E61 530i - What should I be looking for? (Advice)
Discussion
Court_S said:
Ouch, that’s a chunky old bill.
The cost of the index 11/12 injectors is a pisstake since Covid.
You're telling me The cost of the index 11/12 injectors is a pisstake since Covid.
I think she's worth it though the old girl.Managed to get it down to £3150 all in. The warranty has swayed me with the direct from BMW parts so let's hope this is the end of it....
Im putting nothing but good intentions and positive outlook into the future, a healthy HPFP included!
axel1990chp said:
Court_S said:
Ouch, that’s a chunky old bill.
The cost of the index 11/12 injectors is a pisstake since Covid.
You're telling me The cost of the index 11/12 injectors is a pisstake since Covid.
I think she's worth it though the old girl.Managed to get it down to £3150 all in. The warranty has swayed me with the direct from BMW parts so let's hope this is the end of it....
Im putting nothing but good intentions and positive outlook into the future, a healthy HPFP included!
But if it future proofs the car and you'll keep running it/maintaining etc then why notStill a great car and great engine
axel1990chp said:
You're telling me I think she's worth it though the old girl.
Managed to get it down to £3150 all in. The warranty has swayed me with the direct from BMW parts so let's hope this is the end of it....
Im putting nothing but good intentions and positive outlook into the future, a healthy HPFP included!
NOx sensor enters the chat. I think she's worth it though the old girl.Managed to get it down to £3150 all in. The warranty has swayed me with the direct from BMW parts so let's hope this is the end of it....
Im putting nothing but good intentions and positive outlook into the future, a healthy HPFP included!
Just kidding, glad you got it sorted.
bmwmike said:
NOx sensor enters the chat.
Just kidding, glad you got it sorted.
Think my missus would leave me if any more big bills come in Just kidding, glad you got it sorted.
Cheers Mike!d_a_n1979 said:
That is a huge bill But if it future proofs the car and you'll keep running it/maintaining etc then why not
Still a great car and great engine
Exactly my sentiments Dan, I leave it, flog it at a massive loss and have to find something anyway. But if it future proofs the car and you'll keep running it/maintaining etc then why notStill a great car and great engine
Few small jobs left to finish with it, front passenger window goes down when you press up, and visa versa, minor inconvenience I've yet to look at.
Rear window heaters arent working either, all the wiring etc is spot on and everything else back there works, I reckon a fuse!
Update for my own memories, for anyone interested and anyone who may stumble upon this in the future; Well she’s back in the shop.
Hesitant to start when pressing the START button, hear the click, get a grog and then she springs to life.
I say springs to life, she’s back to rough idling, not as low revs and as chuggy as before, but definitely doing it for longer. Hit the accelerator to move off and there’s a little burp before it runs completely faultless and smooth for the entire drive thereafter.
No EML to speak of.
Engine is as clean as a whistle, no leaks, no pools, all pressure tests and smoke tests have been clear prior to this also.
I have the coolant LOW alarm coming up, has done sporadically since ownership, yet never having to top the coolant up. Took the plunge a few months back for a new expansion tank, problem still occurs. Opened the coolant the other morning and it was gassed up so the level float was poking high. Maybe they’re related? Maybe not.
Having spent a good portion of £4000 on this car in the last 8 months, a lovely cost of £500 a month I’m a little bit pissed at the Indy as you can imagine.
They’ve taken the car, I have it in writing that all investigation work is covered under them, and I’ll be pushing for any further work required to be done at an absolute deal of the century price too.
I’d say air is an issue personally, but seeing as it runs an absolute dream within a few seconds of the rough idle clearing up, I’m not sure how it can be the case.
Hesitant to start when pressing the START button, hear the click, get a grog and then she springs to life.
I say springs to life, she’s back to rough idling, not as low revs and as chuggy as before, but definitely doing it for longer. Hit the accelerator to move off and there’s a little burp before it runs completely faultless and smooth for the entire drive thereafter.
No EML to speak of.
Engine is as clean as a whistle, no leaks, no pools, all pressure tests and smoke tests have been clear prior to this also.
I have the coolant LOW alarm coming up, has done sporadically since ownership, yet never having to top the coolant up. Took the plunge a few months back for a new expansion tank, problem still occurs. Opened the coolant the other morning and it was gassed up so the level float was poking high. Maybe they’re related? Maybe not.
Having spent a good portion of £4000 on this car in the last 8 months, a lovely cost of £500 a month I’m a little bit pissed at the Indy as you can imagine.
