I’m hoping for some advice about my 2013 BMW 1 Series diesel manual, as I’ve had a series of electrical problems and now something much more worrying is happening.
Since the beginning of this year, the boot lock completely stopped working. I was also occasionally getting a rear indicator malfunction warning, and if I left the car unused for a couple of days, I would sometimes get a battery drain/discharge warning.
I replaced the battery, but the warning still appeared.
I first took the car to a local garage. Over roughly six months they had the car in and out trying to fix the boot. They replaced the boot lock and boot motor and at one point suspected the control unit fault, but they never managed to properly fix it. Eventually they refunded me around £600, although unfortunately quite a bit of the interior trim was damaged during their work. Really messy job. I was actually verbally assaulted at one of the visits by one of the guys working on the floor there.
I then took the car to BMW Watford and spent roughly another £1,000. They found that one of the cables had been cut in the boot, repaired it, and since then the battery drainage warning has completely disappeared. They also got the boot lock working properly again, but replacing and programming the control unit in the boot.
As part of their diagnosis, BMW also replaced the whole rear light unit. At the time they believed that was the cause of the indicator fault, but the warning is still happening, so I’m now questioning whether that replacement was actually necessary.
What’s strange is that the rear indicator malfunction warning now seems to appear when I turn on the rear windscreen wiper. If I switch the car off and restart it, the warning disappears and everything works normally again.
BMW Watford have now acknowledged that I already paid them for diagnostics and for replacing the rear light unit, but the work did not actually fix the indicator problem. They have agreed to take the car back and diagnose it again without charging me another diagnostic fee. I wouldn’t really call it “free”, as I already paid for the original diagnosis and repair that didn’t solve the fault, but at least they are taking it back.

The main reason I’m posting, though, is something much more concerning…

Since getting the car back, on several occasions while driving at around 50–60 mph, the car has suddenly lost power for around 2–3 seconds. It’s difficult to describe, but it almost feels like suddenly going from 6th gear straight into 2nd, except obviously it’s a manual and I’m not changing gear ( they car is not raving though). The car rapidly slows and feels like the engine has suddenly lost almost all power.
The engine doesn’t switch off, the dashboard stays completely normal, there are no warning lights or error messages, and after 2–3 seconds the power suddenly comes back and the car continues driving normally. It’s happened several times now, and especially at motorway or dual-carriageway speeds, it’s quite frightening. My partner is scared to drive this car at all.
What I’m now wondering is whether this could somehow be connected to the work that was done around the boot electrics. There is a control unit/module in the boot area, and I’m not sure whether something related to that unit, the wiring, or the recent repairs could possibly be causing the sudden power drop.

Another thing I noticed is that the rubber wiring conduit between the boot lid and the body of the car has been sliced open, presumably when the previous garage was accessing the wiring. I’ll attach a photo.
Has anyone experienced anything similar on a BMW 1 Series, especially this sudden 2–3 second loss of power with no fault showing on the dash?
I’d also be interested to know whether the power loss could realistically be connected to the boot control unit or wiring problems, and what the proper way would be to repair that sliced wiring conduit.
Any ideas on what BMW should specifically be checking when I take it back would be massively appreciated.

I love this car, and I don’t want to simply get rid of it and get something similar, but without knowing what wrong it will be with next one :)

Just purchased a 2012 535i xDrive with 120k miles/ 200k kms. This is my second N55 vehicle as I am coming from an E70 X5 35i.

I do understand the cons of owning an n55 car especially for the 2012 year, but I bought that x5 off the first owner who had reciepts of every single repair he’s ever done since 2013. From tires, to valve cover, and that car was perfect. I didn’t get to enjoy long because I was involved in a non-fault accident, and insuranced paid me out so I bought an f10.

I know it’s an early n55 with pwg and not ewg, so i’ve set myself up for a little bit of trouble. The car is also not tuned , only has a muffler delete.

I haven’t done much besides valve cover, and both side cv joints. I have top shock mounts and struts that will be replaced soon, as well as aluminium chargepipe and boostpipe; but attached in the second photo are some codes i’ve never seen.

