentage.

Sure almost anything vag 2008 1.9tdi would be bxe with the exception of some octavia mk1 wtc that sold in small numbers although even they might be bxe. Well there is a certain amount getting new engines put into them. Or secondhand bxe bkc engines. Id personally think in and around 1% but then no one including vw no for sure.

dgt wrote: »

Doesn't the BLS suffer too?

As far as I understand from what I've been told its sh*te rods, something to do with the way they're made. A BKC will fit right in and has only minor differences (compression ratio, an engine mount and some pipework) again so I've been told. Maybe Mr Dalton can shed some light if theres truth to that?

I have heard of people adapting the older pd engines to fit

Yep the conrods are smaller lighter so less material was used in the bxe compared to older engines. And of course overtime you have your stress, strain, fatigue loading, thermal fatigue on the piece of metal and of course one day it just gives up.

JohnBoy26

mickwat155 wrote: »

Hey all,

Im looking for peoples thoughts and opinions and even experiences whether its good or bad on the bxe engine..

Ive seen on English forums they got a bad review.. conrods been put through the block and new engines been fitted.. but it was brought down to poor service history and longlife oil changes.. ive a mechanic friend who has had three cars with bxe engines and no problems.. so would they be a good all rounder with a fully stamped service history? ive probably answered my own question already but the more info the better.

im basing my query on the 2008 leon 1.9

Thanks all

Not really down to poor servicing. The bottom end shell bearings collapse regardless of servicing. Changing the shell bearings every so often may prevent a conrod out through the block scenario.

mickdw

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Not really down to poor servicing. The bottom end shell bearings collapse regardless of servicing. Changing the shell bearings every so often may prevent a conrod out through the block scenario.

That would seem to be a sensible bit of preventative work if it is those bearings that fail.

Tony Beetroot

Its a solution but it wont come cheap and at what interval?

JohnBoy26

Tony Beetroot wrote: »

Its a solution but it wont come cheap and at what interval?

Actually the bearing are not that complicated to do at all. At the end of the day it could end up saving you having to pay for a new engine. There is no real interval for bearing replacement but imo every 40 to 50k should suffice.

Tony Beetroot

Is that kilometers?

JohnBoy26

Tony Beetroot wrote: »

Is that kilometers?

Miles. It's just my own opinion though. Others might do them sooner or later. I wouldn't be leaving them much later than that though tbh.

Interslice

**** that. It could still go on you. Drive it until it goes bang and stick in a decent engine.

Tony Beetroot

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Miles. It's just my own opinion though. Others might do them sooner or later. I wouldn't be leaving them much later than that though tbh.

Its preventative maintenance for sure, what would the average cost be?

JohnBoy26

Interslice wrote: »

**** that. It could still go on you. Drive it until it goes bang and stick in a decent engine.

Failed bearings is usually the cause of the conrod flying out through the block. Changing the bearings every so often is not really that big of a job nor is it that expensive.

It's well worth it imo and tbh I'd rather lessen the chances of it happening by doing this preventative maintenance every so often rather than just drive on and hope for the best, which could end up costing you a lot more In the long run.

Of course there is always a chance that it could still go but you won't have much lost by doing this preventative maintenance and it could end up saving you a lot of hassle and money at the end of the day.

Interslice

If it were a dear tax renault causing this hassle no one would touch them! I see your point but sounds like alot of hassle tbh. Plenty of other cars out there without a 50k mile service interval on their crank.

mickdw

Interslice wrote: »

If it were a dear tax renault causing this hassle no one would touch them! I see your point but sounds like alot of hassle tbh. Plenty of other cars out there without a 50k mile service interval on their crank.

Yes but if you happen to own one, it is a reasonable route to go.

Interslice

mickdw wrote: »

Yes but if you happen to own one, it is a reasonable route to go.

It is but I still reckon the OP is better off looking elsewhere. At the end of the day you buy a diesel to cut down on running costs. They are coming up on 7 years old now so many are over 100k miles. General engine problems, timing belt intervals and the dmf/turbo risk are all starting to factor in. With the bearing problem you could be easily up near 4 figures on just servicing and preventative maintainance when you buy the car.