They’ve taken the car, I have it in writing that all investigation work is covered under them, and I’ll be pushing for any further work required to be done at an absolute deal of the century price too.
I’d say air is an issue personally, but seeing as it runs an absolute dream within a few seconds of the rough idle clearing up, I’m not sure how it can be the case.
What does "hear the click, get a grog and then she springs to life." Actually mean? Is the battery struggling to turn the engine over or is the starter sticking? Is it actually misfiring ? No, probably not as no codes.
It's hard to diagnose across the internet but you have my sympathies. These engines are complex and far beyond the capabilities of regular garages.
It might be that your injectors did need doing. And that something else also needs doing.
Need to see the codes, and not just an obd reader but ista or inpa.
It's hard to diagnose across the internet but you have my sympathies. These engines are complex and far beyond the capabilities of regular garages.
It might be that your injectors did need doing. And that something else also needs doing.
Need to see the codes, and not just an obd reader but ista or inpa.
axel1990chp said:
Update for my own memories, for anyone interested and anyone who may stumble upon this in the future; Well she’s back in the shop.
Hesitant to start when pressing the START button, hear the click, get a grog and then she springs to life.
I say springs to life, she’s back to rough idling, not as low revs and as chuggy as before, but definitely doing it for longer. Hit the accelerator to move off and there’s a little burp before it runs completely faultless and smooth for the entire drive thereafter.
No EML to speak of.
Engine is as clean as a whistle, no leaks, no pools, all pressure tests and smoke tests have been clear prior to this also.
I have the coolant LOW alarm coming up, has done sporadically since ownership, yet never having to top the coolant up. Took the plunge a few months back for a new expansion tank, problem still occurs. Opened the coolant the other morning and it was gassed up so the level float was poking high. Maybe they’re related? Maybe not.
Having spent a good portion of £4000 on this car in the last 8 months, a lovely cost of £500 a month I’m a little bit pissed at the Indy as you can imagine.
They’ve taken the car, I have it in writing that all investigation work is covered under them, and I’ll be pushing for any further work required to be done at an absolute deal of the century price too.
I’d say air is an issue personally, but seeing as it runs an absolute dream within a few seconds of the rough idle clearing up, I’m not sure how it can be the case.
Was it running properly straight after the injector change? Hesitant to start when pressing the START button, hear the click, get a grog and then she springs to life.
I say springs to life, she’s back to rough idling, not as low revs and as chuggy as before, but definitely doing it for longer. Hit the accelerator to move off and there’s a little burp before it runs completely faultless and smooth for the entire drive thereafter.
No EML to speak of.
Engine is as clean as a whistle, no leaks, no pools, all pressure tests and smoke tests have been clear prior to this also.
I have the coolant LOW alarm coming up, has done sporadically since ownership, yet never having to top the coolant up. Took the plunge a few months back for a new expansion tank, problem still occurs. Opened the coolant the other morning and it was gassed up so the level float was poking high. Maybe they’re related? Maybe not.
Having spent a good portion of £4000 on this car in the last 8 months, a lovely cost of £500 a month I’m a little bit pissed at the Indy as you can imagine.
They’ve taken the car, I have it in writing that all investigation work is covered under them, and I’ll be pushing for any further work required to be done at an absolute deal of the century price too.
I’d say air is an issue personally, but seeing as it runs an absolute dream within a few seconds of the rough idle clearing up, I’m not sure how it can be the case.
For the coolant, it’s probably the sensor. I’m pretty sure the expansion tank doesn’t come with a new one (Could be wrong). If not, I’d change it.
Upon pressing the start, the car starts to turn over, but cuts immediately before firing up, then limps itself into life straight after a seeming cutout.
The revs stay around 600-900 idling, fluctuating in irregular waves.
If I engage D/R and give it a little throttle, I get movement, then a jolt, as if the car momentarily bogged itself down before it all of a sudden drives completely faultless.
The battery was changed a few months back, I can’t recall the specs of it and I keep all my paperwork within the car, I’ve asked to keep the car as OEM+ as possible, so praying they’ve not been stupid enough to chuck a poor battery in there, but you never know, are you under the impression the battery/starter motor could be a problem issue?
I stressed the point re: N53 experience and was assured their 2 top techs who have a long history with mains BMW before setting up this approved Indy have the necessary skills to work with it, but then they’re not going to tell me all their techs are pants either are they
They’re running a few tests and checking it over tomorrow so hopefully come end of play I’ll at least have some info.
