Hello all. My 02 530d keeps stalling on random occasions. Between my mechanic who has the same car and all of the technicians in BMW Prentice, nobody seems to know what the problem is. When it stalls, it can take up to half an hour before she will start again. It brings up a fault code for 3 injectors, but everyone who looks at the car agrees its not the injectors (including Prentice) as the car runs perfectly with no misfires or judders and then just goes. Plus the fact 3 injectors wont just shut down out of nowhere at exactly the same time. http://www.reallymeansounds.com/forum/threads/gutted-the-530d-that-wasnt-to-be.127868/ The above thread shows the history of the car and what the problem is - For those lazy people heres a quick summary! Car was an ex-Prentice demo car, with a meticulous service history from Prentice throughout its life, and came with nearly 10k worth of receipts and is currently sitting at 115,000 miles A Prentice mechanic had the car for 2 weeks. It shut down on him twice the first week, where he was able to replace the injector wiring loom at the side of the road to see if that helped. He drove it without fault for about 20 miles, gave it back to my mechanic on Thursday where it then quit on him that night. All wiring has been checked and without corrosion, if it was a sensor (MAF, Hot/Cold) it would bring up a fault code so my mechanic now reckons its the injector ECU, as there is no power at some of the ports when its stalls. Fuel pumps have been checked and are fine also. All guesswork so far and ultimately left me without a car for a month and some hefty bills, which is why I just want to get it diagnosed and sorted. Has anyone any idea what could cause this, or had any expieriecne with a smiliar problem? All advice and info greatly appreciated
Had the fuel pressure been checked on the return line? It's all well and good running power to the pump, and it may be priming up etc, but if it's not supplying the required pressure all the time it will have similar results to those above, such as the hard starting once it dies...
No idea mate, i'm just reporting back from the Mechanic! But will def say to him tomorrow. Tips like this that I want to report back to him just in case it hasn't been checked
Well I spent long enough getting my own car going last year, checking wiring, ECU, fuel lines, new filter, fuses, ran power directly to the pump with a probe tester and it went, rewired the earth and stuff just to be sure etc etc and I was ready to burn the bastid. Turns out that the pump was working, but in a very limp state. It was getting the fuel up to and indeed through the filter, but when it came to running the engine, it wasn't pumping anywhere near enough or even at half the required pressure. Through a new fuel pump into the tank, and away it went. It actually became much easier to start on cold mornings and after long journeys when it previously would have been a bit iffy about wanting to go...
That's good to know Nicky, i'll be going through all of this with my mechanic tomorrow. Was yours doing the same thing? I'm ready to burn the thing and haven't driven it more than 30 miles! It's very frustrating, especially seeing as it's been in Prentices for a diagnosis and then spent 2 weeks in the hands of one of their technicians who does homers. He then had the rest of the technicans looking at it aswell and came up with nothing. One month down, hopefully Feb will bring some results! Feel free to post your advice anyone else The more info I go back with the Mechanic the better! It sounds like I have no faith in my mechanic but I do, but at this stage, need all the help I can get with it!
Another thing you could do is have a diagnostic machine that has live data plugged into it while driving and when fault occurs monitor the high and low pressure fuel readings incase as nicky says the pump is lying down now and again. Also i cant remember if the e39 has this but on the e53 x5s and e46 3 series they have a separate DDE relay its called in the e box at bulkhead and these have been prone to failing now and again causing car to cut out and not starting etc. Is car logging any faults bar the injector faults? Also when it stops with computer on check crank sensor, fuel pump sensor readings etc
Nope, just injector fault. That's a good idea, would help pinpoint where it's going wrong, cheers buddy
Yeah, it was a BMW 525TDS. I dropped a pressure-tested E39 M5 pump into it and had no problems after that, and as said, it was even noticeably easier to start.
might be better buying a cheap 530d swap over bits one and time, find the culprit replace part and sell 2nd 530d.
It's getting to the stage that i'm that desperate Still no resolve with this f*cking car! Really desperate to get an answer. Mechanic has got to the stage where he's saying leave it into Prentices and have them replace the injectors...even though the technicians in the place all agree it's not the injectors. Tried a new injector wiring loom with no luck... Unless anyone can recommend a BMW buff who's better than Prentices own guys?
it was actually a serious suggestion. youd take no time to burn through a grand+ changing stuff you dont need.
True mate. It's with a guy in Portadown at the minute. If he comes up with nothing, I think I'll go down that route, it would save a lot of money and hassle.
A good friend of mine is a mechanic and he owns a 530d, he knows it inside out, twice. You could drop it with him and he can swap the bits off his car to check for faults probably. You wouldn't see a grands worth of fuel injection components on a 530d tbh.
The guys who orignally had it have sent the ECU off for testing as when the car was plugged into a more advanced machine, it was bringing up faults with the throttle and oil pressure. When the car stalls, there is no power coming from the ECU ports that control these so they reckon it's the ECU. ECU reults should be back next week so will let you guys know what happens Actually hope it is the ECU so I can get it sorted and out of the way. If it is, second hand units are available for about £200 off ebay, but I heard you can't put second hand ECU's in these ?
this was posted in another thread mate (E60 coding something) "Give Darren a ring at BMW Tech in Dundonald, he has the latest autologic and can do it. His no is 07962 260701 "
Good news!! ...sort of. ECU came back from testing. To put it in the words of the guys we sent the ECU off to, "it's ****ed!" Finally got a result. Been talking to Autotune and they say a second hand one will do, just needs £50 for coding. But when I said I had seen them on ebay for £250 he said he wouldn't be paying half of that Can't seem to find any for less than that, although I haven't tried to hard Tried Railway Auto Spares but couldn't get through so will try tomorrow for a price. Progress!