N20 and N26 plastic oil filter housings,,,,I don’t know why but some of those engines came with plastic oil filter housing,,,,which also used a different oil filter.
The problem is that the plastic ones will crack or break between the oil and water journals,,,,,and wil cause the oil and water to start to mix together,,,,,causing engine damage,,,,it gets so bad that the water looks like baby diarrhea,,,,,and then it gets real hard to clean all the coolant hoses and radiator,,,,when ever this happens usually the engine gets a rod knock,,,,the bearings get washed out from the water.
There pretty upset h the same except for one coolant hose has to be changed,,,,for the metal oil filter housing
See that little coolant hose elbow fitting,,,next to th heat exchanger,,,,on the metal one its in a different place,,,,so you change that coolant hose.
bmwtechnician 
Hey guys for this service, does bmw also change the oil filter as well? I’ve seen on the internet that there is an oil filter for each type (plastic and aluminum)
Thanks!
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When you update or change over to the new aluminum oil filter housing,,,,there is already a new oil filter inside the housing,,,,I hope this helps
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Awesome! I was wondering why I wasn’t seeing the BMW oil filter code on my invoice when they the dealer did the service (and I knew that there was a different oil filter for each type of housing), makes sense now.
Love the blog, keep up the good work.
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Thanks glad I can help
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part number for the new housing please, just realized these cars are experiencing all these issues, only if I had known few months ago….2012 328
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I’m sorry I don’t have the part numbers at home,,,,your BMW dealer should have the BMW bulletin about this repair and the part numbers are on there,,,,you will not need the engine engine cover as listed in the bulletin,,,,the new housing comes with a filter already installed
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Well, I’m a little bit lucky, after work I open up the hood, and it’s aluminum, not sure if the dealer changed it,
my 328 has 40,000 on the clock, changing oil regularly, what are the odds the infamous timing chain issues might affect my car? how common is it for the n20 engines
thanks in advance guys
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Some of the engine came with a plastic oil filter housing and some did not,,,,no buddy really know why,,,,the chances on the timing chain,,,is hard to tell,,,,it’s probably about 10- 15 % of the car have the timing chain issue
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Is this something they will automatically replace if I have the plastic housing or do I need to request it during my next service?
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You probably should tell them about it so they can replace it for you.
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@bmwtechnician is it only certain years that had the housing? I have a 2013 manufactured in 2012. I had my car in the dealership last week and they told me it was only certain cars manufactured during a certain period and mine did not qualify. Thank you in advance for all your help
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It’s a 2013 328i
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Yes it is only certain year that had those housings
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