[beMtroubleYou]

Hey guys, need a little help.

So i´ve read on here some having trouble with this and I kinnda need help to identify or get some bearing on what this is.

Car has these mods: catless DP and aftermarket intercooler

Was driving in sport+, 30 minutes or so, medium throttle never full. Did a 2-3 minute cooldown drive as always and parked to get pizza.

Started the car and it hesitated, and not the regular jump in RPM 1500 but maybe to 1k. And the check controll for drivetrain malfunction came on.

Car went powerless and the transmission was stuttering as fk, D,S and manual it pretty much chugged in. Car was shooting Ak47 shots so it was running rich. Drove home, shut the car off.

Hooked up OBD doctor and ran codes in ignition only got two:

P00BC and P0420. The first one is MAF and the second one is catalyst efficiency below threshold. The check control message was now gone!

I have the standard airbox with standard filter and car has done 1553 miles today and was serviced at 1429 miles at BMW(no mods). During the winter car was still and I had to charge the battery.

Looking under the bonnet I´ve found something troubling and thats my coolant level is kinnda in the lowest department. And some kind of carbon buildup in the strangest of places. See pic 2.

Any kind of help or advice is appreciated, wont drive until I can clear this out. Maybe its just different isolated things but I would love some input!

[Taunto]

I wouldnt be too concerned with the low coolant unless you monitor it and notice your loosing alot right away. small amounts of coolant loss is considered normal on turbocharged cars.
Did you remove the air filter and have a look? is the filter blocked or very dirty? Any signs of smoke from the back of the car while driving? White, blue, black smoke?
There is a small chance of a leaking injector - ive seen it on brand new vehicles..also leaking HPFP ive seen as well, mainly N20 engines tho.
Depending on how mechanically inclined you are, you could remove all the spark plugs or at least the first 2 or 3 and inspect them. See if they are covered in fuel or oil or full of carbon. My general rule for cleaning lightly worn spark plugs is soaking them in Carburetor cleaner and then using a small lighter or torch to burn the deposits off - i stay away from picks and small wire brushes personally.

Also take a look at the MAF..see if its dirty or has some dirt/debris on it as well.

[beMtroubleYou]

Originally Posted by Taunto

I wouldnt be too concerned with the low coolant unless you monitor it and notice your loosing alot right away. small amounts of coolant loss is considered normal on turbocharged cars.
Did you remove the air filter and have a look? is the filter blocked or very dirty? Any signs of smoke from the back of the car while driving? White, blue, black smoke?
There is a small chance of a leaking injector - ive seen it on brand new vehicles..also leaking HPFP ive seen as well, mainly N20 engines tho.
Depending on how mechanically inclined you are, you could remove all the spark plugs or at least the first 2 or 3 and inspect them. See if they are covered in fuel or oil or full of carbon. My general rule for cleaning lightly worn spark plugs is soaking them in Carburetor cleaner and then using a small lighter or torch to burn the deposits off - i stay away from picks and small wire brushes personally.

Also take a look at the MAF..see if its dirty or has some dirt/debris on it as well.

Hi! Ty for the tip!

It was snowing like crazy so the car has been standing still. Went for a smell and look at the coolant, no oil or fas smell and its not foaming or anything.

There is no more smoke when warm or during throttle, only white when on idle.

Went for a little drive today and noticed nothing during cold start, went for a drive and heard a "poff"(not a bang), like the air was dumped under pressure, and then a squeeking noise on driver side, and then it was squeeking(like brakes) for some time, no errors and no CEL. When I put it in reverse and backed in to the spot.. nothing!

Found this:

And this:

You might be right! It could be sparks/coils! On car thats done 2400km/1500miles.

I´l start with CC codes in hidden and get back to you.

[delvec03]

...why is a 2014 barely past the break in period?!

lack of driving may be your issue.

