Buying guide · 2012–2017 · 3.0 tri-turbo diesel · 381 PS
BMW M550d xDrive F10 / F11
Everything that decides whether the one you are looking at is a good buy or an expensive one.
36-page guide, A4 and phone · 5-page inspection card · instant PDF · VAT included
In the guide
What the BMW M550d xDrive F10 / F11 guide covers
- 01Every fault this engine has, and how much work it is
- 02What the eight-speed gearbox, the transfer case and its actuator, and Performance Control each mean for a buyer — and why this car has no rear-wheel steering, whatever the advert says
- 03What BMW's own bulletin says about the edges of the aluminium doors, which cars it covers, and what is documented about water — and what is not
- 04What is simply nine to fourteen years old — and can be left alone
- 05The inspection card: the whole viewing on paper, in order, to take with you
- 06What to say to the seller, and what to keep to yourself
From the guide itself
This is how it reads
This is what one of the sixteen looks likeLast Real Engines
9 · Clicking from the front axle
Half a day · Cheap part, difficult access — the wheel bearing comes out to be cleaned, not replaced
BMW bulletin SI B31 01 12 covers the F10, and BMW was still revising it in 2020: "Cracking noises are heard from the front axle area while maneuvering at low speeds (e.g., parking lot maneuvers) or when turning the steering wheel while stationary." The cause: "Movement between the contact surfaces of the wheel bearing and swivel bearing (knuckle)". The procedure removes the wheel bearing and uses repair kit "83 19 2 298 825 to clean up the mating surfaces". The parts list is that repair kit, not a wheel bearing. Before anybody quotes a wheel bearing or a control arm for a click at parking speed, show them this bulletin.
Leave it if it is quiet. Within a year or two for a click when manoeuvring or turning the wheel at a standstill — it is a noise, and the repair is a clean.
And this is how the card readsLast Real Engines
- 1 · Round the outside, before anybody starts it
- 2 · The boot and the floor
- 3 · Under the bonnet, cold · engine off, key out
- 4 · The cold start · the seller starts it; nobody revs it
- 5 · At parking speed · before you join the road
- 6 · The drive · gently until it is fully warm
What €24 buys, put next to what it saves
Replacing the timing chain is a week or more in the workshop. A turbocharger is two or three days. And the cheapest check of all is a dealer printout of the recalls and campaigns by VIN. The guide is €24. It will not stop any of that from being needed — but it does tell you which of them you are looking at before you agree a price, and that is the whole of the difference between paying for a car and paying for someone else's postponed maintenance.
VAT included · sold by Lemon Squeezy as merchant of record · questions first? buyersguide@lastrealengines.com
Start with the free guide
The six questions that decide whether this car is a good buy
- The recalls and campaigns — done, and can somebody show you?
- How was it driven — and what has the particulate filter been through?
- What oil, how often — and does the history show it?
- The turbos and their controls — has anything been replaced, and why?
- The gearbox and the transfer case — has anybody changed the oil?
- Saloon or Touring — and what is fitted underneath?
Start with the free guide: what this car is, and the questions that decide whether the one you are looking at is a good buy or an expensive one.
Before you buy
Questions
What exactly do I get?
The full guide as a PDF, 36 pages in A4, plus a phone edition to read at the car; and the inspection card, 5 pages to print and take to the viewing. €24, VAT included.
How is it delivered?
Straight after payment you get a download link for the guide, the phone edition and the card. No subscription, no account.
Can I get a refund?
EU consumer law gives you fourteen days to change your mind. For digital content that right ends the moment delivery starts, provided you agreed to that at the checkout. If the file will not open, or you were sent the wrong car, write to us and we will fix it or refund it.
Who handles the payment?
Lemon Squeezy, who sell the guide to you as merchant of record. They charge the VAT at the rate of your country, send the invoice, and email you the download link. We never see your card.
Why are there no prices in it?
Because a price we cannot verify is worse than no price, and because a price would be wrong for most of the people reading it: workshop rates across Europe differ by a factor of two or three. What does not change is how much work a job is, so every point says whether it is an hour, half a day, a day, or a week in the workshop. Ask your own workshop for its hourly rate, and every hour in the guide becomes your own number.
Is this advice about a specific car?
No. A guide tells you what to look at; it is general information about the model and not advice about a specific car. Have every car inspected before you buy by someone who knows the engine.
More BMW guides
Going to look at a BMW M550d xDrive F10 / F11?
Take the guide and the card with you.
36-page guide, A4 and phone · 5-page inspection card · instant PDF · VAT included