[mrbarry]

Hi all, I have owned a BMW 530d for 5 months now, its a 1999 on a 'V' plate and a touring. It is smoking a bit under hard throttle, well more than a bit, and is down on power some what.
The smoke is black, I am assuming the lack of air from the turbo is messing with the map causing over fueling, either way I feel the turbo needs changing.

Question is any one recomend a good place to get onw from other than main dealer? I am no novice to changing turbo chargers even if they are normaly on my petrol cars, and I know reconditioned units can be questionable for reliability.
also, as I am changing the unit anyway, what options are there for upgrading to a larger or more efficient modle? Baring in mind I want a straight bolt on replacement, and would only want a little more power not 400bhp or something.

Many thanks.

Baz.

 

[big shaun]

make sure its not the air mass meter first, i had that with my 530d

 

[Ronnie]

As mentioned check out your Air flow meter, disconnect the plug then drive the car for a while with it unplugged, if it goes better then it needs a Air flow meter.

Would also be wise to have the codes read even if there are no lights on the dash

 

[mrbarry]

Thanks for the fast reply. I will check it out tomorrow. Are there any wiring diagrams on the site any where?
I have not looked into the turbo yet but will drop the cat off tomorrow too and see if the actuator is opperating, shaft play is ok and there is no oil in the intercooler.
I will do a check for error codes in the ecu too if I can, I know you can do it on most cars using the dash lights and a paper clip in the OBD port, just have to find the info for a BMW.

Cheers
baz.

 

[Ronnie]

Thanks for the fast reply. I will check it out tomorrow. Are there any wiring diagrams on the site any where?

What sort you looking for? MAF is number 1 here incase you need it http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=DL72&mospid=47545&btnr=13_0652&hg=13&fg=20

I will do a check for error codes in the ecu too if I can, I know you can do it on most cars using the dash lights and a paper clip in the OBD port, just have to find the info for a BMW.

Cheers
baz.

That's the service light reset you will be thinking of, the only way to get the DDE(Engine ECU) codes on a e39 is with a diagnostic scanner, any good BMW indy specialist or main dealer will be able to help you out

 

[mrbarry]

OK, well I do not know about BMW but on all Toyotas, Vauxhalls, Fords and Audi's I have owned the fault codes could be retrived by shorting correct the pins in the OBD or OBD2 port sending the ecu into self diagnostic mode. The codes send a binary signal to the error reader but in its absence to the dash lights. I was hoping the BMW would be the same but it seems not, normaly its the first thing owners clubs point you too so as no one on here has done it I doubt BMW codes can be read that way. For what it costs I will pop in and get a reader, then I only pay once not every time I have a problem :thumbsup

I do not know what sort of turbo I want, only that it may be a good time to upgrade a bit. I do not want to end up swapping the turbo and having to uprate boost hoses to cope, then larger intercoolers and...... A mild rise in power would be nice, but wouldnt it always. At the end of the day this is a daily runner and a tow car, I have cars for racing around like a loon on track, the BMW is my place of reliability and comfort.



Last thing, the car is returning 41mpg but I do 60-70% motor way driving, around town it is doing 35mpg, would this indicate AFM as it used to do about 5mpg more when I first had it. 60mph cruising used to be 47mpg and is now 43 if I am lucky.

Thanks
Baz.

 

[Ronnie]

Last thing, the car is returning 41mpg but I do 60-70% motor way driving, around town it is doing 35mpg, would this indicate AFM as it used to do about 5mpg more when I first had it. 60mph cruising used to be 47mpg and is now 43 if I am lucky.

Thanks
Baz.

It could well be indicative of a faulty MAF, unfortunately they don't always show themselves up as a trouble code, hence the unplug and drive procedure or viewing the data in live readings on a scanner.

Unfortunately shorting pins doesn't work on BMW's otherwise we would be the first to know about it the later stuff is too clever, I do have the fault codes for your car though so when you do get them post them up :cool

 

[mrbarry]

Unfortunately shorting pins doesn't work on BMW's otherwise we would be the first to know about it

Exactly as I thought

I will get a reader and post the results. First off I will try the AFM trick though. I am a little confused however, if I unplug the AFM how does the car behave? If it has no idea of the rate the engine is consuming air how does it fuel accordingly? Closed loop maps from rpm and throttle possition? MAP sensor readings?
Testing the AFM isnt as easy as I hoped either, it seems it is a hot wire unit not a resistive flapper type. Oh well.

 

[Ronnie]

The engine runs on a secondary MAP that is programmed into the DDE(engine ECU) and also runs off sensors like you mentioned

 

[mrbarry]

Just keeping this alive, I have spent all day rolling insulation out in my attics to save some cash, how long it will take to regain the cost of the insulation I dont know :lol: So my car has not moved all day long. Tomorrow I have to finish lagging the heating pipes and its on! As long as it doesnt take 14 hours like today did :frown

 

[gazz c]

hi,my friends 530 lost power and was chucking out a lot of black smoke,turned out to be a crack on inlet manifold,suppose to be quite common,cheers ,gazz

 

[mrbarry]

Thats no shock to be honest. I have replaced a few turbos on the 320tdi's and the plastic manifolds are not very strong looking. I was hoping the 530 one would be better but a good strip down will soon find any such problem

Off out in a bit and will be trying MAF first tho.

 

[mrbarry]

Quick update, exactly the same with the MAF disconnected. I found the mpg has improved back to normal now the tyres are back upto 45psi, never bothered watching mpg before but now the computer does it for me its easy to see problems coming there.

Got a friend to drive the car and it only really smokes a bit, just dont like it. Looking into a remap to lean some fuel off and rduce it, even thinking of fitting a filter.

Checked inlet manifold for cracks by pressurising to a bar for a minute, no drop so no cracks.

Remap it is then. Going to call around for prices tomorrow and would prefere a propper mapping session to a simple ROM flash.

 

[mrbarry]

Got plugged in today and no error codes, opperator said it was all fine in his opinion, just normal smoke from a highish mile car, turbo seals could be a bit worn but not exactly gone. Replacing the turbo anyway.
With that in mind I took her for a track day and came second over all 6 seconds a lap infront of the nearest Subaru :lol: It wasnt bad on track!