E91 Straight Six Bearding

[ATM]

Court_S said:

ATM said:

Just updating here as its been a while. My friend's car still not working. Car had the main battery cable replaced and still dead.

Latest diagnosis is the main ECU is capput. He is currently waiting for a used replacement to be coded to his car. Will try to remember to update here once I know more.

Sounds like an utter ball ache. It’s been going on for a while a while now; hope he gets it sorted soon.

Replacement ECU fitted to the car and its running on all cylinders for longer than a few seconds.

New guys showed him some serious cowboy'ness in terms of the main battery cable that was 'replaced'. So this also needs fixing now.

[Court_S]

ATM said:

Replacement ECU fitted to the car and its running on all cylinders for longer than a few seconds.

New guys showed him some serious cowboy'ness in terms of the main battery cable that was 'replaced'. So this also needs fixing now.

That’s good news; sounds like progress has been made. Any indication as to what killed the old ECU?

[helix402]

Court_S said:

That’s good news; sounds like progress has been made. Any indication as to what killed the old ECU?

Maybe water ingress due to a blocked drain?

[ATM]

helix402 said:

Court_S said:

That’s good news; sounds like progress has been made. Any indication as to what killed the old ECU?

Maybe water ingress due to a blocked drain?

Could be not sure. Car has now been through hands of several specialists who were all useless. But old ECU did show water marks so if that's a common cause then it's probably likely. I was confused when he told me. I assumed ECU would be positioned somewhere away from potential water damage.

[sam.rog]

Any one know the best place to get a new glow plug control module? Specifically beru GSE108.
Cheers

[beambeam1]

ATM said:

helix402 said:

Court_S said:

That’s good news; sounds like progress has been made. Any indication as to what killed the old ECU?

Maybe water ingress due to a blocked drain?

Could be not sure. Car has now been through hands of several specialists who were all useless. But old ECU did show water marks so if that's a common cause then it's probably likely. I was confused when he told me. I assumed ECU would be positioned somewhere away from potential water damage.

If you go back a few pages you will see a lengthy post of mine covering this in great detail. Funny, I'm gutting out my shed ahead of a house move and found my old ECU yesterday!

[helix402]

sam.rog said:

Any one know the best place to get a new glow plug control module? Specifically beru GSE108.
Cheers

EBay or Autodoc.

[sam.rog]

helix402 said:

EBay or Autodoc.

Autodoc want £180 but its out of stock.
I’m weary of ebay as are the parts genuine.

[d_a_n1979]

sam.rog said:

helix402 said:

EBay or Autodoc.

Autodoc want £180 but its out of stock.
I’m weary of ebay as are the parts genuine.

Just pinged my pal a message as he's replaced his very recently and it was this seller he used and confirms it was a genuine BERU module he received:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192210351800?epid=25191...

Hope that helps

[MajorMantra]

Has anyone got experience of tracing vacuum leaks on the N52? I've cobbled together a smoke maker but I'm not sure where is best to tap into the system.

There are loads of not very helpful youtube videos on this subject, but I just need a clear diagram or photo identifying a hose I can easily disconnect.

[JakeT]

These don’t have a lot of places for vacuum leaks. I’d whip the air box out snd go down the inlet snorkel.

CCV original on it?

[MajorMantra]

JakeT said:

These don’t have a lot of places for vacuum leaks. I’d whip the air box out snd go down the inlet snorkel.

CCV original on it?

Can't be certain but mostly likely yes. Bought the car on 97k miles, now about to tick over 140k.

Air box could be a good shout, that's not too faffy...

[ATM]

beambeam1 said:

ATM said:

helix402 said:

Court_S said:

That’s good news; sounds like progress has been made. Any indication as to what killed the old ECU?

Maybe water ingress due to a blocked drain?

Could be not sure. Car has now been through hands of several specialists who were all useless. But old ECU did show water marks so if that's a common cause then it's probably likely. I was confused when he told me. I assumed ECU would be positioned somewhere away from potential water damage.

If you go back a few pages you will see a lengthy post of mine covering this in great detail. Funny, I'm gutting out my shed ahead of a house move and found my old ECU yesterday!

Ok

Well the guy who fixed this did say he had taken steps to fix any more leaking problems in the future. I'm not sure what this means or what he has done but I have told my friend to keep a close eye on it. I am assuming it can happen again at any time.

