Full Engine Power No Longer Available

[Mitchello]

2014 X6 diesel Auto.......long story but basically I am left with this car and loads of problems.

I took it to my mechanic who reluctantly agreed to service to get the MOT , he found only a litre of oil in the engine and never seen an oil filter in the state this one was in, it did pass it’s mot.

The car drives fine around town but limited power. My Mechanic had a couple of people look at it, one states it’s likely small or large turbo at fault, or both, 10hrs labour plus parts. Another said Air flow/vent problem more lightly as he believes if it was turbo the the car would show some smoke from exhaust. It was smoking before the service and I do remember when I first drove it someone was talking to me through the drivers window and he was getting a face full of nasty smelly smoke.

The car drive ok around town but the dashboard shows a warning stating ‘full engine power no longer available, it’s possibly to continue journey, drive moderately have the problem checked by nearest BMW garage’.

Before I go and remortgaged my house to get the car fixed i wonder if I should try getting it terra-clean first.

Any help or suggestions on less expensive possible fixes while I save up to pay for the worst scenario.

[weirdfish]

Lots more info needed on history of car, but basically you need to get it to a decent garage that has the correct equipment to tell you what's wrong, it's an expensive hobby if you start to guess and replace random parts.

[X5Sport]

As said above, you need full diagnostics with the right software before spending silly money on fixing the wrong things based on a hunch. These cars need expert knowledge to pin things down as they are very complex beasts.

Given you have a DPF there should be no smoke. If there is, and it’s oil, then your DPF will have been damaged or will at the least need a serious clean. Your exhaust tips should show metal rather than be very black with soot. Diagnostics will tell you the last time it regenerated. If the car has been on a lot of short journeys that might be the cause of all. Modern diesels with DPFs have to be run sympathetically - which means regular journeys of at least 30mins at a constant speed above 40mph (or 2000rpm) in order to get hot enough to burn the soot off every 300 miles or so. Not doing it clogs the exhaust and that may be your problem. Someone with the right software can ‘force’ regens until it burns clear. The smoke is foul!

Mine stopped regenerating due to a glow-plug fault (it needs them to generate the extra heat, even in Summer, but having had them changed and a new controller fitted all is well. The first time I ran it under high power after the repairs it kicked a plume of dense and very nasty smoke out for a few seconds as the soot burned off and was ejected. The Merc behind me at the time was not impressed!

A BMW Dealership will run diagnostics for about £120 and even if you don’t get it fixed by them (cost) it will at least give you an idea of what needs looking at. You could use the Carly App and dongle, but that’s the same cost as getting a proper code read anyway.

That little oil means a problem somewhere - never mind pointing at a serious lack of care by the previous owner. In 8 years I don’t recall having to top mine up between services. If it is the turbos then you may well find oil in the turbo pipe work. Turbos aren’t the issue they once were, as long as the servicing is done.

[Mitchello]

Thanks for the advice... off to local bmw garage after Easter..... er ... DPF stands for? And wants your view on terra clean process

[weirdfish]

DPF- Diesel particulate filter.
As far as terra clean goes, I would worry more about having so little oil in the car before anything else.

[Mitchello]

Well here’s an update on this problem.
Managed to get the car booked into BMW , several weeks wait. Went in on 29th May and still there.
First hour diagnostic completed told EGR valve needs replacing
Valve replaced problem remains
Next told glow plug control unit needs replacing
Senior technician says not the turbo
Next was that it’s likely the DPl, there could be a problem with the catalytic converter
No that’s not the problem
Senior engineer say they need to do a fault regeneration, that where the vehicle is taken out for about 2 hours and hoping to clean out debris ( something like that )
That’s didn’t solve problem or identify problem
Technician says manifold needs walnut blast,
They took the manifold off and decide not to blast
Now they say yes it’s the turbo
I need to remortgage the house
They have had the car for 4 weeks
I thought they would have got the route cause a lot sooner

They have quoted me 6900 for everything

[X5Sport]

That’s disgraceful. Dealers should not be able to get away with this approach of misdiagnosis with the customer paying the bill. If they change parts that don’t fix the problem then you should not be paying. Have you been in touch with BMW either here or in Germany, or better yet the motoring press to flag your case?

It’s only happened to me once and I refused to pay for their misdiagnosis.

This is again highlighting just how poor the technical abilities of modern garages to be able to handle the complex designs and systems that we call a modern car. It sounds like your Dealer has a very poor Master Tech or are just taking the p!ss because they don’t know what to do.

[marti]

Is the exhaust sooty and the odd puff of black smoke???

[Mitchello]

Thank you for your comments
If any one has the email address for BMW Germany, that would be helpful.
Just to add when I went to speak with the senior technician he told me that he took over the overseeing of my car after the EGR value was changed, he said to me that he was aware that this part had been changed (really).

The senior tech man also said that when he took the manifold off he looked at it and decided not to walnut blast but to move the cost of doing this to removing the turbo ( I didn’t know about this).

Yes it seems I am being charged for a lot of if and buts and maybes.........

I took the car to BMW to avoid unnecessary expense of trail and error believing they would be the best placed to diagnose the problem with their high performance engine

[weirdfish]

I've never heard so much bullshit, basically they are paid to know what they are doing, hence the hourly rate.
Refuse point blank for pay for anything that doesn't fix the problem, if they argue then just speak to the dealer principle.
Stand your ground, don't let them take the piss.

[Mitchello]

Marti in response to your question Is the exhaust sooty and the odd puff of black smoke???

No problems in that area

[marti]

Marti in response to your question Is the exhaust sooty and the odd puff of black smoke???

No problems in that area

Okay so its not an over fuel, I would be interested what the diagnostic report said, do you have this info??...where are you based??...if not to far away I would come out an do a read...an try to solve...

[IanP]

If your based in the North East, my friend runs a garage mainly doing turbos. He has done a fair amount of these twin turbo engines, and I reckon he would be a lot cheaper than BMW. Plus he has enough diagnostic gear to trouble shoot the space shuttle

[Leslie]

Shocking level of incompetence there for a main dealer egr this /manifold that FFS it lost 6 litres of oil unless there is a hole in the sump its probably burning its own oil from the turbo and the dpf will mask this till it can't cope anymore

[marti]

Shocking level of incompetence there for a main dealer egr this /manifold that FFS it lost 6 litres of oil unless there is a hole in the sump its probably burning its own oil from the turbo and the dpf will mask this till it can't cope anymore

Good call...but surely it would be smoking out the rear??....