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Afternoon all The 26euro part was fitted - it has got us back the 1189 miles from Patras to Essex, we arrived yesterday afternoon The old girl has now just under 101250 miles on the clock - never missed a beat and 42.2 mpg at between 70-80 mph with this in mind I will start a new thread

Morning Ricky Welcome to the Forum Tasty motor hope your enjoying it First check would be Battery Voltage check it at the charging point under the bonnet key out engine off you should see 12.5v engine running 14.5v + If you have less than 12.5v at rest then the battery either needs charging or if 11v or lower replacing. When the car is started current draw is high and the cars many control units shut down functions to protect them or save power. If the battery is good then you could try taking out the switch panel and cleaning it and it's plug with a good electrical contact spray, if that doesn't do it a diagnostic scan should point you in the right direction Hope this helps Dave

Morning Astonred Primary Filter suppliers to BMW Europe are Mann and Hengst, back up suppliers are Mahle and Bosch

I have just had mine serviced, as when I bought it the box was buttery smooth. I could, lately just feel a bit of a change on the change down. As it was 6 years old and 50k miles decided to get it done and now back to buttery smooth. The old oil definately needed changing. There is also a filter in the gearbox, so surely that needs changing at some point. BMW say its lifetime, but will offer a service on it for about £1500. ZF say 6 yrs/60k miles. So I went to my local indie and had it done for £415. I guess it depends how the car is driven light or lead footed and motorway or town, and in some small measure luck of the draw.

Do you have any Battery Management messages appear when you start the car? My start/stop has never really kicked in as Sytner BMW should have really put a new battery on it before they sold it me. Mine only works if I have done a long drive (100+) and it's not too cold, and all the other parameters are met. It will only work on mine (G21 320d) in Comfort and Eco mode, Sport disengages it. Even a slight drop on the battery seems to stop it kicking in. When I first got it I drove in Eco mode all the time, and as my battery is "tired" it didn't really charge up enough. I believe it has an “intelligent” alternator so will only pull on it when really required. Eco prioritises exactly that - fuel economy - so will have alternator disengaged as much as possible. I know on my Golf when the start/stop has turned the engine off, the child can start it up by turning the A/C button on. Try charging the battery up over the weekend and see if that makes a difference. I'll be honest I find start/stop a pain in the ##### and usually turn it off. But it is annoying when a feature doesn't work properly.

Morning Ray Welcome to the Forum Seems you have the right tools with ISTA I would still want to confirm the FEM DME signal The fact you have 51 permanent faults indicates to my old head you have some Bus issues which are preventing communication BMW are fond of using a twisted compressed joint system sealed in a clear soft plastic sleeve. Over time they can sweat and corrode internally if you expose a join and it looks black that's corrosion (attached is a picture of the Bus system in my X5) the pic with my hand in shows the Bus system Green and Orange wires I spent a morning remaking and soldering the joints and sealing them in shrink wrap. Once all the loom communication is back you may have more success with clearing stubborn faults. Check the continuity FEM to DME all pins Good Luck hope this helps Dave

Sorry, I have had time to sit down. The camshaft sensor can fail and cause sporadic issues. There is a pulley on the front of the engine which can split and cause the forward/ backward motion and misread the sensor. Check this by pulling the pulleys toward the radiator / front of car. They should not move!

Morning Peter First lesson don't go to BMW 😅 Have you used www.realoem.com to get the correct part number then use the Internet to search for the best price, check out the Specialist BMW dismantlers like Quarry Motors. Or there are now companies who will clean the original DPF if it is cleaned the software will be needed to be reset so the car knows it has a clean DPF Dave

Morning Charlie Welcome to the Forum As the thread is almost 6 years old and not closed out ?? However try the simple things first (1) Check the position of the adjusting switch if it to the right (Driver side adjustment) the nearside mirror should not dip on reverse. If the switch is set to the left to allow nearside mirror adjustment when reverse is selected the mirror will dip. If the problem persists check the Drivers door switch connector clean it with contact cleaner. If that doesn't do it then diagnostics are needed Dave

