E91 Straight Six Bearding

[beambeam1]

beambeam1 said:

E91 325i is starting to give me grief... starts up then dies immediately and subsequent attempts at start just cranks for ages with nothing happening. 2E77 is the code coming up which googling indicates is a power at ignition issue but just wanted to see what other folk have remedied this with if they have encountered it before?

In the process of checking the spark plugs I reckon the valve cover gasket has gone too as found oil in ignition coil chambers 2 and 3... great.

Not that anyone seemed fussed but it's turned out to be a waterlogged DME! BMW want £1100 for a new one but the guy working on car reckons he can clone to a 2nd hand one if I source it. We plough on...

[Swervin_Mervin]

beambeam1 said:

beambeam1 said:

E91 325i is starting to give me grief... starts up then dies immediately and subsequent attempts at start just cranks for ages with nothing happening. 2E77 is the code coming up which googling indicates is a power at ignition issue but just wanted to see what other folk have remedied this with if they have encountered it before?

In the process of checking the spark plugs I reckon the valve cover gasket has gone too as found oil in ignition coil chambers 2 and 3... great.

Not that anyone seemed fussed but it's turned out to be a waterlogged DME! BMW want £1100 for a new one but the guy working on car reckons he can clone to a 2nd hand one if I source it. We plough on...

I was just reading it thinking the DME has been for a bath!

I had similar last year. Cost me £450 for a refurbed DME flashed with the data from mine. And then a small additional amount for a new DME box. It's been fine ever since.

[JakeT]

zippyonline said:

I have a very detailed spreadsheet....including every single fuel fill-up (& type of fuel!) http://emoticons.datahamster.com/propeller.gif

That's big! Normal year doing 25,000 miles in a year I don't bear totting up the cost of fuel.

I'm on vPower for now though, while the miles are low. Seems better than usual stuff, and filling the car once a month means the cost difference matters very little.

[beambeam1]

Swervin_Mervin said:

I was just reading it thinking the DME has been for a bath!

I had similar last year. Cost me £450 for a refurbed DME flashed with the data from mine. And then a small additional amount for a new DME box. It's been fine ever since.

I'd love to know who you used for the refurbed unit and whatnot! My fingers are poised on a unit from eBay.

[paulguitar]

JakeT said:

I'm on vPower for now though, while the miles are low. Seems better than usual stuff, and filling the car once a month means the cost difference matters very little.

I have been mulling over whether I should use vPower in my new (to me) N53 330i? Without wishing to start any arguments, what are the beardist thoughts on this?

[JakeT]

paulguitar said:

I have been mulling over whether I should use vPower in my new (to me) N53 330i? Without wishing to start any arguments, what are the beardist thoughts on this?

I'd do it in an N53. Injectors can be poor at the best of time, and good fuel will only help them. Some people have good results with Archoil 6200, too. But if you can get it, and it's not silly money I'd go vPower. It won't stop the backside of the inlet valves getting iffy, but for all of the other bits of these engines that are so sensitive the additional detergents should help.

[Swervin_Mervin]

beambeam1 said:

Swervin_Mervin said:

I was just reading it thinking the DME has been for a bath!

I had similar last year. Cost me £450 for a refurbed DME flashed with the data from mine. And then a small additional amount for a new DME box. It's been fine ever since.

I'd love to know who you used for the refurbed unit and whatnot! My fingers are poised on a unit from eBay.

I'll be honest - I have no idea! Darren Wood in Stockport sorted it all. I think they sent the unit off to this company and the flashed 2nd hand unit returned. IIRC they were based in Ashton-under-Lyne

[Sir_Dave]

Speak to BWChiptune if your DME needs replacing

[bodhi]

paulguitar said:

JakeT said:

I'm on vPower for now though, while the miles are low. Seems better than usual stuff, and filling the car once a month means the cost difference matters very little.

I have been mulling over whether I should use vPower in my new (to me) N53 330i? Without wishing to start any arguments, what are the beardist thoughts on this?

I'd go VPower or Tesco Momentum where possible. Mine's an N52, but runs noticeably better and pulls better to the redline on 99 RON - usually get an extra 20 miles or so to the tank.

