Oh dang. Sadly, I'm sure busy BMW shops toss out bad metering units somewhat regularly. If only we could snag one of those for the nipple. I'll probably just buy a used one on ebay.

AM.

There’s still snow on the ground here so progress was slow today. I was able to get the oil drain tube clamps tight. Got the exhaust pushed back on the DPF and clamped. Got the new DEF metering valve installed (including pulling the old broken nipple out of the hose). Hose and electric are reconnected. To be honest, I think all my messing around may have compromised the gaskets at the rear connection of the intermediate exhaust pipe. I did buy the gaskets for each side of the mixer but there’s no nuts left on the studs that hold it to the exhaust. I’m going to try to avoid messing with it for now. If it leaks, I’ll have to replace the exhaust section with the metering valve in it. I’ll have to cut the studs to get it off and they’re pressed into the exhaust section. I could drill them out and replace them with a nut & bolt but that’s a bit too much “backwoods engineering “. If it’s stupid but it works, it isn’t stupid. However, I’ve put so much into it at this point, I want it to be right and as reliable as possible.
Tomorrow I’m going to start trying to reposition the subframe and get it hung so I can finally set the engine back down where it goes. This will be interesting. May try to “roll” the back up to the front where it was. I don’t want to pull the front wheels backward since it may pull them down the ramps. That would be problematic as I’ll be under it at the time. This will likely involve a come along and an anchor point. I’ll let you know what happens. Almost done underneath. Definitely getting too old to be crawling around in the cold on a driveway covered in snow. Need a garage and a lift.

Did you buy a new genuine BMW DPF or get the one from eastern Europe (can't remember the name of it at the moment)?

AM.

I got one off eBay, new. I figured it’s nowhere near equivalent quality but I intend to find somewhere that can clean the old one and have it on standby if the eBay unit crapped the mattress. It’s just full of ash. Still worked, regens were just too close together. I couldn’t really justify spending another $4000 to be able to “hot swap” dpfs. So the eBay one will do, even if I end up swapping back in a year if the eBay unit becomes problematic.

Yep, that's what I'd have done too. WL is the company and that seems to be what everyone is listing on ebay. I'll be curious to see how it does for you in the coming years.

AM.

Yeah, I’m hopeful but knowing the difference between OE & aftermarket catalytic converters , I’d guess they skimped on everything they could with respect to precious metal content. The welds are… there. They’re serviceable but nothing more than typical unskilled labor would produce. The id of the dpf exit tubing is smaller and they just welded a larger ring sleeve on it to get it to mate properly. I’m most concerned with the flange where it mounts to the turbo. It doesn’t look “off” but if it’s twisted even a little, the gasket won’t seal to the turbo. To do my best to account for this, I’ve clamped the turbo connection to the dpf first. Once I get the turbos torqued properly in the morning, I’ll go back and bolt the dpf to the 2 brackets and tighten the exhaust clamp to the mid pipe. Hopefully this will ensure the connection at the turbo is tight (at the expense of the bracket connections) instead of the other way around.

Everything was wet today between the rain and melting snow so I put off the subframe project and wrapped up almost everything up top. Torqued the turbochargers to the manifold (4 corners of large turbo at 40nm, 3 remaining bolts on the small turbo at 25nm). Got the heat shield in and bolted down. Got all the oil feed lines tightened. Got the differential pressure sensor and exhaust manifold pressure sensor hooked up. I had to use new hose for the differential pressure sensor because I beat it up on the way out. Got all the vacuum routed and the vacuum accumulator box reinstalled and electrical connections hooked up. Got the fresh air feed pipe hooked up to the compressor bypass valve and put a glove on it to stop any debris or water entering. Rain tray was removed again and reinstalled at the end of the day. Man, it was a lot of work today but progress was definitely made.
So when the rain stops, I’ll have the LP egr valve and cooler to reinstall, then the subframe and all the shielding underneath. Then I can reinstall the fresh air pipe up to the maf sensor and the air filter box and start it (and find out how bad my intermediate exhaust pipe is going to leak.

We're rooting for you!

AM.

Huge roadblock today. Got the filtered air pipe/tube installed and buttoned everything up on top. Cleaned off the LP egr valve to reinstall. Went to install and the oil drain tube is in the way. It’s a new oil drain tube from ecs in the BMW kit (pn: 11652411690).
What I’m guessing happened is somewhere along the line, someone who deals with vehicle fitment between BMW and ECS accidentally decided that because the engines and turbochargers were the same for both vehicles, the turbocharger install kit should fit both. The X5 is different in that it’s the only one with a low pressure EGR system. So I’ve used the wrong install kit. I could just buy the correct oil drain pipe for my vehicle but it’s ~ $170 and I’ve already paid for it in the kit. The worst part about all of this; there’s no way to get the drain tube off the small turbo in situ. I’ll have to remove the small turbo which will mean my turbo gaskets will also have to be replaced. The large turbo will have to be completely freed from its mountings so I can install the proper oil drain tube between it and the block. I’ll have to strip annd redo all the work I’ve gotten done in the last 2 or 3 days and start over. It means essentially an entire new gasket set.
I can’t even believe this is happening. I was so close.

I’ve spoken with ecs via chat and email and they’re investigating. Ive been doing business with them since they started and have never had anything like this happen. To give them the benefit of doubt, it may not be their fault (fitment comes from elsewhere maybe?), but I’m really hoping they make this right. I’ll let you know.