XSeries-forum

Hi

As you do I had the X5M in for Its MOT and mentioned the problem with reduced engine power that came up on the CIC screen about a week ago and also the indicator repeater in the near side wing looked like it had been pushed in. So the end car went in Wednesday night.

Then on Thursday I get a call from BMW to say they have investigated and the sensor is reading a fault. It could be the spark plug or ignition coil or possibly an injector on cylinder 3 on my petrol V8. So they are ordering a spark plug and ignition coil for it d then they will MOT the car after due to the emissions. They had now reseated the indicator and it was no okay.

Today, Friday I get a call and they have fitted the the new spark plug and ignition coil and it is still reading a fault on the car and so they are now ordering a complete set of 8 injectors for the car. These will be here Monday and I have been assured once they are fitted it will again be running at full power and then the car can be MOT'd.

So I am glad I got the car with the BMW comprehensive insured warranty as it should cover the cost as only done about 2,000 miles since I got it as its a weekend car 

Roll on Monday

Graeme

Injector failure seems to be a common fault with these engines, the Americans have had a large number of failures. I had the same problem with the X6 which apparently didn't show up on their computer but when the Senior Tech took it out he could feel what I was saying. There was also a batch of duff plugs which appeared to let combustion gases past the porcelain which damaged the plug cap.
I too am glad I took out the bmw warranty 

Well the update was it was supposed to be ready Monday for collection after having 8 replacement fuel injectors fitted tested etc. They nearly had to drop the engine out as the technician couldn't get the tool on the injector to remove it, but thankfully didn't in the end.

And then I got a call from the dealer to say they wanted to do a cold start on the car and could they keep it overnight, so I agreed.

So we are now at Tuesday and I have call from the dealer to say all sorted and ready to collect, so I say I will be there in 40 minutes.

I leave work and get in the car and drive out of the car park. Whilst sitting in the queue the phone goes and it's the dealer saying he went to move the car in order to get it cleaned before I arrived and now the Engine Management light is on again and so they need to investigate it and so they want to keep the car now.

Therefore, I am no longer picking up my car and all the re-arrangements that were made at home no longer apply so I ring my wife to advise her.

Hopefully it could, and I mean could be tomorrow Wednesday that I can pick it up and that will then be a week it's taken.

Oh well at least it will be fixed. Maybe I'll mention the propshaft recall, although this was checked in December it appears something had changed since then.

At least I still have my daily driver the abarth 595 to drive 

Hi All

It's now Wednesday and that time of the evening when I should have picked the X5 up.

Well guess what I had to ring BMW at just after 5pm to check if the car was fixed. The service chap was away from his desk so I left a message.

After about 10 minutes I get a call back to say they started the car after it being left to get cold for a few hours and the Engine Management light is on once again.

So they have informed me that although they have changed all 8 Injectors they believe it is a case that one injector is not accepting the updated code and so is not working when it should, and in turn the Car is shutting that bank of cylinders down, result in a 4 cylinder car X5 Basically in limp mode.

Again tonight I am not picking the car up and it is now being handed over to the Senior Technician Paul who will look at the car in the morning.

On the upside, and there is one, which is I had the BMW important- Vehicle Safety Recall letter yesterday and I have mentioned to them today and they say they have checked it, so that saves booking in the car for another and I have asked for confirmation in writing when I pick the car up.

The downside is I started looking at replacement X5 M50d but not sure that's a good idea either given I only use the car once a week generally, but it's nice looking at them. )

Graeme

That sure is a hassle, but at least it happens straight away rather than after a week or so.

[quote="pvr"]
That sure is a hassle, but at least it happens straight away rather than after a week or so.
[/quote]

That's very true, as I would be disappointed if that happened.

The Update from Thursday is there was no update.

I was assured I would have a call in the morning well that came and went. So  I was expecting a call later in the day with either the car is fixed or they are still working on issue, as it was the Senior Technician who is now looking at the problem, but I had no phone call.

Therefore I rang them at 17:50 pm and left a message with service desk but I did not get call back last night as they work till 19:00.

So I guess I will again be ringing them today as it's now Friday and I dropped the car off last Wednesday night 14/03 ready for the Thursday morning so they have had the car for 9 days.

Given the length of time taken to resolve the issue I have been checking the forum. I think the problem is the high pressure fuel bank, as another owner had this problem, and when the bank was changed the problem was solved.

I will be mentioning the above today, as well as asking for a timeline as to when it will be fixed and possibly asking for a courtesy car for the weekend as that is when I normally use my X5

Graeme

Hi

Well today's instalment of the car continues. I had a call at 930am today to say the car was ready after they tested last night and today and all okay.

So I go to work and plan to pick the car up at 1800 tonight after work.

I arrived at BMW at 1805 which was okay, and went to reception and announce I was here to collect the X5 and so I took a seat as there were others before me.

Then Colin the service chap went to get the car from the car park, and guess he drives past reception and round the back. I then see Colin come back and he said the Engine Management light was on again, but the Senior Technician is having a quick look at it.

So indecide to get a cuppa whilst waiting and ten minutes go by and Colin comes back to say there is a fault on the same bank on cylinder no 1 and they have replace the spark plug and ignition coil and alll four injectors.

He advises it could be a faulty injector or plug or ignition coil or even mechanical,  they will keep the car till Tuesday and will check the injector and or seals etc and restart it when cold to make sure it's fixed.

