[SoupAnxiety]

The slight misfire and black smoke still sound like injector issues. My misfire was slight but replacing injectors fixed it. Since doing mine my sooty exhaust is staying clean...

I'd hold out for used injectors and enjoy index 11 benefit. Did a high performance driving day on mine on Sunday and over 400 flat out miles MPG was 28.5! Previous being careful MPG was 25ish.

[Dormermike]

I've got a headful of index 11 and exhaust still gets sooty but takes a lot longer.

Impressive mpg to have on a performance day.. where was it? I'd love to try one of those.

[SoupAnxiety]

Yeah, my exhaust is "comparatively" clean. The soot before was depressing, wash car and one journey later they'd be sooted up.

Went driving in the North Yorkshire moors. Bloody brilliant roads. It's a no frills course with Reg Local (reglocal.com).

[N43B20A]

Originally Posted by SoupAnxiety

The slight misfire and black smoke still sound like injector issues. My misfire was slight but replacing injectors fixed it. Since doing mine my sooty exhaust is staying clean...

I'd hold out for used injectors and enjoy index 11 benefit. Did a high performance driving day on mine on Sunday and over 400 flat out miles MPG was 28.5! Previous being careful MPG was 25ish.

Great MPG! The slight rough idle lasts several seconds on a cold start, then everything is smooth for the day. I will not give up searching for index 11 injectors, but for now I was curious if I should try and switch back to the index 2 I had on the car, as currently it is working with 2 index 2 injectors (which came with the car) on cyl. 1/2 and 2 index 7 (used) on cyl. 3/4.

My mechanic adviced me to let the car as it is now, but I read that it would be best to have the same index injectors on one bank.

[SoupAnxiety]

Originally Posted by nclsamy

Great MPG! The slight rough idle lasts several seconds on a cold start, then everything is smooth for the day. I will not give up searching for index 11 injectors, but for now I was curious if I should try and switch back to the index 2 I had on the car, as currently it is working with 2 index 2 injectors (which came with the car) on cyl. 1/2 and 2 index 7 (used) on cyl. 3/4.

My mechanic adviced me to let the car as it is now, but I read that it would be best to have the same index injectors on one bank.

The rough idle is the same as mine, it would occasionally throw a warning light but more often than not it wasn't too bad.

You can mix and match earlier injectors like what you have but index 11 must only be mixed with index 11. If your car is happy now I'd leave it as is and just wait until you have a full set of index 11 injectors.

Good luck - took me a few months to find the bits but I'm glad I did it (and glad I didn't pay full price)!

[jamherber]

Originally Posted by SoupAnxiety

The rough idle is the same as mine, it would occasionally throw a warning light but more often than not it wasn't too bad.

You can mix and match earlier injectors like what you have but index 11 must only be mixed with index 11. If your car is happy now I'd leave it as is and just wait until you have a full set of index 11 injectors.

Good luck - took me a few months to find the bits but I'm glad I did it (and glad I didn't pay full price)!

Can you tell me why index 11 should only be mixed with index 11? I have a mixture of different indexes on my 330i thanks mainly to bmw warranty only replacing 4 of the 6 injectors in 2011 and me having to replace one last year. It has run fine like this for 7k miles, no codes, 40mpg on a motorway run, perfect cold start etc so maybe this advice is incorrect?

[SoupAnxiety]

Originally Posted by jamherber

Can you tell me why index 11 should only be mixed with index 11? I have a mixture of different indexes on my 330i thanks mainly to bmw warranty only replacing 4 of the 6 injectors in 2011 and me having to replace one last year. It has run fine like this for 7k miles, no codes, 40mpg on a motorway run, perfect cold start etc so maybe this advice is incorrect?

"Do not mix index 11" advice is what is repeated online from extracts of BMW service notes, I did run a mix of 11 and 7 for a few thousand miles. The theory is the index 11 injectors behave differently and may be upset by earlier versions. It might be BS.

[clarkey7310]

I had a bit of an issue with rough running and the engine management light flashing on cold mornings. I ended up getting all coils replaced free of charge at my local stealers under the recall, runs like a dream now. You've probably checked whether your's is subject to the recall, but if not its worth doing.
Got the brake quality enhancement done too!

[SoupAnxiety]

Ooh, brake quality enhancement? Didn't know there was one for that. I had six coils done by the dealer for free but the cold start issue persisted.

[N43B20A]

Originally Posted by clarkey7310

I had a bit of an issue with rough running and the engine management light flashing on cold mornings. I ended up getting all coils replaced free of charge at my local stealers under the recall, runs like a dream now. You've probably checked whether your's is subject to the recall, but if not its worth doing.
Got the brake quality enhancement done too!

