[bmnatz]

So my 325i E92 finally came up with a new problem, YAY!

As of lately, I hear a distinct cracking (KRRRRK?) noise coming from my engine bay when I accelerate. // EDIT: seems to reproducible most often in 3rd gear around 1500RPM going WOT, much more noticeable when I'm driving next to a wall so it kinda echoes back to me.

Could this possibly be a DISA valve trying to open / close and failing in the process?

BMW Dealership (in Thailand) also as useless as always, can't find anything wrong with the car AT ALL. Yes, 0-100 km/h in 13 seconds is totally normal! I didn't know I was driving a Fuc*** Prius!

More problems which the reason for could never be found or fixed:

Burning 18 liters of gas on 100km (that's 13 miles per gallon)
Car accelerates like a school bus, 0-100km/h clocked at 13 seconds.


If any BMW tech wants to come down for a Thailand holiday, I'll gladly share expenses if we can get my car fixed!

Sorry for the additional rant, but this car was one of the costliest mistakes in my life. I'm so fed up with it, I'm almost ready to torch it.

[bmnatz]

I took out the (upper? the big one) DISA valve, the valve as well as the whole manifold was filled with oil and gunk, is this normal? The oil started dripping out as soon as I pulled the valve out.

Unfortunately, the DISA valve itself seems to be intact (can't move the flap). Really hoped that thing was broken, the symptoms of a broken valve very much matched the symptoms of my cars condition, but that would've been too easy and too cheap of a repair, no?

[Volasko]

The oil in the intake is normal. Does your car not throw any codes you can provide to help out? You really need to take a video of the noise if you can, it will do wonders for the internet mechanics to get an idea of the issue.

[hassmaschine]

a small amount of oil film is normal - that is way too much. like if you touched it with your finger you could feel a little but it shouldn't be an oil slick. that looks like you have a few ounces of oil on your intake!

I'd see if your oil separator is working and/or clogged, because it shouldn't drip everywhere when you pull something off the intake.

with the problems you're having though, why don't you try to do some self diagnostics? get a laptop, a $20 D-CAN cable, and download the latest version of BMWtools you can find. If you're getting 18mpg and 13 second 0-60 I'd be surprised if there were no error codes stored..

[fravel]

Looks like a lot of dirt/debris in your intake as well as the oil.

#1. Your PCV system is bad, that's why you have so much oil in there.

#2. You're probably due for a new air filter.

[bmnatz]

Originally Posted by Volasko

The oil in the intake is normal. Does your car not throw any codes you can provide to help out? You really need to take a video of the noise if you can, it will do wonders for the internet mechanics to get an idea of the issue.

It's kinda hard to record the sound, I've tried. But it really is somewhat random, not appearing on any pull, rather every 10th maybe.

Originally Posted by hassmaschine

a small amount of oil film is normal - that is way too much. like if you touched it with your finger you could feel a little but it shouldn't be an oil slick. that looks like you have a few ounces of oil on your intake!

I'd see if your oil separator is working and/or clogged, because it shouldn't drip everywhere when you pull something off the intake.

with the problems you're having though, why don't you try to do some self diagnostics? get a laptop, a $20 D-CAN cable, and download the latest version of BMWtools you can find. If you're getting 18mpg and 13 second 0-60 I'd be surprised if there were no error codes stored..

How would I go for checking the oil separator?
I agree with the oil in the intake part, that didn't look normal at all.

I do have a cable and previously had the INPA soft loaded on a spare laptop which I unfortunately don't have anymore. Googling BMWtools brings up a russian site / forum? Is there an actual soft that's called BMWtools or were you referring to BMW Standard Tools which includes INPA and those other things? Sorry for being a noob about it

This was my last reading with the INPA software about 6 months ago, I'll try to get an updated one today if I can get the software running.

Originally Posted by fravel

Looks like a lot of dirt/debris in your intake as well as the oil.

#1. Your PCV system is bad, that's why you have so much oil in there.

#2. You're probably due for a new air filter.

What exactly is the PCV system? Can this be replaced as a garage job for the occasional hobby mechanic or better do get this done at a dealer?

I'll pick up a new air filter on Monday then.

------------------------------

On another note things that I have already replaced (new parts from stealership) which might help narrow down my problem:

MAF Sensor
VANOS Solenoids (both)
Spark Plugs (all of them)
Ignition Coils (all of them)

I was also looking at the eccentric shaft sensor, but there doesn't seem to be any signs of oil around the plug (which seemed to be the case for other people when it went faulty) so I didn't replace it yet.

I really really appreciate all of your replies, I just want to get this car working like it's supposed to be, I've thrown so much money at this already and feel really left in the dirt by BMW on this matter.

