I'm into a engine rebuild so swapping the hub is on the list.
Just seeking some other thoughts about the revised design of the hub with sprockets.
If the design is successful the savings on a spline lock would be quite big.
The crank hub did get changed after something like 2008 on the N54s. I looked into it. TBH the crank hub issue with regards to N54s is a bit of a strange one.
On some cars it has been an issue at stock power. On other cars running double factory HP it hasn't. It's caertainly not as big of an issue as with M3s and M4s. Is that because their timing chain drives more accessories or is it because those cars came with DCT, I don't know?
The stress\shock comes in the timing assembly needing to go from a low speed (say 2000 rpm) to a high speed (i.e. 5000 rpm) quickly. i.e. Kick down.
That shock transmits through the crank and the timing chain.
As you know ideally you should look to getting the Crank hub and timing sprocket locked so it can't spin. I don't know enough about the timing chain to know what challenges that poses. Obviously it's in 2 parts (crank hub and crank) to make removal and servicing easier.