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My Ride: 2008 BMW 535i manual Monaco Blue-Sport Package-Cold Weather Package-Premium Package-Heated Rear Seats-PDC-Ipod Connectivity
Model Year: 2008
Originally Posted by NoQuarter
Plenty of other things to do for getting a code at half throttle. Unless you already know it is your turbos, I would not assume they are the culprit right away.
What codes do you get? misfire? Low boost pressure?
Limp mode with the 30ff (boost didn't achieve target basically).
I had COB Stage 1 and reverted to Stock, didn't seem to affect it at all.
Done: vacuum lines, chargepipe, blowoff valve, valve cover and gasket, PCV, catch can, and waste gate regulators (or whatever those expensive vacuum things are that apply the vacuum to open/close them). In addition to injectors, coils, plugs, etc. I'm pretty sure it's the wastegates, but it is hard to tell. All things were done after I started getting the code. It would happen every so often then graduated to every time I apply half or more throttle. Although honestly limp mode was more annoying for the persistent warning than anything. Since I stay under half throttle/reduced boost, I don't notice as much when it's forcibly reduced.
My Ride: 2007 530xi: Sport, NAV, PDC, HUD, Cold Wthr, CA, Logic 7, HD Radio, SAT, Custom NCS coded options 2008 535xi: Sport, Night Vision, NAV, PDC, HUD, Cold Wthr, CA, Logic 7, SAT, Custom NCS coded options, Rear Seat Heat Retrofit, Passport 9500ci
Model Year: 2008
Engine: N54
Originally Posted by gotpowr
Limp mode with the 30ff (boost didn't achieve target basically).
I had COB Stage 1 and reverted to Stock, didn't seem to affect it at all.
Done: vacuum lines, chargepipe, blowoff valve, valve cover and gasket, PCV, catch can, and waste gate regulators (or whatever those expensive vacuum things are that apply the vacuum to open/close them). In addition to injectors, coils, plugs, etc. I'm pretty sure it's the wastegates, but it is hard to tell. All things were done after I started getting the code. It would happen every so often then graduated to every time I apply half or more throttle. Although honestly limp mode was more annoying for the persistent warning than anything. Since I stay under half throttle/reduced boost, I don't notice as much when it's forcibly reduced.
Ha! Well you have covered the bases for sure. I would do a homemade pressure test next or pay someone to do a proper smoke test. You can also remove your down pipe, apply a manual vacuum to the wastegate actuator and visibly look at the wastegate and see what it is doing. Search for what the proper vacuum is where the wastegate should be fully closed.
My Ride: 2008 BMW 535i manual Monaco Blue-Sport Package-Cold Weather Package-Premium Package-Heated Rear Seats-PDC-Ipod Connectivity
Model Year: 2008
Originally Posted by NoQuarter
Ha! Well you have covered the bases for sure. I would do a homemade pressure test next or pay someone to do a proper smoke test. You can also remove your down pipe, apply a manual vacuum to the wastegate actuator and visibly look at the wastegate and see what it is doing. Search for what the proper vacuum is where the wastegate should be fully closed.
Yeah I keep hoping with replacing each piece that it would fix the problem. Each one had an issue ironically, and yet didn't solve the problem. My solenoids broke, but didn't affect it. My diverter valves were really bad but converting to a blowoff and new pipe didn't fix it. My valve cover was pretty janky.
I need to try a couple of the easier tests, but in reality, with 183k miles on the original turbos they'd likely go soon even if it was something else. I had a hard time seeing the wastegate actuator rod from top and bottom, so I gave up the idea of adjusting that.
I just passed 300,000 km (180,000 mi) yesterday. People cannot believe my car is 15 years old and has this high mileage. Here in eastern Canada, most cars of this age are pretty rusted. Mine has nothing showing on the body. I still have some of the typical 545i problems, but I have been pretty happy with the car over the past 5 years. My old E39 528i had 427,000 km when I sold it (gave it away)!
Our '07 525i with 158k on it was totaled recently in a TA but it was going strong. We bought it with 45k on the clock years ago. It had a starter replacement, DTM pump replacement, water pump and hoses, gaskets, all 4 struts, thrust arm bushings, COPs 2x, rear window gasket 2x and innumerable brake jobs, coolant changes, brake fluid changes and oil/filter changes. Always use Mobil1 full synthetic on 10k change intervals and when I replaced the cam cover gasket it was spotless inside. It had multiple events of bodywork as my wife had backed into it with another of our cars, (repaired) it had been rear ended (repaired) and then this front end crash brought the end. Excellent car.
Our '07 550i has 163k on it. I bought this car with 65k on the clock years ago. It has had a cooling fan motor replacement, an overflow tank, all 4 struts, thrust arm bushings 2x (most recently went with polyurethane, good move) brake boost unit, COPs 2x, knock sensors/intake gaskets under intake hoses replaced, the horrible oil cooler/alternator oil leak lead to all the o-rings therein replacement job (nasty). The Sat radio unit quit working so we put in a diagnostic loop bypassing that as we have never used the satellite radio function. It has a small coolant leak and a pass side oil leak that need attention but more at issue is the recently developed top end engine rattle, vanos maybe. Troubling.
Hoping that our '06 525i with 122k we bought to replace the '07 does well.
We also have a '10 528i with 80k on it.
Update on the 550i rattle. The one I SWORE was a top end rattle like my '03 Lincoln LS VVT "cam phaser" rattle. Nope. Not even close.
It was the water pump???? No way. How could that be? So strange. Anyway, the rattle got so bad that the bearing gave way completely, separated, hogged out the front of the pump and the coolant spewed all over. It took the factory plastic pulley with it. Seems like the noise was completely misleading. When I checked the car, there was nothing to lead me to believe it was the water pump. However, something I had done when stridently, methodically, persistently trying to diagnose the Klincoln rattle, I SHOULD have taken off the BMW serp belt. Doing that would have isolated the issue to anything driven on the front of the engine. I SHOULD have spun everything on the front of the engine by hand. Not good work on my part. I think the prospect of it really being cam phasers had me so horrified I just recoiled from the chore. I did all the correct diagnostics on the Klincoln and none of it on the Beemer. Uh. Oops. Supposed to get smarter and have better judgement with more experience not dumber with worse.
New pump, new pulley, much help from Phil. Had to do the job twice as a key o-ring got buggered in V1.0, second time is the charm (I hope) and, knock wood, it’s running really well, quietly.
First BMW to own, had it for a year now and only issue i had was with dynamic drive pressure lines and that was due to bad Shocks putting too much unregulator pressure when going around the corner at higher speed.
One owner, maintained at the dealer all the time, its practically a new car, i have done a few mods.
like the dual exhaust! where did you get the bumper insert and how much? been thinking about doing this myself
Here is the quad exhaust setup, the tips are longer than i like but i had them trimmed because they were sticking out too much, i can no longer find the one i have but its similar to this below.
I just passed 300,000 km (180,000 mi) yesterday. People cannot believe my car is 15 years old and has this high mileage. Here in eastern Canada, most cars of this age are pretty rusted. Mine has nothing showing on the body. I still have some of the typical 545i problems, but I have been pretty happy with the car over the past 5 years. My old E39 528i had 427,000 km when I sold it (gave it away)!
I recently sold my 150k E46 Touring 5-sp and upgraded to an ‘08 535Xi Touring 6-sp. While it still only has 90k on it I am hoping to add quite a bit more with a smile on my face.
03-25-2019, 12:51 PM