Excuse my typo/autocorrect that should be needs a dpf

Hi Paul, welcome to the forum. Try a Torx bit as greydog said. Where are you based? I’m in the wolds

Have done a smoke test and no leaks until it gets to the valve on top of the rocker cover, very new to ISTA but not diagnostics so still working through it, will try again tomorrow evening as England playing tonight. thanks

Morning Hamzza Welcome to the Forum I have read some stories about people having difficulty finding anyone who is capable of working on hybrid transmissions. You need to search www.realoem.com put the last 7 digits of your Vin into the search box it will call up your model then search the gearbox section then you will have the part number. I believe some of these transmissions were in house BMW built so parts and service may tie you to BMW £££ But try the Transmission Specialists you may hopefully find one who can help Good Luck Dave

Morning Guy Remember BMW like most Manufacturers have thousands of parts suppliers around a 38% in Germany another 30% in Europe around 15% in the USA and 17% shock horror in China I ordered suspension bushes from Febi a couple of years ago (best price) and they came in BMW labelled boxes 🤣 So if you are not aware use www.realoem.com put the last 7 digits of your Vin into the search box it will bring up your model. Then search the sections for what you need once you have the part numbers search the internet for best price and supply. The gearbox is the only part where you may need outside help as it is a ZF manufactured item which BMW fit as a complete assembly service parts are available though. Good luck hope this helps and things go smoothly Dave

My wife loves her BTW 320d convertible, a couple of weeks back the roof went down but would not go back up. Oh dear I thought. (Well that's the polite version) Anyhow discovered rear window regulator was at fault, the reason being water runs down the window and fills up the void just behind the door which because the drain plug is blocked with accumulated dirt and bmw cover it with a plastic underfloor cover means water can't escape. Which by the way fills up and fries the battery or sound amp, depending on which side. In my case luckily not quite but did mean the window regulator was immersed in water and gradually dusted through the site which makes the window go up and down. Hence roof would not go up because window wouldn't fully retract. So got hold of second hand rear window regulator swap them over and it all works again. So please learn this valuable lesson unless of course you wish to part with loads of money, check the drain plugs covered by plastic underfloor covering located behind the driver and passenger doors.

Morning Paul Sorry that doesn't look like a BMW part number just looked on my copy of ISTA and to try and get it right I have chosen mid 2010 as the manufacturing date and it seems there are 3 choices and dependent on the lighting package here is what I have found Vehicles with lighting package S522A Bi Xenon Headlamp Left Part No 63127262721 Right Part No 63127262722 Vehicles with lighting package S522A or S524A Bi Xenon Headlamp Left Part No 63127262725 Right Part No 63127262726 Vehicles without lighting packages S522A or S524A Bi Xenon Headlamp Left Part No 63117199603 Right Part No 63117199604 You can check what lighting package your car has by using a BMW Vin decoder online however my guess would be you have S524A with adaptive lights Hope this helps Dave

Hi Ted Then I would suspect a loom problem if the signal is sent and assuming the sensors are OK then there is a reason the signal isn't arriving. So my logical old brain would start testing continuity checking all plugs and connectors cleaning them with contact spray I would also check the clutch air gap just to be safe if the garage that checked the compressors and clutches tested them by applying 12v to the terminals but in the car only 5v is applied ?? Do you know what Voltage should be applied to your cars compressor or do they? A quick look at the parts list in ISTA for a 2012 F31 tells me there were 2 types of Compressor 1 uses a magnetic clutch 64529216467 - RP A/C compressor the other with a Magnetic coupling p64506805025 - A/C compressor if I understand it these are replacement parts so require the correct Clutch or Magnetic coupling to be moved over So is the part correct for your car ? If you can't check yourself then you may need a good Auto Electrician or AirCon Specialist Dave

OK so I have a mate who had a scanner to read my codes unfortunately I have two: 244900 DPF full of soot and 273D00 crank/camshaft readings, so it’s a replacement timing chain and guides as well as a DPF soak kit as the engine has to be removed anyway

