What did you do to / for your F15 today?

[srmmmm]

[srmmmm]

Went to the Trans Am races in Nashville as a guest of Overboost and saw 27mpg while averaging 75.3mph from Arlington to Nashville. Can't complain about that kind of performance at all!


Now it's time for an oil change today.

[andrewwynn]

On a trip early this year got 27 on a full tank. 22.5*27=607.5 range!

[srmmmm]

With the 10-12 degree weather in Texas this weekend, the original battery finally demanded retirement. So it was off to Autozone for a Duralast Platinum series H8 to replace the main battery. Of course, the auxiliary battery seems to only be available from the dealer, so I was hoping replacing the main would cover me for a day until I could get to the dealer. Install went pretty smooth and I had no difficulty coding the new battery to the car since it was the same amperage. Well, I got three starts and quick trips without any trouble with the new main battery, the last being to work this morning. When I tried to go out to lunch, the vehicle was completely dead - couldn't even get in the doors. Arranged for a tow truck and I used "the key" to open the driver's door, the driver was able to jump start the vehicle!


So I was able to drive it to the dealer for inspection which was good. If they come in dead, the diagnosis fee is $120 more because they have to manually get it out of park. I told them to replace the auxiliary battery first, then diagnose the battery circuits. Hopefully everything checks out okay.

[srmmmm]

Aarrgghh! The frickin' coolant pump went wacko and decided to run all the time. That's what ate up the battery. First major item I've had to address on this vehicle, now at 113,000 miles. It may just be a "water pump", but I consider it major at $2200. The auxiliary battery with install and coding came to $535, which doesn't bother me as much, considering the battery is over $300 by itself. Good thing I always seem to get at least 7 years out of the batteries.

[andrewwynn]

I was afraid to get N55 due to two things: coolant pump and the belt ingestion.

I DIY on the coolant pump and it was at least 75% easier than on n52 in 3 series x-drive (there's not enough room to get the pipe connected between pump and thermostat).

It is an "all day" job though and swearing though reduced 75% will be part of your day.

Did they have to replace some control ckt or the internal pump ckt failed? I guess the pump has power always so it can run with the motor off to pull out some latent heat.

[srmmmm]

I asked about what was being replaced and it is the pump and control module as well. Amazingly, there are no pumps at any Texas BMW dealers or warehouses, so i have an X3 loaner for the week.


In a way, I find that to be an indication they don't fail often, so hopefully this will be the only one I ever need.

[srmmmm]

Big learning experience this week - Oil add warning came on (7000 on a quart is okay with me) so I proceeded to add a quart. 10 miles later the idle becomes extremely rough and the transmission is not downshifting correctly when coming to a stop.


Pull out the scanner and it shows MAF malfunction, Cylinder Bank 1 lean, and Fast Idle inconsistent. Thanks to prior MAF experience, I go ahead and order the genuine BMW replacement from FCP. Takes 2 extra days just to ship out.


In the meantime, big puddle of oil under the engine the second night after the MAF error. All I could think of was the dealership had "amplified" the oil pan gasket seepage activity when they replaced my water pump, but it's dark and too late to check further. Next day there's another puddle at my space at work. I open the hood to examine and find oil sprayed all over the passenger side of the engine because I didn't get the oil filler cap back on all the way.


Once secure, I reset the codes and everything is good again. Never saw an engine go so bonkers with a loose oil filler cap. I was also relieved there wasn't any shady activity from the dealership involved.

[andrewwynn]

I've had a very similar loose oil cap situation makes a big mess!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[srmmmm]

Time for an oil change this week. Since I'm at 118,000 miles I'll go ahead and get the lube changed in both differentials and the transfer case as well. The ever-popular leaking windshield washer fluid needs to be addressed now as well. Losing a gallon a day is out of control! I sure do prefer the E53 washer tank setup under the hood.