EGR Fire - Technical Campaign - N47, B47 and N57
Discussion
Linkpad said:
To be honest I got a Nissan Juke replacement car and more than happy with it, OK its no BMW 330D but it does the job I think people expecting to get a replacement BMW like for like have got to be realistic. BMW have held here hands up are replacing the EGR parts free of charge isn't that enough?
I am assuming when the parts are replaced there not going to fail again? As this does sound a design flaw in the EGR cooler itself.
If you buy a car to help you get around the country in your day to day work doing 3000+ miles a month going from a 3.0 litre 4 series to a Hyundai 1.3 is in my mind unacceptable , i put forward this to BMW and gladly they helped me out by upgrading my hire car to a 320 tourer to be honest i dont care how long they have my car now i can get around the country in a comfortable sensible car , as a premium car manufacturer they are poor in communicating anything to do with this recall, looks like they have made a decision to allow faulty cars to go back on the road rather than stock piling cars waiting for parts to arrive in the UK if the previous post is anything to go by I am assuming when the parts are replaced there not going to fail again? As this does sound a design flaw in the EGR cooler itself.
Linkpad said:
To be honest I got a Nissan Juke replacement car and more than happy with it, OK its no BMW 330D but it does the job I think people expecting to get a replacement BMW like for like have got to be realistic. BMW have held here hands up are replacing the EGR parts free of charge isn't that enough?
Speaking personally I don't expect a like for like BMW replacement for my F31 335d. However, to downgrade people with a car like that to a Vauxhall Astra or equivalent is a bit disappointing IMO; I think something like an Insignia or equivalent would be more appropriate, especially as many drivers of diesel BMW's are likely to do a relatively high mileage and quite a lot of long runs for which the slightly larger car is more suitable.As for BMW doing the repairs FOC, I'd just point out they aren't doing us some fantastic favour here, they're having to replace defective parts for safety reasons. If they didn't - and someone was killed in one of their cars when BMW had guilty knowledge of the problem - BMW would be absolutely crucified (and rightly so IMO). They know that too so in my view this is as much (more?) about protecting their own position as it is about being nice to the customer.
BMW clearly don’t give a rats tail about this recall. Cars not being found with a leak are deemed safe to drive. What is to say the ‘ok’ car won’t catch fire a mile down the road. Defective parts should be replaced. Period. Even if there is a national shortage of parts. As soon as the parts become available the non leaking cars should also benefit from a new non-faulty part.
Super_G said:
BMW clearly don’t give a rats tail about this recall. Cars not being found with a leak are deemed safe to drive. What is to say the ‘ok’ car won’t catch fire a mile down the road. Defective parts should be replaced. Period. Even if there is a national shortage of parts. As soon as the parts become available the non leaking cars should also benefit from a new non-faulty part.
Yeah my Dec 2016 520d with 14k miles has been checked and and was told there was no need to replace mine as its OK ! That was by Williams LiverpoolAletank said:
Super_G said:
BMW clearly don’t give a rats tail about this recall. Cars not being found with a leak are deemed safe to drive. What is to say the ‘ok’ car won’t catch fire a mile down the road. Defective parts should be replaced. Period. Even if there is a national shortage of parts. As soon as the parts become available the non leaking cars should also benefit from a new non-faulty part.
Yeah my Dec 2016 520d with 14k miles has been checked and and was told there was no need to replace mine as its OK ! That was by Williams LiverpoolThe former I can understand given the current lack of available replacement parts but the latter is just unacceptable IMO; all affected cars should have the revised parts fitted although I do understand if BMW needs to prioritise those where the existing part has already failed and is therefore an immediate and known fire risk.
JNW1 said:
Are your dealers saying your cars aren't an immediate priority - with an intention to re-book them for the work once replacement parts become available - or are they saying because they're ok today they're fine and that's the end of it?
The former I can understand given the current lack of available replacement parts but the latter is just unacceptable IMO; all affected cars should have the revised parts fitted although I do understand if BMW needs to prioritise those where the existing part has already failed and is therefore an immediate and known fire risk.
