4848

Hi there

Recently experienced the same issue on cylinder 2 on my mini F56 s.i also experienced smoke and oil in the charge and boost pipes.I dont think it's your tune since there are a few other guys who experienced loss of compression on cylinder 2. Im not sure why this is happening but I'm busy with my forged build with lower compression jcw spec pistons

 

Hello!

I am a user with a Mini cooper s f56 from 2014-06 with B48 engine, currently it has 45000km the car has automatic transmission
It currently has Wagner intercoolers, NGK IRIDIO spark plugs, Coils replaced by the last original reference available, Remus V2 exhaust pipe, k & n panel filter, Ravenol RSP 5W30 oil, Ravenol OTC g12 + coolant, Redline ATF D6 automatic gearbox oil and I think I do not forget anything, at the moment the electronics is standard.
I am somewhat concerned about the pistons since I read that there are many B48 breaks both from stock and with reassignments, some say it is due to LSPI, others that due to injection, etc ...
Is there a way to mitigate or improve these problems without having to change the pistons (I would hate to disassemble my engine completely, if this engine could be changed from the bottom without removing the engine from the car, I would do it immediately, but since it is not like that. .) They say that using an oil with lspi formula mitigates these problems as well, such as amsoil 5w30 or similar, what can you tell me about all that? First of all thanks for reading!

The question is, in the 2014-06 B48 engines like mine, how to mitigate the breakage of the pistons in some way, without having to replace them, the engine now has 45000km and electronics as standard, but soon I will reassign to 280cv // 400nm and I want the motor to be safe and not have breakage problems as I have seen previously in others. Some say that the problem is mitigated with LSPI oil, others that the problem is injection, I also want to know what is the origin of the piston breaks.
A hug!

 

Less power, even more so less torque, less chance of breaking pistons. It's that simple. I'd set the limit
somewhere at 250 HP and 350 Nm. Keep in mind the F56 JCW engine has ~230 HP and comes with
uprated internals. It's probably worth investigating what modifications BMW did on the 300 HP GP3/F54
JCW/M135i B48.
Better fuel, improved oil cooling and more modern oil formulation (LL-04 > Ravenol REP) may also help.

 

JCW has less compression, but it seems that the material of the pistons is the same, in addition there are also breaks.

 

Add a meth kit, usually bad gas is the problem + too agressive remap/tunning.

 

Thanks for your answer, it is very useful for me, so do you think that it is not a problem as such but that it is because some users went further with the reassignment and used bad maintenance or bad gasoline?

For a few months I have only used 98 in my car, I have also used an additive to clean the entire injection system, turbo, etc ...

In a few days I'm going to do a compression test on the cylinders to see that all 4 are in top shape, the car only has about 45,000km.

I have also read that they recommend using oil with an LSPI standard, what do you think of this? My vehicle is from 2014-06, so it is one of the first b48s made and I want to be sure of everything, meth is not an option at the moment, I also don't want to go further or force the engine, I just want to go in the safe margins.

 

Even before API SP and dedicated "LSPI friendly" oils were invented there have been engine oils inceasing LSPI risk and some that don't. The first ones come with more traditional formulations such as high content of calcium, zink and phosphorus, while the latter with more modern formulations come with decreased levels of calcium, zink and phosphorus, but some slightly increased levels of magnesium and FM/AW packs based on boron or tungsten, along with better base stocks. The line is simply put between LL-01 and LL-04. LL-04 is not a Diesel-only spec. In very most 1st-world countries vitually all BMW gasoline engines do run with LL-04 oils, since they run cleaner and better with it.


How do you know? From what I know BMW use to use at least three different alloys for different power versions of the same displacement.
B48 B20 UL = untere Leistungsstufe/lower power; B48 B20 OL = obere Leistungsstufe/upper power; B48 B20 TOP (self explaining).
Main differences besides geometrical differences (compression) are increased Ni and Cr content on the OL and TOP for added strength and more copper for improved heat transfer along with more complicated (and more expensive) manufacturing process required due to the increased Ni, Cr and Cu, which don't mix adequately with the cheaper standard casting process.

 

I service mine every 5,000 km, check oil levels every 1,000 km and keep it on max level.
If you want a safe/good tune, go with RMW, Jan is the owner, he is very busy, so it takes some time to reach him, be patient.

 

Doesn't matter if you're going stock or with a tune, stock pistons on the B46/B48's (except those 300HP versions), are just too weak to handle anything outside of its limitations. I'd say even within all limitations including pumping good gas only, it's very likely to fail if you're a habitual rev-happy driver. And truth be told, these cars with such setup even at stock form, it's very easy and convenient to go redline driving just because it's so much fun to do it.

This thread contains a whole bunch of everyone's hard-earned research and lessons learned. Read the previous posts and try to understand them deeply. You will then go on your way and determine what's best for whatever you're trying to endeavor with these motors. As for me, forged pistons are a must. Motor on, guys!

 

Are you saying that the pistons are so bad that they will also cause problems as standard? I have not seen any damaged factory b48s so far, all the ones I have seen have been from a very aggressive reallocation from below, from exceeding safe limits or from using bad gasoline or poor maintenance.

I am not going to forge the engine nor do I have any thought of doing it if it is not forcibly, nor do I seek the most power without being sure, and if I like to run and have no problem with rpms or acceleration.

It seems that the bmw rear-wheel drive B48 engine is better than the Mini B48, I have also seen in BMW ETK that in 2015-03 there is a new piston reference, my car is still pistons from 2014-03.

If it were not necessary to remove the engine from the car and it was easier and faster to change the pistons, I would do it immediately, but since it is not like that, I want to avoid by all means.

I have read each and every post in this thread, although I have not understood some due to the language change.

 

@Yupetc , I'm planning on doing an engine build, and am curious how your tuner adapted their tune for the 10.5 compression ratio. I'm interested in a nice middle-ground, between the stock 11 on my MCS and lower, like the ~10.2 on a JCW. Have you had the chance to experiment/dyno it, or is this build still in process? Thanks!

 

Hi there, so sorry for the late reply. Actually, I haven't gotten mine done. Believe it or not, all of the new Mahle pistons and forged rods, along with the ARP fasteners are all sitting in my garage with the spare B48 motor. I never really had the time to go work on it, after almost a year, sad to say. However, I am running a 30k mile B48 engine with stage 2 tune, along with its proper support mods such as DP, FMIC, charge pipe, intake, etc. The tune is from ByteTronik and so far so good. It's running 245 whp and close to 280 wtq if I remember it correctly. My wife drives it, and she had no idea what I did to the car, but she absolutely loves the car. The only down side of doing what I did so far is the fact that I've come to know so many B48 engines failing after some tunes, be it from MCS or some other BMW variants. All failures are due to the pistons ring landing having blow-outs at that same location. But it does sooth me to know that if/when that happens, I can quickly build B48 engine with the forged components quite readily.

To answer your question about adapting the tune to 10.5 CR, I wouldn't know much about the adjustment by tune at this point. But I myself won't worry much about it because with my intended setup, I'll go from 11.0 to 10.5, and it'll only raise the safety factor; and ByteTronik is actually locally within reach for me where they'd tune my car on their dyno; and those folks do wonders. At least that part of the puzzle is resolvable on my end. Your luck may vary depending on who you're dealing with out there.