M5 engine problems

M5 engine problems

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Discussion

granville

18,764 posts

262 months

Monday 28th August 2006
quotequote all
Cheers for that, Steve, obvioulsy your input is greatly valued.

The 'MAFs' have been changed recently, so I've been informed - could it still be these, however?

I do hope so.

Btw, do these cars always drive like absolute sh1t until all the warm up lights are out? I'd like to say that mine's rough during this period (I generally try not to even move off at all until they've all gone out) but it's not that smooth!


Wild Bill 'M5' Hiccup.

rassi

2,454 posts

252 months

Monday 28th August 2006
quotequote all
The rough cold running to me sounds like MAFs - if they hadn't been changed recently I would have bet they were the culprits. Perhaps try cleaning them first? Also, you can check if they are working correctly by using the OBD test: www.m5board.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=54788 Doing the test described there, I am getting 125 l/hour in 3rd at WOT, which should be around the 140 l/hour mark

Procedure is detailed below. See test 4 (l/hour)

"Test Modes" of the OBC.

UNLOCK PROCEDURE:

1) Key to ignition pos 2 (no need to start engine).
2) Fasten the seat belt to get rid of the "Fasten Seat Belt" message.
3) Press the right button on the instrument panel, and hold it until "TEST-NR. 01" comes up (5 to 10 seconds).
4) Press the left button on the instrument panel, and the vehicle id comes up (last 7 digits of VIN).
5) Add up the last 5 digits to get the "unlock code", e.g. the unlock code for "AB12345" would be 15 (1+2+3+4+5).
6) Repeatedly press the right button until "TEST-NR. 19" appears.
7) Press left button -> "LOCK : ON"
8) Repeatedly press left button until "LOCK : xx" appears, where "xx" is your unlock code.
9. Press the right button. All modes are unlocked now.

NAVIGATING BETWEEN TESTS AND PERFORMING THEM:

- Follow steps 1) to 3) of the "UNLOCK PROCEDURE" to enter test mode.
- Use the right button to step from test to test.
- Press the left button to enter a test and cycle between modes within a test.
- Press and hold the right button to exit test mode (turning the key to 0 works as well).

Here is what I know about the various test modes:

2) Instrument test: Cute light show in the instrument panel. Ever wanted to see the speedo show 190 without having to leave the garage?

3) Don't know.

4) Current fuel consumption in liters per 100 kilometers and in liters per hour.

5) Average fuel consumption in liters per 100 kilometers and range.

6) Current fuel levels in left tank, right tank, and total.

7) Engine temperature (not sure where measured), engine RPM, and outside temperature.

8) Current speed in kilometers per hour.

9) Battery voltage.

10) Country.

11) Don't know.

12) Not sure what these are. Could be average speed used to calculate arrival time for distance to destination set in OBC?

13) Sound test. Goes through the various gong sounds.

14) Don't know. Could be some diagnostic codes.

15) DOn't know. Looks like a real-time readout of some registers.

16) Oil temperature. I sometimes get a bogus -48 degrees C when the engine is not running. Corrects itself when the engine is on.

17) Don't know.

18) Doesn't do anything.

19) Locking & unlocking of the test modes.

20) Don't know.

21) Don't know. This test asks you "RESET?". Let me know what it does, if you're brave enough to try it. I'd recommend to stay clear, though.

granville

18,764 posts

262 months

Monday 28th August 2006
quotequote all
Rassi, that's deeply impressive but if I went even vaguely near to what you're suggesting, BMW would be faced with the first M5 in Dalek mode to date...

Er, wait a minute...

eliot

11,454 posts

255 months

Tuesday 29th August 2006
quotequote all
derestrictor said:
Rassi, that's deeply impressive but if I went even vaguely near to what you're suggesting, BMW would be faced with the first M5 in Dalek mode to date...

Er, wait a minute...

Take it like a man then i guess..

AddM

2 posts

215 months

Wednesday 30th August 2006
quotequote all
The symptons first decribed by Futie in this thread are now happening to my beast, luckily im under warranty so am gonna make some calls tto the dealer, i could be some time..............................

granville

18,764 posts

262 months

Wednesday 30th August 2006
quotequote all
Mine's gone in this morning.

I have to say, the sense of 'fixed price menu - by rotism' fills me with little confidence.

I just know they're going to fail to provoke the 'limp mode' issue and I've got another problem just surfaced which I thought was brake related but isn't (a knocking sound, from the front I think which is directly proportional to wheel rotation in or out of gear) but has foxed 2 spannerists thus far.