The dealer checked it and said was the end of it. Yet there was a same year and same engine car there and I got talking to the owner who was saying his car had been compounded as the cooler was leaking. The former I can understand given the current lack of available replacement parts but the latter is just unacceptable IMO; all affected cars should have the revised parts fitted although I do understand if BMW needs to prioritise those where the existing part has already failed and is therefore an immediate and known fire risk.
I called several dealers after that and the BMW recall team. All said if it is OK then case closed. Either that part is faulty out of factory/poorly designed or it is not. It’s beyond a joke.
My service centre said they had inspected the car and that it would need the part replacing but was safe to drive and they would contact me again in "2-3 weeks" once the parts had arrived. Maybe they are looking for batch numbers on the parts to decide whether needs replacing and then impounding any cars which already show an obvious leak. Ours is 2015 F11 520d with 79k.
JNW1 said:
Are your dealers saying your cars aren't an immediate priority - with an intention to re-book them for the work once replacement parts become available - or are they saying because they're ok today they're fine and that's the end of it?
The former I can understand given the current lack of available replacement parts but the latter is just unacceptable IMO; all affected cars should have the revised parts fitted although I do understand if BMW needs to prioritise those where the existing part has already failed and is therefore an immediate and known fire risk.
The former I can understand given the current lack of available replacement parts but the latter is just unacceptable IMO; all affected cars should have the revised parts fitted although I do understand if BMW needs to prioritise those where the existing part has already failed and is therefore an immediate and known fire risk.
JNW1 said:
Aletank said:
Super_G said:
BMW clearly don’t give a rats tail about this recall. Cars not being found with a leak are deemed safe to drive. What is to say the ‘ok’ car won’t catch fire a mile down the road. Defective parts should be replaced. Period. Even if there is a national shortage of parts. As soon as the parts become available the non leaking cars should also benefit from a new non-faulty part.
Yeah my Dec 2016 520d with 14k miles has been checked and and was told there was no need to replace mine as its OK ! That was by Williams LiverpoolThe former I can understand given the current lack of available replacement parts but the latter is just unacceptable IMO; all affected cars should have the revised parts fitted although I do understand if BMW needs to prioritise those where the existing part has already failed and is therefore an immediate and known fire risk.
Not sure how closely linked the EGR & the EGR cooler are but i had the EGR replaced under warranty sometime in 2018 .
Hi all
I have a 120D 16 plate 18k miles, here is my story...
In December my coolant light went on, I know it shouldn't but I rang up the dealer who said it can happen and to top it off with water. I don't think they realized how much I had lost but anyway I thought it was nothing so topped it to max with the correct stuff 50/50.
I had noticed over the last month month or so that there was a very occasional smell of fumes coming through the A/C vents. I know what DPF regens smell like but this smelt of burning ash, exactly what I imagine burnt diesel gunk would smell like....
So anyway a week or two went by as did Christmas and New Year and the letter dropped through the door (about 2 weeks ago) about the EGR cooler recall. I immediately rang and told them about the coolant issue and they booked me in for what should of been today.
So... Last Sunday my coolant light went on again and I didn't feel like the car was safe to drive with still getting the occasional fume smell and having read of fires etc! I rang assist and they said the car was not safe to drive and so my car went on a flatbed to the dealer. Enterprise gave me a 330D due to lack of availability which was very nice indeed!
Two days later I got the call that my car was done and the problem of the recall had been actioned which seemed very quick. I never asked about the coolant as they had topped it off so I assumed it was all in hand.... Over the last few days though I have still been getting the ash smell again, I have constantly checked the coolant and so far as I can tell it hasn't budged although there hasn't been the time for it yet.
Is it possible I am being paranoid and is there a reason why I still get the fumes smell? Would the gunk introduced by the broken cooler potentially still be lurking around for a bit? Obviously if I spot any coolant loss it will be going straight back. Just a tad nervous as I am out of warranty early this year...
I have a 120D 16 plate 18k miles, here is my story...
In December my coolant light went on, I know it shouldn't but I rang up the dealer who said it can happen and to top it off with water. I don't think they realized how much I had lost but anyway I thought it was nothing so topped it to max with the correct stuff 50/50.
I had noticed over the last month month or so that there was a very occasional smell of fumes coming through the A/C vents. I know what DPF regens smell like but this smelt of burning ash, exactly what I imagine burnt diesel gunk would smell like....
