Quote:
Originally Posted by Dormermike
Appreciate English is not your first language but could you clarify about noxem please?
Are you saying you bought noxem, and it then developed a fault but bimmerprofs would not replace it?
How did you discover that noxem is faulty?
How long did noxem last before a fault developed?
Thanks
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It took 3 weeks of normal noxem operation (after full adaptations succesfully done) to the first 2EAE error recorded...I was regularly/ weekly checking with Inpa...in next 3 weeks the same 2EAE errror appeared several times and then it became permanent. When I claimed that to bimmerprofs the response was that this is no way problem of noxem but of my car; very self confidently they claimed wrongly connected noxem in the first stage so I went to the garage for the check and it was not the case; then they said it must be the connector itself...and another journey to the garage to proof it was not the case; then they pointed electric installation issue or canbus issue...and another check at the garage...at this stage I was fed up and asked the mechanic to put my old bmw nox back...and surprise- no errors!!! (which I recorded and reported to bimmeprofs...who were still convinced it is not noxem failure... and they said that I can send noxem back for test...at my expense...). Finally, when noxem arrived there and they checked...it was noxem failure...apparently a construction/technology weakness- on the board of noxem...it is dual layer board where there are connections between both layers at couple of places...and these are made by galvanization (which was rather surprise for me as I know a bit about this...and normally the boards for industrial usage have more reliable way of layer connections- inserts)...and in my noxem one or more of these connections broke...which is not surprising considering the placement of noxem on the car body (vibrations etc)- as the galvanized layer is only few mikrons thick and if for example drilling is rough, the galvanized layer in the hole is very fragile. I guess that my noxem was just one of many in certain lot of production where this weakness has just been a ticking bomb depending on number of factors...also the body of noxem which looks robust at the first sight might be another long term weakness...the cover is glued by some kind of silicone and I wonder how long this keeps the board of noxem protected from extreme conditions...when I compared that to my old bmw nox sensor which I opened and compared the build quality I stopped to dream about noxem lifetime.
Another surprise which my mechanic experienced when taking sensor head of noxem out of exhaust was broken thread insert...the head is bosch (although bimmerprofs themselves claim at their web that the only company capable of producing high quality nox heads is ngk...in fact my mechanic who had hundreds of sensors in his hands still believes it is rather standard oxygen sensor delivering some signal from exhaust to the unit which is then twisted into set of information which msd80 wants to hear...) and has M18x1,5 thread...while original bmw nox is M20x1,5...this difference is covered by another fragile (but cheap) piece of metal in the form of thread insert; although my mechanic put a loctite antiseize on it when installing...6 weeks later it stayed in the hole in the exhaust...(mean while bosch m18 head went easily out ) and then it broke in 2 parts when mechanic used special tool to take the insert out.
To summarize...I got the repaired noxem back but the sum of the aditional costs (not counting all the time it took me to sort it out) which reached almost half of the noxem price stayed on my bill; they only transfered some small amount back to my paypal covering postage
The above experience led me to the conclusion that whatever great product without serious local service can be like a visit to casino...you can win but you can loose too; and this is why I look for a definitive nox out solution now.