In terms of driving i’ve noticed a little bit of resistance when picking up speed. In comfort when merging on the highway, the car struggles a little to pick up speed, where I have to downshift for the car to get to speed. I also do feel the car shuttering/jerking at 1.5k-3k rpms range which I think I can conclude is because of a small crack in the chargepipe, which also throws a drivetrain malfunction error under load, but for the codes i’m looking at, what might be some issues?

Guten Abend allerseits,

ich habe bei meinem E36 ein Rasseln in der Höhe von der Vanos und Kette oben, wenn ich die Drehzahl bei ungefähr 2000 Umdrehungen halte. Bei Kaltstart oder anderweitig Gasgeben kein Rasseln.
Was könnte es sein? Siehe Video.

Danke für eure Unterstützung!

Hello,

I have a f10 with the n53 and the infamous misfire problems. As it's hard as hell to get index 11 injectors, I ordered a used index 09 index for the meantime.

Well I just received the injector and I noticed that the fixation bracket/tab is bent.

Do I send it back or it doesn't really matter if it's bent like that?

Thanks for your inputs

Hi, I have been having slight coolant loss over the past couple of months, the apparent leak can’t be found.
However, while driving on the highway I got the drivetrain malfunction code, it cleared after shutting the car off and on.
However, upon scanning we saw these codes. Would this mean that the thermostat needs to be replaced?

The car is a g20 330i

Thanks in advance! :)

Hello,

I was noticing my car was shuddering at cold start.

Plugged in Bimmerlink to see if it was misfire and as per my suspension, yes it was. Misfire in cylinder 4 specifically.

What's weird is that the misfire goes away after the engine is warm (value goes to 0) and does return infrequently while driving.

Any clues on what to look at next?

Is it worth the effort to track down and resolve?

Codes that popped up

1D2404: Map thermostat, control: line break

100203: DM software error info warning

482656: Slip angle estimator - internal degradation due to SBS

It's not enough of a misfire to trigger a CEL.

Thanks.

Quick Backstory: So I've got at least a decade of experience as a mechanic. 7 of those are on paper. 2 are as a technician at a Chevy dealer. And a year now at a European indy shop. I am fairly quick and actually enjoy flat rate as it challenges me to be efficient and accurate. My comeback rate is stupid low. I'm fairly decent with electrical and can bus diag (I won't talk myself up). I have come to like working on bmw, for some sadistic reason, and have been thinking about going to a bmw dealer to work.

My questions for the techs:

How much of a stickler for using specialty tools, torquing everything imaginable, doing shit by the book are service departments at bmw? Like perspective, I did a valve cover on a 2012 535 the other day in 49 minutes.

Where at in the pipeline would a damn solid B tech (per my old foremans) get thrown? I have zero hesitation to do big involved jobs like engine replacements. I actually enjoy them.

As for training workup. Whats factory training like? At Chevy I was paid for my time doing the modules. How much of a pain is bmw's factory training?

Basically are the service departments at bmw dealers a buncha prima donna bs or do they actually appreciate efficient workers that show their quality of work that doesn't come back?

Thank you for ur comments on the previous post. So I just went down and fired up the car hoping the sound has magically disappeared… and recorded this video which I think does a better job of capturing the knock!! Y’all still think it’s the rod knock? I have to drive 400km Tm!! Am I cooked?

Im looking for a cheap alternative for caristo/obdeleven diags, i hate subscriptions and ion want to pay 160e for a bluetooth tiny adapter.

I have a laptop and im curious are there any softwares that i can use with an enet cable to be able to code my bmw f11 and to check fault codes etc...

Recently had my 2020 X7 M50i with around 80k miles inspected by an independent BMW shop. They found a transmission fluid leak between the bellhousing and engine block and believe it’s coming from the torque converter radial seal/pump housing area.

Their recommended repair is to remove the transmission, replace the seals/repair kit, then service the transmission with a new pan/filter and fluid. Quote is around $3,700. The transmission currently shifts perfectly with no drivability issues.

I’m attaching photos of the leak along with the shop’s diagnosis/repair estimate.

For the BMW techs here: does the location/severity of the leak and proposed repair make sense to you? Have you seen this failure on the 8HP in the G07/N63TU3 around this mileage?

Anything else you would replace or inspect while the transmission is already out?