So anyway a week or two went by as did Christmas and New Year and the letter dropped through the door (about 2 weeks ago) about the EGR cooler recall. I immediately rang and told them about the coolant issue and they booked me in for what should of been today.
So... Last Sunday my coolant light went on again and I didn't feel like the car was safe to drive with still getting the occasional fume smell and having read of fires etc! I rang assist and they said the car was not safe to drive and so my car went on a flatbed to the dealer. Enterprise gave me a 330D due to lack of availability which was very nice indeed!
Two days later I got the call that my car was done and the problem of the recall had been actioned which seemed very quick. I never asked about the coolant as they had topped it off so I assumed it was all in hand.... Over the last few days though I have still been getting the ash smell again, I have constantly checked the coolant and so far as I can tell it hasn't budged although there hasn't been the time for it yet.
Is it possible I am being paranoid and is there a reason why I still get the fumes smell? Would the gunk introduced by the broken cooler potentially still be lurking around for a bit? Obviously if I spot any coolant loss it will be going straight back. Just a tad nervous as I am out of warranty early this year...
Linkpad said:
Whats to say the EGR won't go faulty again ? I seen one guy on another forum on his 3rd EGR valve 
This is not the EGR valve, but EGR cooler which if being particular is a separate component.There has been issues with EGR valves though (but many manufacturers have in general had issues with the valves (and some coolers as well as BMW)).
Aletank said:
They said they had checked it and its OK and that's the end of it !
Not sure how closely linked the EGR & the EGR cooler are but i had the EGR replaced under warranty sometime in 2018 .
The EGR Valve is the physical valve (most obvious to me as a portion of it is a black plastic cylinder, at least mine has Warner printed on it and made in Germany from memory) that in the N57 at least sits on the front of the engine, left hand side at the top. The cooler is the metal brick (made in many cases by Korens, ironically, with made in Korea...where this all kicked off) looking thing slightly below it that cools the fumes that the EGR valve allows in as determined by the ECU. The gasses then mix with fresh air in the inlet manifold, through the swirl flaps into the cylinder...where the obvious combustion process occurs.Not sure how closely linked the EGR & the EGR cooler are but i had the EGR replaced under warranty sometime in 2018 .
The issue is that the cooler uses the main cooling circuit of the engine and can unfortunately allow the coolant to enter into the EGR cooler gas area and then the inlet manifold.
If mixed with the carbon build up (aka soot) that inherently forms because of the EGR first allowing the gases back round and contains some particulates and there being no solvent to remove that build up. The issue is that the coolant can mix with the carbon and the coolant really acts as a catalyst. Above certain temperatures then obviously that problem gets even worse and in certain scenarios you have extreme temperatures, such as during regeneration where everything will be running far hotter than in normal use.
Up until recently BMW used to not allow an EGR Valve and EGR Cooler as separate components as they were under one part number. You can now get the EGR valve and cooler under different part numbers.
Early N57's (sorry not sure about other engine types) featured a different part number until early/mid 2011, it then changed to another part number until the issues really arose with the coolers. I believe from what I have been told that the real ones with issues are these more recent ones as opposed to the earlier versions.
My 2014 330d went in nearly 3 weeks ago and still no news regarding its return. I do have an Enterprise 320d as a loan car so I’m not too bothered.
I’m quite happy with how the issue is being dealt with, as my car is out of warranty and I don’t subscribe to the BMW emergency service. It’s a pain the parts are on back order, but I feel BMW are dealing with it in the best way possible.
I also find it funny how upset people get when their loan car is ‘below their usual level’!
I’m quite happy with how the issue is being dealt with, as my car is out of warranty and I don’t subscribe to the BMW emergency service. It’s a pain the parts are on back order, but I feel BMW are dealing with it in the best way possible.
I also find it funny how upset people get when their loan car is ‘below their usual level’!
Fox- said:
Checked coolant this morning - was below minimum. Gave BMW a quick call to check I was ok to top it off and keep an eye on it.
45 minutes later my car vanished on a flatbed
And now my car is back - checked by dealer, not affected by recall, all done. EGR won't be replaced....45 minutes later my car vanished on a flatbed
I wonder where the coolant went?
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