E91 Straight Six Bearding
Discussion
JakeT said:
All of this talk of DISA valves, I need to chime in. I’ve just rescued a friends 130i from certain death.
What we are all scared of happening, happened. He called me on Saturday morning to say it had suddenly had a misfire, and that he’d limped it home. It had a code showing for cyl6 misfire, and a shadow code for cyl5 misfire. I told him to swap the coil pack with cyl 1. No change. He’d also nipped out and purchased two new coil packs, and tried them. No change either. With that in mind, I told him to leave it there and I’d nip round on Sunday to sort it. My Mrs is travelling with work and I’m being made redundant, so it’s not like I’m busy.
Airport run done, I nipped round for some more troubleshooting. We swapped spark plugs, still no change. Ran with the eccentric shaft sensor disconnected, no change. The valve train also had the ‘sticky tappet’ noise that these do, but on speed. With that in mind, I was convinced of mechanical damage now. What can kill these engines? The sodding DISA valve. Removing the DISA valve, no flap. We fished the flap out of the inlet manifold, but no pin…
On Monday morning I nipped out and bought a borescope. A stick down the plug hole didn’t look too promising, but nothing conclusive. I think I see some witness marks at the top of it.
Not wanting to remove the inlet for no reason we snaked the borescope in and with some wiggling…
Yes. That’s the big DISA valve holding the inlet valve open on cyl6. Cyl5 was missing because the fuel and air mix is being forced out through the open valve, and upsetting the mixture on it.
So, inlet off. Confirmed and it took maybe 2 hours with some modified bent pliers to get the pin out. Once out, we put it all back together and ran it. No more misfire! But the tapping was still there. Concerned the valve follower or rocker had been damaged I did what any sensible person would do. Drove it.
Fortunately the tapping cleared up after 5 mins, ran it up to temperature and no more misfire codes! But I forgot to plug the tank vent valve in. So I’ll remove the airbox and get it all back on.
All In, a very satisfying repair and hopefully it’s kept the car on the road longer.
Was the shaft that you removed metal or plastic Jake, jut out of interest? It looks like it's metal in that borescope shot.What we are all scared of happening, happened. He called me on Saturday morning to say it had suddenly had a misfire, and that he’d limped it home. It had a code showing for cyl6 misfire, and a shadow code for cyl5 misfire. I told him to swap the coil pack with cyl 1. No change. He’d also nipped out and purchased two new coil packs, and tried them. No change either. With that in mind, I told him to leave it there and I’d nip round on Sunday to sort it. My Mrs is travelling with work and I’m being made redundant, so it’s not like I’m busy.
Airport run done, I nipped round for some more troubleshooting. We swapped spark plugs, still no change. Ran with the eccentric shaft sensor disconnected, no change. The valve train also had the ‘sticky tappet’ noise that these do, but on speed. With that in mind, I was convinced of mechanical damage now. What can kill these engines? The sodding DISA valve. Removing the DISA valve, no flap. We fished the flap out of the inlet manifold, but no pin…
On Monday morning I nipped out and bought a borescope. A stick down the plug hole didn’t look too promising, but nothing conclusive. I think I see some witness marks at the top of it.
Not wanting to remove the inlet for no reason we snaked the borescope in and with some wiggling…
Yes. That’s the big DISA valve holding the inlet valve open on cyl6. Cyl5 was missing because the fuel and air mix is being forced out through the open valve, and upsetting the mixture on it.
So, inlet off. Confirmed and it took maybe 2 hours with some modified bent pliers to get the pin out. Once out, we put it all back together and ran it. No more misfire! But the tapping was still there. Concerned the valve follower or rocker had been damaged I did what any sensible person would do. Drove it.
Fortunately the tapping cleared up after 5 mins, ran it up to temperature and no more misfire codes! But I forgot to plug the tank vent valve in. So I’ll remove the airbox and get it all back on.
All In, a very satisfying repair and hopefully it’s kept the car on the road longer.
So as usual for me a reliable car decides to go wrong after it’s up for sale (the 335i last 3 out of 4 cars).
I had limp mode today (yellow engine light) a Carly scan brings up codes: 2A87/3100.
Tried to clear but it came back after a short drive. I am leaning towards Vanos Solenoids needing doing but will investigate further.
I had limp mode today (yellow engine light) a Carly scan brings up codes: 2A87/3100.
Tried to clear but it came back after a short drive. I am leaning towards Vanos Solenoids needing doing but will investigate further.
zippyonline said:
Also worth check/try the rubber bumpers just above the rear lights. (circled red off a stock internet image)
I’ve done some more investigating this evening, and unfortunately it seems it has the common boot wiring issue. One of the wires going through the hatch is causing the light to ground, will have to get in there and see which wire is the offending item! Pretty sure it’s a brown/white wire… giving the rubber wiring boot a wiggle on the right hand side of the hatch now causes the lights to flicker on and off.williskwl said:
So as usual for me a reliable car decides to go wrong after it’s up for sale (the 335i last 3 out of 4 cars).
I had limp mode today (yellow engine light) a Carly scan brings up codes: 2A87/3100.
Tried to clear but it came back after a short drive. I am leaning towards Vanos Solenoids needing doing but will investigate further.
Which engine - N54 or N55? Does the management light clear after turning the car off?I had limp mode today (yellow engine light) a Carly scan brings up codes: 2A87/3100.
Tried to clear but it came back after a short drive. I am leaning towards Vanos Solenoids needing doing but will investigate further.
williskwl said:
It’s the N54, it did clear after turning the car off however returned again and the car re-entered limp mode after a short drive.
