How bad is the BXE engine?

[murkey]

I'm new here so hi!

 

I have just bought a BXE engine code Octavia MK2 Estate and I know from another car I have that some engine codes can be trouble, the Audi A3 1.9tdi I have is a BXC and has been a really good car hence why I looked for another 1.9 PD based engine.

 

Yes there are horror stories of the BXE code but how bad is it and how much is down to bad ownership, lack of servicing, over revving?

 

Bit of history of the car - Its not the best exterior, as in dirty, lots of fine scratches which I like to sort out but it was maintained really well, it was owned by an old couple who just booked it in for everything, I have all the bills including cambelt, clutch and DMF all done within the last 9k mile, it has 108k on it which is quite low mileage for the PD if looked after so I'm pleased so far.

 

Thing is it makes me slightly nervous the engine could turn itself inside out or am I thinking too much?

[J.R.]

Dont click this link if you are of a nervous disposition

 

https://bxeenginefailures.wordpress.com/

[DJSmiley]

Generally, the BXE is a fine engine, like most PD engines.

Most PD blocks will last almost forever if you take a little care of it (Regular oil topups / good oil / and not abusing the turbo)

 

However, on the BXE and BLS engines, there is a higher risk of camshaft bearing issues. Doesn't occur on all cars, unlike the DMF which is an issue which can be considered as normal wear), but if it does happen, your engine is toast. (Conrods are pushed trough the block thus destroying it)

See for example https://bxeenginefailures.wordpress.com/

 

With a BXE engine, you basicly have 2 options:

- Hope to have luck and don't experience this, if it does, scrap the car

- Preventive replace the conrod bearings.

 

I know some tuners here in the Netherlands do offer this as part of there 'common' jobs. (For example https://www.vagtechniek.nl/page/170/bls-drijfstanglagers/ )

They are refering to the BLS engines, but afaik this issue affect both BLS and BXE engines.

 

As far as I know, these failures are not caused by bad ownership, bad maintenance (or lack of it) or whatever which the owner could to to prevent.

 

 

Edited 13 July, 2019 by DJSmiley

[seriesdriver]

Agree with above the conrod problem can happen but as a percent of all bxe engines it is pretty small. Most of the ones I have seen reported had very high mileage and scant service history. A pd engine with good history at 100k miles would be a reasonable risk to take.

[J.R.]

Camshaft or conrod bearings?

 

I recall from looking through the VAG self study guide for the PD engine that they did something trick with the little end bearing location, the top of the con rod being tapered in section instead of having parallel machined ends, the inside of the piston having the same form. IIRC it was to have more bearing resistance under compression and power stroke loadings than the induction stroke.

 

Maybe they took it too far in the BKE engine or it revs higher?

 

Looking at the broken rods some of them seem to be made of cheese.

Edited 13 July, 2019 by J.R.

[murkey]

2 hours ago, J.R. said:

Dont click this link if you are of a nervous disposition

 

https://bxeenginefailures.wordpress.com/

 

Thanks for the replies.

So I guess there is a ying and yang to this engine code, yes there has been some bad engine failures but how many have done 150k+ miles?

 

With the sale of another car I'm in it for around a £1k and it suits my needs better with size/load lugging, guess I'll just hope it doesn't let go and enjoy the Octy for what it is. 

[MikeTheThinker]

From a VW engine tuning site:

 

"The 1.9 TDi was used in a wide variety of cars from the VAG group and came in different power levels.

All had BOSCH injectors, and Bosch ECU's which are really sturdy and very protective of the engine.

Common faults: there are some reports of the BLE or BXE engines breaking con rods. The second generation PD engines were bullet proof as most of the kinks had been worked out which is more than we can say for the later 2.0 TDI engines.

The 1.9 TDi is regarded by many as the best VAG group diesel engine.

Early engines suffered from cracked injector looms."

https://www.torquecars.com/volkswagen/1-9-tdi-tuning.php

 

[smc998]

246,000 miles on a BXE still on original turbo - still sweet as, doesn't smoke or use oil only hope the Mk3 I've just bought proves as good.

 

Scott

[murkey]

50 minutes ago, smc998 said:

246,000 miles on a BXE still on original turbo - still sweet as, doesn't smoke or use oil only hope the Mk3 I've just bought proves as good.