Hello, Clarkey! Nice to hear that you managed to sort it out. We had a week of cold nights (under 40 F) and in the morning the rattle got pretty bad and sometimes even stalled. I hope it's still coil related, as I am currently searching for 4 index 11 injectors without succes.

Do you know which coils you have now? Bosch or Delphi?

Thank you!

[essex_lad]

I had 1 injector changed a couple of months back, I'm not sure what index it is but it solved the terrible misfire I had. I still get a rough start when cold so I would like to replace the rest. I can do it myself apart from I heard the new injectors need to be coded, is this true or is it just a straight swap?

[SoupAnxiety]

Originally Posted by essex_lad

I had 1 injector changed a couple of months back, I'm not sure what index it is but it solved the terrible misfire I had. I still get a rough start when cold so I would like to replace the rest. I can do it myself apart from I heard the new injectors need to be coded, is this true or is it just a straight swap?

The physical replacement is easy enough as a DIY but you need to code the injectors after replacing. They will run poorly on the incorrect coding values but you'll be able to drive to a garage for the recoding.

[Phil325i]

Originally Posted by SoupAnxiety

you need to code the injectors after replacing.

The jury's out on whether this is actually needed. My indy says the engine quickly learns the correct settings without coding. When I recently changed my injectors, most of the ones removed had not been coded (replaced earlier under BMW's recall).

[SoupAnxiety]

Originally Posted by Phil325i

The jury's out on whether this is actually needed. My indy says the engine quickly learns the correct settings without coding. When I recently changed my injectors, most of the ones removed had not been coded (replaced earlier under BMW's recall).

I always thought that the injectors should be able to tell the ECU the coding values. When I started changing mine the ECU codes did not match what was being removed which suggests BMW replacement of injectors before my ownership. Maybe try it and see - if the car runs OK and fuel economy is OK presumably there's no need to recode.

[essex_lad]

That's a good idea as then it saves me labour on fitting them.

[N43B20A]

Hello guys, sorry for bumping out the thread again.

I tried to fix my slight misfire problems by changing all the spark plugs and coils but ended up with even bigger problems. The plugs were severely burnt, so I thought it would solve my problems. But Now the car misfires badly and is not driveable. I changed back the coils, but it's still the same. Are there any "secrets" regarding the spark plugs instalation ? They are BOSCH and they were brand new.
The diagnose shows a "rough running" error, misfire error and VANOS exhaust error.

The car is driving me crazy...

[angry_feet]

Originally Posted by nclsamy

Hello guys, sorry for bumping out the thread again.

I tried to fix my slight misfire problems by changing all the spark plugs and coils but ended up with even bigger problems. The plugs were severely burnt, so I thought it would solve my problems. But Now the car misfires badly and is not driveable. I changed back the coils, but it's still the same. Are there any "secrets" regarding the spark plugs instalation ? They are BOSCH and they were brand new.
The diagnose shows a "rough running" error, misfire error and VANOS exhaust error.

The car is driving me crazy...

Injectors mate. Find which plugs are the most burnt and that would be your worst injectors. Try replacing them whether its just the 1 or 2 or maybe all 4 and you should be all good.

[Dormermike]

I once had a misfire after touching an injector. I literally just touched it and next day had a misfire for that cylinder. I reckon they are susceptible to static.

[N43B20A]

Thank you, friends. I am suspecting that at least one injector is bad, and will change them all but I was waiting for index 11 injectors to show on ebay. The point is I can't figure out what the mechanic did wrong with the spark plugs/coils so the car isn't driveable any more. I was assisting him and nothing seemed wrong.

[angry_feet]

Originally Posted by nclsamy

Thank you, friends. I am suspecting that at least one injector is bad, and will change them all but I was waiting for index 11 injectors to show on ebay. The point is I can't figure out what the mechanic did wrong with the spark plugs/coils so the car isn't driveable any more. I was assisting him and nothing seemed wrong.

It takes the smallest thing for an already on the way out injector to go. It was probably the more powerful ignition now being fired into the cylinder or some crap. Euros get the new BMW modified injectors and sell them for about £160 inc vat each. You wont find a new one pop up on ebay for any less than that.

[N43B20A]

Thank you. It seemed like a strange coincidence that the injectors failed just after the spark plugs/coils change. I will end up buying new ones, but first I will try to run more tests. I am afraid I will spend a lot money and the problem won't be solved

[angry_feet]

Welcome to the world of modern day cars lol.