[streetworkxs]

Just did a cbu clean, changed injectors, fuel filter, glow plugs , glow plug controller and am not getting any fuel. It cranks but no sign of starting. I’ve primed the fuel pump in the functions of pro tool, no luck. My battery dropped a cell and I had to swap battery through this all. Any tips?

[montr]

See post #10
https://www.e90post.com/forums/showt...ighlight=bleed

If you have the Foxwell NT510, I think it can also do the air bleed.

[RED-d]

That was my post. In retrospect after talking to others I'm suspecting that I didn't crank long enough. I was doing 10-15 second cranks. This may not be long enough to prime the lines and it would loose whatever prime it had when I quit cranking. I've been told 30 second minimum cranks and should start after a few attempts. Make sure you do a prime function (as you mentioned) and have a good charger connected to a fully charged battery.

[Tambohamilton]

I cracked a nut off on one injector line (highest one), so the fitting was loose, then cranked until I saw the joint wet. Then tightened and started up. This way the pump doesn't need to build pressure before the air starts bleeding out, so cranks can be shorter and still effective. Cranks to start were still longer for the first couple of times after this, until the rail had been fully purged of all air.

[streetworkxs]

Thanks a bunch guys. Cranking some more did the trick. There's a mechanical pump that only runs when the ignition is cranking.

[Tambohamilton]

Correct. No matter how much you prime the lpfp, if the hpfp doesn't turn (needs the engine to turn it), it won't bleed the rail/injectors.

[thienlu1]

Make sure all the injector feed lines are tight. mine has a very very slow leak on #3 that why the main rail not fully pressurize. i found out by doing a system bleed with foxwell nt530 and see the bubbles come out of #3 slowly. secure the line and give it 5 cranks with 30 seconds duration, car start after that. goodluck.

[Nadir Point]

The actual injector-changing "procedure" on diesels I'm more familiar with used to end with crack 1-3-5, turn it over a couple times. then 2-4-6, turn it again, button 'em up and go. Works every time.

I have no idea what the actual procedure on an M57 might be in BMW parlance.

[odbz]

Originally Posted by Tambohamilton

I cracked a nut off on one injector line (highest one), so the fitting was loose, then cranked until I saw the joint wet. Then tightened and started up. This way the pump doesn't need to build pressure before the air starts bleeding out, so cranks can be shorter and still effective. Cranks to start were still longer for the first couple of times after this, until the rail had been fully purged of all air.

Just solved my problem! Thanks for this post

[gr8whte]

Originally Posted by Tambohamilton

I cracked a nut off on one injector line (highest one), so the fitting was loose, then cranked until I saw the joint wet. Then tightened and started up. This way the pump doesn't need to build pressure before the air starts bleeding out, so cranks can be shorter and still effective. Cranks to start were still longer for the first couple of times after this, until the rail had been fully purged of all air.

This Right Here is The Way To Go.

[Asonchadwick]

So I'm going to change my injectors also. So prime, crack injector #1 till wet, tighten, crank 15 to 20 seconds, repeat.

[Tambohamilton]

No. Crack injector 1, crank until wet, tighten, start.

[cornflakes8]

Originally Posted by RED-d

That was my post. In retrospect after talking to others I'm suspecting that I didn't crank long enough. I was doing 10-15 second cranks. This may not be long enough to prime the lines and it would loose whatever prime it had when I quit cranking. I've been told 30 second minimum cranks and should start after a few attempts. Make sure you do a prime function (as you mentioned) and have a good charger connected to a fully charged battery.

Hello fellow BMW owners...this is my first post and I registered here just to say a big THANK YOU to RED-d as I finally got my X5 started lol.

30 SECOND MINIMUM crank was the key...

My battery is on its last legs, so I didn't want to go too long with the cranking even with a battery charger hooked up. I was doing 10 second cranks 3-4x and then letting the battery charge for a good few hours before trying again.

I came across this comment from RED-d and a light bulb moment went off thinking back to when I had an M47 120D and how a longer crank got it started. I went out to give it one last crank with a stopwatch and it fired up on 27 seconds!

Sometimes you just have to remember the basics and the simple things rather than going down a rabbit hole and diagnosing other issues.

For reference, I did bleed the air out of the fuel rail by connecting clear vinyl tubing to each fuel line (I did it for all 6), putting the other end into an empty plastic bottle, and then letting the lift pump run until I didn't see or hear any more bubbles. I found I didn't need to apply vacuum to get it to flow, the pump was enough to do this. I also activated the lift pump by applying voltage from a spare 12V alarm battery I had lying around - I initially tried to activate it with ISTA but had some communication error (I've got some K-CAN wire fault code) and couldn't get it to go, and tbh it was just easier/simpler to lift the seat to get to the pump and not getting greasy fingers all over my laptop.

I also plugged the main fuel line (the one that goes from the HPFP to the fuel rail) to try to minimise the amount of air as the car sat with the injectors off for a few days over xmas. Not sure if this made a difference.

Anyway, I hope this post may help someone else out in the future who may come across it and I hope a 30 second crank after bleeding the fuel lines works for you.


--------------------

If you're wondering, I had to replace the turbo cartridge in my M57 X5 as it was making the dreaded siren sound at low rpms and I kept getting glances from pedestrians! Must've been worn turbo bearings as I didn't have any play. I decided I would pull it out from the top (dumb idea). I decided to go this route because I didn't want to have to remove the engine mount bracket and drop the subframe by going underneath - which to be honest would've probably been an easier job

I also thought I'd kill two birds with one stone by doing a clean up of the carbon build up and to remove the swirl flaps and replace them with blanks.

To be fair, it wasn't a hard job technical wise as I've worked on the M47 before when I had a 120D, so everything was familiar. The annoying part was snapping two injector bolts that screw into head (injector #5) due to water ingress - so I had to spend another another half day drilling out the broken bolts and retapping the threads.

But hey, it's all fun and games working on your car right? I'm pretty sore, tired, and cursed a lot during it all, but I'm now glad the car is running again and the turbo is good to go. In hindsight though, I'm getting old and I might just pay someone to do it all next time as time is money - although there's no better satisfaction from wrenching your own car, troubleshooting, and learning.

Peace out all.

[Nadir Point]

Don't you just hate it after finding you need to fix 2 or 3 other things before you can actually finish working on what started the project? Happens to me all the time.

[Tambohamilton]

Originally Posted by cornflakes8

30 SECOND MINIMUM crank was the key...
I went out to give it one last crank with a stopwatch and it fired up on 27 seconds!

Should have cranked for another 3s.

[smass]

Just did my valve cover and the engine started after 26 seconds of cranking. This was with no bleeding or cracking any connectors open. I did put a charger on the battery while I was doing the work so I got full power at the first start.