[Taunto]

Take a look at the MAF sensor to see if its soiled or dirty. If its fine..to me it sounds like a Injector could be leaking. ive seen injectors fail even on very low mileage vehicles. The fuel thats in the vehicle have any Ethanol content in it?
As for what cylinder its hard to say but with too much fuel dripping into the cylinder it will cause a catalyst efficiency fault code for sure and have the symptoms you stated above.

Personally without physically seeing the car at hand its hard to say im just speculating at best. I would bring it to the dealer or a local Indy shop that you trust who can take a look at it. No shop should really charge you more than 1 hour to diagnose the problem. If they want more time they better have damn good reasons why and provide the steps they took to use up all that hour of diagnosis.

Future tip - For what the You tube video guy said in the 2nd video...if you have a miss fire fault...dont just instantly go and replace the spark plugs.. Ive diagnosed and fixed countless miss fire problems/concerns at the dealer and id say spark plugs fix it 20-30% of the time max. Need to know what the issue is before replacing anything... unless a "Parts till it Starts" person lol.

[frenchfry675]

the second picture is normal for bmw. I think it’s some sort of grease or something. It’s ugly as shit but it’s not anything to worry about.

[beMtroubleYou]

Originally Posted by Taunto

Take a look at the MAF sensor to see if its soiled or dirty. If its fine..to me it sounds like a Injector could be leaking. ive seen injectors fail even on very low mileage vehicles. The fuel thats in the vehicle have any Ethanol content in it?
As for what cylinder its hard to say but with too much fuel dripping into the cylinder it will cause a catalyst efficiency fault code for sure and have the symptoms you stated above.

Personally without physically seeing the car at hand its hard to say im just speculating at best. I would bring it to the dealer or a local Indy shop that you trust who can take a look at it. No shop should really charge you more than 1 hour to diagnose the problem. If they want more time they better have damn good reasons why and provide the steps they took to use up all that hour of diagnosis.

Future tip - For what the You tube video guy said in the 2nd video...if you have a miss fire fault...dont just instantly go and replace the spark plugs.. Ive diagnosed and fixed countless miss fire problems/concerns at the dealer and id say spark plugs fix it 20-30% of the time max. Need to know what the issue is before replacing anything... unless a "Parts till it Starts" person lol.

Fuel is always 98 RON(87.5 MON) but car was in winter storage, but went straight to station and filled up like 3/4 of the tank.

Yeah! Will check the MAF/Filter tomorrow now that the snow is gone. I did check the CC-ID´s and took the liberty of already looking them up:

26744km 0811 CC-ID 811 – Bonnet Open
26743km 0029 CC-ID 29 – Engine Problem, Power Reduced
26651km 0149 CC-ID 149 – Tyre Pressure Monitoring Failure - 1
26632km 0236 CC-ID 236 – Brake and Stability Systems Failure
26632km 0042 CC-ID 42 – DSC Control System/Ride Height adjustment
26632km 0229 CC-ID 229 – Battery Charge Low
26629km 0557 CC-ID 557 – Rolling Possible, Secure Vehicle
23997km 0167 CC-ID 167 – Reset Clock

There are no DTC codes!!!

Alot of them are TPMS related as I already know the antenna for that isnt working. It that 0029 thats stressing the shit out of me. Iam more and more worried about headgasket.

Indy workshop booked next week, wont drive until I had it checked up. This is my list of things I want them to go trough(I dont trust the BMW stealership);

1) leaks on intake side(to turbo)
2) EGR valve
3) sparks
4) obd codes

I´ve tried googleing 0029 but its so much info - most point to fuel pump.

Oh and I phoned BMW, the guy said literally "if there is no code when you restart the car then there is no problem"

[beMtroubleYou]

Originally Posted by delvec03

...why is a 2014 barely past the break in period?!

lack of driving may be your issue.

Its been on an island most of its life, short trips I guess!

