[Samlongshanks]

Evening all,

I am hoping for some advice as I have recently become a sufferer of the 30C1 error code. I have done my research as you will see but I have come to a brick wall.

I will give a bit of back story… take a seat.

08 318i N43, 115k

I bought the car around 12 months ago and had no issues with power or misfires for around 6 months. After some motorway driving I did notice that the red oil light would come on after I came to a stop following an exit from the motorway. I Read a few posts here and there which suggested various fixes, so i have tried most of them for it to only get worse each time

I started with Vanos cleaning and oil filter & housing which seemed to solve the issue for a short period but it did come back after an extra long motorway drive.
Then it seemed to them generate a misfire on two cylinders (2/3) which I read with my code reader / eraser. No other codes present.

Fixed the misfires on the second attempt, as aftermarket coils didn’t seem to want to fire correctly. Old ones went back in with new plugs and misfires went away. Codes erased.

I drove the car for about a week with zero issues and then it developed a limp mode misfire and rough idle after around 10 mins of driving or over 3/4000 rpm. Engine violently shakes over 2000rpm at this point, only until the key is turned off where I can then drive again to around 3/4000 rpm where limp mode kicks in again. Started throwing a code of 30c1 oil pressure control static and a fuel pump plausibility code, which were not there before and engine now gets very hot after 10 mins.

Recently changed the oil pressure sensor and oil release valve but it seems the problem is not going away. Engine has immediate rough idle now and 30c1 code showing again after a short drive.

I’ve read the timing chain guides or sump pickup could be at fault but as confident as I am with motors this seems like I could mess it up easily and I don’t have a ramp for removal of the pan.

Any suggestions out there as to what I can try next? Surprisingly the valve and both vanos had zero grime or metal on the filters.

All welcome as I am not willing to give up on her yet.

[jwilalex]

First port of call has to be sump off to inspect the oil pick up, the chain may be ok but it might be historical where the pick up wasn't cleaned. This is classic symptom and when you come to a halt, settle a while or restart the red light goes away.

After that, confirm if timing chain is loose as this will cause issues with bits of the chain guide (plastic) breaking up and blocking the afore mentioned.

Other issues that can cause red oil light that you've not already identified or looked at:

1) Oil pump balance shafts (these can't be replaced, but can be removed and blanked off).
2) One or both of the VANOS hubs with too much wear/slack can lead to misfires and problems.