[Outlaw84]

Hello.

As I have gathered the N55 engine has a few common problems Source

1. High level of oil consumption in N55. Such problem is mainly caused by crankcase vent valve (PCV). Check it first of all.
2. Misfire. Such malfunction is likely to result in carbonized hydraulic lifters. Check them and use high quality engine oil.
3. Engine vibration. It can result in the fact that fuel injectors are out of order. The duration period is about 80,000 km (50,000 miles) of mileage. All you need is to replace them to make motor operate properly.
4) In addition the problem with high pressure fuel pump (HPFP), still exists in N55 engines. The pump may get out of order regularly

Is any of these problems specifically detectable using an OBD Scantool? I have the Autel MaxiDiag MD805, I don't have access to another BMW for comparison but on my diesel Volvo it was capable of getting live data from about 30+ native modules as well as eOBD. So I recon it will be able to get some HPFP and VANOS-data, but I have no idea what the correct value is suppose to look like. If missfires occur that will sure show but it would be good to have an idea for other "target" parameters. Only thing I know to check specifically now is that the abs sensors report the sameish value and of course reading system wide error codes.

Checked and the Autel MD805 is able to list the following module (still without connection to an actual car):
Drive
* Engine - DDE Diesel Electronics
* Engine - DME Digital Motor Electronics
* EGS transmission management.
* EKPS fuel-pump control
* GWS Gear selector switch

Additional info (perhaps off topic):
After almost two years of research and wait I will finally soon go and buy my first BMW. The target car is selected and reserved for me, will fly to buy it in two weeks. So I only have one chance to check it properly. I have a pretty good idea of how the check most mechanical things.

I hope I placed the thread correctly, I could not find a more accurate thread. While the car is technically an F30 I figured it does not matter for this question since is targeted on the N55 engine.

[Pladi]

Here is my 2 cents.

When buying a new car i want to make sure that there are no Major issues. Even if you could detect that the injectors are not good, its not really a reason to not buy a car it would me more of a price haggle thing..

So To answer your question the sophisticated devices that can read all PID sensors through the CAN protocol will give you alot of information and people on this forum will recommend the Schwaben tool but i dont think these tools are necessary for detecting major issues.

The issues you listed are not major and not a reason again not o buy the car.

What i recommend is that you do a compression test. Check fluid condition.

Listen for odd noises and if you can use a tool check the oil pressure at normal operating oil temperature.

Oil Pressure tells you alot.

[Outlaw84]

Originally Posted by Pladi

Here is my 2 cents.

When buying a new car i want to make sure that there are no Major issues. Even if you could detect that the injectors are not good, its not really a reason to not buy a car it would me more of a price haggle thing..

So To answer your question the sophisticated devices that can read all PID sensors through the CAN protocol will give you alot of information and people on this forum will recommend the Schwaben tool but i dont think these tools are necessary for detecting major issues.

The issues you listed are not major and not a reason again not o buy the car.

What i recommend is that you do a compression test. Check fluid condition.

Listen for odd noises and if you can use a tool check the oil pressure at normal operating oil temperature.

Oil Pressure tells you alot.

Thanks for your cents

I will most likely buy the car, but as I mentioned I need to fly to the location of sale and in best case drive it home for 5-6 hours of driving time. So having some immediate problem would not be good Yea minor problems would come down to a price haggle thing, since the car is being sold "as is without warranty". I checked on my Diesel Volvo 2012 the generic ODB2/eODB was not able to read the Oil Pressure but the native Engine Control Module was able to read it perfectly.

Was interesting to see, so it was quite stable during idle, went up on acceleration. All in all stayed between 350-600 kPA (50-87psi), thanks for the advice!

I recon I will be able to find this in the BMW Module as well. Check and the Autel MD805 atleast lists about 50 + modules for the BMW F30, will update the main post.

[Outlaw84]

Got the target oil pressures for the N55 Engine from a BMW workshop:

At normal operating oil temperature:
Idle: min 1.5 bar = 150kPa = 21,7 psi.
During drive: 4-6 Bar = 400-600 kPa = 58-87 psi.

Super interesting to see So the idle should be a lot lower compared to the Volvo but the running pressure is about the same as I experienced.

[Pladi]

Originally Posted by Outlaw84

Got the target oil pressures for the N55 Engine from a BMW workshop:

At normal operating oil temperature:
Idle: min 1.5 bar = 150kPa = 21,7 psi.
During drive: 4-6 Bar = 400-600 kPa = 58-87 psi.

Super interesting to see So the idle should be a lot lower compared to the Volvo but the running pressure is about the same as I experienced.

Very normal values. 87 max tells me that most likely weight 40 oil is used. Like maybe 0w-40 or 5w-40.

We get these parameters for the E90 platform with MHD monitoring.

[Outlaw84]

Originally Posted by Pladi

We get these parameters for the E90 platform with MHD monitoring.

Yea, seems like the K+DCAN or ENET cable is the way to go with BMW, I'll guess I will get one later, seemed cheap enough

Amazon link E90 Cable

Amazon link F30 Cable