The BMW N53 is a naturally aspirated straight-six petrol engine which was produced from 2006 to 2013. The N53 replaced the

BMW N52 The BMW N52 is a naturally aspirated straight-six petrol engine which was produced from 2004 to 2015. The N52 replaced the BMW M54 and debuted on the E90 3 Series and E63 6 Series. The N52 was the first water-cooled engine to use magnesium/alu ...

and was released in 2006 in the post-facelift E60 5 Series. BMW never sold the N53 engine in North American, Australian and Malaysian vehicles, due to the high sulphur content of the fuel available in these markets. Instead, these regions continued to use its predecessor, the N52 engine. The N53 is the final naturally aspirated straight-six engine produced by BMW, ending a history of continuous production of this engine configuration since the

BMW M30 The BMW M30 is a SOHC straight-six petrol engine which was produced from 1968 to 1995. With a production run of 27 years, it is BMW's longest produced engine and was used in many car models. The first models to use the M30 engine were the BMW 25 ...

in 1968. The N53 began to be phased out following the introduction of the

BMW N20 The BMW N20 is a turbocharged four-cylinder DOHC petrol engine with variable valve lift and variable valve timing which replaced the N53 (or BMW N52 in some markets) and was produced from 2011 to 2017 by BMW. Although the N20 is a four-cylind ...

turbocharged four-cylinder engine in 2011. There is no

BMW M BMW M GmbH, formerly known as BMW Motorsport GmbH, is a subsidiary of BMW AG that manufactures high-performance cars. BMW M ("M" for "motorsport") was initially created to facilitate BMW's racing program, which was very successful in the 1960 ...

version of the N53. The

BMW N54 The BMW N54 is a twin-turbocharged straight-six petrol engine that was produced from 2006 to 2016. It is BMW's first mass-produced turbocharged petrol engine and BMW's first turbocharged petrol engine since the limited-production BMW M106 was disc ...

turbocharged straight-6 engine was produced alongside the N53. __TOC__

Design

Compared with its N52 predecessor which was port-injected, the N53 uses direct injection. The direct injection system uses piezoelectric fuel injectors which inject into the combustion chamber, using a ''stratified lean mixture'' operation. The compression ratio was increased to 12.0:1 for the N53. As per the N52, the N53 has double-VANOS (variable valve timing) and a

magnesium alloy Magnesium alloys are mixtures of magnesium (the lightest structural metal) with other metals (called an alloy), often aluminium, zinc, manganese, silicon, copper, rare earths and zirconium. Magnesium alloys have a hexagonal lattice structure, w ...

block. Unlike the N52, the N53 does not have

Valvetronic The Valvetronic system is a BMW variable valve lift system which, in combination with VANOS, allows infinite adjustment of the intake valve timing and duration. The system claims to improve fuel economy and emissions, and negates the need for ...

(variable valve lift), due to space limitations in the cylinder head. The bore of and stroke of are the same as the N52. Each cylinder has

coil-on-plug ignition A distributor is an enclosed rotating switch used in spark-ignition internal combustion engines that have mechanically timed ignition. The distributor's main function is to route high voltage current from the ignition coil to the spark plu ...

, as per the N52.

Versions

N53B25

The version of the N53 produces and . It has a bore of and a stroke of . Applications: * 2006-2010 E60/E61 523i

N53B30 (150 kW)

A version of the N53 was used in the pre-facelift F10 523i. Applications: * 2009-2011 F10/F11 523i

N53B30 (160 kW)

This version of the N53 produces , the same figure as the version of its N52 predecessor. However, peak torque increased from . Applications: * 2007-2013 E90/E91/E92/E93 325i * 2006-2010 E60/E61 525i

N53B30 (190 kW)

A version of the N53 was used in the pre-facelift F10 528i. Applications: * 2009-2011 F10/F11 528i

N53B30 (200 kW)

The most powerful version of the N53 produces of power and of torque. Applications: * 2007-2010 E60/E61 530i * 2007-2010 E63 630i * 2007-2013 E90/E91/E92/E93 330i * 2011-2013 F10 530i

High-Pressure Fuel Pump failures

The N53 uses the same High-Pressure Fuel Pump (HPFP) as the

turbocharged straight-six engine, which had HPFP failures leading to Lemon Law "buy backs" and legal action in the United States. The N53 engine was not sold in the United States, therefore the N53 engine was not involved with these actions. Failures of the N53 HPFP have been reported, although it is not known whether failure in the N53 is as common as the N54.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bmw N53 N53 Straight-six engines Gasoline engines by model