BMW e46 320D M47D20 150HP 2002 start problem.

Chrixus · Aug 29, 2017

Hello,
My name is Chris.
I have this BMW e46 320D 2002 since December 2016. For a few months now, i've been having these issues that are getting wore.
The car fails to start after running for a couple of hours or when is very hot outside. This is due to the temperature gauge that goes red when trying to start.
Over the couple of weeks i have read various forums, posts, regarding this matter and learned a lot, and even was surprised to find out how many people have or had this problem.
So far i have checked and changed :
Fuel pump relay
DDE relay
Battery is in the corect voltage on idle and when charging
Didn't replaced the oil/water temperature sensor yet, but i doubt it will solve the problem.
Didn't check or replace spark plugs relay.

Mechanically the car runs impeccable, when manage to start the engine.
The car starts perfect and right away when engine is cold, in the morning. And if i am lucky 1-2 times after. That's it. I have to wait for at least a good 5-6 hours until it magically starts again.
I bought the diagnostic unit and runned a test, and from what it says it looks like the problem would electrical/electronic. I looked up for some of the errors but couldn't find any accurate info, so if anyone, please give me an advice, solution to solve this issue.

FA coding : /-------- IKE --------\ /-------- LCM --------\
Chassis : E46 E46
Model : 320d 320d
Type key : AS72 AS72
Engine : M47D20 M47D20
Gearbox : Manual Manual
VIN : FY56092 FY56092
Time criterion : 0302 0302
Paint code : 0354 0354
Upholstery code : N6SW N6SW
FA-stream : 024134129545BF8735D2 024134129545BF8735D2
413554B96CF75D765149 413554B96CF75D765149
94504104104104104104 94504104104104104104
1042125194955526504D 1042125194955526504D
04934915114544985134 04934915114544985134
545115174D4611550615 545115174D4611550615
4905535155505964565D 4905535155505964565D
25D85584526134985536 25D85584526134985536
164D85D7618419655000 164D85D7618419655000

# SCAN START
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unit BMWTNR HW SW-FSW CI DI BI/VI Date Odometer VIN ADFG Algorithm
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DDE* -> 7.789.572 10 42.3.0 31 0014 0058 07.02 - FY56092 - DDE5.0 M47TUE
EWS -> 6.905.667 03 08 81 81 07 28/02 225214 km WBAAS72040FY56092 FFFFFF EWS3
ABS* -> 6.759.073 04 0.0.91 04 0002 0002 05.02 - AS72040FY56092 506092 DSC E46,R50,E85
A/C -> 6.919.784 30 11 15 32 0D 29/02 - - 006092 IHKA E46 PU98/PU99
SRS -> 6.912.755 10 32 32 09 00 28/02 - FY56092 000000 MRS4
IKE -> 6.915.243 21 31 07 54 13 27/02 225214 km FY56092 84FFFF M35080 - 2 (E46R)
LCM -> 6.919.829 16 30 31 30 00 26/02 225200 km FY56092 550000 HC912 - 5 (LSZ2)
ZKE -> 6.914.364 11 20 02 40 10 25/02 - - 556092 ZKE5
MFL -> 0.000.000 01 10 00 03 78 00/00 - - - MFL2
PDC -> 6.921.415 01 17 03 01 01 29/02 - - 556092 PDC E38/E39/E46/E53
RAD -> 6.976.887 73 66 01 45 13 00/00 - - 002843 Radio ZIS/BM/MIR

# USER INFO FIELDS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unit Date VIN Odometer Assembly Software Service Dealer Tester Program ver.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DDE* -> 24.07.02 WBAAS72040FY56092 0 km 7.791.291 7.791.292 7.788.337 012321 42324 000197004203

# ERRORS IN UNITS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unit BMWTNR HW SW-FSW ERRORS / SHADOW-MEMORY
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DDE* -> 7.789.572 10 42.3.0 unknown
EWS -> 6.905.667 03 08 1 error
ABS* -> 6.759.073 04 0.0.91 5 errors
A/C -> 6.919.784 30 11 no errors
SRS -> 6.912.755 10 32 no errors / 1 error
IKE -> 6.915.243 21 31 1 error
LCM -> 6.919.829 16 30 no errors / 2 errors
ZKE -> 6.914.364 11 20 no errors / 2 errors
MFL -> 0.000.000 01 10 no data
PDC -> 6.921.415 01 17 1 error
RAD -> 6.976.887 73 66 2 errors

# ERRORS DETAILS - DTC(hex)/PARAM(hex)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EWS -> 0F/21 - Power on reset

ABS* -> 5DC4/A0 - Wheel speed sensor rear right long term supervision.
5DF4/20 - Vehicle power < 9 Volt.
5DC3/A0 - Wheel speed sensor rear right start recognition v_comparison.
5DC1/A0 - Wheel speed sensor rear right extrapolation.
5E14/E0 - CAN Timeout DME/DDE

