The very sad 335i

[Herbmiester 923]

I not sure if this is the right place to put this but as its a turbo I chose the forced induction section.

So I bought a 2007 (Jan) 335i with 77ks on the clock in mid November 2016. I bought it from Queenstown after a mate gave it the once over. The price was right and overall it's very tidy. There are a couple of scratches but when it's sorted mechanically I will get them fixed. Interior is tidy with aluminium trim and being a coupe is has Msport seats and suspension. 

The drive from QT to Wellington was awesome, the car went well and while not as taut as my E46 the steering (active steering) was very nice and while not as weighty as the E46 it is a bit quicker and the feel is decent. The suspension is a bit softer than the Ohlins setup in the E46 but that is to be expected.

After a week I decided to get it serviced and booked into First Class European in Petone. They had serviced my E60 and E46 and on the whole they did a good job on those cars and the pricing was fair. The boss Sheldon is a very nice guy but to be honest when he is away I have less confidence in the staff. Unfortunately he broke his back and has only been at work part time.  After the service and intake port de carbon I picked up the car and on the first pedal the floor run the half engine light came on. As I was still close I took it back and they cleared the fault codes and off I went again, as you might guess I did it again. The code was the not uncommon 30FF. Which is a boost leak and or vacuum leak that results in a mismatch between actual vs predicted boost. When this happens the light comes on and boost is pretty much cut so its like driving without the turbos.  

The next service they went over it with a smoke machine to check for leaks and re installed the lastest software for the DME. They could find no boost leaks or vacuum leaks and their test said all ok. Same issue so back again.

This time they found a few pin holes in the intercooler so I got an aftermarket EMS unit. This did not fix the issue. They then subbed it out to another workshop to double check their work. They identified a faulty boost control solenoid. Aha that must have been the issue. But no. To be fair though when I picked it up on Friday it felt great in fact the acceleration was better than ever and on the first few full throttle runs the half engine light stayed off, Yeha! But alas driving through Whitemans valley in DS mode it came on again. Oil temp was 110c so not too hot. So back to square one.

So far they have checked the following that I know of:

• Vacuum Leaks
• Boost Leaks
• Wastegate solenoids.
• Charge pipe integrity.
• Diverter valves
• Software.
• There is no obvious wastegate rattle and at 80,000 kms there shouldn't be either. 

To be honest I am ready to give up on it and return to a more reliable car (brand of car) but like most people I now have an emotional attachment to the vehicle and to be fair it looks great and the chassis has some potential. If anyone else has has similar dilemmas I am certainly interested in what to do next.

[qube 3570]

cant offer any help but hopefully you can get it sorted!

[gaijin 174]

Just the 30ff codes?

I changed every vacuum line. Not hard job. Many lines to leak from around solenoids. Replace with decent boost silicon line. Usually the issue 

Edited January 22, 2017 by gaijin
Mistake

[Herbmiester 923]

There were some specific codes around the 30FF but I cant remember them. The mechanic tested every vacuum hose but I take your pint about replacing them. 

[Matth5 471]

I think MHD will read codes for you even if you haven't purchased it. If you have a phone and cable, lets see what comes up? Would offer to lend you my cable, but I'm in Auckland...
Better than a generic code reader as it'll pick up everything.

Were they able to actually test the waste-gate solenoids? I don't think they're easy to test. I just swapped mine when the shop failed to find a boost leak and it did the trick. Busting the old one open, I found the plastic membrane attached to the metal actuator had a small rip. Seems like a weak design to me, definitely a part that won't last. I hope the current revisions are better.

If you know someone with an N54 and no boost issues, and they're willing, you could try temporarily trading the solenoids with their's. They're not terribly hard to swap. 

Edited January 22, 2017 by Matth5

[Herbmiester 923]

My cable for MHD should be here soon so I can read the codes. I would have thought the mechanic would be able to do that. 

Edited January 22, 2017 by Herbmiester

[Herbmiester 923]

FCP euro had boost Solenoids for $82 USD, I might just buy two.

 

[Matth5 471]

2 hours ago, Herbmiester said:

My cable for MHD should be here soon so I can read the codes. I would have thought the mechanic would be able to do that. 

You'd think so... but BMWorkshop could never pick up the HPFP shadow code that I could see in MHD. Only showed on their software after my car stumbled and went into limp mode...

Which reminds me, I need to check up with them if they have the HPFP for me

[Herbmiester 923]

If anyone is reading this and wondering what the issue was it was a cracked charge pipe. In hindsight I should have known.

[polley 916]

Smoke test should of shown that up? 

[Herbmiester 923]

8 hours ago, polley said:

Smoke test should of shown that up? 

Mechanic tried that. 

 

[KwS 2425]

4 minutes ago, Herbmiester said:

Mechanic tried that. 

 

Not very hard, obviously. A boost leak test or smoke test would show a leaking charge pipe. Looking at the first post it looks like they just went full scattergun and didnt know what they were doing. Glad its sorted.

[polley 916]

1 hour ago, Herbmiester said:

Mechanic tried that. 