DraganGTD

I own 1.9 tdi Golf from new with BXE engine and never heard about this issue until I saw this tread. The car has got 120k (km) and reading now from other UK forums it looks like I should change it for future precautions but if anybody knows how much it would cost if doing it at the main dealer?

166man

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Failed bearings is usually the cause of the conrod flying out through the block. Changing the bearings every so often is not really that big of a job nor is it that expensive.

It's well worth it imo and tbh I'd rather lessen the chances of it happening by doing this preventative maintenance every so often rather than just drive on and hope for the best, which could end up costing you a lot more In the long run.

Of course there is always a chance that it could still go but you won't have much lost by doing this preventative maintenance and it could end up saving you a lot of hassle and money at the end of the day.

What kind of money would you be talking to do this job anyhow? It'd get pretty expensive if you were doing it every 18 months by the sounds of things. Unnecessary hassle imo, if you don't want the stress just buy something else.

Tony Beetroot

166man wrote: »

What kind of money would you be talking to do this job anyhow? It'd get pretty expensive if you were doing it every 18 months by the sounds of things. Unnecessary hassle imo, if you don't want the stress just buy something else.

You have very bad understanding of it.

Micky 32

Hmmmm maybe a bit of scaremongering going on here? Lots of 07/08 1.9 TDI's i know of and never heard of this happening. A friend who is/was a mechanic for VW has never seen this either. Our own 07 Passat from new with 160,000km still going strong..

mickdw

The vw mechanic is talking sh1te if he says he has not seen it.
Fair enough, it may be a small percentage but seeing that the engine is only good for putting in a skip if it does happen, a small percentage is still too many.

B00056718

Micky 32 wrote: »

Hmmmm maybe a bit of scaremongering going on here? Lots of 07/08 1.9 TDI's i know of and never heard of this happening. A friend who is/was a mechanic for VW has never seen this either. Our own 07 Passat from new with 160,000km still going strong..

Friend of mine is a VW mechanic for a long time. He wasn't aware that there was a widespread issue with some 2.0tdi oil pump shafts, because nobody would fix them in the main dealer garage for the pricing reasons.

He only gets to work on the cars that end up on the garage floor. Most of the bigger jobs outside warranty never get there.

Micky 32

mickdw wrote: »

The vw mechanic is talking sh1te if he says he has not seen it.
Fair enough, it may be a small percentage but seeing that the engine is only good for putting in a skip if it does happen, a small percentage is still too many.

Talking sh1te??? I know the person personally and he would have no reason to talk "sh1te" to me about it. He services all the local VW's from Skoda's to Passat's for years and has never seen it. He's definately seen the camshaft wear problem , 'mostly' due to inferior oils.. Don't get sucked into the internet paranoia, just because you may have had bad luck..:rolleyes:

I know a taxi, with nearly 500,000 km BXE crankshaft still intact..

Micky 32

B00056718 wrote: »

Friend of mine is a VW mechanic for a long time. He wasn't aware that there was a widespread issue with some 2.0tdi oil pump shafts, because nobody would fix them in the main dealer garage for the pricing reasons.

He only gets to work on the cars that end up on the garage floor. Most of the bigger jobs outside warranty never get there.

The friend of mine has his own garage for years where he services all the local VW's after hours.

mickdw

Micky 32 wrote: »

Talking sh1te??? I know the person personally and he would have no reason to talk "sh1te" to me about it. He services all the local VW's from Skoda's to Passat's for years and has never seen it. He's definately seen the camshaft wear problem , 'mostly' due to inferior oils.. Don't get sucked into the internet paranoia, just because you may have had bad luck..:rolleyes:

I know a taxi, with nearly 500,000 km BXE crankshaft still intact..

No. I have not had bad luck. I've never owned one of them.

mickdw

Micky 32 wrote: »

Talking sh1te??? I know the person personally and he would have no reason to talk "sh1te" to me about it. He services all the local VW's from Skoda's to Passat's for years and has never seen it. He's definately seen the camshaft wear problem , 'mostly' due to inferior oils.. Don't get sucked into the internet paranoia, just because you may have had bad luck..:rolleyes:

I know a taxi, with nearly 500,000 km BXE crankshaft still intact..