Worst case scenario I take it from them, with a full list of what they have and haven’t done and remortgage my house whilst going to a fairly local BMW dealer that’s the bells and whistles. I’ve heard bad things about my local BMW stratstone, so not optimistic there.
It was the Saturday morning the issues started immediately. If they don’t swap the sensor out themselves over this next work load, I’ll jump on it straight away, thank you
The revs stay around 600-900 idling, fluctuating in irregular waves.
If I engage D/R and give it a little throttle, I get movement, then a jolt, as if the car momentarily bogged itself down before it all of a sudden drives completely faultless.
The battery was changed a few months back, I can’t recall the specs of it and I keep all my paperwork within the car, I’ve asked to keep the car as OEM+ as possible, so praying they’ve not been stupid enough to chuck a poor battery in there, but you never know, are you under the impression the battery/starter motor could be a problem issue?
I stressed the point re: N53 experience and was assured their 2 top techs who have a long history with mains BMW before setting up this approved Indy have the necessary skills to work with it, but then they’re not going to tell me all their techs are pants either are they
They’re running a few tests and checking it over tomorrow so hopefully come end of play I’ll at least have some info.
Worst case scenario I take it from them, with a full list of what they have and haven’t done and remortgage my house whilst going to a fairly local BMW dealer that’s the bells and whistles. I’ve heard bad things about my local BMW stratstone, so not optimistic there.
DKIE92 said:
Was it running properly straight after the injector change?
For the coolant, it’s probably the sensor. I’m pretty sure the expansion tank doesn’t come with a new one (Could be wrong). If not, I’d change it.
I picked it up Friday evening, they’d been working on it in the morning and the car wasn’t “cold” when I collected it, worked perfectly for the drive home.For the coolant, it’s probably the sensor. I’m pretty sure the expansion tank doesn’t come with a new one (Could be wrong). If not, I’d change it.
It was the Saturday morning the issues started immediately. If they don’t swap the sensor out themselves over this next work load, I’ll jump on it straight away, thank you
Edited by axel1990chp on Tuesday 14th May 20:14
I've never had a good experience with Stratstone (albeit from a sales point of view).axel1990chp said:
bmwmike said:
I'd be checking battery state of charge and whether it's actually new. And codes. Read the codes.
I’ll ask them to email over the list of codes tomorrow and relay them here for sure 
Easy enough to check the battery voltages; need to be c12.4v engine off/car asleep and c14.4v with the engine running
Check at the battery terminals ideally - easy enough to sit the multimeter in the boot on top of the cover with it closed and locked, so you can see what the voltage settles too after c16m and it going to sleep
Any less than those and either you need a new battery or the alternator is having problems
However, the IBS could be at fault too
So here’s the fault codes;
Nothing untoward there!
They ran the battery and it passed, they’re sending a print out of that tomorrow, was meant to be this evening but I think it’s been lost in the conversation!
Had this from them in an email;
“ I have had our secondary technician carry out 2 separate smoke tests on the intake and exhaust system - there is currently zero leaks at the moment at all.
I am currently getting the intake manifold removed to inspect for defects/carbon build up. I would likely say this would be off by tomorrow lunch and can give you a further update on the findings.”
Nothing untoward there!
They ran the battery and it passed, they’re sending a print out of that tomorrow, was meant to be this evening but I think it’s been lost in the conversation!
Had this from them in an email;
“ I have had our secondary technician carry out 2 separate smoke tests on the intake and exhaust system - there is currently zero leaks at the moment at all.
I am currently getting the intake manifold removed to inspect for defects/carbon build up. I would likely say this would be off by tomorrow lunch and can give you a further update on the findings.”
d_a_n1979 said:
axel1990chp said:
bmwmike said:
I'd be checking battery state of charge and whether it's actually new. And codes. Read the codes.
I’ll ask them to email over the list of codes tomorrow and relay them here for sure Easy enough to check the battery voltages; need to be c12.4v engine off/car asleep and c14.4v with the engine running
Check at the battery terminals ideally - easy enough to sit the multimeter in the boot on top of the cover with it closed and locked, so you can see what the voltage settles too after c16m and it going to sleep
Any less than those and either you need a new battery or the alternator is having problems
However, the IBS could be at fault too
Would you suggest the issues you’ve mentioned would throw a wobble on the fault codes?
axel1990chp said:
So here’s the fault codes;
Nothing untoward there!
They ran the battery and it passed, they’re sending a print out of that tomorrow, was meant to be this evening but I think it’s been lost in the conversation!