[08TUNDRA]

I see the problem, its your crocs. XD The car is revolting

[bmnatz]

Originally Posted by dmikhael619

I see the problem, its your crocs. XD The car is revolting

Haha yeah, I tried all kinds of shoes though, no dice

[fravel]

Originally Posted by bmnatz

What exactly is the PCV system? Can this be replaced as a garage job for the occasional hobby mechanic or better do get this done at a dealer?

The PCV system is an oil separation unit that captures hot oil vapors so that they can cool/condense and return to your oil pan rather than collecting in your intake manifold. It's definitely a DIY-able job (if you do some searching I'm sure you can find a guide), but you will have to take your intake manifold off to get to it. I noticed you were asking about "checking" this but there isn't really a non-destructive way to do it. More likely than not the hoses will break when you attempt to remove/inspect it, and furthermore the valve itself isn't servicable so even if you do get it out in one piece you will have to change it out if it is bad. I highly recommend having new parts on hand for this job.

[bmnatz]

Originally Posted by fravel

The PCV system is an oil separation unit that captures hot oil vapors so that they can cool/condense and return to your oil pan rather than collecting in your intake manifold. It's definitely a DIY-able job (if you do some searching I'm sure you can find a guide), but you will have to take your intake manifold off to get to it. I noticed you were asking about "checking" this but there isn't really a non-destructive way to do it. More likely than not the hoses will break when you attempt to remove/inspect it, and furthermore the valve itself isn't servicable so even if you do get it out in one piece you will have to change it out if it is bad. I highly recommend having new parts on hand for this job.

Thanks fravel, so you suggest that the PCV is definitely broken (hence the oil buildup in the intake manifold)? I shall order that when I do my weekly trip to BMW then.

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If anyone wonders what it feels like to drive a school bus
Mind you this is with an empty tank and a 55kg driver, still 12s from 0-100.

Feels especially sluggish once it reaches 80km/h.

On another note I think I got the software installed again properly, will go down to the car now and report back with new codes (hopefully) soon.

//Edit: Well that didn't work. For some reason when I start INPA (WinXP in VirtualBox, installed it the same way as before) everything in INPA flashes really fast and windows becomes totally unresponsive until INPA is closed, also I don't remember previously that EDIBIAS Server starts up together when INPA is launched? Battery and Ignition both have the white dot, the small LED on the cable also doesn't come on. Used the same drivers for the cable as when I had it working previously (also in VirtualBox running winxp). Any ideas?

[bmnatz]

INPA working properly now.

But yeah, to my disappointment: No errors. Went through all the options SHORT, DETAIL and FREEZE I believe?

What do I do now?

[gunnerxq]

How big is your engine in your 325i? 3.0L or less?

[bmnatz]

Originally Posted by gunnerxq

How big is your engine in your 325i? 3.0L or less?

N52B25 - 2.5L

[Three_thirty_I]

Those error codes from 6 months ago shows at the end a Valvetronic end stops issue. But that may have been resolved since. If this is still the case, it means that the ends stops of the Valvetronic system have not been learnt, and as such it won't adjust the valve lift correctly, which is essentially the throttle control for these engines. Easiest thing to do to correct this is to insert the key fob, then with your foot off the brake pedal (clutch in the case of a manual car) turn the ignition on. The Valvetronic system will do a self calibration of the end stops. But it only does it once and after that it is then set, so it may have already been done. This means that at some point the Valvetronic actuator must have been removed or replaced?

Error codes may not always been the answer, you may need to have live data read while the engine is running.

I agree with the members above about the oil in the intake, it's way too much, so I would get the PCV replaced and go from there.

[bmnatz]

Originally Posted by Three_thirty_I

Those error codes from 6 months ago shows at the end a Valvetronic end stops issue. But that may have been resolved since. If this is still the case, it means that the ends stops of the Valvetronic system have not been learnt, and as such it won't adjust the valve lift correctly, which is essentially the throttle control for these engines. Easiest thing to do to correct this is to insert the key fob, then with your foot off the brake pedal (clutch in the case of a manual car) turn the ignition on. The Valvetronic system will do a self calibration of the end stops. But it only does it once and after that it is then set, so it may have already been done. This means that at some point the Valvetronic actuator must have been removed or replaced?

Error codes may not always been the answer, you may need to have live data read while the engine is running.

I agree with the members above about the oil in the intake, it's way too much, so I would get the PCV replaced and go from there.

The Valvetronic errors are not present anymore, so seems like that fixed itself. As mentioned before, there's no errors present at the moment, and that's where the biggest problem lies:

I could tell you horror stories about the BMW service here in Thailand, basically if it doesn't show up on the computer, it's not a problem, that's how it works with those mechanics down here. I've had something clearly leaking, there was smoke coming from my engine bay, after letting me wait 6 hours I was reassured that there were "no problems" and it should all be fixed. Sure enough when I pulled out of the driveway of the dealership the engine started to smoke again, I played that game a further 3 times until they actually managed to fix it.

