[yeee707]

I’m interested in getting a 2020 M340i, now that the model has been out for about 3 years I was wondering what the common issues are? Searching this forum I saw something about water getting into the side mirror, but is there anything else?

[SLGrassoPA]

Unless the roads where you live are in excellent condition, just make sure you try and get one with the Adaptive M suspension.

https://g20.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1984773

[RTPenland]

Loved my M340 I had non adaptive suspension in LA and Florida no issue. Even lowered on HR and then dinan springs ride was pristine and oem like even for this 60ish year old. My nephew says it should have been "dumped more" but I was happy with the approx 1"or so drop

I had zero issues I don't think you can go wrong with the G20 and B58 combo

[TheJungatron]

2020 Oil pump is concerning. Make sure the car can read oil level if buying out of warranty. It’s like a 2-3k repair. Affects non ZHP cars supposedly. I have not seen it however.

[tturedraider]

Originally Posted by TheJungatron

2020 Oil pump is concerning. Make sure the car can read oil level if buying out of warranty. It’s like a 2-3k repair. Affects non ZHP cars supposedly. I have not seen it however.

I have information about this. It seems the odds are fairly low the failure to read the oil level is related to the oil pump. With the G20 BMW put in a very narrow range of operating parameters that can adversely affect the car’s ability to read the oil level. Basically the parameters are now set in such a way that the most reliable way to get an oil level is to let the car sit and idle from cold until it reaches full operating temperature and then do the check. If you try to check it after a longer drive, as instructed in the owner’s manual, it may, in fact, be too warm to complete the check successfully. Also, if the car is quite warm/hot after an extended drive having the a/c running can cause the reading to fail. The main issue is the level of the RPMs. If they are over 997 there is a high likelihood the measurement will fail. As you may have noticed, when you start an oil measurement the engine increases the RPMs. If the car is already very warm when you put it in park the RPMs may remain a little high. And then add to that having the a/c running. If the RPMs are already running a little high, when the computer raises the RPMs to run the measurement it will raise them to over the maximum limit for the measurement to be completed successfully and the measurement will fail around 20%. For some reason that is inexplicable to me the computer does not compensate for the increased RPMs when it raises them in order to do the measurement.

This was explained to me and my SA in this detail by the shop foreman at the Chicagoland BMW dealer I use. There are virtually no SAs who know this, so what could be a simple explanation turns into a rabbit hunt to find a problem that doesn’t actually exist. This happened to me, because after I took my car in for the failure to complete the measurement I got it back and was told no problem was found. Then on my drive home I stopped four times along the way to check the level and it failed every time. Needless to say I was hot!!! This was after business hours for the service department so I called and left the service director a very intense voice mail. They quickly made arrangements for me to bring the car back. So, even the service department director was unaware of the measurement parameters on the G20. If they had known this information I could have left the first time as a satisfied customer and not had to make an extra, unnecessary trip back to the dealer. I’m going to copy this post and start a new thread. I told the shop foreman I would disseminate this information and I haven’t done it yet.

[bavarianride]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

I told the shop foreman I would disseminate this information and I haven’t done it yet.

Great post, thanks for sharing the info

[G30M]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

I have information about this. It seems the odds are fairly low the failure to read the oil level is related to the oil pump. With the G20 BMW put in a very narrow range of operating parameters that can adversely affect the car’s ability to read the oil level. Basically the parameters are now set in such a way that the most reliable way to get an oil level is to let the car sit and idle from cold until it reaches full operating temperature and then do the check. If you try to check it after a longer drive, as instructed in the owner’s manual, it may, in fact, be too warm to complete the check successfully. Also, if the car is quite warm/hot after an extended drive having the a/c running can cause the reading to fail. The main issue is the level of the RPMs. If they are over 997 there is a high likelihood the measurement will fail. As you may have noticed, when you start an oil measurement the engine increases the RPMs. If the car is already very warm when you put it in park the RPMs may remain a little high. And then add to that having the a/c running. If the RPMs are already running a little high, when the computer raises the RPMs to run the measurement it will raise them to over the maximum limit for the measurement to be completed successfully and the measurement will fail around 20%. For some reason that is inexplicable to me the computer does not compensate for the increased RPMs when it raises them in order to do the measurement.

