MT Auto Parts Blog | Expert Tips for BMW enthusiasts on BMW Parts, Accessories, Engines and More

  Photo by Brandon Vázquez on Unsplash The BMW 3 Series is one of the most popular cars on UK roads and one of the most debated when it comes to reliability. Ask in any BMW forum, and you'll get answers ranging from "mine has done 180,000 miles with nothing major" to a list of expensive faults that reads like a parts catalogue. Both can be true. The 3 Series spans multiple generations, multiple engines, and two decades of ownership history, and reliability varies significantly depending on which version you own or are considering. This guide covers the F30 3 Series (2012–2019) and the G20 3 Series (2019–present) — the generations we see most at our BMW breakers yard in Thurnscoe, South Yorkshire. We work on these cars every week, so what follows is based on what we actually see rather than forum hearsay or manufacturer claims. The Short Answer on 3 Series Reliability The BMW 3 Series is a reasonably reliable car when maintained correctly and bought with a service history....

  Photo by El Malandro on Unsplash The BMW F30 3 Series is one of those cars you just see everywhere. If it’s a diesel doing motorway miles or a petrol M Sport cruising through town, it has become a proper staple on UK roads. And it’s easy to see why. It looks modern, drives really well, and still gives you that classic BMW feel without being too harsh or too expensive to run (at least on paper). When it came out between 2011 and 2018, it felt like a big step forward from the E90. But now these cars are ageing, and as they move past 70,000–120,000 miles, certain patterns start showing up. Not every car has issues, but after seeing and dealing with plenty of them, you do start noticing the same things again and again. The F30 is a great car… but the engine choice changes everything This is probably the most important thing to understand with the F30. Two cars can look identical on the outside, but underneath, they can behave completely differently depending on the engine. For exampl...

  Image: BMW B47C20B complete engine with just 50K miles for sale at MT Auto Parts for £3,199.99 The B47 is BMW's answer to one of its own mistakes. When the N47 diesel developed a reputation for catastrophic timing chain failures, chains snapping at the back of the engine, behind the flywheel, turning reliable diesel cars into very expensive paperweights, BMW went back to the drawing board. The B47 engine arrived in 2014. It moved the timing chain to the front of the engine, where it belongs. It improved fuel efficiency. It met Euro 6 emissions standards. And it built a reputation as one of the better modern diesel engines in its class. That reputation is mostly deserved. But the B47 is not without its own problems, and some of them are serious enough that anyone buying a used car with one fitted should know about them before handing over any money. This guide covers what actually goes wrong, when, and what it costs to fix. What the B47 Is and Where It's Fitted The B47 is a 2...