It seems to be impossible to find a capable shop that could actually do what you suggest and read live data while the engine is running, sure they can read it, but do they actually understand what in the hell it all means? Apparently not!

I'll start off (again) by getting the PCV replaced as there clearly is something wrong with that.

Here's another thing I was considering, the previous owner had some kind of powerbox installed to the car, it was some cheap chinese thing which I couldn't even find on the internet, whenever that thing was turned on shortly after the engine would go into LIMP mode, at the end I had to completely remove it since the CEL would even come on with that thing powered off.

Now it might be possible that the previous owner had done some other stuff like having a completely random / unprofessional tune written to the car?

So I was considering ordering the AA tune and SIMON tool to reflash the car and possibly things might get better? Is that even a possible scenario?

Thanks for your thoughts.

[hassmaschine]

if you are comfortable with it and you have the tools working, I'd consider flashing a clean stock file with WinKFP. I think if you use Comfort mode it will just flash whatever is the latest pretty much automatically. Then you will know if it had a ghetto tune. But you also risk bricking your module.

I don't know though, it sounds highly unlikely to me. It's difficult enough to flash these over OBD, and then you have to know what to do with the binary file itself. you have to assume that if somebody got that far they knew something about what they were doing. So I'd put that in the rather unlikely category.

I don't think it's a great idea to buy a tune until you find out what the issue is. Honestly I think it's worth trying to get it to resynch the valvetronic stops.

[bmnatz]

Originally Posted by hassmaschine

if you are comfortable with it and you have the tools working, I'd consider flashing a clean stock file with WinKFP. I think if you use Comfort mode it will just flash whatever is the latest pretty much automatically. Then you will know if it had a ghetto tune. But you also risk bricking your module.

I don't know though, it sounds highly unlikely to me. It's difficult enough to flash these over OBD, and then you have to know what to do with the binary file itself. you have to assume that if somebody got that far they knew something about what they were doing. So I'd put that in the rather unlikely category.

I don't think it's a great idea to buy a tune until you find out what the issue is. Honestly I think it's worth trying to get it to resynch the valvetronic stops.

Thanks hassmaschine, guess I'll wait with the tune then.

I've ordered the PCV (+ hoses) today but that won't arrive most likely until after new year .
The mechanic had no idea what I was on about when I showed him the pictures of the air intake manifold covered in oil

I also played around with INPA a bit more and took a screenshot of the rough running values, this is with a bit of throttle: Why is the reading for cylinder 4 so off from the others?

[bmnatz]

Some additional INPA screenshots, if someone can find something wrong with the readings, I'm kinda clueless what's what.

Last screenshot also shows my error history. The eccentric shaft sensor error is not currently showing up anymore, although it has never been replaced? Error at 90.000km i'm now at 99.000km.

[hassmaschine]

the lambda adaptations are within the tolerances, but still pretty high IMO. stock fueling shouldn't be 15% off.

I wonder about your valvetronic sensor. Maybe it adapted to the "wrong" valvetronic stops & a bad sensor. I'm not familiar with how it diagnosis that, but I'd consider again forcing it to relearn the valvetronic stops. Maybe cleaning or replacing the sensor is a good idea - your symptoms seem like they would indicate something mechanical is not working correctly.

it's perplexing you got those errors not long ago and now they are gone. But 9,000km isn't really that far. It's possible they are still issues and the errors will come and go. Only one of those faults will cause a CEL.

[bmnatz]

It's a grinding type of noise yes, but it's very short right after you go WOT, maybe half a second KRRK, then it's gone. Mine seems to be coming from the right side as well, I can hear it very clearly since my steering wheel is on the right.

[rjahl]

Originally Posted by BMW..

Yeah, that is exactly like how it is for me. A very short moaning/grinding like sound right after hitting the kick down button and the car starts to accelerate after the gear change. I have no idea what the sound could be

Forgive me if you stated this before but is your car an automatic or manual?

Automatics can make these strange noises when they are unhappy.

Also don't forget the fuel quality issues you have in Thailand. Are you in Bangkok or a more remote city? I worked with a guy in Singapore who's MB would go crazy nearly every time he purchased gas in Malaysia. CSL all the time.

[bmnatz]

Originally Posted by rjahl

Forgive me if you stated this before but is your car an automatic or manual?

Automatics can make these strange noises when they are unhappy.

Also don't forget the fuel quality issues you have in Thailand. Are you in Bangkok or a more remote city? I worked with a guy in Singapore who's MB would go crazy nearly every time he purchased gas in Malaysia. CSL all the time.

It's an auto.

I'm in one of the bigger cities. RON95 is available and I fuel up with that exclusively, well who knows what the actual octane rating is.

I've fueled up with what was apparently a bad batch of fuel before, engine was not happy! Had to get the whole tank drained at the dealership. Funny thing is, one of the mechanics asked me if he could buy the bad fuel from me for his motorbike