Did he sell you the car with bxe engine?
That would be a fairly strong reason to talk sh1te imo.

Could driver behaviour be a contributor to these, i.e. lugging the engine at very low revs for example?

Toyotafanboi

it's gas... picture 2 scenarios;

a Ford/ Toyota/ Opel/ Honda/ Renault/ Peugeot/ Hyundai/ Mitsubishi/ Fiat etc etc engine has developed a reputation for spitting a con-rod, thus writing off the engine and inevitably the car too.

advice from boards.ie: avoid like the plague. about as risky as putting your life savings on red. terrible idea.
__________

a VAG engine has developed a reputation for spitting a con-rod, thus writing off the engine and inevitably the car too.

advice on boards.ie; consider changing the shell bearings as part of the routine servicing if you really want the car.

it's mad imo, the massive stiffy that people have for certain marques. even with an increasingly well documented terminal failure in a very mundane car, people will consider doing exceptional tasks as part of routine maintenance to own the car, rather than buying a car (any car) that is perceived by the Irish to be less prestigious but is actually a better vehicle.

mickdw

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

it's gas... picture 2 scenarios;

a Ford/ Toyota/ Opel/ Honda/ Renault/ Peugeot/ Hyundai/ Mitsubishi/ Fiat etc etc engine has developed a reputation for spitting a con-rod, thus writing off the engine and inevitably the car too.

advice from boards.ie: avoid like the plague. about as risky as putting your life savings on red. terrible idea.
__________

a VAG engine has developed a reputation for spitting a con-rod, thus writing off the engine and inevitably the car too.

advice on boards.ie; consider changing the shell bearings as part of the routine servicing if you really want the car.

it's mad imo, the massive stiffy that people have for certain marques. even with an increasingly well documented terminal failure in a very mundane car, people will consider doing exceptional tasks as part of routine maintenance to own the car, rather than buying a car (any car) that is perceived by the Irish to be less prestigious but is actually a better vehicle.

In my opinion its a very poor engine and wouldn't advise anyone to buy one. I was commenting that for people who have bought one and maybe git 70k miles trouble free so far that perhaps bottom end shell bearing renewal as a preventative measure would seem to be sensible.

Old diesel

Micky 32 wrote: »

Talking sh1te??? I know the person personally and he would have no reason to talk "sh1te" to me about it. He services all the local VW's from Skoda's to Passat's for years and has never seen it. He's definately seen the camshaft wear problem , 'mostly' due to inferior oils.. Don't get sucked into the internet paranoia, just because you may have had bad luck..:rolleyes:

I know a taxi, with nearly 500,000 km BXE crankshaft still intact..

It IS a noted issue on the BXE - yes many may not do it - but it can and DOES happen.

Old diesel

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

it's gas... picture 2 scenarios;

a Ford/ Toyota/ Opel/ Honda/ Renault/ Peugeot/ Hyundai/ Mitsubishi/ Fiat etc etc engine has developed a reputation for spitting a con-rod, thus writing off the engine and inevitably the car too.

advice from boards.ie: avoid like the plague. about as risky as putting your life savings on red. terrible idea.
__________

a VAG engine has developed a reputation for spitting a con-rod, thus writing off the engine and inevitably the car too.

advice on boards.ie; consider changing the shell bearings as part of the routine servicing if you really want the car.

it's mad imo, the massive stiffy that people have for certain marques. even with an increasingly well documented terminal failure in a very mundane car, people will consider doing exceptional tasks as part of routine maintenance to own the car, rather than buying a car (any car) that is perceived by the Irish to be less prestigious but is actually a better vehicle.

The advice was for those who ALREADY own a BXE engine - I don't think anyone is recommending actually buying one

Pov06

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Great Post! Perfect example is the 1.2 8V FIRE engine that is used by FIAT in a number of cars. First thing you hear is avoid them because of Head Gasket issues. Even if you get one with this issue its a cheap fix.

