3 glow plug not working ?

[dan123ben]

had the car on the diagnostics today at bwm specialist its has 3 glow plugs not working the car starts fine of a morning I know there just to start the car but can  having 3 glow plugs down affect the car in the case of mpg or performance or is it only for starting the car thay are for

[X5Sport]

Cold weather starting.  As the nights (and days) get colder a Diesel engine needs the plugs to get the diesel fuel to ignite properly whilst cold starting.  Once the engine is warm then they aren't needed so much for restarting purposes.

With three gone you may find it gets harder to start the engine when it's cold and you may start to see more smoke when the engine first fires.  It also means your battery will have to work harder.

Richard

[fenj66]

ive had 3 glow plugs showing as gone on my scanner for at least 3 years now.
the car starts just fine even on a freezing morning. i do get a brief puff of blue smoke on first start of the day.
i wont bother changing mine until starting is difficult, as ive heard many reports of stuck in glow plugs snapping off on removal.

[X5Sport]

Yeah, there are scary movies for Glowplugs and injectors on Utube! 

[malc1950]

I've had 3 glow not working on my x for the last 2 years with no starting issues just a puff of smoke in winter on cold morning start ups,
Like you I will leave well alone till I have a problems, I have also seen the Utube video clips
And it's your worst nightmare snapping them off in the head ,


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