SRS -> Shadow-memory:
02/40 - Driver's belt tensioner, resistance too high

IKE -> F4/E8 - No CAN message

LCM -> Shadow-memory:
45/09 - Sidelight 2, rear right
47/2A - Sidelight 3, rear right

ZKE -> Shadow-memory:
90/21 - Battery Voltage: Open circuit
81/21 - Alarm memory: Door contact Driver's door

PDC -> 13/C4 - Converter, rear centre right

RAD -> 04/01 - Internal CD-drive: hardware problem
05/03 - Internal CD-drive: read-error

# SCAN END

Thank you for reading.

kalasnikov471 · Sep 3, 2017

Hmmm judging by the error codes you got it seems that you've disconnected your battery recently, is this true?

How old is your battery? What voltage does the battery show when you can't start? What voltage does your battery show when the engine is running?

5DF4/20 - Vehicle power < 9 Volt.

It seems your voltage regulator is malfunctioning, you should have a look at it ASAP.

I would say that the coolant temperature sensor is on its way out and that's why the temperature goes to hot and the car won't start. Does the temperature gauge work correctly when you do manage to start the engine?

Chrixus · Sep 6, 2017

kalasnikov471 said:
Hmmm judging by the error codes you got it seems that you've disconnected your battery recently, is this true?

How old is your battery? What voltage does the battery show when you can't start? What voltage does your battery show when the engine is running?

It seems your voltage regulator is malfunctioning, you should have a look at it ASAP.

I would say that the coolant temperature sensor is on its way out and that's why the temperature goes to hot and the car won't start. Does the temperature gauge work correctly when you do manage to start the engine?

kalasnikov471 said:
Hmmm judging by the error codes you got it seems that you've disconnected your battery recently, is this true?

How old is your battery? What voltage does the battery show when you can't start? What voltage does your battery show when the engine is running?

5DF4/20 - Vehicle power < 9 Volt.
It seems your voltage regulator is malfunctioning, you should have a look at it ASAP.

I would say that the coolant temperature sensor is on its way out and that's why the temperature goes to hot and the car won't start. Does the temperature gauge work correctly when you do manage to start the engine?

Well, the voltage when the car is not starting is 12.2-3-4, the voltage when the car is running is 14.1-2.
The battery was indeed disconnected but only because i thought it might reset this fault.
The battery is the OEM since the car was released LOL, from 2002. So 15 years old battery, it is black on the bulb display.
Could you give me more details about this voltage regulator?
The temperature sensor indicates the normal temp and stays in the middle when managing to start the engine.

Over the last few days i can only start the car twice in a day after the first start in the morning, so 3 stops/starts in total, after that i have to leave the car at least 8 hrs to "cooldown". Sometimes, after starting the engine the 2nd time the yellow triangle and handbreak light disappears and everything seems normal.

Chrixus · Dec 26, 2017

Hello again,

After taking the car to a Diesel Specialist Service Garage the diagnostic was the ECU faulty, so this is the problem apparently.

I have changed the battery, bought a second DDE relay and replace it, same symptoms as before.

Now i am looking to replace the whole DDE kit as in the picture below.

The question is :

1.By replacing the whole Complete Ecu With Lockset, will i need to reprogram something? If so, roughly how much will it cost? Because i find it cheaper to replace the whole damn thing rather than sending just the ECU for remaping or reprograming and in my logic i find it safer to replace everything rather than have my ECU reporgrammed and have the fear that the problem will re-appear.

2.What to you advise me to do? Continue on struggling solving the problem or just give up with the car? It's just frustrating that the car runs so great, it pulls well, has no other problem than this stupid electronically fault, which is the worse problem you could get, having the ECU faulty.

bwchiptune · Dec 27, 2017

Changing what you have in the photo( ecu lock set ) is not the correct way to do it
The correct way is to have a refurbished ecu (Dme) Programed to your car so it just for your car and will have the correct software and coding

But if it's down to money you don't want to spend a ecu key set will get your car running

BW chiptune
Tuning BMWs since 1991
Dyno Dynamics rolling road
BW autorepairs
Over 30 year repairing BMWs
New and fully refurbished BMW,Alpina Ecus and Cas units
BMW Keys made and cut same day
Correction of Engine ECUs Cas and key fitted to your car (when a key set from a different car has been used)
Digital Service Records rest and corrections in idrive screen on 2013 onwards cars
DPF repairs fixed without the need of removal

0208 561 1818
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BMW e46 320D M47D20 150HP 2002 start problem.

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