I am probably going to use the BE bearings replacements as i will be monitoring them with oil analysis at every service and they use a copper/ lead bearing surface which gives plenty of warning of impending doom, the new BMW bearings are aluminum/ tin which don't.

I am also going to try and sneak a power pulley kit past the accountant at the same time....

The basic story is that when I start the car it's fine for maybe 30 seconds and then the idle is very rough, pulsating between 400 and 800, nearly feels like im about to stall when i put it into gear, no power until it jumps back over the 1000rpm mark

- only on first start

- and doesn't matter if its cold or warm in the day

- every now and then i think i can hear a mis-fire noise too from the intake during its splutter

i.e. once i've driven the car for a bit and re-start it, no issues - but start it up the next day

Has anyone had a problem like this? Or know what this might sound like

----

I've checked fault codes on a reader and it really only picks up on the mis-fires on cylinders

What would be the approach to diagnose whether it's like

- Coils? can coils display symptoms only on first start like this and then go away once its all warmed up?

- DISA - I thought i DISA value issue would be consistent even after car warmed up?

- ICV

- CCV

Any comments on this would be great before i start digging further down the rabbit hole

Under no/low load, WOT only, from idle only, the engine hesitates and splutters around before accelerating. Sometimes it lasts seconds, sometimes its just a cough. Only does it from idle, and otherwise works perfectly. 

• No fault codes. Nadda.
• Ive reset the DME by pulling the battery. No change, No change in fault code logging.
• Ive pulled the vanos solenoids and cleaned them. No change, didnt look dirty either. 
• Done the throttle calibration thing. No change.
• According to service history plugs are less than 20k old, everything else has many thousand k left on it. Doesnt feel likes it misfiring anyway (and surely the DME would pick a misfire up)

Any ideas? My next step was to just change the vanos solenoids and cross fingers. Anyone come across this before? Im trying to avoid unleashing the parts cannon at it to solve!

Anyone done it via rebuild kit? I see mixed reviews about it

Or should i just buy the complete unit

You put your foot down, the RPMs increase, then drop then start increasing along with your speed. If you floor it the RPM increases as you'd expect but nothing else really happens, then you start to move, in the upper RPM range it seems to be better (presumably everything is loaded up at this point). There is a large disconnect between the throttle/RPM and the speed, feels like driving an auto that you can stall. After the last and particularly slow hill on my way home I could smell what I assume to be clutch (a kind of burnt smell, similar to that of a train braking hard), my guess is the flywheel is stuffed which is proceeding to cook the clutch at lower RPMs.

Assuming my diagnosis that I'm up for a clutch and flywheel is correct, what suggestions do people have? Clutch I'm thinking e34 M5 and flywheel I'd like the cheapest (but still adequate option), undecided on DMF vs SMF. This is a road going convertible so not looking for some insane race clutch and ultra light flywheel

I was wondering if anyone has purchased the little rubber donuts used to hand the exhuast on E34s and where you guys picked them up from. I've gotten a quote from SPEED in Tauranga and they have quoted 24 bucks per piece and a 1 week wait. Anyone know of options?

Cheers

Eddy

I have been looking at a 2005 118i with 146km on the clock (NZ new). How noisy are the injectors? there is a definite  clicking noise. Was not to worried about this until read about the cam chain issues. What would the warning signs of a failing cam chain tensioner/guides.

Thanks

Ive got an issue that calls for coding to repair. 

Ive got ISTA-D but not ISTA-P, and from what I’ve read this seems to be a complex procedure plus you need all the software set up which I know is a right pain.. anyone got this all set up and wanna do me a favour? I’m on the North Shore, and the car is a 135i (2011). 

This thread is where you can ask any questions you require answers to that wouldnt be necessary to make a thread for. Things that you might be unsure of or something that someone can give you a quick answer too.

This post has been made so more important and technical questions wont be overshadowed by small quick answer questions.

Be sure to be specific:

Specify

Make: BMW

Model: 528i

Year: 1998

Chassis: E39

Then the question below:

Does anyone know what size tyres should I be using on my standard 15" mags.

How much oil should I be putting in?

How do I change the brightness of the lights on my dashboard?

If you dont think you'll be needing to use this thread, be sure to check when theres a new post to see if you can help out. This will hopefully be a quicker way to getting the answers you need.

Andy.

Just got a transmission fault popping up, and the rev counter and speedo drop to zero and then climb back up when your driving. I have it booked in on Wednesday to get sorted, but just thought I’d see if anyone has come across this?

cheers in advance. 

Adam

I have owned the e60 m5 for a couple of months now. I have a couple of questions-

1) I want to get it serviced. Its has done 71,500 Ks.  Any recommendations where is the best place to get a service done in Auckland? Also does it needs just an oil/filter change or any other service as well. 

2) Economy- i know that v10 is a thirsty engine but any recommendations on how to get a better gas milege. I am averaging 4.5 - 5.0 km/litre.