Theft of the unspeakable 320d loaner might be the only solution.


May The Lord watch over my wallet,

Zacariah Shuttleworth.

off_again

12,346 posts

235 months

Wednesday 30th August 2006
quotequote all
Oh god, I have to say that I am now extremely cautious about an M5 now - its not that a couple of owners have had problems, but the fear of the unknown is bothering me. Currently sorting my finances out and was looking to get one at the end of the year, but I am wavering a little. My E39 seems unburstable at the moment and I run the risk of getting out of one good car into a dog....

Mind you, the alternatives are just as costly - XJR, E34 M5 etc.... why cant we just buy a car and have predictable costs?

Anyway, on a different note - spotted a fantastic dark green E34 M5 the other day on the M4. Old chap driving it, but it was mint with the late parallel wheels and full leather interior (we were crawling near the reading turn!). They still do look great and sound fantastic too - could it be the sure-fire classic from the BMW range? I mean, sleeper image and driven by people who are enthusiasts not boy races?

granville

18,764 posts

262 months

Wednesday 30th August 2006
quotequote all
My advice for pain-free performance motoring (and I mean cost free)?

Honda NSX or if you need room (and I'm sorry but it's perfectly fine) the Lexus LS430.

I paid 55 large in '01 for mine (what a doofus) and that same car could be yours, immaculate platimum ice silver, sub 50k miles for £15-£18k.

Unlike the Anglo-Saxon rubbish, they do not go wrong, end of story.

Of course these are higly strung motors and they were £60k new and service costs are appropriate and you should expect big bills but they are still made from Stilton.

Last series E55 AMG?

It's a bleedin' fiasco, I tell ya!





off_again

12,346 posts

235 months

Wednesday 30th August 2006
quotequote all
Somewhat going off topic here, but the choice from £10k to £15k is quite large and I must admit that I hadn't considered a Lexus. A quick search of AT came up with 2 GS430's - thats not a lot....

Mind you, love'em or hate'em the new shape 735/745 models are down to that price and must be less stressed than an M so could be a bit of a bargain.

Are Lexii that reliable? I mean, better than German? Considering I have recently spanked nearly £1,500 on mine in the last 4 months anything is better than a flipping BMW.... (thats a joke by the way...).

granville

18,764 posts

262 months

Wednesday 30th August 2006
quotequote all
off_again said:
Somewhat going off topic here, but the choice from £10k to £15k is quite large and I must admit that I hadn't considered a Lexus. A quick search of AT came up with 2 GS430's - thats not a lot....


Mate, you want the LS, I ran it next to something green with 6.75 on the mount plate and more often than not, I prefered to Partridge, seriously. It's not M5 fast, nor does it handle anything like but it does a good dance by mortal standards and wafts au Maybach, at 160mph.

off_again said:
Mind you, love'em or hate'em the new shape 735/745 models are down to that price and must be less stressed than an M so could be a bit of a bargain.


I fully agree, though sub-£20k? Gollum! Great handling, must be worth an exploratory tipple...

off_again said:
Are Lexii that reliable? I mean, better than German? Considering I have recently spanked nearly £1,500 on mine in the last 4 months anything is better than a flipping BMW.... (thats a joke by the way...).


Oh yes This 'better than German' as a reliability benchmark is now surely debunked as pure mythology?

mustard

6,992 posts

246 months

Wednesday 30th August 2006
quotequote all
Working day in day out with different makes of cars normally makes you fully aware of their problems

I can honestly say the only minor issues with an Lexus LS400 (pre LS430)

are

1. Seat heaters sometimes fail (most common on mk3 version)
2. Radio Display can fail (again most common on mk3)
3. Rear Ball Joints wear (lets face it, its a big heavy car)
4. Alloy Wheels corrode (common fault on most jap cars)
5. Air Con Compressor can fail circa 150k (most common on mk1/2)

You take thing thing in for a service and its just routine plus the addition of tyres, pads, discs

THEY ARE THE MOST RELIABLE CARS YOU CAN BUY!.... I spent 7yrs with them, Mercs are crap by comparision, BMW's merely average, cant comment really on Audis

off_again

12,346 posts

235 months

Wednesday 30th August 2006
quotequote all
Mmmm, maybe I need to re-think my outlook..... could a Japanese barge be worth a look.... I think so....

dazren

22,612 posts

262 months

Wednesday 30th August 2006
quotequote all
shout Hey DeR!!! Any news from the garage?

