[IanM19]

First Major Post here, been a long time lurker though. Spent some time searching through the threads for ideas, but this one seems to be so intermittent that an obvious fix is hard to find.

Anyways, a bit of background on this problem. First off, the car is in the family, but it's not mine. It's my sister's, so I don't have daily driving experience to help with some of these errors.
Bought the car last year, with something around 165k on the clock. Shortly after purchase the car threw out codes for.

P1014 Exhaust camshaft not in parked position?
P1006 Valvetronic sensor error
P1017 Valvetronic Sensor Error

Now at the time I did not have INPA to dig into the BMW codes.

Anyways, had to do some other work to the car, including replacing the battery. Cleared the codes, they've never been seen since.

Fast forward to June of this year, (apparently the codes were happening long before, but its the first record i have of it) and now I have misfires on bank 2, a single misfire on cylinder 1, and a
P0015 Code, exhaust camshaft timing over retarded.

Did an oil change on the car, cleared the codes, and let it back into the wild while I looked for more info/ waited to see if the codes were consistent.

One month later, same codes, plus a
P2570, Direct Ozone Reduction Catalyst Temperature Sensor Current High.

So, this is apparently a sensor on the radiator? anyways, this error comes, and goes, haven't really thought much of it.

So now, i've been working on the car for over a month. Started with an Oil Change. (M1 5W-30 if memory serves), Cleaned and swapped VANOS Solenoids, Brand new Plugs (NGK 1208). (also did a lot of unrelated work, new wheel bearings, tie rod, control arm, ect)

Car just throws generic bank 2 misfires now, plus occasionally the p2570, and INPA finds something for an E-Box fan?
No Dice.

swapped around some of the coil packs.
No change, but I did manage to poorly connect one or 2 for a bit... Made me feel like a total idiot

Disconnected bank 2 position 1 02 sensor, no dice

Pulled the pre cat wideband 02 sensors, swapping physical positions and connectors. No Dice.

Reset every DME adaptation I could find in INPA. No dice.

Even pulled the secondary air hose to see if there was something wrong with the valve/pump. nope all good there. Made the car mad as a hornet though.

Also tried pulling the oil filler cap, there is some vaccuum on it for sure. Car runs better with it closed. Still threw a misfire starting it while open, Cylinder 4

So i've narrowed down the timing of the misfires as well.

When the car initially starts, she's running around... 1200 RPM. wait about 30 seconds and the RPM starts to drop. Once she hits about 1000 RPM, the codes appear. Car will continue to drop to about 600 RPM, occasionally hunting around 600-650. You can feel a little engine vibration, but really its not a full scale shaking the whole car misfire, just a slightly rough idle.

Cylinder 4 also seems to be the most sensitive of the misfires. Being the one most likely to set a CEL, instead of just pending codes.


Now, fuel trims may help a bit here. Noticing that the long term fuel trims seem to bounce around a bit more than I'm used to. (Had a Benz with trims 20% off, but stable, ran like poo till i reset them)

Interestingly, Bank 2's fuel trim is usually about 3% off from bank 1, and never goes above 0%
(range of 0 to -3.1) whereas bank one has a range of
(range 7.0 to -0.8)

I'm at my wits end with this problem. I can't pass inspection in this "lovely" state of Vermont, as our inspections now require ALL readiness flags, and no CEL.

Have not had a chance to smoke test the car, but considering the unscientific oil filler cap test made the car run worse. I'm not sure its a vac leak honestly.

[IanM19]

Bump, I really am quite out of ideas here... Fuel pump maybe?, but wouldn't that effect all cylinders? (hope its not a plugged CAT)

[rocky25b]

Has the valve cover gasket been changed? Could there be oil in the spark plug wells?

You have mentioned you changed new spark plugs but only swapped around coils, have the coils ever been replaced? At that mileage i would replace them.

You cleaned the vanos, are they original?

I have had two e90s - both required replacing of vanos, spark plugs, coils and valve cover gasket well before 160k+ miles

[IanM19]

Far as i remember, the plug wells were clean and dry. (might have to check #3 again. something rattling around in my memory about that one)
Far as I know Coils, Solenoids, and Cover Gasket are all original to the car. (no service records...)