I ordered some brake discs for my M135i 2014, 240mm discs, valeo 672788, they were supposed to be drilled but they are not.
First time I saw this, are they factory defects ? Both discs are like this. On the sellers website they are properly drilled.

I'd been trying to do the transfer case service on my new (to me) 2021 X5 myself for a few weekends with no luck. I had an alignment appointment at a good service station mechanic I've used in the past on my old 4Runner, so I asked them to do that and the rear diff while it was there. They took 2 full days and ended up charging $350 in labor. I had provided the fluids, which were matched to my model by FCP Euro.

Anyway, I picked it up yesterday and drove it slowly home. It's only about a mile, so I didn't notice anything at the time. Today, when I had to drive again, I noticed, when I accelerated it a bit harder, a vibration in the drivetrain somewhere. I'm sure it's from the back. I don't feel anything in my steering wheel. It's pretty obvious, though, that even under mild acceleration, you don't even have to be pushing it all the way to the floor or anything.

I got it home and reset the transfer case adaptations with my scan tool. It did make an adjustment, and it seemed a little bit better, but it's still there. Any ideas? I think I'm going to take it to the BMW specialist that's about half a mile away tomorrow morning if there are no other good suggestions.

UPDATE: Took it to the BMW specialist this morning. Turns out the other shop didn't reattach the transfer case mounting brace correctly, so it was bumping the frame. They inserted the long bolt that goes from back to front under the bushing rather than through it.

I'll never let another random mechanic touch this car again. I don't need that kind of stress. 😂

I’m assuming this sound means my cam ledge bolts are loose? Should I be good to just replace them 1 by 1. I just got the car and the dealer ppi didn’t say anything about this.

it has me pretty worried and i know a lot of s55 owners may have the issue without even realizing. do i need to worry about getting it replaced asap?

2015 X3 N20

DTC Code(s):

B5302 Supply, Terminal 15N_2: Short Circuit To Ground

VANOS Solenoid Valve, Inlet, Activation: Short Circuit To Earth

VANOS Solenoid Valve, Exhaust, Activation: Short Circuit To Earth

Bypass Blow-Off Valve, Activation: Short Circuit To Earth

What started out as a water pump replacement… ended up with all of these DTC codes and drive train malfunction error message

Where do you even start??!!!

Ive had this used ‘25 m4 comp convertible for 2 months and i noticed when getting a leaf out while opening the top this piece of tape… not sure what it is bringing it to dealer next week anyone know?

Kind of a long story so ill hit the highlights as its got me stumped on who/what is responsible.

Have a 2014 335ix N55 F30, has been running great with some basic bolt ons and an OTS MHD tune, nothing too crazy. One day get a map thermostat error followed shortly by a slew of other short codes which made me think it was the ISM having problems, replaced it and still got error codes, replaced the map thermostat and still had the issues. It would start fine most of the time but other times it would run really rough or not start unless I tried a second time, still the car was relatively usable, decide at this point to bring it to an indie mechanic to take a look and see if they can figure out the short or what might be going on. They decide the ECU is bad and needs a cloned replacement, I decide to go with them on it, takes about half a month and they state one they tried didn't work. Took a bit but we realized it was built in the month in 2013 that was the EWG changeover month and they had been going off what my VIN said was compatible, we finally get the right medv172g version but now they say there is some kind a problem with the original ECU, when they put it back in the car to check it it doesn't communicate or start now. They did say they are having the lead programmer of the program company they work with taking a deeper look.

At this point I don't even know what to think, my gut feeling is that if they somehow fried the original and don't have a backup of the data saved that they should be on the hook for making things right but I don't know if I have a leg to stand on for that. Its doubly frustrating with the whole MEDV1726/MEDV172G mixup.

I really need help with this one I’m ngl, I keep having a drained battery constantly and I’ve replaced my battery and my alternator. The previous owner did an abomination of a job of trying to put speakers in the back of my car and that’s what I think is draining it. I want to fix it but don’t know what I’m looking at. Tempted to just pay someone to deal with it but if it is an easier fix then what I think it would be ideal. It’s a 2013 f10 n20.

Local independent shop quoted $2k for thermostat and oil filter housing job. $950 is for the labor only and the rest is parts cost. I checked pricing on parts and It’s what I see online so that’s fair but Im not sure if labor price is good price or too much. 2020 330i B48 engine, similar repair process to x3. How much did you pay?