Haven't noticed a difference between Momentum and VPower however, so if you have a Tesco nearby, that would be my first choice.

[to3m]

JakeT said:

paulguitar said:

I have been mulling over whether I should use vPower in my new (to me) N53 330i? Without wishing to start any arguments, what are the beardist thoughts on this?

I'd do it in an N53. Injectors can be poor at the best of time, and good fuel will only help them. Some people have good results with Archoil 6200, too. But if you can get it, and it's not silly money I'd go vPower. It won't stop the backside of the inlet valves getting iffy, but for all of the other bits of these engines that are so sensitive the additional detergents should help.

I usually use Tesco 99 RON, Sainsbury's 97 RON, or Costco 97 RON, all inexpensive (as this stuff goes). No problems noted. Car has newish injectors and all that, replaced 3 years ago, around the time i bought it.

When I was driving more, the reported fuel economy seemed best with Sainsbury's, but there wasn't much in it, and I'd need to actually enter my receipts into my spreadsheet anyway to be sure. At the moment I usually go to Tesco, because I figure more RON = better, and I get clubcard points.

I did try 95 RON for one tank. Costco, I think. The car felt a bit reluctant, and the reported fuel ecenomy wasn't as good, so I didn't repeat the experiment.

[paulguitar]

Thanks for the advice chaps. I have both Shell and Tesco very close by. vPower is a lot more expensive, do we think Momentum is a worthy alternative?

[Swervin_Mervin]

To be quite honest, as long as it's super it should be fine. Freshness counts for a lot more IME than the brand of Super. If it's a busy station I'll sooner use that over another, regardless of brand. I tend to stick to Tesco or Sainsbury near me onthe A34 as both are very busy. It's cheaper than the Shell garages near me and the car runs just as well.

I remember a test in some mag (maybe Evo) a very long time ago and they found this to have a far bigger bearing on running than anything else.

I won't ever use BP though - absurdly expensive and crap IME. If I'm desperate then I'll splash a fiver in to get me to somewhere else instead

[bodhi]

paulguitar said:

Thanks for the advice chaps. I have both Shell and Tesco very close by. vPower is a lot more expensive, do we think Momentum is a worthy alternative?

Mine loves the stuff, plus I am on a fuel card at work so the 7ppl saving keeps Finance off my back for another month.

[ferrisbueller]

I don't know for sure but I would doubt that the supermarket fuels have the same additive packages as the big brand.
If I was running something like an N53 (or anything with a coking issue), I'd stick to a branded pump.

I run my N52 on Shell. Now and again I'll put VPower in it but I can't say as I feel a difference vs the standard in terms of the way it drives or the mileage on a tank. Maybe after a few tanks it would change.

[Swervin_Mervin]

ferrisbueller said:

I don't know for sure but I would doubt that the supermarket fuels have the same additive packages as the big brand.
If I was running something like an N53 (or anything with a coking issue), I'd stick to a branded pump.

I run my N52 on Shell. Now and again I'll put VPower in it but I can't say as I feel a difference vs the standard in terms of the way it drives or the mileage on a tank. Maybe after a few tanks it would change.

ISTR that the same article, along with a Trading Standards in-depth review of Shell's claims at the time, concluded that the only additive that was different in any material effect and that had any material bearing on engine life and performance was the de-coking one. Everything else was bogus and they had to cease with the false claims.

[zippyonline]

JakeT said:

zippyonline said:

I have a very detailed spreadsheet....including every single fuel fill-up (& type of fuel!)

That's big! Normal year doing 25,000 miles in a year I don't bear totting up the cost of fuel.

I'm on vPower for now though, while the miles are low. Seems better than usual stuff, and filling the car once a month means the cost difference matters very little.

I have done 41,571 miles in mine (as of my last fill up on the 18th of November), although I did 167 miles on the fuel that came with the car I purchased...and I've wasted maybe 5 litres when I dropped the tank to change the fuel breather pipe and didn't want to put the fuel I'd put in a questionable bucket back into the car! Anyway, I've put in 6706.31 litres of fuel into the car at a cost of £8,951.36 pence in that time. Of that 6706.31 litres, it's all been V Power apart from 593.09 litres which has been BP Ultimate. I've also spent £1625.62 on tyres (and fitting), but that's not really a fair representative of running costs given my early life suspension issues which made short work of a few sets of tyres...!