I dunno if most of the egoist drivers could handle being seen in a FIAT. Jaysuus loike.

dgt

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Great Post! Perfect example is the 1.2 8V FIRE engine that is used by FIAT in a number of cars. First thing you hear is avoid them because of Head Gasket issues. Even if you get one with this issue its a cheap fix.

Bad design, cheaply made, but a 90's jap, imo etc etc etc.

I'm very tired of hearing that same sh*t peddled out time in and again

166man

dgt wrote: »

Bad design, cheaply made, but a 90's jap, imo etc etc etc.

I'm very tired of hearing that same sh*t peddled out time in and again

None of it is ever backed up though, dgt, and questions go unanswered so I wouldn't let it bother you.

Special Circumstances

Mazda diesel engine - all pure scrap. Errah go way out that with your "don't turn it off during dpf regen" Couldn't be putting up with that sure.

VW BXE - mighty altogether, shell bearings every 2 years might mighty fapfapfap

Old diesel

Im lost here

Yes many people like VAG stuff - and maybe some will forgive VAG issues faster then if the same/similar issues were to pop up on Japanese/Fiat or whatever.

But all that was said I felt - was that someone suggested that if you ALREADY OWNED a car with the BXE - it might be worth considering changing the shell bearings - because that person felt the bearings going was the cause of the big bang conrod through the block issue.

No one has said the OP of the thread should actually buy a car with the BXE engine

Pov06

Old diesel wrote: »

Im lost here

Yes many people like VAG stuff - and maybe some will forgive VAG issues faster then if the same/similar issues were to pop up on Japanese/Fiat or whatever.

But all that was said I felt - was that someone suggested that if you ALREADY OWNED a car with the BXE - it might be worth considering changing the shell bearings - because that person felt the bearings going was the cause of the big bang conrod through the block issue.

No one has said the OP of the thread should actually buy a car with the BXE engine

But the thing is if the OP posted a thread about his head gasket being toast on his FIAT, I bet 90% of the replies would tell him to scrap the car and move on.

Interslice

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Great Post! Perfect example is the 1.2 8V FIRE engine that is used by FIAT in a n cars. First thing you hear is avoid them because of Head Gasket issues. Even if you get one with this issue its a cheap fix.

It was 1.6 vvt renault engine I was thinking off last night. The variator might fail once over the life of the car. You just replace it and off you go, but avoid like the plague!!

There was a lovely 05 clio came up in bangernomics about a year ago with every extra for just 1700. All advice was to steer clear

Technoprisoner

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Not really down to poor servicing. The bottom end shell bearings collapse regardless of servicing. Changing the shell bearings every so often may prevent a conrod out through the block scenario.

whats the cause of the bearings failing? is it poor tolerances from the factory?

Micky 32

mickdw wrote: »

Did he sell you the car with bxe engine?
That would be a fairly strong reason to talk sh1te imo.

LOL:rolleyes:. The car was bought brand new in 2007. Now has 160k ( 100k miles) Serviced with longlife oil every 10k...

It's probably one of the most popular engines out there as they're fitted to Octavias, Passat's and the like. I get around and know of a lot of people who have them and have yet to hear of a failure. maybe some are letting go but i doubt it's an epidemic TBH....

mickdw

Micky 32 wrote: »

LOL:rolleyes:. The car was bought brand new in 2007. Now has 160k ( 100k miles) Serviced with longlife oil every 10k...

It's probably one of the most popular engines out there as they're fitted to Octavias, Passat's and the like. I get around and know of a lot of people who have them and have yet to hear of a failure. maybe some are letting go but i doubt it's an epidemic TBH....

Do you know if all these people specifically have bxe fitted?

Tony Beetroot

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Great Post! Perfect example is the 1.2 8V FIRE engine that is used by FIAT in a number of cars. First thing you hear is avoid them because of Head Gasket issues. Even if you get one with this issue its a cheap fix.

So they been documented as having having head gas issues but don't let that stopping you buying it because if it does blow the gasket its a cheap fix. Did I get that right?

DraganGTD

My BXE 7years old still goes strong but I will be changing it soon just in case hahah