DAZ

granville

18,764 posts

262 months

Wednesday 30th August 2006
quotequote all
dazren said:
shout Hey DeR!!! Any news from the garage?

DAZ


Indeed, my leige.

They have clearly done almost nothing so I'm stuck with this awful little 320d abberation; why they couldn't have made it an Alpina D3 I don't know?

Still, the stez is one of those 'professional' laballed ones and sounds half decent, I'll try and cheer myself up on the rattle home ce soir with a dollop of Mk2 Rainbow (Rising.)

The car may not be fast but the moshing will be seismic.

I hate cars, they're crap, all they do is cost me the fiscal defecit of Liberia whilst delivering NO utility.

Frankly, the allure of professional SubWiganer seems increasingly viable: the parading of lurid sportwear, mass eating of slightly meat based pastry saturate and imbibement of alcopops whilst swinging from lampstands trying to catch the odd glimmer of sunlight against an excessively proportioned signet ring during those rare moments of non-ground based, knuckular scrape.

nbetts

1,455 posts

230 months

Wednesday 30th August 2006
quotequote all
off_again said:
Are Lexii that reliable? I mean, better than German? Considering I have recently spanked nearly £1,500 on mine in the last 4 months anything is better than a flipping BMW.... (thats a joke by the way...).


YES. They really really are... Seven years of Ownership of various Lexii... GS300, LS400, IS200, IS300, and about 4xRX300's... only fault... Air Suspension stuck in High position on one of the RX300's.

Dealer fixed whilst I drove around in a GS430... when I picked the car up again, the car had received a complimentary Valet, I received a bottle of Champers and a £100 cheque for my inconvenience... Now That is Service.

granville

18,764 posts

262 months

Thursday 31st August 2006
quotequote all
Y'all,

Just had the YTS lad on the phone from the alleged dealer, I may be spared ruination after all.

They are replacing the MAFs and reprogramming the DME (or ecu, to you, me and Freddy Myers).

They think this will return me to a happier Britain. Ve shall see.

Re the knocking sound, it transpires the near side bottom ball joint is goosed, ergo it too will soon benefit from the attentions of an assault upon what car dealers clearly assume to be, the infitessimal void aka their punters' wallets.

It all adds up to a minor rogering but it's (hopefully) modest proportions may leave justifiable scope for a hove back to inevitability.

The Kingdome of Evo IX San.


To schnell or to banzai, that is the question...

dazren

22,612 posts

262 months

Thursday 31st August 2006
quotequote all
Great news. So orf to the 'Bahn tonight to check things are all working properly?

DAZ

granville

18,764 posts

262 months

Thursday 31st August 2006
quotequote all
dazren said:
Great news. So orf to the 'Bahn tonight to check things are all working properly?

DAZ


Alas, parts aren't in till the morrow but yes, I'll certainly be challenging socialism by evensong.


[Bill Duke in Commando mode] I like M5s...[/Bill Duke in Commando mode]

Biker.ie

170 posts

241 months

Thursday 31st August 2006
quotequote all
Should be sorted with new MAF meters but if the fault returns (basically a misfire which defaults into limp home mode) then its the cps (camshaft position sensors) or vanos solenoids, which aren't even nearly as expensive to replace as doom'n gloom merchants would have you believe.

If you're thinking about trading the M5 (3.3 alpina wtf!) I'd suggest the cheaper option of forking out 3k for a full suspension refresh incl. new shocks/bushings/wishbones/steering joints etc. which basically transforms the M5 into its former glory and does wonders for steering feel & overall tautness.

Anything short of a V10 or superchagged Alpina B5 would be a mistake bandit

granville

18,764 posts

262 months

Thursday 31st August 2006
quotequote all
Biker.ie said:

If you're thinking about trading the M5 (3.3 alpina wtf!) I'd suggest the cheaper option of forking out 3k for a full suspension refresh incl. new shocks/bushings/wishbones/steering joints etc. which basically transforms the M5 into its former glory and does wonders for steering feel & overall tautness.

Anything short of a V10 or superchagged Alpina B5 would be a mistake bandit


You see, this is the kind of 'devil on my shoulder' advice which is all too likely to see me do something sensible, just like the advice itself, rather than a practical, sensible swerve into the realm of tora charging IXdom! banghead AAAaaaargh!!!

Mate, is this something you've done o'er in the emerald isle?

DeR.