Nerdery over, as you were!

[bmwmike]

ferrisbueller said:

I don't know for sure but I would doubt that the supermarket fuels have the same additive packages as the big brand.
If I was running something like an N53 (or anything with a coking issue), I'd stick to a branded pump.

I run my N52 on Shell. Now and again I'll put VPower in it but I can't say as I feel a difference vs the standard in terms of the way it drives or the mileage on a tank. Maybe after a few tanks it would change.

Its oil quality rather than fuel quality which will have any effect on back-of-valve gunk/coke.

fwiw I just inspected my n53 valves (71k) and they are a lot worse now than 65k miles but ive got.a duff CCV which is accounting for more oil in the intake than usual. The gunk itself is not hard like diesel coke but looks more like sticky tar/oil. Its not near enough to warrant doing yet though, and im hopeful the fixed CCV will help.

[ferrisbueller]

bmwmike said:

ferrisbueller said:

I don't know for sure but I would doubt that the supermarket fuels have the same additive packages as the big brand.
If I was running something like an N53 (or anything with a coking issue), I'd stick to a branded pump.

I run my N52 on Shell. Now and again I'll put VPower in it but I can't say as I feel a difference vs the standard in terms of the way it drives or the mileage on a tank. Maybe after a few tanks it would change.

Its oil quality rather than fuel quality which will have any effect on back-of-valve gunk/coke.

fwiw I just inspected my n53 valves (71k) and they are a lot worse now than 65k miles but ive got.a duff CCV which is accounting for more oil in the intake than usual. The gunk itself is not hard like diesel coke but looks more like sticky tar/oil. Its not near enough to warrant doing yet though, and im hopeful the fixed CCV will help.

With the DI, yes. Audi actually had a specific additive in the oil and coating on the back of the valve to prevent it. The fuel system and injectors themselves would likely benefit from the fuel though.

[JakeT]

zippyonline said:

I have done 41,571 miles in mine (as of my last fill up on the 18th of November), although I did 167 miles on the fuel that came with the car I purchased...and I've wasted maybe 5 litres when I dropped the tank to change the fuel breather pipe and didn't want to put the fuel I'd put in a questionable bucket back into the car! Anyway, I've put in 6706.31 litres of fuel into the car at a cost of £8,951.36 pence in that time. Of that 6706.31 litres, it's all been V Power apart from 593.09 litres which has been BP Ultimate. I've also spent £1625.62 on tyres (and fitting), but that's not really a fair representative of running costs given my early life suspension issues which made short work of a few sets of tyres...!

Nerdery over, as you were!

Good nerding. I'm not disceplined or willing to map out my costs quite that much. In a 'regular' week before it could be 2 fills per week.

ferrisbueller said:

bmwmike said:

ferrisbueller said:

I don't know for sure but I would doubt that the supermarket fuels have the same additive packages as the big brand.
If I was running something like an N53 (or anything with a coking issue), I'd stick to a branded pump.

I run my N52 on Shell. Now and again I'll put VPower in it but I can't say as I feel a difference vs the standard in terms of the way it drives or the mileage on a tank. Maybe after a few tanks it would change.

Its oil quality rather than fuel quality which will have any effect on back-of-valve gunk/coke.

fwiw I just inspected my n53 valves (71k) and they are a lot worse now than 65k miles but ive got.a duff CCV which is accounting for more oil in the intake than usual. The gunk itself is not hard like diesel coke but looks more like sticky tar/oil. Its not near enough to warrant doing yet though, and im hopeful the fixed CCV will help.

With the DI, yes. Audi actually had a specific additive in the oil and coating on the back of the valve to prevent it. The fuel system and injectors themselves would likely benefit from the fuel though.

One consideration too is that the N53 does have an EGR valve, so some exhaust will re-enter the inlet. It's nowhere near as bad as diesel, but over big miles could be a consideration for some cleanliness (or lack thereof)

[g3org3y]

Tesco Momentum 99 for our N52 engined cars (and also the N62 X5).

The closest Shell stations to here are on the A12 and are silly money for regular unleaded (more than Momentum 99), let alone VPower.