This was explained to me and my SA in this detail by the shop foreman at the Chicagoland BMW dealer I use. There are virtually no SAs who know this, so what could be a simple explanation turns into a rabbit hunt to find a problem that doesn’t actually exist. This happened to me, because after I took my car in for the failure to complete the measurement I got it back and was told no problem was found. Then on my drive home I stopped four times along the way to check the level and it failed every time. Needless to say I was hot!!! This was after business hours for the service department so I called and left the service director a very intense voice mail. They quickly made arrangements for me to bring the car back. So, even the service department director was unaware of the measurement parameters on the G20. If they had known this information I could have left the first time as a satisfied customer and not had to make an extra, unnecessary trip back to the dealer. I’m going to copy this post and start a new thread. I told the shop foreman I would disseminate this information and I haven’t done it yet.

what can i say, amazing explanation

[JacobM340i]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

I have information about this. It seems the odds are fairly low the failure to read the oil level is related to the oil pump. With the G20 BMW put in a very narrow range of operating parameters that can adversely affect the car’s ability to read the oil level. Basically the parameters are now set in such a way that the most reliable way to get an oil level is to let the car sit and idle from cold until it reaches full operating temperature and then do the check. If you try to check it after a longer drive, as instructed in the owner’s manual, it may, in fact, be too warm to complete the check successfully. Also, if the car is quite warm/hot after an extended drive having the a/c running can cause the reading to fail. The main issue is the level of the RPMs. If they are over 997 there is a high likelihood the measurement will fail. As you may have noticed, when you start an oil measurement the engine increases the RPMs. If the car is already very warm when you put it in park the RPMs may remain a little high. And then add to that having the a/c running. If the RPMs are already running a little high, when the computer raises the RPMs to run the measurement it will raise them to over the maximum limit for the measurement to be completed successfully and the measurement will fail around 20%. For some reason that is inexplicable to me the computer does not compensate for the increased RPMs when it raises them in order to do the measurement.

This was explained to me and my SA in this detail by the shop foreman at the Chicagoland BMW dealer I use. There are [...]

I do agree that bmw made the system to sensitive, however it has nothing to do with rpm and oil temp, it’s all oil pressure. For some reason the older oil pump creates slightly higher psi with age and mileage than the newer style pumps, as the oil and tolerances inside the engine change with temp it affects the oil pressure, that why some can read it when the car is “cold” but not when hot. From my experience logging the oil pressure the cut off is 47psi any higher than that and the computer will fail the measurement. When measuring from a cold start psi will bounce between 44-46psi and will go all the way to 100%, after a long drive it will bounce between 46-48 and will fail the measurement. Now I will say I do believe that this whole thing is overblown as well. The car will still tell u when the oil level falls below a safe range and the pump creating a few psi higher oil pressure shouldn’t effect it’s long term reliability. Very few people have had catastrophic oil pump failure, very rare. This whole thing could be fixed with a software update to make the oil pressure parameters greater.

[CrownRoyal79]

I had the oil pump in my 2020 M340i replaced recently. There were two symptoms:

1. Unable to read the oil pressure under any circumstance.
2. Audible engine whine after engine is fully warmed up.

Replacing the pump fixed both problems. I can drive the car as long and as hard as I want, and immediately park and measure the oil successfully. The original oil pump for my car was replaced with an updated version that has a different part number. Rumor has it that the original pump had some internal plastic parts that are susceptible to failure and that the new pump uses metal.

[TheJungatron]

Originally Posted by JacobM340i

I do agree that bmw made the system to sensitive, however it has nothing to do with rpm and oil temp, it’s all oil pressure. For some reason the older oil pump creates slightly higher psi with age and mileage than the newer style pumps, as the oil and tolerances inside the engine change with temp it affects the oil pressure, that why some can read it when the car is “cold” but not when hot. From my experience logging the oil pressure the cut off is 47psi any higher than that and the computer will fail the measurement. When measuring from a cold start psi will bounce between 44-46psi and will go all the way to 100%, after a long drive it will bounce between 46-48 and will fail the measurement. Now I will say I do believe that this whole thing is overblown as well. The car will still tell u when the oil level falls below a safe range and the pump creating a few psi higher oil pressure shouldn’t effect it’s long term reliability. Very few people have had catastrophic oil pump failure, very rare. This whole thing could be fixed with a software update to make the oil pressure parameters greater.

Great info. Software fix for the pressure tolerances and heat would be welcome from BMW. I wonder if they will ever TSP this whole deal.

