At the crossroad with the X plus no start issue

[timmyc]

Effduration: I hear ya. BMW ownership is not for the faint at heart. Especially if you can't work on them yourself. Fortunately for me, I do work on them and have access to my brother in laws lift and professional tools.

The X was our first V8 bimmer. I wasn't looking for one, it found me. We too, have always driven the 6 cylinder cars and never had any serious issues. WAY less issues than the 8. Fortunately, the X we bought had the two major failures repaired by the previous owner. VSS and crossover pipe. That was really the only reason I didn't walk away from this X. That and it had everything that I wanted plus the color combo.

We certainly do enjoy the 20+ year old bimmers and still do have a few around.

80'sTech: I showed her a '16 diesel X3 yesterday that was perfect and I got side eyed. She loves the X5.

Aurelliusmax: Those faults were active after we had gotten in back from the mechanic. I have a feeling that I will get the runaround when I tell them it started after they did the work. Hopefully not, as I really like them and they do the best work in town. And they warranty their work!

Electrical work is where I call in the pro's. I just don't have the knowledge or equipment to solve those issues. As I stated above, I do work on our cars and have since we've been driving. I like doing the work and knowing that it was done right and with the right, quality parts.

The shop replaced the valve covers. Not just the seals. That's why it was so expensive. And they will only use original BMW parts. Cha-ching!

Getty150: I'm not scared to drive the X, I just need it to be reliable for my wife. I suspect a newer X with an N55 is in our future. She is not into the X3. Not sure why? I'd drive one!

And this car has certainly not been neglected. It gets the royal treatment. After all, it is my wife's daily driver!

Thanks again, all! Keep 'em coming!

[timmyc]

Not much of an update, but here it is:

My wife is now the proud owner of a '20 i3 REX!

We talked a bit about her driving habits and needs and she realized that she doesn't ever really need to take her vehicle out of town. After a back and forth of needs versus wants, she found a '16 X5 40e at a place called Certified Benz and Beemer. She has always wanted a hybrid at the very least. I'm totally game for that one! Then the search goes to EV's. i4 and iX. Nice, but not in our price range. i3? Hmmmm.....RWD. Not great for in the snow and we do get it, but our roads are typically cleared quickly and will melt off the next day. Only 4 passengers. Well, it's typically just her in the car, 95% of the time (we are 5 in our immediate family). Not a deal breaker. She forgot all about the 40e and we drove down into the 117 degree heat to take a look. Got an AMAZING deal on a Tera World car. 120ah battery, to boot! Mineral Gray exterior with Dark Truffle seats. It's gorgeous. I'll post a picture later.

So, back to our X. I have been diving it on and off without the faults coming back. It did stall or something one morning after I went out and started it, but I was inside when it stalled out, so I don't know what it sounded like or acted like. No codes thrown, so I will have to keep driving it until it acts up. And because we want to keep an AWD around for when it does snow, the X stays! Like I said, we both love the car and would have to part with it if it was to be her daily, but now she has the i3 and she adores it.

This is not the end of this saga!

[timmyc]

Went out to the X to get it started and it kinda didn't want to start. Like the starter did not want to engage. Instead of the quick turn of the key, I had to hold it for a sec to get it to start. Failing ignition switch? I've read that they seldom fail, but that may be a place to start? I need to check all of the connections first to make sure everything is tight. I am in Arizona, so we don't really deal with corrosion.

And we welcomed a new addition to the family! '16 F15 40e. My daughter got back into a BMW after 8 years in a Chevy Equinox, which was a great car for her. So, it looks like we are slowly on track to have an electric fleet of bimmers!

I'll be back!

[EODguy]

Battery voltage?
Loose B terminal?

These are the 1st suspects before thinking about the ignition switch.

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[timmyc]

Alright. Got the X back from the indy and they had no clue what was going on with the starting issue. Go figure. An issue that will never arise when it is at a mechanic. Not a real surprise, there.

Now for the other issues related to drivability:

VVT. Apparently both are bad because of the bakelight having disintegrated? It does have a rough idle at cold start. Remove and replace; $1500

DISA motor. Guess it doesn't work? $800

Now to address the 4X4 lamp. Steering angle sensor. Replace and calibrate; $1100

Sigh.....

