Patrick E61

Those that have had this failure, what is your opinion about this: I get the iDrive warning about once every 4-5 days, then it goes off. And if I start the car and immediately drive away, there is no message. Moreover, the compressor makes its normal sounds when shutting off the engine.

?

I would be happy to hear any opinions/experiences.

mmitev

1. What does the warning say exactly? It can say "failure" which is bad, or it can say "difiiculty" or similar, which is obviously much better. I have had both.
2. I'd say as long as you don't drive with your rear bottomed out and sitting on the deflated air "springs", it all fine. This (driving on the bumps) is the only bad thing you can do, as it can damage the air springs.
3. Otherwise you can only wait until the compressor has died (or another problem has become inevitable), and maybe order one already so that you have it in storage when the problem comes.

Btw what do you mean with the compressor "making its normal noises when engine is shut off"? Is it a loud buzzing you hear and for how long? After the buzz, does it release air pressure, or does it just shut off immediately? Has it been making these noises all the time since you have the car, or has it changed/worsened somehow?

Patrick E61

I have heard noises from the compressor since I bought the car.

It happens after turning off the car, and it lasts about 2-3 seconds - it sounds like, well, an air compressor. Then there can also be a slight release of air.

IMO, it hasn't gotten worse or really changed.

The warning hasn't come on in a week. The last time that it did occur was again, when we have been at our summer place (Kemiö), and we have a 12km drive on a dirt (sora) road, down to our cottage.

The warning said, "FAILURE," and iDrive explained that the handling could be affected. Then it just shuts itself off.

I should also mention that iDrive threw a tire pressure warning (no flat tires or reduced air pressure in any tires), and some type of transmission warning. All of these have just gone away by themselves.

Strange.

mmitev

Does not sound like a compressor failure to me. My new compressor buzzes for 4-5 seconds when I shut off the car, while the old defected one buzzed for 45 secs until it was shut off by the relais. So yours sounds ok to me. Might be air tubes or valves. Also, my warning did not disappear by itself, unless I restarted the car and the compressor managed to elevate the car for some reason. Otherwise the warning stayed there.

The transmission warning I got only when my battery was weak and it had difficulties starting the engine. But then there were all sorts of other errors as well. But only the transmission one remained on screen.

Just in case, you probably should check for water in the spare wheel well, at the bottom under all covers.. Nothing else comes to mind.

narvselius

Believe that the issue is that the compressor sometimes cannot reach it's designated level and sends off a warning signal. In other words; it doesn't have to be the compressor as such that's gone, but could (for example) be a minor hole in a tube that sometimes leads to this result. Must be fixed soon, however, not too make it worse and causing a fault in the compressor.

E60Sim

Are there any pictures somewhere for a DIY to replace the hoses to some high-quality ones before the compressor collapse due to leaking hoses?

I'm going to Germany to pick up a fully loaded 530dA LCI Touring (although with BMW Premium Selection and Euro Plus warranty), but I would like to eliminate the risk of a future compressor failure.

mmitev

An LCI car will have the new hose, so no worries about that.

Congrats on the new car! Color combo?... And need I say.. pics??

Also, glad to see you on T-side of the barricade

But I wonder, what will you do now with all those retrofit skills you have developed, when the new car is already loaded??

E60Sim

No pics yet! I'll drive to BMW in Hannover on Friday the 20th of August in the E60 with my dad, and take the "new" E61 with us home !

The car is Carbon Black Metallic with M-sport, HUD, Individual High End Audio, Standheizung (built in diesel-heater), comfort seats, comfort access and soooo much more..

I'll upload some pictures after the trip to Germany, and some picture with the "old" E60 vs the "new" E61 on the Autobahn.

Llif

Hi WhiteyBM,
Sorry I've not replied for ages, been away driving my nicely level car
My E61 is a Aug 2004 525SE with a panoramic sunroof and its now done 54k and a bit.
The sunroof bit is relevant to this discussion as it appears to be one of the drains on the sunroof that has caused the water to come into the car in the first place.
Whether I would recommend the garage I used is still open to debate at the minute. There is a small problem that has developed since they fixed the car that's making them scratch their heads. When they replaced the ECU they needed to plug the car up to the computer to finish the repair. While doing this they managed to create a fault where when I turn the ignition on I get the message "head unit not programed correctly". If you press the return button on the i-drive it goes away and everything works just fine. The guys in the garage have been true gents in trying to fix it for me but they're scratching their heads as they (and the computer) can't find any problem with anything. Currently they're talking to their mates in the industry to try and think of things that will cause the problem and the car is booked to go back in at the end of the week. I'll let you know if they fix it.

WhiteyBM

Thanks Llif, keep us informed on how it goes. Good luck with it.