3) Do you downshift when coming to a complete stop(as the car downshifts itself) 

Thanks in advance

I've had my M3 for over a year now and everything seemed fine and Im loving the car but recently the SMG COG came on. This worried me abit but car was still driving/shifting fine. Few days ago i was slowing down for a traffic light and the SMG tried to auto downshift from 2 to 1 but the 1 only blinked once or twice and then the gear showed a solid 2 again. The weird thing is that I couldnt put the car in neutral or go into any other gear and the car wouldnt accelerate. I turned the car off and waited for the gear number to go off and turned the car back on again and it was shifting normal again. Tonight i was coming off the motorway offramp and the same thing happened agin this time from 6 to 4. Same symptom as before it was stuck in 6 with no power but car was still idling. i have replaced the salmon relay the COG light went away for about 10kms then came back on and I have unplugged the battery for an hour to reset SMG and COG light stayed off for couple KMs. Any one else know what could be causing this? Where could I take it in Auckland who has experience working on SMGII?

Thanks in advance 

Has someone here got access to the right scanner tool to read and clear these faults so we can see if they come back? Located in central-east Auckland

Figured i would post before i go out to buy any diagnostic tools etc, as i have heard the V12's need slightly different software to diagnose problems.

What happened...

Typically ran car every few weeks off my Ute battery with no problems, until one day it started misfiring.

So decided to check Rotor and caps to which i found quite dirty and one of back internal covers was broken (figured that was misfire) so cleaned them up. (would love new ones but not in my realm of budget due to some health issues after a knock on the head but that's life) then on first start the "starter" decided to take a dump , i rebuilt it myself.

Car now turns over great, but burbles soon as it sparks and stops...or i get a engine fail safe mode warning on dash.

My thinking is a sensor has taken a dump but would like thoughts before i purchase any diagnostic tools or waste money i don't have.

Thanks for any responses....also located in Levin (if anyone around has the tools and wants some gas money or beers) always down for new connections

Shortly after i brought my 07 335i.  I've been getting the warning 'Corner Lights Failure' coming on and off continuously. I've taken it into auto electrician many times before and no one seems to be able to find out what is going on. The headlight bulbs have been changed from AM to genuine but did nothing. I have inspected the wiring and connector where it plugs into the headlight and it looks good (no visible damage). I've also tried using the carly app to delete all the corner lights feature and voltage warning but it's still coming on. One thing I've noticed helped for awhile is when i changed the battery, it went away for about 3 weeks but then came back. Up til about a week ago the light didn't come on for about 5 weeks, but in the last 2 days it's been coming on heaps and very rarely going away while driving. It would go away for a few seconds but comes right back. Any idea what else to try? i have a suspicion it could be the module but it's a bit of a mission to get to. I want to rule out everything else before doing computer module. any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

As I said Last week, I did services for my E92 M3 coz I just purchased this car and wanna it become fresh. I sent the oil sample to Gough Analytical last Wednesday. The oil change interval is 20,103 km (12491 miles). 

Today I got the report from lab. Based on those numbers. It seems the rod bearing and engine condition are good, but Sodium is high as the report said. I do have the full service record of this car and it was only been serviced in BMW Dealership. And I didn't see any records about the coolant. It seems that's not an issue before.  

Just wondering does anyone e9x m3 owner has the same situation before ? Or is there any suggestions for this? I have attached my oil results below.

Thanks.

I'm guessing the rubber seal needs replacing, although it doesn't look cracked, is it a DIY job or novus/smith and smith etc?

Looking to borrow/hire a set of cam timing tools for the M57 diesel engine.  Based in Timaru.

Regards

Murray

My guess is that I need to replace 2 and 6 due to the lack of flux they're doing. Would I be wrong?

I also know there is a gouge in the exhaust that I need to take care of (drivers side of the two before the resonators(.

Now, today, 3 days after purchase, I'm driving along and go to pull away from a T intersection. The car shudders, has no power, and sounds absolutely terrible. I got out and recorded a video, which you'll find below. It sounds like it's not firing at all on one or two cylinders. Stopping the engine and re-starting fixed it. I have extensively read about these problems and it looks like the infamous injectors. The hard part is that the car isn't throwing any codes on the i-drive screen and no check engine light yet. Hmmm.

Now, the dealer coincidentally texted me today saying he hoped the car is going well. I politely told him how the car was going and told him I'd email him a vid. Sent it to him and now we wait. I have a mechanical warranty but it would be mint if they stepped up and fixed it.

Here's the vid!

I'll update the thread as I hear. If you have had the same issues or have any suggestions on how to navigate it with the dealer, I'd be very grateful to hear from you. 

• Jack up the car
• Find the top of the strut mount (cabby so not much room in the boot)
• Unbolt it
• Replace the bump stop
• Bolt it back in
• Fix the interior of the boot
• Put the car down

Or, should I unbolt it first then jack up the car? Hmm. SO MANY OPTIONS.