E61 530i - What should I be looking for? (Advice)

[axel1990chp]

Im holding out hope but my wallet is very anxious

Have a feeling Injector will make a grand appearance, so thought id have a little email to the local stealer's regarding an Index 11...



Not very promising on that price....

[bmwmike]

axel1990chp said:

Im holding out hope but my wallet is very anxious

Have a feeling Injector will make a grand appearance, so thought id have a little email to the local stealer's regarding an Index 11...



Not very promising on that price....

BMW dealer pricing. You'd get a better price by going to cotswold BMW and tell them you found them on e90post or just contact them via that site.

Cheaper here too: https://www.mlperformance.co.uk/products/genuine-b...

N54 injectors do fit and work.

Edited by bmwmike on Wednesday 17th April 13:18

[axel1990chp]

Thanks Mike! That's given me a little peace of mind!

All shall be revealed tomorrow I suppose

[roadie]

Ideally a code reader would help inform what the problem is.

If it is the HPFP, I've recently had done on my N55 and from watching it's not a horrific job.

[axel1990chp]

Misfire cylinder 1.
Swapped the spark and coil onto 2 & 3 to see where we go from here after a few days!

On another note, fantastic 3 series touring sporting an m4 brake kit conversion with some brilliant alloys!

Anyone any idea what these are?

[bmwmike]

Did the garage do any actual diagnosis, read the codes, etc, or just swap the coils?

[axel1990chp]

bmwmike said:

Did the garage do any actual diagnosis, read the codes, etc, or just swap the coils?

Full diagnosis, aside for a little AC sensor issue and another couple minor alerts just the misfire, they’ve swapped them and soon as the EML happens again I can just whip it in for a quick check.

Obviously hoping it’s a cheaper issue, but that being said, if it’s an injector I’m going to take the dive and go for all 6 on index 12s.

In for a penny, in for a pound, the missus won’t be happy but I just paid for her airport parking at £60, so I’d say that’ll cover it

I did notice the power steering fluid has slightly leaked through the cap, noticeable because the engine bay is absolutely immaculate all the time, and only done 63k miles so there’s barely any wear and tear in there.

Been told sometimes it vents out if it’s reached a high temp/pressure, so I’ve wiped it down and will monitor, but it’s nothing related to the current issue…. Or I can’t see how it can be!

[d_a_n1979]

axel1990chp said:

Misfire cylinder 1.
Swapped the spark and coil onto 2 & 3 to see where we go from here after a few days!

On another note, fantastic 3 series touring sporting an m4 brake kit conversion with some brilliant alloys!

Anyone any idea what these are?

Style 260s pal:

https://www.auto-treff.com/wcf/index.php?article/2...

[axel1990chp]

d_a_n1979 said:

Style 260s pal:

https://www.auto-treff.com/wcf/index.php?article/2...

Hero Dan!
If this doesn’t turn out to be an expensive endeavour I may have to jump on those

[d_a_n1979]

axel1990chp said:

d_a_n1979 said:

Style 260s pal:

https://www.auto-treff.com/wcf/index.php?article/2...

Hero Dan!
If this doesn’t turn out to be an expensive endeavour I may have to jump on those

Just get them bought and then slip into denial

Not cheap either and rarely crop up; my pal wanted a set for his E90 M3 and never found them in the 12 months he had the car; there is a set here though

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/186260683026?itmmeta=01...

You'll need fairly aggressive spacers too; E6x offset for 18s is around 20 IIRC - so you'll need thick spacers to get them to sit right unfortunately

IMO these would be a much better buy:

https://www.bmautosport.co.uk/showroom/product_inf...

[bmwmike]

axel1990chp said:

bmwmike said:

Did the garage do any actual diagnosis, read the codes, etc, or just swap the coils?

Full diagnosis, aside for a little AC sensor issue and another couple minor alerts just the misfire, they’ve swapped them and soon as the EML happens again I can just whip it in for a quick check.

Obviously hoping it’s a cheaper issue, but that being said, if it’s an injector I’m going to take the dive and go for all 6 on index 12s.

In for a penny, in for a pound, the missus won’t be happy but I just paid for her airport parking at £60, so I’d say that’ll cover it

I did notice the power steering fluid has slightly leaked through the cap, noticeable because the engine bay is absolutely immaculate all the time, and only done 63k miles so there’s barely any wear and tear in there.

Been told sometimes it vents out if it’s reached a high temp/pressure, so I’ve wiped it down and will monitor, but it’s nothing related to the current issue…. Or I can’t see how it can be!

That's just what hydraulic PS systems do in my experience. Maybe change the fluid if its not still red.

Re the injectors, sounds like they just read the codes. Fair enough, and indeed, a misfire could well be a coilpack, or plugs, or injectors, but it won't cause a sluggish start as you previously mentioned, assuming i'm interpreting your description accurately. I'd maybe check the battery voltage and health, if its the original or unknown etc it might be time for a new one, or just a charge up with a charger if the car is used for short journeys.

[axel1990chp]

bmwmike said:

That's just what hydraulic PS systems do in my experience. Maybe change the fluid if its not still red.

Re the injectors, sounds like they just read the codes. Fair enough, and indeed, a misfire could well be a coilpack, or plugs, or injectors, but it won't cause a sluggish start as you previously mentioned, assuming i'm interpreting your description accurately. I'd maybe check the battery voltage and health, if its the original or unknown etc it might be time for a new one, or just a charge up with a charger if the car is used for short journeys.

Morning Mike,

I had the battery changed as par for course a few months ago, and registered. Its a OEM+ replacement from my Approved indy so I assume it was up to the job! Its run faultless since its change up until a couple weeks ago, but I did raise it when I was there, In fairness they had the car near 3 hours digging, and I have a good relationship with them so Im hopeful they checked it over as I relayed your comments from above!