You might be lucky and get away with changing the VANOS solenoids.The bad news is that it could be worn cam ledges which is a pretty big day out.
The official BMW guidance says to start with the oil filter cap and make sure that the cage is in place / secure, then change the VANOS solenoids and after that, it’s new cam ledges.
You could try swapping the solenoids over to see if the error switches sides.
Court_S said:
williskwl said:
It’s the N54, it did clear after turning the car off however returned again and the car re-entered limp mode after a short drive.
You might be lucky and get away with changing the VANOS solenoids.The bad news is that it could be worn cam ledges which is a pretty big day out.
The official BMW guidance says to start with the oil filter cap and make sure that the cage is in place / secure, then change the VANOS solenoids and after that, it’s new cam ledges.
You could try swapping the solenoids over to see if the error switches sides.
williskwl said:
Thanks, I recall your thread on your cam ledges, fingers crossed as it’s lead a sheltered life and is on 55k it’s just the solenoids. Il try swapping them and see if the errors swap.
Fingers crossed.The cam ledges is one of those jobs that you may as well do both whilst you’re in there. Seems a silly design to have a square shouldered, steel seal spinning against aluminium because there’s only one winner in that situation.
Court_S said:
williskwl said:
It’s the N54, it did clear after turning the car off however returned again and the car re-entered limp mode after a short drive.
You might be lucky and get away with changing the VANOS solenoids.The bad news is that it could be worn cam ledges which is a pretty big day out.
The official BMW guidance says to start with the oil filter cap and make sure that the cage is in place / secure, then change the VANOS solenoids and after that, it’s new cam ledges.
You could try swapping the solenoids over to see if the error switches sides.
Dropped the E91 in for a while you wait oil change at the local indy. Whilst it was up in there we had a good look underneath - I wanted to check out the rear subframe really. Not too bad, but it could potentially do with a wire brushing and then a coating of Dynax.
Only concerning area was a spot of rust starting on the osr arch, just inside the arch where it's folded over, but it looks to have been resprayed at some point. The paint job on the osf door looked a bit ropey when looking at it from below, which is odd as it looks fine when it's on the ground!
One to keep an eye on anyway. I have a rattle can of paint so if it looks like it's getting worse I might whizz it back, treat it and give it a lick of paint. The bodywork elsewhere is starting to really show signs of age now though, sadly. Still looks decent from 10yds after good clean and wax though.
Only concerning area was a spot of rust starting on the osr arch, just inside the arch where it's folded over, but it looks to have been resprayed at some point. The paint job on the osf door looked a bit ropey when looking at it from below, which is odd as it looks fine when it's on the ground!
One to keep an eye on anyway. I have a rattle can of paint so if it looks like it's getting worse I might whizz it back, treat it and give it a lick of paint. The bodywork elsewhere is starting to really show signs of age now though, sadly. Still looks decent from 10yds after good clean and wax though.
Edited by Swervin_Mervin on Tuesday 6th May 15:30
Mervin, mine's looked pretty similar before I treated it. I did a wire wheel, rust converter, and then a good coast of rust-oleum black paint over it. Still looks 'okay' now, but I might go over it again during the summer. My rear arches have done the same too, but these are old cars now, corrosion is inevitable.
Yeah, I'm not overly worried about the subframe tbh, and the arch has been that way for a while. Other side is absolutely fine, and I treated the insides of the arches last year.
Forgot to mention on this thread that I've a BMW seat protector I no longer need now my son no longer needs a car seat. It also includes the seat back protector for the seat in front. Both parts in great condition, and welcome to a good home. I'm not after anything for them so if anyone wants them, or knows of someone who might, then please do PM me and we'll sort out postage.
Forgot to mention on this thread that I've a BMW seat protector I no longer need now my son no longer needs a car seat. It also includes the seat back protector for the seat in front. Both parts in great condition, and welcome to a good home. I'm not after anything for them so if anyone wants them, or knows of someone who might, then please do PM me and we'll sort out postage.
Swervin_Mervin said:
Yeah, I'm not overly worried about the subframe tbh, and the arch has been that way for a while. Other side is absolutely fine, and I treated the insides of the arches last year.
Forgot to mention on this thread that I've a BMW seat protector I no longer need now my son no longer needs a car seat. It also includes the seat back protector for the seat in front. Both parts in great condition, and welcome to a good home. I'm not after anything for them so if anyone wants them, or knows of someone who might, then please do PM me and we'll sort out postage.
If the seat protector is still available I’d be grateful for it. Forgot to mention on this thread that I've a BMW seat protector I no longer need now my son no longer needs a car seat. It also includes the seat back protector for the seat in front. Both parts in great condition, and welcome to a good home. I'm not after anything for them so if anyone wants them, or knows of someone who might, then please do PM me and we'll sort out postage.
helix403 said:
Swervin_Mervin said:
Yeah, I'm not overly worried about the subframe tbh, and the arch has been that way for a while. Other side is absolutely fine, and I treated the insides of the arches last year.
Forgot to mention on this thread that I've a BMW seat protector I no longer need now my son no longer needs a car seat. It also includes the seat back protector for the seat in front. Both parts in great condition, and welcome to a good home. I'm not after anything for them so if anyone wants them, or knows of someone who might, then please do PM me and we'll sort out postage.
If the seat protector is still available I’d be grateful for it. Forgot to mention on this thread that I've a BMW seat protector I no longer need now my son no longer needs a car seat. It also includes the seat back protector for the seat in front. Both parts in great condition, and welcome to a good home. I'm not after anything for them so if anyone wants them, or knows of someone who might, then please do PM me and we'll sort out postage.
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