Just got back in from a little testing on the car. Symptoms have shifted slightly... Again...

So first off, this is the first cold weather day I've worked on the car.
Decided to take a look at the Eccentric Shaft Sensor, opened it up and found a little bit of sludge in it. Cleaned it out with some MAF cleaner to start, then some Deoxit contact cleaner.

Started the car, let idle till the RPM's dropped. no codes, pending or otherwise.
turned car off, waited 10 seconds, restarted.

New stack of codes, and a whole lot more shaking. Codes for cylinder 1 3 5 and 6 i think? Have screenshots of Inpa freeze frame data, codes, and a video showing the symptoms, including some wild engine hunting/revving.

Back in a bit with those images.

[IanM19]

Ok, I may be narrowing down this problem to the eccentric shaft sensor.

Went back out after remembering i've had issues with Deoxit, especially the G5 causing temporary shorts and related faults.

pulled ESS plug wire, found a pool of cleaner in the well. Blasted it, and the plug with compressed air. Plugged it back in and fired up the car. No error codes and a seemingly smoother idle. Car off, 10 seconds, restart, no codes again.

Now its just a waiting period for the car to cool off and see if this happens again. The problem is so intermittent that tracing it is nigh on impossible some days.

Anyways, ill still load up the data, who knows if i've got the fix yet or not.

[IanM19]

Heres the errors, and some freeze frame data for selected cylinders. Inpa kept dropping the script after a certain time so capturing everything proved, difficult.

Also is a picture of the eccentric shaft sensor socket. before cleaning.

Lastly, Error one, which isn't shown, is for the E-Box fan.

[IanM19]

So it continues. Waited for the car to go on ice ( cool down), while i busted loose some stuck rear alignment nuts.

Fired car up, Got the codes listed below.
Pulled the eccentric shaft sensor connector again, blew it out with air again, got a little more cleaner out of it (unfortunately the little yellow O ring flew off and vanished.). Fired up the car twice again, no codes.

Interestingly when left to sit for a few hours, she cranks over kinda hard, but after being started once, fires up nice and smooth.

most interesting is the code 2A43, one for the valvetronic i've never seen before. hopefully its just a bug caused by the cleaner in the contacts.

[lowrydr310]

I wouldn't worry about the ebox fan error; there are a few people around here who removed their fans completely and haven't had any issues. Focus on the other stuff first.

I'm not an expert but my eccentric shaft sensor connector was spotless when I removed it during my valve cover gasket replacement. That could be the cause of most of the valveteonic errors.

As for the misfires, you likely have a bad coil or several bad coils, especially if they are original on your car. I had a misfire that I couldn't narrow down to a single coil and swapping didn't have any effect. Replacing all 6 coils and new spark plugs solved all the random misfires.

[IanM19]

Lowrydr.
Out of curiosity, could you feel the misfires on your car before you changed them out? or was it just a bunch of codes pointing in that direction?
I'm only asking because other than a slight vibration at idle. I couldn't tell you my car was misfiring, only the computer seems to know that it's doing so.

(would hate to throw a bunch of money at coils for it to not help, I have no clue who has done what to this car in the past)

Also, would dying coils potentially contribute to hard cold starts?

If it helps, they're Def. Bosch (all black body) coils.

[IanM19]

Ok, Update on coils.
Just pulled 5 of the 6 coils on the car. All have manufacture dates of "07-05-02"
which i read as May 2nd 2007

one set even has consecutive mfg numbers!

guess ill be ordering six of those asap

any thoughts on bosch vs delphi coils on an N52 engine? I'm thinking about sticking with the bosch because I have a 2nd car in the house that uses them (07 530XI) and as long as the coils aren't Toast, i'm gonna keep them around in-case one dies at some point, just as a temporary holdover on a daily driver car. But if the delphi have a significant benefit, obviously I'm going that way.

[IanM19]

Alright, Been a few days while waiting on parts. Unfortunately yesterday, one of the other cars in the family got T-boned by some idiot student. It's a goner thanks to its age and the damage level. (center pillar is slightly caved, doors cant latch... and its a 2001 with over 100k on the clock)
That even now makes it even more paramount that this gets fixed expediently.

