Hello.
As I have gathered the N55 engine has a few common problems
Source
1. High level of oil consumption in N55. Such problem is mainly caused by crankcase vent valve (PCV). Check it first of all.
2. Misfire. Such malfunction is likely to result in carbonized hydraulic lifters. Check them and use high quality engine oil.
3. Engine vibration. It can result in the fact that fuel injectors are out of order. The duration period is about 80,000 km (50,000 miles) of mileage. All you need is to replace them to make motor operate properly.
4) In addition the problem with high pressure fuel pump (HPFP), still exists in N55 engines. The pump may get out of order regularly
Is any of these problems specifically detectable using an OBD Scantool? I have the Autel MaxiDiag MD805, I don't have access to another BMW for comparison but on my diesel Volvo it was capable of getting live data from about 30+ native modules as well as eOBD. So I recon it will be able to get some HPFP and VANOS-data, but I have no idea what the correct value is suppose to look like. If missfires occur that will sure show but it would be good to have an idea for other "target" parameters. Only thing I know to check specifically now is that the abs sensors report the sameish value and of course reading system wide error codes.
Checked and the
Autel MD805 is able to list the following module (still without connection to an actual car):
Drive
* Engine - DDE Diesel Electronics
* Engine - DME Digital Motor Electronics
* EGS transmission management.
* EKPS fuel-pump control
* GWS Gear selector switch
Additional info (perhaps off topic):
After almost two years of research and wait I will finally soon go and buy my first BMW. The target car is selected and reserved for me, will fly to buy it in two weeks. So I only have one chance to check it properly. I have a pretty good idea of how the check most mechanical things.
I hope I placed the thread correctly, I could not find a more accurate thread. While the car is technically an F30 I figured it does not matter for this question since is targeted on the N55 engine.