So, I just happened to be down by another mechanic turned friend who has done a ton of work for us in the past on the bimmers. Threw all of this at him and he says, "Why the hell don't you do it? That shit is easy!". I told him exactly why I had taken it to another shop and not him, and he tells me "Good call. No sense in driving the X in limp mode for over an hour for a diagnosis". Like I said, mechanic turned friend. Anyway, I quiz him a bit on the VVT and the recalibration, as well as the SAS. Sounds doable for me with just the Foxwell. Great!

He also tells me to just replace the ignition switch to deal with the intermitent starting. "Super easy", he says. Okay.

So, here is what I am looking for. Who has done the VVT? Is it just remove and replace? No "re-learn"?

And the steering angle sensor? I have seen that in the Foxwell menu. Calibrate SAS. Anyone done it and used the Foxwell with success?

I'm fairly certain that I will be ordering parts soon and tackling this one. Especially after the pep talk with Henri.

I'll keep ya posted.

[EODguy]

In the maintenance menu on the Foxwell nt-510 there is a (park or whatever) line for removing the vanos and replacing. I haven't done it so I can't say if it's truly necessary but I did dick-up the degrees and it led to a no start situation and then..... I found the above maintenance line in my Foxwell and wondered if that would have prevented the whole deal.

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[timmyc]

Originally Posted by EODguy

In the maintenance menu on the Foxwell nt-510 there is a (park or whatever) line for removing the vanos and replacing. I haven't done it so I can't say if it's truly necessary but I did dick-up the degrees and it led to a no start situation and then..... I found the above maintenance line in my Foxwell and wondered if that would have prevented the whole deal.

Sent from my SM-A528B using Tapatalk

Thanks for the reply EODguy. I'll poke around in the menu and see what I can find. I do vaguely remember seeing the SAS recalibrate, but haven't ever needed, until now, to look for anything dealing with the vanos. And I'm just going to do the switch. For $60, why not? I went out this morning to move it and it started then died after a minute or so, then no start? My wife went out to move it about 2 hours later and it started right up. Really weird.

[nick325xit 5spd]

First things first: You most likely have a ground or power issue. Ignore all other errors until that is solved. Cars generally light up like a christmas tree when there are power issues, so you’ll get all kinds of errors that may or may not be real.

Step one is check all the obvious power connections, starting with the battery terminals, engine ground, starter, etc. Don’t do anything until you’ve checked those.

[timmyc]

Originally Posted by nick325xit 5spd

First things first: You most likely have a ground or power issue. Ignore all other errors until that is solved. Cars generally light up like a christmas tree when there are power issues, so you’ll get all kinds of errors that may or may not be real.

Step one is check all the obvious power connections, starting with the battery terminals, engine ground, starter, etc. Don’t do anything until you’ve checked those.

Thanks for the reply, Nick.

I asked the shop to do that first, then move on to the other issues. It was said that everything is tight and no corrosion, so for now, all I can do is take their word for it until I can get it on the lift and check it myself. I'm talking about the starter mostly.

Today we are working on my daughter's e46 coupe, chasing down a parasitic draw. We already did the HVAC resistor ( I forget the actual name) and are moving on from that. We deal with pack rats here, and I wonder if we have an open circuit somewhere? Car was on the charger all night and we will do a drawdown test this morning with a multimeter. Fingers crossed!

[timmyc]

Fortunately, the coupe just needed a battery. I threw the ohm meter on it and there was no significant draw. I had misread the receipt from the battery. It was 6 years old and not driven very often. No issues since then and now it up for sale.

The X just got back from another indy that I have used in the past and he too could not find the reason for the intermittent start. I just replaced the ignition switch and it didn't start. I'll throw the old switch back in and see what happens. I did some reading about EWS and that does not seem to be what my symptoms are. Nothing happens when I turn the key. Nothing. Then out of the blue it will start. Maybe I'll time the occurrence to see if that helps? IDK, I am taking it back to the shop to see what he can find.

Finally had the A/C compressor changed and transmission mount. Did the guibo while he was there.

He also diagnosed the rough start to the intermediate levers, so he'll deal with that. Hopefully that will solve that. Another interesting discussion we had was about the VVT solenoids. He wasn't getting any codes from them and he tells me that just because the bakelite has a crack in it, does not mean it needs replaced. I trust this guy and am glad I didn't choke down that repair.

Onward......!