I dont think that should be an issue tho 415 miles a year

[Taunto]

come to think of it..did u check the charge pipe. The Pipe going to the throttle body.. or the charge pipe ends going to the intercooler.. maybe you blew one of the ends off. I've personally never seen it happen on stock cars - but have heard of it happening

[frenchfry675]

Originally Posted by beMtroubleYou

Fuel is always 98 RON(87.5 MON) but car was in winter storage, but went straight to station and filled up like 3/4 of the tank.

Yeah! Will check the MAF/Filter tomorrow now that the snow is gone. I did check the CC-ID´s and took the liberty of already looking them up:

26744km 0811 CC-ID 811 – Bonnet Open
26743km 0029 CC-ID 29 – Engine Problem, Power Reduced
26651km 0149 CC-ID 149 – Tyre Pressure Monitoring Failure - 1
26632km 0236 CC-ID 236 – Brake and Stability Systems Failure
26632km 0042 CC-ID 42 – DSC Control System/Ride Height adjustment
26632km 0229 CC-ID 229 – Battery Charge Low
26629km 0557 CC-ID 557 – Rolling Possible, Secure Vehicle
23997km 0167 CC-ID 167 – Reset Clock

There are no DTC codes!!!

Alot of them are TPMS related as I already know the antenna for that isnt working. It that 0029 thats stressing the shit out of me. Iam more and more worried about headgasket.

Indy workshop booked next week, wont drive until I had it checked up. This is my list of things I want them to go trough(I dont trust the BMW stealership);

1) leaks on intake side(to turbo)
2) EGR valve
3) sparks
4) obd codes

I´ve tried googleing 0029 but its so much info - most point to fuel pump.

Oh and I phoned BMW, the guy said literally "if there is no code when you restart the car then there is no problem"

I may be way off base but I’ve heard these cars do weird shit when the battery is low? Did you have a charger on it when it was in storage?

[frenchfry675]

I just reread your original post and saw you had to charge the battery. I’d get that checked first before anything else. I put led brake lights and led running lights in my old evo x and got a drivetrain malfunction check engine light. I took out the bulbs back to normal. Just saying modern cars rely heavily on sensors and when they receive the wrong voltage weird stuff happens. Obviously bmw ecu’s are far superior to a Mitsubishi ecu but I’d put my money on the battery being bad.

[3rdcoast228i]

Running a catless down pipe without a tune is going to be a problem.

[frenchfry675]

Originally Posted by 3rdcoast228i

Running a catless down pipe without a tune is going to be a problem.

That’s not a problem with these cars.

[Taunto]

Originally Posted by frenchfry675

That’s not a problem with these cars.

Explain how that is not a problem?

[3rdcoast228i]

Originally Posted by Taunto

Explain how that is not a problem?

Yeah I wasn't going to say anything but... hey why not. I'm trying to help the OP.


beMtroubleYou May have more than one issue here, but one of them is the catless down pipe. It's pretty well known you will get CELs without a cat. It can be done but it's not so simple as removing the cat. (You didn't say you had tune so I'm guessing you don't, but even if you do there could still be issues depending on the type of tune.)

There are O2 sensors before and after the cat, the computer is expecting to see a difference between the 2 sensors and it isn't. Its going to throw a CEL, that does not necessarily mean it's going hurt anything but it sure makes it hard to diagnose other problems.

I'm not sure how BMW does it but the car could be adjusting the air fuel ratio based off one or both O2 sensors and that could be causing the car to run rich.

You could have got some bad gas too?

[frenchfry675]

Originally Posted by 3rdcoast228i

Yeah I wasn't going to say anything but... hey why not. I'm trying to help the OP.


beMtroubleYou May have more than one issue here, but one of them is the catless down pipe. It's pretty well known you will get CELs without a cat. It can be done but it's not so simple as removing the cat. (You didn't say you had tune so I'm guessing you don't, but even if you do there could still be issues depending on the type of tune.)

