[kooli9]

After years of trouble free motoring I finally had an issue with my car, and I was just saying it was the best car I've owned.

I do not drive my car regular and it can be a few days between drives. but I've never had any trouble starting my car even after 3 weeks not driving and in colder winters.

the other week when trying to start it did not start 1st time but on the 2nd, I put it down to cold weather and not driving it for a little while.

it has now down this twice, getting worse both times. and now today it took 6 tries to start and when it did it was as rough as a south London tractor.

I abandoned the car and took the mrs 118D to work.

The weird thing is I got no warning lights or errors from the car.

I'm going to try tomorrow when warmer to see if starts - if it does start, surely that point to an issue with the glow plugs right?

any help anyone could give is appreciated

[kooli9]

ah crap!!!

finally got the car into a local diesel specialist (Leka in cheshunt, avoided cooks ferry engineering as person I spoke to had a poor attitude, had to wait 7 hours for the correct recovery truck to show up)

At this point the thinking was injectors

they whipped it on the car diag and no injector faults showing. from what I could see the was an error on glow plug 2 and some crank senor.

the guess (I stress guess) was the tip on glow plug two had magically broken off and started working its way through the engine.

No way to confirm until they started stripping engine which would be a day or so, meaning no car until after new years and possibly a new engine on the cards (which I will be taking up with BMW if the case).

Car is 2007 e92 320d with 85k on clock, always serviced at BMW since and before I owned, most recently service 2 months ago

anyone else experienced anything like this?

[Shaun_1990]

just out of curiosity I know you have had a diagnostic check but have you checked your battery? my mum has had issues with her Celica the last couple of weeks & threw up engine light fault which code was ref to a ht lead. she then told me how her car was taking a while to fire.. Checked the battery it was goosed! after a cheeky trip to halfords and a new battery later engine light gone, another check on the diag & "ht lead fault" gone..


may be worth a cheek just incase could save you a decent amount.

[kooli9]

Originally Posted by Shaun_1990

just out of curiosity I know you have had a diagnostic check but have you checked your battery? my mum has had issues with her Celica the last couple of weeks & threw up engine light fault which code was ref to a ht lead. she then told me how her car was taking a while to fire.. Checked the battery it was goosed! after a cheeky trip to halfords and a new battery later engine light gone, another check on the diag & "ht lead fault" gone..


may be worth a cheek just incase could save you a decent amount.

Cheers Shaun I'll get them to double check. But I'm getting no errors which is the weird thing

[m_star01]

Thats true a low or faulty battery can make all kinds of warning lights appear in this cold weather if it dont start i would check battery first.

[Shaun_1990]

Could be a cheaper fix if it is, keep us updated & good luck

[kooli9]

Guys there are no warning lights at all appearing

nothing

theory that the 1st garage was running with (glow plug tip broken off into the cylinder) seems off to me. As this will not affect the car starting initially (maybe after prolonged running whilst over fuelling)

Anyway the car is in Sytner Chigwell now for diagnostics

I have contacted BMW customer services and have had them log this and expressed that if the engine has to be replaced due to component failure and the refuse a decent amount of good will I will be taking legal action as the car has always been serviced by main dealer (before and since I've owned) and I was told I could not purchase extended warranty from BMW when I bought the car as I did not by it from them (which I was told recently was not true)

You should reasonably expect your car to last 10 plus years if your car is well maintained as per manufacturers specification, right? Especially a BMW

I have made this issue quite public for BMW on twitter and will seeking advice from CAB

My last car was a Mondeo ST TDCI and it had 140k and was 7 years old and was running fine when I sold (well apart from heated seat not working)

I'm due a phone call from dealer either today or tomorrow

will keep you updated

[jrp73]

Very strange... Can't imagine it will need a replacement engine could just be an issue with the fuelling system. Unfortunately I can't imagine bmw paying out a penny on any work that needs to be carried out due to the age of the car.