[Gad-Westy]

I’d like to do a full resto of everything on my rear sub frame at some point but I’m pondering whether it makes more sense to just buy another rear sub frame complete and work on that in isolation at my leisure then when it’s ready to fit swap the diff over and job jobbed.

Two questions.

Anything that is haven’t considered that make that a silly idea?

Can I use a sub frame from any E90/1/2/3 for my E91 335i sport or are there differences between models?

[Jakg]

Gad-Westy said:

Can I use a sub frame from any E90/1/2/3 for my E91 335i sport or are there differences between models?

There's some variance between them - the "rear axle carrier" is different on some manual cars. It's also used on some 1-series'.

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/part?id=VS72-EUR-...

[sam.rog]

Partner complained of a whining noise when setting off last week. Didn’t think much of it so took it out today find the cause.
Couldn’t hear much but a slight chirp when setting off. All of a sudden the battery light flashes on the dash. Battery not being charged.
st.
Limped it the 1.5 miles home and opened the bonnet. Belt slipped of the pulleys. Lucky still in one piece with no chunks missing.

Im assuming its the tensioner thats gone.
It was on my list if things to do but looks like it beat me to it. Car just on 102000 miles.

Lucky it wasn’t last week as we had a car full for a camping trip back to North Wales and did 350miles that weekend.

Any one got a good video of a n57 e90 aux belt replacement video as access looks a bit tight. I’ve seen a 5 series video but there looks to be more room in that engine bay. In the e91 it looks like the rad fan needs to come out to get any sort of access.

[helix402]

sam.rog said:

Partner complained of a whining noise when setting off last week. Didn’t think much of it so took it out today find the cause.
Couldn’t hear much but a slight chirp when setting off. All of a sudden the battery light flashes on the dash. Battery not being charged.
st.
Limped it the 1.5 miles home and opened the bonnet. Belt slipped of the pulleys. Lucky still in one piece with no chunks missing.

Im assuming its the tensioner thats gone.
It was on my list if things to do but looks like it beat me to it. Car just on 102000 miles.

Lucky it wasn’t last week as we had a car full for a camping trip back to North Wales and did 350miles that weekend.

Any one got a good video of a n57 e90 aux belt replacement video as access looks a bit tight. I’ve seen a 5 series video but there looks to be more room in that engine bay. In the e91 it looks like the rad fan needs to come out to get any sort of access.

I’ve not done an N57 one. I think you’re correct re fan removal. If it’s like an M57 it will have a stretch ac belt which ideally would be replaced too. Officially you need special tools to fit a new stretch belt.

[bodhi]

sam.rog said:

Partner complained of a whining noise when setting off last week. Didn’t think much of it so took it out today find the cause.
Couldn’t hear much but a slight chirp when setting off. All of a sudden the battery light flashes on the dash. Battery not being charged.
st.
Limped it the 1.5 miles home and opened the bonnet. Belt slipped of the pulleys. Lucky still in one piece with no chunks missing.

Im assuming its the tensioner thats gone.
It was on my list if things to do but looks like it beat me to it. Car just on 102000 miles.

Lucky it wasn’t last week as we had a car full for a camping trip back to North Wales and did 350miles that weekend.

Any one got a good video of a n57 e90 aux belt replacement video as access looks a bit tight. I’ve seen a 5 series video but there looks to be more room in that engine bay. In the e91 it looks like the rad fan needs to come out to get any sort of access.

Only time I've ever been stranded (up to now, much touching of wood) in a BMW was when my old E46 330d threw it's belt - after recovery it cost me a grand total of £120 to get going again.

[sam.rog]

Found a youtube video of a e93 n57. Fan does need to come out but looks to be plenty of room when it’s removed.
New gates belt kit ordered from Autodoc. Hopefully it arrives next week.
I do need to order a t50 for the pulleys.

I’m just thankful it happened close to home and didn’t get ingested into the engine. From the horror stories on the internet it can ruin an engine.

[pmorg4]

Not sure whether that's an issue with the diesels, it's certainly an issue with the N5x petrols as the clearance between the crank pulley and block is very tight meaning that any bits of belt that end up wrapped around the inside of the crank pulley get forced past the seal into the crank.

Belt change is easy on the N52 but the N54 needs fan removal due to reduced clearance caused by the front turbo intake pipe. I have a kit sitting on the shelf ready to fit but haven't found time to do it, tempting fate really