There are O2 sensors before and after the cat, the computer is expecting to see a difference between the 2 sensors and it isn't. Its going to throw a CEL, that does not necessarily mean it's going hurt anything but it sure makes it hard to diagnose other problems.

I'm not sure how BMW does it but the car could be adjusting the air fuel ratio based off one or both O2 sensors and that could be causing the car to run rich.

You could have got some bad gas too?

The first o2 adjusts the air/fuel the second is only for emissions. Yes you get a cell but it doesn’t effect the the way the car runs to the extent of his issues. I meant mechanically won’t be an issue. But your right it will run a little rich and should be tuned for maximum benefits. My old evo x it would have been an issue. I couldn’t even change the intake without a tune on the evo but this car you don’t have too.

[frenchfry675]

Originally Posted by Taunto

Explain how that is not a problem?

How is it a problem?

[Taunto]

Originally Posted by frenchfry675

The first o2 adjusts the air/fuel the second is only for emissions. Yes you get a cell but it doesn’t effect the the way the car runs to the extent of his issues. I meant mechanically won’t be an issue. But your right it will run a little rich and should be tuned for maximum benefits. My old evo x it would have been an issue. I couldn’t even change the intake without a tune on the evo but this car you don’t have too.

I understand your point. I guess i took the comment into the wrong context. Yes your right it will cause a C.E.L and from personal experience it will cause drive-ability issues along with cold start issues in colder ambient temps..but yes as for OP's main concern i dont think it is their issue

[frenchfry675]

Originally Posted by Taunto

I understand your point. I guess i took the comment into the wrong context. Yes your right it will cause a C.E.L and from personal experience it will cause drive-ability issues along with cold start issues in colder ambient temps..but yes as for OP's main concern i dont think it is their issue

No worries! I think we are all guilty of that... especially on forums lol. I should’ve explained more on my response. We’re all just trying to help. Nothing worse then thinking your car is messed up. I know this forum has helped me settle my nerves many times.

I think you might be right with a leak in a charge pipe connection. That makes the most sense since the reading from the maf would be different from the o2 reading and the ecu would just dump fuel to protect the motor

[beMtroubleYou]

Originally Posted by Taunto

I understand your point. I guess i took the comment into the wrong context. Yes your right it will cause a C.E.L and from personal experience it will cause drive-ability issues along with cold start issues in colder ambient temps..but yes as for OP's main concern i dont think it is their issue

I´ve found my issue for future references!

This is all true guys. Catless DP isnt the issue. Nor is the upgraded intercooler.

I dont have all the codes but its valvetronic.

I took it to indieshop and hooked it up, valvetronic sensor shortcircut to ground, valvetronic something something 5 codes in total. One of them being MAF sensor - i think this is due to chargepipe crack.

NO CHECK ENGINE LIGHT.!!!!

Took it to BMW, they changed the valvetronic harness(as esys has this listed as first step) and then car threw CEL amon other things. Sorry for late response, been a hassle to get this right.!

So if your idle is a little shaky - check codes for valvetronic errors!

Come to think of it, all makes sense, why car has trouble shifting gears in D(idle control is pretty much 0), on a very rare occassion the car would "fakestall".

UPDATE:

So car is done guys. Problem turns out to be eccentric shaft in the end.

They changed the harness at first, then they changed the valvetronic servo then the car wouldnt finish the learn in procedure for valves. That lead them to believe its a mechanical error with the shaft. (eccentric shaft incl. labor was 2200$, and that is without harness and valvetronic change). All and all 3500$.

I am sort of pissed, I am sure the car had this issue from the factory and has been service twice by BMW and they said nothing about it(as the car didnt throw CEL), and that makes me question their service at all where they state they empty car for codes(i have evidence of a unknown code thrown before a service by odb doctor, now I am sure this is the magnetic valvetronic sensor). This could have been avoided.

Anyways. Hopefully this helps someone. Also there is an awesome blogg explaining how this all is done:

https://bmwtechnician.com/2017/03/27...etronic-motor/