[kooli9]

I hope your right

[kiel_dafo_kenyg_as]

I think that's two problems.
The south London tractor sound was probably the glow plug tip getting crushed between piston and head (cylinder #2) Get the tip removed before it finds the way to the turbo (if there's one on the 320d)

The crank sensor is likely to be the reason for your bad engine starting. I'm not familiar with the 320d engine but this kind of sensor usually tells the injection management when -let's say- piston #1 is in firing position and fuel can be injected. When the sensor is bad the engine does not know the proper moment in time for injection.
This means the starter needs some more turns until another sensor -> the camshaft sensor comes into play and takes over injection control.

[kooli9]

Originally Posted by whiteblue

I think that's two problems.
The south London tractor sound was probably the glow plug tip getting crushed between piston and head (cylinder #2) Get the tip removed before it finds the way to the turbo (if there's one on the 320d)

The crank sensor is likely to be the reason for your bad engine starting. I'm not familiar with the 320d engine but this kind of sensor usually tells the injection management when -let's say- piston #1 is in firing position and fuel can be injected. When the sensor is bad the engine does not know the proper moment in time for injection.
This means the starter needs some more turns until another sensor -> the camshaft sensor comes into play and takes over injection control.

Your car pictured is almost identical to mine lol

all bmw diesel have turbos (well the modern one do)

it's funny you mention the crank sensor as there was an error on it from what I saw. Could it just be the crank? over fuelling (running rich) would give you a diesel knock right?

[kooli9]

UPDATE:

Had a quick call from Sytner Chigwell

Bad news - Suspected timing chain jump - engine removal (at £1200) required to confirm and assess the damage.

Once confirmed goodwill claim will be submitted but not holding my breath tbh.

I thought this issue only affect N47 diesel engines, my engine is a M47.

CORRECTION: just checked on RealOEM and my engine is an N47

[kooli9]

Heard nothing so far will call them Monday as my MOT is due then and need to know whether to SORN or not

[Shaun_1990]

Isn't the m47 the older engine which is the one more prone to jumping? What years your car? Then47 is meant tone the one with revised timing chain

Hope all gets sorted soon for you

[kooli9]

UPDATE: sytner called engine out confirmed complete timing chain failure. Goodwill claim submitted under grounds that car has always been serviced at main dealer and loyal to brand as own two BMWs. Claim was not accepted and it was advised to call customer services tomorrow to see if I can persuade them.

FFS

[kooli9]

UPDATE:

After a week that started by being fobbed off by BMW customer services and having someone read me what sounded like a standard deflection script. which then moved on to calling citizens advice and being told I have 6 years to make a claim for damages under the supply of goods (implied terms) act. and that as I bought on finance the trader wasn't responsible but the finance company was. Then trying to speak to them who have a whole department dedicated to telling people to piss off and asking for impossible proof only to end up pleading my case a third time with BMW and getting a good result

Basically for all those in similar situation here's the crux of it:

BMW have never accepted liability for this fault although they have issued revised parts

BMW are not required to recall as not a safety issue, nor are they required to give goodwill.

Your warranty with them may not cover this fault (so I'm told by BMW)

Your contract is with the trader/dealer or finance company you bought car from. This does not apply if bought privately

Most finance companies will require an independent engineers report (cannot be affiliated to any garage) stating fault was present on car when you bought. Most engineers will not be able to do this for one reason or another. Even if they did, then it puts the onus back on BMW (vicious cycle)

Your only shot is (even if rejected) is to use BMWs statement to BBC watchdog against them. In which they state vehicles with full BMW service history with "relatively" low mileage will qualify for some goodwill even outside of warranty.

that's what I did and got them to reconsider with a bit of persistence, they have now agreed to cover half labour costs and full cost of parts.

[kooli9]

UPDATE:

After a weeks of not really driving the car (once a week maybe) the car felt silky smooth.

however, notice day after taking it off the driving it leaking something and again when I got to work. Another job well done BMW

back it goes on wednesday

[kooli9]

UPDATE:

gear box sump gasket failed, not related to work the completed apparently.

new gasket comes only as part of new sump kit consisting of trans fluid, sump, filter for a fitted price just shy of £800

FFS

[Kaisah]

:/ not good mate. I have 2010 N47 320D and reading stories like this scares me! lol.