 

Scott

 

Wow thats some miles and nice to read something positive about the BXE, the MK2 I have just bought has 108k and a really good service history, I’m just going to drive it, keep the revs below 3250rpm and not worry it’s a BXE.

[smc998]

Never knew there was any issue with them, engines seen the red line more than a few times and it never went bang,

although generally there is no need to as bags of torque.  Pick up is better than my 2.0tdi Scout BMM presumably an emission trait and to protect the DPF despite the Scout having 140 rather than 105.  

 

Shame no-one seems interested in buying it - every time I drive it I can't believe it nearly 250,000 miles, I love the car - motoring on the cheap. 

 

Scott

 

[bbwill11]

Hiya, Know this hasn't be brought up recently however I have bought and Audi A3 Tdi recently as was reading through some forms to see the bxe engine is no good went and had a look at the engine code and turns out its a bxe its done 120k miles and seems perfectly fine is there anything really to worry about?

[seriesdriver]

1 hour ago, bbwill11 said:

Hiya, Know this hasn't be brought up recently however I have bought and Audi A3 Tdi recently as was reading through some forms to see the bxe engine is no good went and had a look at the engine code and turns out its a bxe its done 120k miles and seems perfectly fine is there anything really to worry about?

No more so than any other engine at that mileage, assuming it has been serviced regularly with the correct spec oil etc. Our pd skoda has done 118k miles I see no reason it wouldnt do the same mileage again or more, it has always been serviced on time. 

[lukegcorrida]

my mates bxe octavia has 255k on it and my lasses bxe golf has 200k i wouldnt worry just look after it

[StevesTruck]

185k, the car's got 99 problems, but the engine most certainly ain't one. 

[CzechTheFridge]

On 22/06/2021 at 21:54, lukegcorrida said:

my mates bxe octavia has 255k on it and my lasses bxe golf has 200k i wouldnt worry just look after it

My fathers Octavia II BXE had around 220k when crankshaft broke along with two connecting rods. The car had good maintenance, oil changes on time, no prior problems, handled with proper care - my pops is truck driver, so he never ever reved it over 3k.

It is possible that year 2008 bears higher probability of this problem because of wrong torque on crankshaft bearings bolts.

Any way, if you want to be really safe, replace the bearings and bolts, because the engine failure really cannot be prevented by otherwise excellent care and happens without prior warning signs.

[lukegcorrida]

8 minutes ago, CzechTheFridge said:

My fathers Octavia II BXE had around 220k when crankshaft broke along with two connecting rods. The car had good maintenance, oil changes on time, no prior problems, handled with proper care - my pops is truck driver, so he never ever reved it over 3k.

It is possible that year 2008 bears higher probability of this problem because of wrong torque on crankshaft bearings bolts.

Any way, if you want to be really safe, replace the bearings and bolts, because the engine failure really cannot be prevented by otherwise excellent care and happens without prior warning signs.

Both my friends and girlfriends are 55 and 06 so older than that. Suppose even if it only gets to 220k its not exactly unreliable! If my tfsi gets there I'd be more than happy lol. Only 90k to go! 

[CzechTheFridge]

3 hours ago, lukegcorrida said:

Both my friends and girlfriends are 55 and 06 so older than that. Suppose even if it only gets to 220k its not exactly unreliable! If my tfsi gets there I'd be more than happy lol. Only 90k to go! 

I didn’t say it’s unreliable, 200k is of course nice. I just wanted to warn those who think that regular maintenance will prevent this. It won’t. If you want to be sure this doesn’t happen, you need to fix it before it happens. What does even reliable mean? I think it means you can rely on the car, when you go on a vacation and expect it to drive you home as well.

[lukegcorrida]

4 minutes ago, CzechTheFridge said:

I didn’t say it’s unreliable, 200k is of course nice. I just wanted to warn those who think that regular maintenance will prevent this. It won’t. If you want to be sure this doesn’t happen, you need to fix it before it happens. What does even reliable mean? I think it means you can rely on the car, when you go on a vacation and expect it to drive you home as well.