Morning Juli Welcome to the Forum Read as much as you can on all Forums just bear in mind most forums will highlight issues so don't just look at the number but look for specific Engine or Gearbox issues Good Luck with the hunt Dave

Why are the brake lines being replaced are the leaking ? or is it just that you want them changed ? BMW are not alone in fitting brake lines to a bare shell then putting huge assemblies like the rear subframe and axel in place to cover them up. My wife's car is a 3.0 Subaru Outback with a Perrin engine upgrade (400whp) she loves it and it has been a brilliant car 15 MOT's and it had it's first advisory this year. However she reported a soft pedal last year when I investigated I found signs of brake fluid leaking on the nearside rear. Now Subaru run the brake lines inside the car so they are protected brilliant, until they need to exit to reach the rear wheels they chose to do that in a place where they then mount the fuel tank ?? To drop the tank you first have to drop the Rear subframe (sound familiar) Cost at a dealer would be more than the car is worth (and she does love her car) so my solution run new brake lines inside the car into the boot area near the spare wheel well drill two holes for grommets and feed the new lines down and connect to the existing flexy pipes. A days head scratching and planning £30 worth of materials and brake fluid job done So a BMW dealer will have Labour rates north of £200 per hour so dropping the rear subframe will probably be 2 days work possibly with 2 techs for safety easy to see where the money goes. Personally I would run new lines in copper (no rust issues) and clip them to the rear subframe cut out the existing lines apart from where they are above the subframe. Same with parts Febi, Mehyle Bosch and many others are OEM parts suppliers to BMW who like all other Car manufacturers tend to make Bodies and Engines all the other thousands of parts are brought in. Buy those parts from BMW and you will find their markup is often 400% that's life. Maintaining our Beemers i top condition particularly the older models would become uneconomical very quickly if using dealers Dave

Hi Stu, thank you for jumping in on this.. I've just had another mechanic come out who took the starter off and confirmed its still working. I also got the RAC out as I forgot I had a policy with them through my insurance. He tried the jump start, , attempted to turn the crank from underneath and believes its seized.. I've mentioned the alternator point back to the mechanic for his thoughts as I agree.. The engine warning light came on, the engine stopped and it coasted to a stop and never started again... There was no noise and the gear selector went into neutral.. As I type this, is that a fail safe designed within the car to stop the wheel locking up when the engine seized? Finally, if it is gone , it needs to go as I am not prepared to spend another penny on it.. Any enthusiasts out there who want to take it on?

Morning Dave, Thank you for your very helpful reply. I do not have runflats, as I think they are the Devils work. I have put a my details into realoem, but there are so many options it is confusing. I have tried Autodoc and found some Eibach springs but they seem to be for both standard and Msport, can not see how that works. I really want the softest option available as I just need the car for local journeys, as the roads where I live are like the Somme I am thinking of putting 225/55/16 wheels and tyres on as well. Cheers, Brian

Ok

Morning Chris Welcome to the Forum Not me (I drive a fat X5) but my Brother Inlaw is now on his 6th 5 series Touring he travels a lot in Europe. All his cars have been owned from new and serviced by BMW but with interim services/oil changes by us in my home garage, we change oil and filters at 5k intervals (for him that's monthly). All his cars have been larger engines (he likes the power) current is a 540d xDrive ECU tuned to 400hp, all his cars run to over 200k before trading in He has had issues early on BMW used to tell buyers Gearbox's were sealed for life ( we service to ZF standards at home) Infotainment system faults a whole list but not difficult to sort with DIY and a little thought Around 2007 BMW moved timing chains to the rear of the engine so any rattles here could be expensive as the engine has to come out ?? So as with any second user car Service History is key and the first thing I would do is carry out a full inspection and service check the oil drained from the sump with a magnet or pour it slowly through a paper coffee filter for any metal particles if there are any it could well signal issues to come Hope this helps Dave