Anyways, had the car out for 2 days in a row, really cold (10 degree or so) weather. plus starting it up enough to move a few feet. (had to get the front end re-aligned, again... long story, ill put it at the end of this post.)

No codes on the OLD coils! and no changes made since the last time I posted. (maybe the Eccentric Shaft sensor connector finally dried out enough?)

Dropped the new coils in it today, it's now out on the road getting tested, and hopefully getting the EVAP monitor to set.
I really hope this is the end of the road for this problem. I still have the 530 that needs new tie rod ends and a sunroof seal to go...


Anyways, for any of you fellows in the Burlington VT area. I CANNOT recommend dealing with "Town Fair Tire" for alignments.
Took the car in the first time, the aligned the front end, (yet had the steering wheel crooked, big time!) and threw up their hands at the rear cause the nuts were stuck. Said to bring it back. Ok, fair play, broke the nuts loose. Took it back.

They aligned the rear end, redid the front. Then their Idiot mechanic comes out and says its all good, i'd already walked past the car, and noted the wheel was again cocked to the left, while the tires pointed forward.

Called him on it, he said it was "Merely Cosmetic" and that because BMW uses "Aluminized Parts" that he wouldn't use a torch to loosen the Tie rod.
Oh and that somehow, between the first and second visits the Pinch bolt on the tie rod end Sheared off! Oh, and that someone had replaced both inner and outer tie rod ends on the passenger side.

Here's how I know he was an idiot.
A. I did the work on the tie rod, nope I didn't replace both, just the outer end. and in the process had the outer glowing a dull cherry red. No aluminium here. Also, when i got it apart there was clearly rust! (no galvanic corrosion like he claimed)
B. I may be wrong here, but a cocked steering wheel isn't COSMETIC, why else do we have a rather expensive steering angle sensor inside?
C. A sheared pinch bolt, from road shock? on a part that receives no kind of pressure to do that damage?

Managed to secure a 30 day "extension" on the alignment. Which as far as i'm concerned is the bare minimum. Should've demanded a refund...

Question to all. Has anyone actually experienced a sheared tie rod pinch bolt from driving? Cause i'm about 90% certain somebody broke it. Maybe not these guys, but they sure as hell didn't bother to tell me it was broke on the FIRST visit!

Rant Over.

Edit: Oh and once he knew who actually did the work on the car, he was suggesting Moog Parts.... Cause he likes them for his truck... Nope, Lemforder or Febi for me, Sorry.

[IanM19]

So. It’s been a rough couple of weeks.
My main driver blew out its brake lines only a day or 2 after my last post. Brand new NICOPP lines and an Eastwood flaring tool later.
And the car this thread started had to have a full 4 wheel brake job.
New Zimmerman rotors and textar pads.

Also. Took the car to a different mechanic to be inspected. Apparently this rule about “all readiness flags have to be set” is false. The place I usually go says they all have to be set. This other guy says nah, 2 can be not ready to pass... which aligns with the documentation I found.

But the big news.
The car has been ERROR FREE. And drives better than ever.
I’m still kicking myself for not checking the age of the coils sooner!

Thanks to all who offered their assistance.

[JRupertNH]

IanM19,

Would you say the solution was cleaning (and drying!) the ESS plug? I have VERY similar symptoms, RPM hunting, dropping as low 350, a lurch or shake when it recovers, and stalling at lights when it doesn't like it's gas, numerous very intermittent error codes that appear for a few days then disappear.

I just got an '07 328xi, one state over 😉

[IanM19]

It’s been a while and a few rounds of fun on that car...
So the ESS plug cleaning might’ve helped for a bit. But the coils made the car much happier. Ultimately though I ended up replacing the ESS at some point. Fairly sure it was after my last post here but I may be mistaken. Car has been quiet since (except for a brake line job)

I’d start by looking long and hard at the coils personally. There’s a date code stamped right in the side. Odds are they’re as old as the car.

Either that or the sensor is going out. The sensor was intermittent for almost 2 years. And I kept hoping to dodge it. FYI. The valve cover re-seat is a royal pain solo. And nearly losing a bolt into the engine... well I never want to do another one lol! (Although the ESS sensor bolts are captive. I managed to make one come free)

After the sensor change and coils total. The car feels like a whole different beast.