 

Yeah, odd they could find pin holes in a intercooler but not a cracked boost pipe.

[Herbmiester 923]

8 hours ago, polley said:

Yeah, odd they could find pin holes in a intercooler but not a cracked boost pipe.

Crack was tiny, when I took the pipe off I couldn't see it, pin holes were obvious and smoke came out of them, saw that myself. Replaced charge pipe problem fixed, there was no visible leak from the CP.

[M3AN 4016]

Can a smoke test even work effectively in a boosted intake? None of the machines I've seen could run much above atmospheric pressure, let alone multiple times that. 🤷‍♂️

[polley 916]

Well depends on the leak really, maybe it doesn't leak until under decent pressure.

I usually pressure test mine to check for leaks when ever I've had any of the turbo / intercooler / pipes apart.

[HalfJobHarry 106]

On 11/22/2021 at 8:52 AM, Herbmiester said:

Crack was tiny, when I took the pipe off I couldn't see it, pin holes were obvious and smoke came out of them, saw that myself. Replaced charge pipe problem fixed, there was no visible leak from the CP.

Smoke test needs to be pressurized...or you have to pressurize your intake tract. I cooked up something following some DIYs elsewhere two plastic caps that go over my inlet pipes. One of them has a connection to my air compressor. I compress up the entire intake tract to about 16 psi (the seal around the caps themselves gives up at that point. You can see it working as the 'bellows' on the inlet pipes expand out . that said it's not fool proof as you might be running more than 16psi (but not stock! 8psi).  

Very poor a garage missed a clear and common boost leak...cracked charge pipe is one of the most , if not the most common N54 boost leaks. 

Edited December 21, 2021 by HalfJobHarry

[Herbmiester 923]

20 hours ago, HalfJobHarry said:

Smoke test needs to be pressurized...or you have to pressurize your intake tract. I cooked up something following some DIYs elsewhere two plastic caps that go over my inlet pipes. One of them has a connection to my air compressor. I compress up the entire intake tract to about 16 psi (the seal around the caps themselves gives up at that point. You can see it working as the 'bellows' on the inlet pipes expand out . that said it's not fool proof as you might be running more than 16psi (but not stock! 8psi).  

Very poor a garage missed a clear and common boost leak...cracked charge pipe is one of the most , if not the most common N54 boost leaks. 

To be fair they were not that familiar with the N54 engine and I know Wellington BMW failed to find a similar issue in a friends 135i. As you said its not foolproof.

 

[HalfJobHarry 106]

On 12/22/2021 at 11:49 AM, Herbmiester said:

To be fair they were not that familiar with the N54 engine and I know Wellington BMW failed to find a similar issue in a friends 135i. As you said its not foolproof.

 

I'm not sure the BMW dealer is the gold standard to compare against ....I dunno.... i read stuff like "pin holes in intercoolers" but miss cracked charge pipe.... it's all very sus. I may be old fashioned, but I think if you're paying a professional for a job, if they are not comfortable with the process they should say so, or you should expect sensible and methodical diagnostics to be carried out

[Herbmiester 923]

On 12/24/2021 at 12:52 AM, HalfJobHarry said:

I'm not sure the BMW dealer is the gold standard to compare against ....I dunno.... i read stuff like "pin holes in intercoolers" but miss cracked charge pipe.... it's all very sus. I may be old fashioned, but I think if you're paying a professional for a job, if they are not comfortable with the process they should say so, or you should expect sensible and methodical diagnostics to be carried out

At the time there was literally no where else to go and as mentioned smoke machines have their limitations. Not a lot of familiarity with those engines in wellington at the time and as mentioned again, the crack was tiny no way the human eye would spot it unless you started pulling it, even I couldn't see it until a mate came round and used a great deal of physical force.  As to the pin holed intercooler its was a real thing, you are welcome to inspect next time your in Wellington. 

[HalfJobHarry 106]

2 hours ago, Herbmiester said:

At the time there was literally no where else to go and as mentioned smoke machines have their limitations. Not a lot of familiarity with those engines in wellington at the time and as mentioned again, the crack was tiny no way the human eye would spot it unless you started pulling it, even I couldn't see it until a mate came round and used a great deal of physical force.  As to the pin holed intercooler its was a real thing, you are welcome to inspect next time your in Wellington. 

I'm really not trying to be contentious. My key point is, that troubleshooting boost leaks on turbo vehicles is pretty much the same process, I don't personally feel it requires any particularly N54 familiarity. A smoke machine without pressurizing the intake tract is objectively the incorrect procedure, that's all I'm saying. 

[Herbmiester 923]

On 1/3/2022 at 2:15 PM, HalfJobHarry said:

I'm really not trying to be contentious. My key point is, that troubleshooting boost leaks on turbo vehicles is pretty much the same process, I don't personally feel it requires any particularly N54 familiarity. A smoke machine without pressurizing the intake tract is objectively the incorrect procedure, that's all I'm saying. 

Theory and reality are not always the same thing, as an Auto Sparky I saw this proved over and over again.