[Pupsaiden]

Hey there.

I'm new here in this forum, and this is my first post. A week ago, I found a BMW for sale. It was e92, 335xi, with n55 engine, and only 5k miles on it.
Sounds good, right? Well, it was in the small accident back in 2011, and then it was sold in auction and shipped to Europe, Lithuania, where I live. It sat in garage for 6 years, and recently got repaired, passed all safety tests and got registered. All in all, it's a great BMW, which still feels new, but it has some issues. Since I'm not a technician, I'm here to ask for your help, as well as to give mine, in case I'll gather some knowledge.

The main issue I have is that each morning, I get CEL(code P13C0), which says engine power is reduced, but after the engine warms up, it goes away. Then I could use the car throughout the day, without ever seeing that code again. However, next morning, story repeats. I suspect it could have something to do with weather, as nights are getting cold in there (near 0 degrees of celsius, with high humidity). I read, that it could be VANOS solenoids and just ordered two of them, to replace.

I can also see that my car is eligible for VANOS recall, but since I'm in Europe, I can't really use that. as dealership stated it's only available in the USA, since this model was not available in Europe originally.

What would you guys do? Did I do the right thing to order new solenoids? I think it could also be the coils, or spark plugs, since it would kinda explain the reason why it only happens in the morning.


I also ordered a new boost pressure solenoid, as my current one is making a terrible noise, as well as new intake, and some good OIL, and oil filters, battery, and new set of winter tires. All of that will be replaced next week. Am I missing something else that's a must for a car that has been stationary for such a long time?

Thank you for all the responses in advance, and in case I'm not clear - pardon, English is not my first language, just let me know where my words doesn't make sense and I'll try to explain.

[Biginboca]

I doubt it’s coils or plugs. Sitting for 6 years shouldn’t cause issues with them but I could see oil coagulating in the Vanos solenoids during that time making a problem.

Since you already have the solenoids coming I would swap them and see what happens. If you didn’t have new ones coming I would try cleaning the ones you have and see how that affects the car.

[Pupsaiden]

Originally Posted by Biginboca

I doubt it’s coils or plugs. Sitting for 6 years shouldn’t cause issues with them but I could see oil coagulating in the Vanos solenoids during that time making a problem.

Since you already have the solenoids coming I would swap them and see what happens. If you didn’t have new ones coming I would try cleaning the ones you have and see how that affects the car.

But would say it's safe to use that car since next week, as the CEL goes away after 20 minutes in the morning?

[Pupsaiden]

So after few days, I got myself into another trouble. When I started the car early in the morning, the red "Oil pressure too low" warning came out. I immediately stopped the engine, checked the engine from outside as much as possible, and all looked just fine. I did it another spin, and error was gone. However, I'm not really happy with the car I can not trust, so I did end up buying a cable, and I did few tests.

Do you guys have any insights, especially on that "Oil pressure too low" error?

This is my DataZap report.
https://datazap.me/u/pupsaiden/log-1...0&data=3-10-12

I'm going to change my oil once again, as well as filters, spark plugs, coils, vanos solenoids, boost solenoid next week. Would you do anything else, based on these error codes?

[Pupsaiden]

It's probably worth mentioning, that the oil pressure warning pops only on cold start (when it's below 0 celsius over night). I have an idea that it could be oil pump having hard time circulating the cold oil.. Or just the oil pressure sensor?

[ptpending]

welcome to club
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1345243622239014/

[Pupsaiden]

Updated data log, where it actually puts Oil pressure too low warning on cold start.
https://datazap.me/u/pupsaiden/log-1...uRiw8UfkjrY3QA

[Pupsaiden]

I took the car for the oil change, changed the oil filter (which was clogged AF). However, when I raised the car, I found one surprise - all of it was covered by OIL. Where should I look at? As far as I am aware, N55's are not really known for oil gasket issues.

This is how it looked like from underneath the car.






I have also spotted some oil spots in my yard, where I usually keep the car over night.

[nsjames]

pull the cowl and covers so you can get a look at the top and back of th motor?
follow the oil trail to it's highest point, that's generally where the leak is.