So I guess it's roll on Tuesday and it's one less car to clean tomorrow, and the good news is it now has an MoT hooray.
Graeme

But did you get "something for the weekend" though ....

Does seem like a big drama though, dread to think the cost if it was out of warranty.

Hi

In the end I didn't bother asking as I have the 595 abarth and the wife has her abarth so we can both get around and its one less car to wash.

I think if the issue continues into the bank holiday weekend I will be asking for a courtesy car to use, that's assuming they have any I might have to get my order in by Wednesday  )

Graeme

The latest is

Monday came and went as BMW were due to be working on the misfire when cold issue, and then on Tuesday morning to check car when cold after being left overnight.

Then in theory I was due to get a call on Tuesday and pick the car up. Well as they say the day came and went and I had no call from BMW. Since I had been tied up with work all day I didn't bother calling them either as this meant no progress had been made.

So yesterday Wednesday, which is now two weeks since I dropped the car off, I rang BMW to the service chap and got the answerphone so I explained I was looking for and update and that if my car won't be ready for the weekend then I would expect a replacement vehicle for the weekend if a similar leel.

About an hour later I get a call back from the chap in service who says they have upidentified the problem. It is down to one of the replacement injectors being faulty, and not spraying in the same pattern as the rest. They found it by moving that injector to another cylinder and the same fault occurred.

They are more confident they have now got to the bottom of problem and so would keep the car overnight again and do a cold start on Thursday morning to check if the fault reappears, or not.

So hopefully we may have the car back before the bank holiday weekend, if now I will have another car.

I think this explains why I have gone for BMW extended warranty on the car as it is so clever with all the electronics and sensor and monitoring itself and when it's not within tolerance then it throws error codes which shut the engine down on one bank.

Graeme

Graeme

It’s this kind of story that makes me glad I have kept mine going too - albeit with an excess to keep the premium down - as the labour charges alone would have long since surpassed that!

Here is hoping you do get it back today - or if they can’t then they could at least give you something nice for Easter 

Well the saga of the misfire continues.

I had the call on Wednesday to say it was a faulty replacement injector and the fixed that and were going to test on Thursday morning.

Well guess on Thursday morning they start the car and the misfire was back again when started from cold.

So I get a call to say they have checked the mechanical bits and that is okay and it's not that, but it could be the wiring or the control module or the fuel rail as the injectors are okay. So rather than pick up the car and it again cause problems I have left it with them.

I am now concerned that this is the same issue Ian mentioned that a lot cars have have in the USA so I will be checking that out on the internet.

Also now considering whether I should be changing car either for dare I say it a diesel X5 M50d or the later X5M but that is an expensive option.

Oh yes I did get offered a new 5 series M Sport estate to use but ass we aren't going away this weekend and also I'm working/ on standby for work on Sunday. So I declined their offer as it would probably only just sit in the drive, however in a couple of weeks I will need my car or a car to use.

Graeme

I wonder in cases like this, when they cut the loss and who is actually paying for this. Does the warranty mean that Mondial is paying and they need approval for all their attempts, or is BMW GB picking some of it up.

Hi

The car is under BMW 2 year approve used warranty that came with the car (although the car was higher priced so I guess I paid for it somehow).

So far I have not even discussed who is paying as I assume the warranty is as the cars done aless than 2k miles in the time I've had it.

I guess as you said they are having to check with them about further cost but ultimately it need to be fixed and seems to be a common prob on the 4.4 engine.

Graeme

The saga of the Misfire continued on the X5.

After Easter was out of the way we had Tuesday and no contact was received from BMW. So on Wednesday I contacted them and had to leave two messages asking for an update, but no reply.

Then yesterday I have a call to say the car is fixed. The Senior Technician at the dealers have been talking to BMW technical centre and it's was a cold start misfire, and they said they only had about 15 mins to work on it from a cold start before it got warm and the misfire disappeared. And then they would have to leave the car for about 4 hours for it to get cold before they could try again.

Well it turns out the ignition coil for cylinder one was the issue, the signal was spiking hence causing the wrong signal to the injector and so a misfire occurred. So the ignition coil for cylinder one has been change and the car has been okay on a couple of cold starts.

However, due to its nature the car was left yesterday afternoon and then started last night to be put back in their garage and from cold again it was okay with no misfire, and I had a call last night to let me know this but just as a last check they would keep the car overnight and then tested again this morning as a last check to make sure it is still okay, as every time the service chap has gone to start the car the Engine Management light would come on.

So hopefully today if it passes the last test then the car should be ready to pick up later today. Also it will be cleaned by them as it has been rained on over the past 3 weeks or so which doesn't happen.

In summary the car is now MoT'd, nearside indicator repeater fixed, and the Misfire solved with a new spark plug two new ignition coil leads for the same cylinder and 1 set of 8 injectors.  The question is what will I be charged, well since it was and is under warranty I hope but I will check shortly that it will just be for the cost of the MoT.

Well the lesson I've learned, and would recommend to all is that as these cars are now full of electrics if your car is under 3 years old you are covered by the BMW warranty and alll is good. However, if your car is out of the manufacturers warranty then for me it does make sense to have a warranty in place, or a big reserve in your bank, as this car is just 5 years old with only 36k miles on it.

Roll on tonight and hopefully picking up the car.
Graeme