Had this from them in an email;
“ I have had our secondary technician carry out 2 separate smoke tests on the intake and exhaust system - there is currently zero leaks at the moment at all.
I am currently getting the intake manifold removed to inspect for defects/carbon build up. I would likely say this would be off by tomorrow lunch and can give you a further update on the findings.”
Some thoughtsNothing untoward there!
They ran the battery and it passed, they’re sending a print out of that tomorrow, was meant to be this evening but I think it’s been lost in the conversation!
Had this from them in an email;
“ I have had our secondary technician carry out 2 separate smoke tests on the intake and exhaust system - there is currently zero leaks at the moment at all.
I am currently getting the intake manifold removed to inspect for defects/carbon build up. I would likely say this would be off by tomorrow lunch and can give you a further update on the findings.”
Ask them if there is a suction at the little hole on the CCV. That would mean the diaphragm is ruptured and allowing unmetered air in.
When it misfires can they pinpoint a cylinder via rough running report ?
Can they rule out a MOSFET or loom issue from the ECU to the injectors?
Is the lumpy running a misfire?
Does the exhaust smell rich? Presumably they coded the new injectors
bmwmike said:
Some thoughts
Ask them if there is a suction at the little hole on the CCV. That would mean the diaphragm is ruptured and allowing unmetered air in.
When it misfires can they pinpoint a cylinder via rough running report ?
Can they rule out a MOSFET or loom issue from the ECU to the injectors?
Is the lumpy running a misfire?
Does the exhaust smell rich? Presumably they coded the new injectors
Thanks for the response Mike, I'll ask the questions this afternoon when I speak with them. The unmetered air sounds like a good shout to me!Ask them if there is a suction at the little hole on the CCV. That would mean the diaphragm is ruptured and allowing unmetered air in.
When it misfires can they pinpoint a cylinder via rough running report ?
Can they rule out a MOSFET or loom issue from the ECU to the injectors?
Is the lumpy running a misfire?
Does the exhaust smell rich? Presumably they coded the new injectors
The exhaust definitely smelt rich before all this work, having only had it back for a few days I didn't notice it this time around, but I pray they wouldn't have been stupid enough not to code them after all this palaver
axel1990chp said:
d_a_n1979 said:
axel1990chp said:
bmwmike said:
I'd be checking battery state of charge and whether it's actually new. And codes. Read the codes.
I’ll ask them to email over the list of codes tomorrow and relay them here for sure Easy enough to check the battery voltages; need to be c12.4v engine off/car asleep and c14.4v with the engine running
Check at the battery terminals ideally - easy enough to sit the multimeter in the boot on top of the cover with it closed and locked, so you can see what the voltage settles too after c16m and it going to sleep
Any less than those and either you need a new battery or the alternator is having problems
However, the IBS could be at fault too
Would you suggest the issues you’ve mentioned would throw a wobble on the fault codes?
As Mike's said above; if you're getting extra air in after the MAF, that'll cause running issues as well... But would have thought a smoke test would have highlighted this (if done properly)
TBH if the injectors hadn't been coded i'd not expect it to run that poorly.
Good point Dan, true the smoke test should highlight if the CCV is duff, but the hole is tiny and its under the insulated top cover, so I can't imagine you'd get much or see much smoke coming out, depending on how or if the diaphragm is torn. When mine went, it was screeching like hell too, and oddly, didn't run all that badly.
It really needs live data to be viewed as its stumbling to see whats going on. I'm really surprised there are no codes relating to rough running though.
Good point Dan, true the smoke test should highlight if the CCV is duff, but the hole is tiny and its under the insulated top cover, so I can't imagine you'd get much or see much smoke coming out, depending on how or if the diaphragm is torn. When mine went, it was screeching like hell too, and oddly, didn't run all that badly.
It really needs live data to be viewed as its stumbling to see whats going on. I'm really surprised there are no codes relating to rough running though.
Running another leakage test again today.
Their senior tech with 30 years experience is giving me a call later to answer any questions, aggravations and discuss what's going on later this afternoon.
I can see this being either a complete goose chase costing a fortune on their expense, or it'll end up being a tiny little thing causing it, that we all go "oooooh that" and laugh.
Their senior tech with 30 years experience is giving me a call later to answer any questions, aggravations and discuss what's going on later this afternoon.
I can see this being either a complete goose chase costing a fortune on their expense, or it'll end up being a tiny little thing causing it, that we all go "oooooh that" and laugh.
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