[Jme_be]

Ever since I bought my car from a UK main dealer 2 yrs ago I've been seeing occasional iDrive '..engine reduced power..' message accompanied with the half engine icon on the dashboard display (in the part of the display where mpg etc. is displayed).

The first time it happened was a couple of days after collecting the car from the dealer - I called them and they gave me the brush off 'never heard of that before.... Does it disappear when youn turn the engine off and back on again?'. Of course it dissappeared, so I ignored it. That specific error message at that time didn't seem to change the engine delivery that much: it was still smooth, response to the accelerator didn't seem any different, mpg was same etc.

The warranty eventually expired and the iDrive messages would still come (and go when engine restarted) from time to time - it seemed quite random at first and only saw it once a month or so. A year in and I started to become aware of patterns to the message. It was more common to see it after a longer drive, particularly those that involved several max revs, full throttle, generally giving it the beans. I still didn't think much of it. It would go in for a service (main dealer always) and they'd tell me that 'codes have been cleared, but all ok'. Then the problems started to become more acute..

Driving at a very leasurely pace (65-75mph) for over an hour down the motorway, the same message came up, but all of a sudden I felt a jolt, as if the brakes had been sharply prodded, and then an addition warning light came up on the upper part of the dashboard - a smaller icon of the outline of an engine. I took my foot off the accelerator but when I pressed it there was little power and car was shuddering. Fortunately a parking layby was right in front and I could coast into it to park up and switch the engine off. Before I did so I also noted that the engine fan was going mad. The fan hardly ever comes on - certainly not with that kind of driving.

From this point onwards I would see both errors displayed, sometimes together, sometimes independently. What did continue and got increasingly worse, was that the engine would stutter/shudder and lose power. It came to a head when one morning reversing off the driveway the error lights came on and engine stalled - difficult to do with an automatic gearbox!

Took it to the main dealer. They wanted £90 just to run a diagnostic. Although I've always taken this and my previous E46 320cd to the main dealer for servicing, I thought this was taking the piss. I found a independant BMW specialist not far from me and gave them a call. After a brief chat I took car to them - they immediately plugged in their diag machine to the onboard port in the footwell and showed me the various error codes: misfire cly 1 through 6, nitrogen sensor, cly cutout, accelerator pedal module etc. ok I said, what does that mean? They went through the diagnostic process and how error codes do not necessarily point to the failing component, but how they need to be interpreted. For instance, a code of lambda sensor failure does not means it's the sensor at fault but could be due to a fueling issue. It made sense and they didn't try to baffle me, indeed explained things in non expert mechanic English.

The combination of codes and symptoms they said indicated a common component as it was less likely that each cly had an independent but exact same fault. That pointed at fuel/electrical. Injectors for example tend to work or not work, so when they fail they don't start working again. So given that my car was sometime working fine it would tend to rule those out. Coil packs can be tested.

They charged me nothing for this and said if I wanted to book it in they'd give me a loan car and look at it properly. I did so. They called back a couple of hours later and said it pointed to the HPFP. They explained that there was a potential gotcha or gotchas.. They cannot return electrical components once they've been fitted. If they fit something that addresses that issue, another previously masked issue could become apparent. They did then go on to say that they have replaced a number of these and that the parts are kept in stock by their BMW parts supplier - because they are frequently asked for. They pointed out that they cannot "hand on heart" guarantee that it will fix the issue but they were very confident. Because the low pressure fuel sensor is in the same area of the engine and is inexpensive, it would make sense to replace it at same time. Given that to get to both components the manifold needs to come off, it would make sense to do both.

They quoted me £650 all in. The main dealer would of cost around £260 for just the HPFP + £90 diag fee + labour + unknown amount for low pressure fuel sensor. That sounds as if the main dealer would 'only'of been maybe £800-£1000 all in for the same fix, however my experience is that they would probably change other components that they felt could be marginal (but possibly completely fine) bringing the total cost up a lot further.

Considering the pros/cons, I agreed to the independant quote and they got it ordered and fitted the next day.

Car was ready at the agreed time, valeted and looking the dogs large ones.

Key in. Start button. And. Started on first crank - it's never done that! At idle there are no hiccups or rough spots whatsoever. Into D and move off. It is immediately noticeable that there is far more pull at low revs. It felt that the accelerator has been remapped and or, that there is more torque available at 1000-2000 rpm, from then onwards the power doesn't feel anything significantly more, but does feel and sound smoother. Another interesting change is that on pressing the start button to switch off the engine, the engine now shuts off smoothly - previously it would give a little shudder.

All in all then. The HPFP issue eventually bit me, but I want to let everyone that is considering buying an e92 330i/335i n53/n54 (or any other BMW with HPFP issues) - do it! You'll love the car and the fault is easily and relatively inexpensive to sort out.

If you already own one and are starting to see these symptomns, get it booked in and sorted out. My car feels the best it's ever been...

[divac]

Originally Posted by Jme_be

Ever since I bought my car from a UK main dealer 2 yrs ago I've been seeing occasional iDrive '..engine reduced power..' message accompanied with the half engine icon on the dashboard display (in the part of the display where mpg etc. is displayed).