Its far from over so Ill persevere! Ill have a check over the paperwork this evening and check the replacement re:specs though, so thank you!

d_a_n1979 said:

Just get them bought and then slip into denial

Not cheap either and rarely crop up; my pal wanted a set for his E90 M3 and never found them in the 12 months he had the car; there is a set here though

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/186260683026?itmmeta=01...

You'll need fairly aggressive spacers too; E6x offset for 18s is around 20 IIRC - so you'll need thick spacers to get them to sit right unfortunately

IMO these would be a much better buy:

https://www.bmautosport.co.uk/showroom/product_inf...

20ET from my head for mine aye, looks as though those 260s really sit in them!

But anyway you're a bad influence

Edited by axel1990chp on Friday 19th April 09:53

[axel1990chp]

So the issue continues.

Pack to cylinder 2, plug to cylinder 3.
Issue still pops up on cylinder 1.

Injector swapped to cylinder 3.
Issue STILL pops up on cylinder 1.

I guess it isn’t looking good right this moment, any ideas where to start looking next?

Going to have a compression and leak test booked in, hoping it’s some seal that’s the issue (problem only occurs on cold start), but it’s also leaving me wondering, what could be the worst case here? Full rebuild?

Feeling a pretty time consuming and expensive way forward, not sure I have that available to me at this current time in life!

[bmwmike]

axel1990chp said:

So the issue continues.

Pack to cylinder 2, plug to cylinder 3.
Issue still pops up on cylinder 1.

Injector swapped to cylinder 3.
Issue STILL pops up on cylinder 1.

I guess it isn’t looking good right this moment, any ideas where to start looking next?

Going to have a compression and leak test booked in, hoping it’s some seal that’s the issue (problem only occurs on cold start), but it’s also leaving me wondering, what could be the worst case here? Full rebuild?

Feeling a pretty time consuming and expensive way forward, not sure I have that available to me at this current time in life!

The DME measures the combustion on a per bank basis. Basically a lean or rich (leaky injector) condition in one cylinder can show up as a misfire in an adjacent cylinder as the DME struggles to manage the trims/ratios.

Explains better than I can: https://bimmerprofs.com/misfires-lambda-probes/

[DKIE92]

axel1990chp said:

So the issue continues.

Pack to cylinder 2, plug to cylinder 3.
Issue still pops up on cylinder 1.

Injector swapped to cylinder 3.
Issue STILL pops up on cylinder 1.

I guess it isn’t looking good right this moment, any ideas where to start looking next?

Going to have a compression and leak test booked in, hoping it’s some seal that’s the issue (problem only occurs on cold start), but it’s also leaving me wondering, what could be the worst case here? Full rebuild?

Feeling a pretty time consuming and expensive way forward, not sure I have that available to me at this current time in life!

At the mileage your car is at, I wouldn’t be thinking about a rebuild just yet.

Is it right that your car is at a dealer? You can test the injectors on ISTA which is dealer level software, so if the car is at a dealer I assume they’ve done that?

[axel1990chp]

bmwmike said:

The DME measures the combustion on a per bank basis. Basically a lean or rich (leaky injector) condition in one cylinder can show up as a misfire in an adjacent cylinder as the DME struggles to manage the trims/ratios.

Explains better than I can: https://bimmerprofs.com/misfires-lambda-probes/

Cheers Mike I’ll give that a scowering over dinner tonight!

DKIE92 said:

At the mileage your car is at, I wouldn’t be thinking about a rebuild just yet.

Is it right that your car is at a dealer? You can test the injectors on ISTA which is dealer level software, so if the car is at a dealer I assume they’ve done that?

It’s at a Local approved Indy, they’ve been straight shooters with me and there’s a good relationship, not sure if they have this available to them, but I’ve fired off an email with some info I’ve managed to quickly compile so they can assure me of what they’re going to try and do and why!

[axel1990chp]

From the Indy today;
"Hi, Luke. Just a bit of info for you on yours... Good news is that the Compression test…is all cylinders ok. all cylinders are at 11bar.

We have checked the injector values.
We will need to retest when cold as the misfire is not apparent when warm
Our next step is to scope the injectors to check the signal and determine the cause of the misfire. The signal is grounded through the ecu, these can suffer with ECU failures that cause misfires, so will update you hopefully tomorrow with the outcome of the further testing if that's okay with you? "

Not too savvy here, but as always, I welcome a second opinion/experience if anyone has it! Always take a learning opportunity and this seems like one, if anyone is so kind?

[bmwmike]

axel1990chp said:

From the Indy today;
"Hi, Luke. Just a bit of info for you on yours... Good news is that the Compression test…is all cylinders ok. all cylinders are at 11bar.

We have checked the injector values.
We will need to retest when cold as the misfire is not apparent when warm
Our next step is to scope the injectors to check the signal and determine the cause of the misfire. The signal is grounded through the ecu, these can suffer with ECU failures that cause misfires, so will update you hopefully tomorrow with the outcome of the further testing if that's okay with you? "

Not too savvy here, but as always, I welcome a second opinion/experience if anyone has it! Always take a learning opportunity and this seems like one, if anyone is so kind?

As the chap above says, ISTA has an injector test - have they run that ? I'm not sure what "injector values" refers to, calibration settings, or something else.

MOSFET failure in the DME/ECU is rare but can happen. Far more common to need new injectors though.

These engines can be a bit of a nightmare if they are subject to usual garage diagnostics (parts cannon, scope and hope, switcheroo, etc) and not someone who actually understands these engines and how they work.

Classic sign of a leaking injector is cold start misfire. Also wet plug if sat overnight.