[CTinline-six]

Originally Posted by nsjames

pull the cowl and covers so you can get a look at the top and back of th motor?
follow the oil trail to it's highest point, that's generally where the leak is.

This.

What does the front of the engine look like? N55s have the same oil leaks as an N54, N52, etc.

My bet would be a valve cover or oil pan gasket.

[Pupsaiden]

I know for sure there is a little bit of oil on my oil filter housing gasket. but it looks nothing compared to the amounts I see down there. also, I noticed that there is some oil on the inner side of hood, which makes me wonder, how does it get there..

[nsjames]

if it drips on the belt it gets flung onto the hood.

that's a must fix quickly.
I'd also assume that you VC is leaking if the OFHG is.

the car may have minimal miles, but the rubber degrades with time.

[Pupsaiden]

Originally Posted by nsjames

if it drips on the belt it gets flung onto the hood.

that's a must fix quickly.
I'd also assume that you VC is leaking if the OFHG is.

the car may have minimal miles, but the rubber degrades with time.

What does VC stand for?

[nsjames]

valve cover.

it's common with ALL i6 engines, simply because of the length of the cover.

[Run Silent]

Originally Posted by Pupsaiden

What does VC stand for?

Valve cover.

[Pladi]

Oh boy. 1. LOW OIL PRESSURE 2. CLOGGED OIL FILTER 3. OIL LEAK ( Seems to be a rear main seal). You sir bought a car that you should try to give back at this point if you can with lawyers.

[Gamb1t]

Are you the person that bought that amazing low mileage BMW a few weeks ago? Thought I saw a thread then. Really sorry to see this. That's a lot of oil underneath the engine.

[nsjames]

Originally Posted by Pladi

Oh boy. 1. LOW OIL PRESSURE 2. CLOGGED OIL FILTER 3. OIL LEAK ( Seems to be a rear main seal). You sir bought a car that you should try to give back at this point if you can with lawyers.

Why does everyone here think that lawyers are the solution to every problem?

firstly, caveat emptor. OP bought a car that he knew had been sitting, and was a grey market import to his country after an accident. if he didn't have it inspected properly that's his fault.
Sorry OP, that's just the truth.

secondly, he's probably still far ahead financially over buying a brand new BMW to just have this motor resealed if it has major leaks.

You've jumped to some serious conclusions that this motor is trashed based on a few photos of a wet oil sump, and literally no diagnostics. The low oil pressure simply could have been the result of a low oil level, or may have been a sensor fault.

[agustincuenca]

Originally Posted by Gamb1t

Are you the person that bought that amazing low mileage BMW a few weeks ago? Thought I saw a thread then. Really sorry to see this. That's a lot of oil underneath the engine.

That was a guy in Brazil, but background story was very similar, something like a buyback from a dealership and sat in a garage for a long time.

[agustincuenca]

The cold start issue can be a leaking injector(s) that floods one or more cylinders. Oil leaks to check in this order: valve cover gasket, oil filter housing gasket and oil pan gasket. Rear main seal leaks are super rare in these cars.
Do you happen to know if the sparks and coils have been replaced? if not, I would do it anyways.

[TemjinX2]

i would just replace all the gaskets with new oem gaskets for the...vc, ofhg, oil pan gasket. new plugs and coils too.

[Pladi]

Originally Posted by nsjames

Why does everyone here think that lawyers are the solution to every problem?

firstly, caveat emptor. OP bought a car that he knew had been sitting, and was a grey market import to his country after an accident. if he didn't have it inspected properly that's his fault.
Sorry OP, that's just the truth.

secondly, he's probably still far ahead financially over buying a brand new BMW to just have this motor resealed if it has major leaks.

You've jumped to some serious conclusions that this motor is trashed based on a few photos of a wet oil sump, and literally no diagnostics. The low oil pressure simply could have been the result of a low oil level, or may have been a sensor fault.

Ill tell you why, because we live in a capitalist society where everyone is trying to eat everyone else for a dollar.

He got screwed man, who buys a car with a clogged oil filter. That thing is a time bomb..