[yeee707]

It seems like there is a way to replicate the oil pump issue on demand? If so, I’ll try to get one in some sort of warranty and see if I can get it replaced under warranty. Anyone experiencing the water in side mirror issue?

[tturedraider]

Originally Posted by CrownRoyal79

I had the oil pump in my 2020 M340i replaced recently. There were two symptoms:

1. Unable to read the oil pressure under any circumstance.
2. Audible engine whine after engine is fully warmed up.

Replacing the pump fixed both problems. I can drive the car as long and as hard as I want, and immediately park and measure the oil successfully. The original oil pump for my car was replaced with an updated version that has a different part number. Rumor has it that the original pump had some internal plastic parts that are susceptible to failure and that the new pump uses metal.

The shop foreman told me they are having many more issues with the X5 because of its size and moving it puts more stress on the motor. I would think this would be true for the X7, too, but I guess maybe there are relatively few X7 40i’s.

[prostcfc]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

The shop foreman told me they are having many more issues with the X5 because of its size and moving it puts more stress on the motor. I would think this would be true for the X7, too, but I guess maybe there are relatively few X7 40i’s.

tturedraider your explanation is the first alternative explanation I've seen on this issue and really insightful. Are you suggesting a lot of the folks that have had this issue didn't need to replace their oil pump and could have just attempted measuring with different engine conditions (assuming of course they didn't try what you suggest). I've got a 08/2019 production date with 14k miles, about to run out of warranty, but no issues yet, thankfully. I measure the way you suggest and always have. I'd be interested to know the Chicagoland dealer, since I'm located here as well (have used 2; one in the West Suburbs and one in the SW Suburbs).

[CrownRoyal79]

Originally Posted by prostcfc

tturedraider your explanation is the first alternative explanation I've seen on this issue and really insightful. Are you suggesting a lot of the folks that have had this issue didn't need to replace their oil pump and could have just attempted measuring with different engine conditions (assuming of course they didn't try what you suggest). I've got a 08/2019 production date with 14k miles, about to run out of warranty, but no issues yet, thankfully. I measure the way you suggest and always have. I'd be interested to know the Chicagoland dealer, since I'm located here as well (have used 2; one in the West Suburbs and one in the SW Suburbs).

His entire explanation is a workaround for a bad part design and/or premature part failure. This is not how it is supposed to work. Mine was replaced with the updated oil pump and I can read the oil level under any and all conditions after the car has reached operating temperature. Will some pumps eventually fail leading to catastrophic engine failure? Who knows. Mine started with being unable to read the oil level and progressed to a very noticeable whine that followed the rpm’s. This whine occurred around 60,000 miles. No way I was going to take a chance and leave that oil pump in there.

[PVC]

If I had adaptive suspension in mine, I would have kept the car a bit longer. I got it during the pandemic and with the chip shortage and cars being stuck at the port, you couldn't be too picky. 360 cameras with the drive recorder is another must, IMO. Btw, 2020 models sound a lot better than the newer models that sound like hybrid Hyundais.

The only mechanical issues I had with the car were related to a pothole the size of Grand Canyon that I couldn't avoid. Good luck with the search!

[stunatu72]

Originally Posted by CrownRoyal79

I had the oil pump in my 2020 M340i replaced recently. There were two symptoms:
Unable to read the oil pressure under any circumstance.
Audible engine whine after engine is fully warmed up.
Replacing the pump fixed both problems. I can drive the car as long and as hard as I want, and immediately park and measure the oil successfully. The original oil pump for my car was replaced with an updated version that has a different part number. Rumor has it that the original pump had some internal plastic parts that are susceptible to failure and that the new pump uses metal.

Hi there. Is it a whine at lower RPMs and intermittent OR all the time and RPM ranges?

[Aero7000]

My 2020 m340i is few month out of warranty and up until now had zero maintenance or repair cost, literally as maintenance is free during warranty.
I cannot recommend out of warranty car, but I traded my F30 238d with 170k and no issues.

[noname]

Just make sure you check for Valve Cover for leaks. Had to get my gasket replaced recently.

[EXE46]

Originally Posted by noname

Just make sure you check for Valve Cover for leaks. Had to get my gasket replaced recently.

At what mileage did this occur?

[noname]

Originally Posted by EXE46

At what mileage did this occur?

41k

[EXE46]

Wow! That is concerning for such a low mileage.

[zazzau]

Originally Posted by EXE46

Wow! That is concerning for such a low mileage.

Don't think it's common. First I'm reading or hearing of this on the forum.