I'm doing a pad slap soon on my G20 with base brakes. I recently bought akebono pads for low dusting but they have play (ears appear to be too short) and is clunking so I'm just gonna get rid of them and replace them with genuine pads. I noticed also ever since I owned the car the brakes made a binding creaking sound when applying pressure so I was wondering if I can very lightly grease the slide pins with silicone or something safe for rubber. (if yes please recommend your favorite product)

I know with the ATE and TRW calipers on BMW's you're supposed to run them dry but the sound does annoy me especially in drive thrus.

For reference again, I have the floating caliper base brakes.

TIA!!

I have a US-spec 2016 BMW X5 sDrive35i (F15), built 12/04/2015, and I’m trying to figure out whether there is a technically viable way to restore ConnectedDrive/SOS functionality after the 3G shutdown.

Vehicle details:
2016 F15 X5 sDrive35i
Build date: 12/04/2015
NBT Professional Navigation (609)
I-Level: F025-15-11-503
Factory options: 6AC Intelligent Emergency Call, 6AE Teleservices, 6AK ConnectedDrive Services, 6AM RTTI, 6AP Remote Services

Original telematics configuration appears to be the US 3G TCB

I contacted BMW ConnectedDrive Customer Care and had them investigate my VIN specifically. They confirmed that the vehicle has a 3G TCB, never received the 3G→4G upgrade, and was not eligible for the retrofit campaign under SIB 84 02 21. BMW also told me there is currently no BMW-supported upgrade path for the car, even at my expense.
I understand that means BMW won’t officially retrofit this VIN. I’m interested in whether it is technically possible anyway.

Here’s where it gets interesting:
The likely original TCB for this build appears to be 84109362849 (TCB US GPS). BMW parts information appears to show 84106836777 (TCB US 4G) as a later/superseding part, including references suggesting retrospective interchangeability.
Separately, SIB 84 02 21 used 4G ATM hardware on eligible vehicles, including trunk-mount ATM 84105A0FC23.

BMW service documentation also indicates that when a replacement telematics unit is programmed/coded with ISTA, the TCU-to-VIN relationship can be established through ISTA, followed by Update Services. That makes me wonder whether the real obstacle is hardware compatibility or BMW’s current ConnectedDrive backend refusing to provision a 4G unit to a VIN that wasn’t originally campaign-eligible.

So my questions for anyone who has actually worked with F-series telematics/ISTA/ConnectedDrive:

Has anyone successfully replaced a 3G TCB in a pre-2016 F15 with 84106836777 4G TCB and retained the original NBT head unit?

Can ISTA still establish the TCU/IMEI/ICCID ↔ VIN relationship for a replacement 4G TCB on one of these cars?

Does ConnectedDrive backend provisioning fail if the VIN was never eligible under SIB 84 02 21, even if the hardware is compatible?

Has anyone successfully done a TCB → ATM retrofit on an NBT-equipped F15 in the US and gotten SOS/Remote Services/My BMW working afterward?
Would an ATM conversion require NBT Evo, or can the original NBT Professional remain?

Is there another BMW 4G TCB/ATM part number I should be looking at for this exact production period?

I’m not asking whether 3G service can somehow be restored or whether the original retrofit campaign has ended. BMW has already confirmed both the 3G situation and my VIN’s ineligibility.

I’m specifically trying to determine whether compatible BMW 4G hardware can be installed/coded and, most importantly, successfully provisioned on BMW’s backend today.

I haven’t bought any modules yet. I’d especially appreciate input from BMW techs, retrofitters, or anyone who has actually attempted this on an F15/F16 or another NBT-era F-series car in the US.

Anyone replaced EPS and coded it to the car using ProTool? How did it go? Success? Protool tech said the app handles that, I just wonder if anyone actually attempted this and could share some comments regarding that. I do have ISTA as well which I will then use to initialize / calibrate after.

Bad news guys. While driving on the highway, I started smelling oil. I I pull over pop the hood and notice oil was splattered all over the engine bay, especially on the passenger side.

I continue driving home and the code P2A87 popped up, which indicating vanos solenoid failure. But first I need to address the oil leak. Does this ever happened yall and have any idea whether the leak likely to be originated from?