 

I think any one buying a 15 year old car that's been to the moon should expect issues and should have the ability to repair themselves otherwise its fairly insane as any single garage bill could equal the cost of the car several times over . I would consider my octy reliable but there's no way I'm driving hundreds of miles without a few tools and it's never let me down before.  But I see brand new cars broken at the side of the road all time. But as far as reliability goes I would say the bxe is a very reliable engine and any vw group car is likely to rust away before it snaps a camshaft. Especially on our salted roads.  

 

So for the original poster I wouldn't worry and just drive it. As they say with diesel engine. It's barely run in! Those sills on the other hand.... Lol

[CzechTheFridge]

2 hours ago, lukegcorrida said:

 

I think any one buying a 15 year old car that's been to the moon should expect issues and should have the ability to repair themselves otherwise its fairly insane as any single garage bill could equal the cost of the car several times over . I would consider my octy reliable but there's no way I'm driving hundreds of miles without a few tools and it's never let me down before.  But I see brand new cars broken at the side of the road all time. But as far as reliability goes I would say the bxe is a very reliable engine and any vw group car is likely to rust away before it snaps a camshaft. Especially on our salted roads.  

 

So for the original poster I wouldn't worry and just drive it. As they say with diesel engine. It's barely run in! Those sills on the other hand.... Lol

Bro. Good luck with repairing broken crankshaft and conrods with common handtools at the side of the road. As I said, the BXE is generally said reliable, BUT it has this one production fault and you would be wise to fix it before you use the car further. I would worry about it, because fixing the original cause will cost you tenth of a price of the car, while fixing the engine failure will easily cost you more than the car itself. We were lucky, the failure was not so fatal, we fixed it for 1000€ on 4000€ car, but we were seriously considering just scraping the thing.

[OneSlowBoi]

Hi! 👋

I know this fourm has been inactive for a few months so I thought I would say hello and give my opinion on this.

 

I own a Skoda Octavia MK2 1.9 TDI BXE, mine was built on 22nd November 2006.

As far as I know, the dreaded conrod issue seems to affect mostly Volkswagans, Seats and Audis from production years of 2007-2008 however I heard that BLS can also throw rods too.

 

I believe the best way to prevent it from happening is to use Fully Synthetic 5w40 engine oil and to change oil and filter every 5k miles (8000km) as unlike the older TDI's these engine are very fussy on the oil they use.

I see on fourms that people use 5w30 oil and I believe that viscosity is too thin for BXE.

I also think driving style affects it too as 80% of engine wear happens when the engine hasn't reached operating temperature.

The BXE isn't built to be driven hard all the time. ASY PD130 is more of a tough engine that can handle such abuse because crankshaft is slightly different in design. BXE doesn't have piston cooling jets (I think) but ASY has so that could be another factor.

 

I do think it could also be down to production too (from factory)

I'm sure if they made loads of BXE's there surely will be a small batch that went through without precise testing / quality control?

 

So I want to ask all of you BXE owners, could you all possibly share your actual production dates of your cars? Like the actual day it was made?

You can find this by taking the fusebox cover off and there is a sticker in there that tells you the day the car was made.

My car was made on Wedensday 22nd November 2006

 

Doing this, we can then get a more accurate assumption of it was a production issue or not.

 

Many Thanks

OneSlowBoi ☺️

[Golf-Fiend]

The ASY engine code is a non-turbo SDi engine so very different from a BXE.  Only 64 bhp and fitted to Fabias I believe. Wife had one. Very agricultural.

[Breezy_Pete]

ASZ is what he meant, I think.

[OneSlowBoi]

Sorry guys ASZ I meant, thanks @Wino 😂

[StevesTruck]

On 22/06/2021 at 22:32, StevesTruck said:

185k, the car's got 99 problems, but the engine most certainly ain't one. 

 

195k......

[JulianS]

I think I read some time ago, maybe on Honest John, an engineer stating that a common theme discovered with all the failed con-rods was a bluing of the associated crank journal. That makes me think that it's prone to nipping up and also explains why the rods get twisted and the little end busted open too. I wonder if there's a production run of cranks or rods that are a little out of spec?

 

My 2010 BXE Octy now has 170K on it and my thought is that as it hasn't grenaded now then it won't. (fingers crossed) It should be nicely loosened up by now and I change the oil and filter every 8K or therabouts. Also I treat it carefully when it's not up to temperature, but when it's warm I use full throttle all the time pulling away but never rev it up so much as it doesn't seem to make it go any better.