[Coolieman1220]

So guys, the dreaded light came on while I was driving my 2010 335d. I thought I'd never see this light since I dont have a 335i. I'm hoping it's nothing serious since it did go away.

Last Saturday my friend and I decided we'd take a drive from Staten Island here in New York City west for a few hours to Pittsburgh to watch the Jets play the Steelers since we are big Jets fans. We managed to snag some last minute tickets and set off that morning to Pittsburgh. No other car to take but the 335d, nice long drive. Google maps told me about 6 hours to do the 370 miles to get there. I left around 7:15 in the morning and got to Pittsburgh at 12:30. A little over 5 hours drive time. It was a fun drive because a lot of fellow Jets fans were driving out there to the game to do the same thing we were doing. I took some blue tape (should have used the green frog tape) and wrote on the car so people knew we were Jets fans. Everyone on the road was cheering J-E-T-S, JETS JETS JETS as we were driving and people were driving very fast. Sunday morning traffic usually moves quickly anyway. I was cruising around 85-90MPH most of the way. Had a few runs to 100 MPH plus, Took her up to 130 MPH at one point, Just being filled w/ excitement, I'd pull up along side Steelers fans and just take off! I was wearing an LT jersey hence my speed. I got a thumbs up for an X5 35d towing a trailer. Diesel brothers! When I got closer to Pitt the cops started coming out but my V1 sniffed them out on the PA Turnpike from miles away as they ran constant K, (strange, id figure they use KA). I slowed it down and just cruised along. Pittsburgh is a very nice city actually. I visited a friend who goes to Carnegie Melon University. I finally got to use the winter tires because I had to park in the snow on a hill. It gave a little trouble to get out but it wasn't bad.

I watched the game and was very disappointed the Jets didn't play the first half and ultimately lost the game because of that. I thought this was their year. I really thought we had a shot at winning and that's why I went. I don't regret it as I had an awesome time.

I got out around 1030 and by the time I got in the car and got going it was about 11. I had to be up for class in the morning so my goal was to get home relatively fast. Once the highways opened up and thinned out I was able to get some good speed going. My rule was pretty much 30 over. I had the cruise set at 95 the whole drive home. For those of you who have driven through PA you know its a very hilly curvy drive that the Bimmer handled well. It was very dark and the high beams are VERY bright. I was glad to have seen the road during the day so I knew how curvy it was. It's very difficult to judge it when you come up on it so fast. I could have rode the hills to get better mileage but it was late and i was tired just trying to get home. I had a guy in a e92 335i, looked black or a dark color, w/ rims behind me following. He was a jerk though because he was following me only 3-4 car lengths behind. If you're gonna follow me, follow me a bit further back please, thats how you use a rabbit. You let them get away and keep your distance just in case but that's not what bothered me, what bothered me was he had one headlight on low beam and the other projector was on high beam. It was annoying, all that glare for no good reason. I hope this guy is on here and reads this. He did take off in one of the tunnels that cut through the mountains and that exhaust sounded good. Too bad the diesels don't have exhaust noises so I couldn't do the same. If any of you have drive the PA turnpike you'll know how nice of a road it is. It was built on an old train line (hence the tunnels to prevent steep grades). The road is 2 lanes up, 2 lanes down, a concrete divider in the middle and guardrails most of the way. Very nice to speed on. Hard for cops to hide. I saw my nav clear a long straight and no other cars were around and I decided to open her up from 95 MPH I just floored it, kickdown switch and all. I got it up to about 145 MPH. I let off right away and slowed back down. That is the fastest I've ever driven (previously 135 in my old G35) The car was solid as a rock as i expected too. It probably takes getting used to going that fast as the expansion gaps and bumps hit so quickly its surreal.

As I was going through one of the tunnels the dreaded gong noise came about and I look down and i see the engine half sign on. My I-Drive comes up w/ the half power warning. Something I've only seen pictures of when HPFP's fail. I was worrying what to do, i was 300 miles from home when this happened on my drive back. Before I could panic the light went away but what triggered it in the first place? I just kept doing what i was doing hoping it was just an electrical glitch. It happened while I was inside one of the tunnels, maybe the change in pressure or something? Temperature? It was very cold, like 0 degrees out. Sometimes the car would say -7. My SES light also came on. This was the first time filling diesel outside of my comfort zone of my area. Since i was burning through it all so fast I ran out sooner than expected. I pulled up and there was no car diesel w/ the gas like i'm used to. So I was expecting to use the adapter that came w/ the car to go from big nozzle to little nozzle. Only big rigs are around me. I went inside, handed the lady $20 and she looks she's my car asks if I need a little nozzle tells me which pump and all is good. Filled up and on my way! My SES came on but I was too tired to worry. I thought about why it was on, figuring since it is emissions related my metering valve had crapped out again. That's the only thing I could think of. I did start the car up quick and turn it off when I moved it to fill up and it was cold, maybe it froze? It was cold. Or maybe since i drove so far my active heated urea tank was depleted and my passive one was frozen so the system wasn't working? I couldn't figure it out. The SES stayed on all night, stayed on all day Monday but Tuesday morning it went away. Another crisis averted.

I got home around 3:30 in the morning. 4.5 hours to do 370 miles w/ stops = an average speed of 82 MPH. At that speed, I hand calculated 32 mpg. I'd love to see another car do that in the comfort and handling I had. I had driven down to Florida once in an 8th gen Honda Civic 1.8 liter 4 banger and averaged 80 mph and my mileage was only 30.5 mpg. In a car that has half the power and 3x less torque but is lighter. If i did the speed limit I could easily get close to 40mpg.

The car had 10,000 miles when I left, now it's close to 11,000. I drove her in the snow yesterday and w/ the Winter Sport 3D's it did excellent. 4" of snow, no problems going, went up the hill driveway into the garage w/o a slip. It truly is an amazing machine the way it just hums along, it makes an excellent sound too. I love it.

Sorry for the misleading title. That light did come on but I really just wanted to share this story with you members out there. Enjoy it and do you think I should have the dealer run the codes for the SES and the Half power just to see why they came on? They should be stored right?

For reference here is a previous thread about my last SES, some pics and a video of my 45-145 run. I eased off at around 130 before going all the way. Enjoy my spirited driving run. No I don't plan on going that fast again. No need to. Have a good day and enjoy the snow!

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=454659

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[PaulBailey@ltbmw]

[henry418]

...

[Quasimodem]

If the SES light comes on, take it in to dealer. If SERVICE comes on when u start the car it is probably no big deal. Could be a frozen main DEF tank or plugged feeder to the heated tank, makes some sense, nice 2b in California.

[MusclezMarinara]

[Coolieman1220]

Originally Posted by Quasimodem

If the SES light comes on, take it in to dealer. If SERVICE comes on when u start the car it is probably no big deal. Could be a frozen main DEF tank or plugged feeder to the heated tank, makes some sense, nice 2b in California.

SES is emissions related. No service lights on. I figured it was something frozen especially after 700 hard driven miles and very cold temperatures. Who knows.

[bsamoul]

That tape sure is classy

[Quasimodem]

Bump. Updates?

[Coolieman1220]

Originally Posted by Quasimodem

Bump. Updates?

Car's been running just fine. My range estimator is calculating 600 mile trips but i havn't driven her hard since. No codes thrown so maybe it was just a phantom? who knows. All the lights went away.

[Quasimodem]

Originally Posted by Coolieman1220

Car's been running just fine. My range estimator is calculating 600 mile trips but i havn't driven her hard since. No codes thrown so maybe it was just a phantom? who knows. All the lights went away.

excellent.