The first time it happened was a couple of days after collecting the car from the dealer - I called them and they gave me the brush off 'never heard of that before.... Does it disappear when youn turn the engine off and back on again?'. Of course it dissappeared, so I ignored it. That specific error message at that time didn't seem to change the engine delivery that much: it was still smooth, response to the accelerator didn't seem any different, mpg was same etc.

The warranty eventually expired and the iDrive messages would still come (and go when engine restarted) from time to time - it seemed quite random at first and only saw it once a month or so. A year in and I started to become aware of patterns to the message. It was more common to see it after a longer drive, particularly those that involved several max revs, full throttle, generally giving it the beans. I still didn't think much of it. It would go in for a service (main dealer always) and they'd tell me that 'codes have been cleared, but all ok'. Then the problems started to become more acute..

Driving at a very leasurely pace (65-75mph) for over an hour down the motorway, the same message came up, but all of a sudden I felt a jolt, as if the brakes had been sharply prodded, and then an addition warning light came up on the upper part of the dashboard - a smaller icon of the outline of an engine. I took my foot off the accelerator but when I pressed it there was little power and car was shuddering. Fortunately a parking layby was right in front and I could coast into it to park up and switch the engine off. Before I did so I also noted that the engine fan was going mad. The fan hardly ever comes on - certainly not with that kind of driving.

From this point onwards I would see both errors displayed, sometimes together, sometimes independently. What did continue and got increasingly worse, was that the engine would stutter/shudder and lose power. It came to a head when one morning reversing off the driveway the error lights came on and engine stalled - difficult to do with an automatic gearbox!

Took it to the main dealer. They wanted £90 just to run a diagnostic. Although I've always taken this and my previous E46 320cd to the main dealer for servicing, I thought this was taking the piss. I found a independant BMW specialist not far from me and gave them a call. After a brief chat I took car to them - they immediately plugged in their diag machine to the onboard port in the footwell and showed me the various error codes: misfire cly 1 through 6, nitrogen sensor, cly cutout, accelerator pedal module etc. ok I said, what does that mean? They went through the diagnostic process and how error codes do not necessarily point to the failing component, but how they need to be interpreted. For instance, a code of lambda sensor failure does not means it's the sensor at fault but could be due to a fueling issue. It made sense and they didn't try to baffle me, indeed explained things in non expert mechanic English.

The combination of codes and symptoms they said indicated a common component as it was less likely that each cly had an independent but exact same fault. That pointed at fuel/electrical. Injectors for example tend to work or not work, so when they fail they don't start working again. So given that my car was sometime working fine it would tend to rule those out. Coil packs can be tested.

They charged me nothing for this and said if I wanted to book it in they'd give me a loan car and look at it properly. I did so. They called back a couple of hours later and said it pointed to the HPFP. They explained that there was a potential gotcha or gotchas.. They cannot return electrical components once they've been fitted. If they fit something that addresses that issue, another previously masked issue could become apparent. They did then go on to say that they have replaced a number of these and that the parts are kept in stock by their BMW parts supplier - because they are frequently asked for. They pointed out that they cannot "hand on heart" guarantee that it will fix the issue but they were very confident. Because the low pressure fuel sensor is in the same area of the engine and is inexpensive, it would make sense to replace it at same time. Given that to get to both components the manifold needs to come off, it would make sense to do both.

They quoted me £650 all in. The main dealer would of cost around £260 for just the HPFP + £90 diag fee + labour + unknown amount for low pressure fuel sensor. That sounds as if the main dealer would 'only'of been maybe £800-£1000 all in for the same fix, however my experience is that they would probably change other components that they felt could be marginal (but possibly completely fine) bringing the total cost up a lot further.

Considering the pros/cons, I agreed to the independant quote and they got it ordered and fitted the next day.

Car was ready at the agreed time, valeted and looking the dogs large ones.

Key in. Start button. And. Started on first crank - it's never done that! At idle there are no hiccups or rough spots whatsoever. Into D and move off. It is immediately noticeable that there is far more pull at low revs. It felt that the accelerator has been remapped and or, that there is more torque available at 1000-2000 rpm, from then onwards the power doesn't feel anything significantly more, but does feel and sound smoother. Another interesting change is that on pressing the start button to switch off the engine, the engine now shuts off smoothly - previously it would give a little shudder.

All in all then. The HPFP issue eventually bit me, but I want to let everyone that is considering buying an e92 330i/335i n53/n54 (or any other BMW with HPFP issues) - do it! You'll love the car and the fault is easily and relatively inexpensive to sort out.

If you already own one and are starting to see these symptomns, get it booked in and sorted out. My car feels the best it's ever been...

Hi,

Glad you got it sorted. I have similar issue. What indy's name who helped you with HPFP?

Many thanks.

[Jme_be]

Hi, still going OK. I had the high pressure pump changed by DMWORX, Aylesbury. Good honest company. They also recommended changing another component at the same time - not sure I can recall what it was now - something like the low pressure fuel sensor. Either way, it was a small additional cost which I took their steer on as it can sometime lead to similar symptoms as the HPFP and can be changed at the same time at little cost. My car has done around 15k miles since had the work done (108k total) and feels better than ever.