Also known as: n57d30, 3.0d, 530d engine, x5 30d engine, n57s
The M57's replacement and BMW's six-cylinder diesel through the 2010s, in single-, twin- and even triple-turbocharged forms depending on output. All-aluminium where the M57 was iron, and substantially lighter.
It inherits the N47's rear timing-chain layout, which is the fact to establish first — the chain runs at the back of the engine against the bulkhead, so wear is a gearbox-out repair, and a rattle from the rear of the engine on cold start outranks anything the scan tool says. Chain guides were revised during production, so build date matters more than mileage.
The emissions hardware is the other half. Later N57s carry EGR coolers with a known cracking failure — the recall history is real and worth checking against the VIN — plus a particulate filter and, on some markets, SCR. As always with a modern diesel, a short-journey duty cycle is the underlying cause behind most of what these systems report.
Cars fitted with this engine
13 generations, across 1 make. From the authored catalogue — an absent car means the catalogue has not reached it, not that the engine was never fitted.
Information, not instruction
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Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.
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- The car — make, model, year and engine. The same fault behaves differently on each.
- What you measured, not only what you replaced.
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