XSeries-forum

... and forgot to mention: I asked the service guy about the oil change light coming on at 4500km left. He reckons it is normal. Hmm. Not sure - it wasn't like that on my previous (petrol) engines with iDrive but I have no other evidence to contradict him.

Peter T

[quote=""petert""]Jalf - feeling a bit thick this evening - can't read between the lines on what caused your 'engine malfunction, reduced power' warnings... I haven't had any warnings though the EMS amber light was on a few months ago before I had the recall work done on the DDE and air mass sensor.

Peter T[/quote]

To quote Han Solo;
[quote=""Han Solo""]She'll make point five past lightspeed. She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid. I've made a lot of special modifications myself.[/quote]
But in this case not past lightspeed and not that many or special, but a few
Once I got my BM dealer to confirm it wasn't the car or engine management system at fault I made a few adjustments/replacements and its been fine ever since.

Yes - but what adjustments?!!!

Peter T

ECU upgrades and tuning boxes, tried them on a few cars and I've had differing results, depends what you are looking for performance/ecomomy, mine is sitting in the sweet spot for both right now.

Ah - I see - thanks. I don't really have that option as the car is leased and I don't think they will take kindly to me modifying it. Will report back on what the dealer finds/fixes.

Petr T

OK - got the car back. They have changed the engine oil, refilled the exhaust fluid, performed what is described on the service sheet as 'ISID 6 diagnostic test and reset adaption'. The service technician says the car was ok when road tested. They ask me to drive it for a week or so to allow the engine/gearbox to build up an adaption history and get back to them if I still think it's not right. They also said they had reset several fault codes that could have contributed to the performance deficit and that there were coding issues that probably go back to when the car was coded last October.

The drive home from the dealer is only about 15km so it's a bit early to be definitive but initial impressions are that its better in terms of engine performance, but that gearchanges are not that much different. Economy seems aboyut the same but I'll be able to tell more after a full round-trip to work and back tomorrow. I'll update as my impressions develop over next few days.

Peter T

Went back to the dealer today and did a back-to-back test drive - my car first then a brand new (150km on the clock) x35d. The cars were pretty much the same so I regretfully have to conclude that it's my perception of reduced performance, enhanced by the normal reduction caused by winter diesel. I'll keep an eye on it! The workshop supevisor (a brit as it happens) drove my car as well and thinks it's ok and boy did he give it a good thrutching.

He did detect an unrelated problem - the auxiliary water pump was cutting in and out very frequently - apparently there is a service bulletin about this. I also mentioned that the cruise control display behaviour is different and he said that is also the subject of a service bulletin. So, the car goes in next week to have these two issues fixed whilst I am away on business.

At the moment the OBC tells me about 23 us mpg (about 28 imperial mpg) Last summer I was getting around 26 us mpg (around 31mpg). The car is not driven hard. I used to get 980km an the range when brimmed, now it's usually below 900.

Roll on warmer weather, proper diesel and improved performance and economy!

Peter T

Got the cruise control behaviour back to normal and they tell me the auxiliary water pump issue is also fixed. Apparently there are service bulletins for both these issues so might be worth other E70 owners watching out for. Hope this helps someone.

Peter T

what on earth is exhaust fluid ???????

In some countries diesels have a system that injects 'exhaust fluid' into the exhaust gases (not sure where it happens relative to catalyst) but the fluid (urea based...) helps break down the fumes to less harmful gases. It's on the X5 diesel in Canada and I think the USA - not sure about other markets.
Peter T

ah haa i see.
thanks for the explanation.

This from Wiki...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_exhaust_fluid
Peter T

We don't have it in Europe on current models. Different fuel formulations perhaps?

Really not sure. Could be that, could be different emission requirements. I understand commercial diesels use it as well in (some parts of?) Europe.
Peter T

Could be. I think Europe's emission settings are more aimed around CO2 and particulates rather than NOx (as per the stringent California regs which require the anti-NOx system you have), hence newer diesels meeting EU5 (the latest version in use until 2014) need DPFs and Cats rather than just Cats. Perhaps with EU6 we'll get the Urea tanks too.