[Shane.]

My car 330d Lci has no running issues that i can notice but its giving me the following fault codes.

! 4A6E
DDE: Glow Plug, Cylinder 1, Activation
Error is currently present
Test conditions have been completed
short circuit or signal interruption

! 4A5E
DDE: Glow Plug, Cylinder 2, Activation
Error is currently present
Test conditions have been completed
short circuit or signal interruption

! 4A2E
DDE: Glow Plug, Cylinder 5, Activation
Error is currently present
Test conditions have been completed
short circuit or signal interruption

! 4A1E
DDE: Glow Plug, Cylinder 6, Activation
Error is currently present
Test conditions have been completed
short circuit or signal interruption

! 4A3E
DDE: Glow Plug, Cylinder 4, Activation
Error is currently present
Test conditions have been completed
short circuit or signal interruption

Would i be right in thinking i should now change the 6 glow plugs and the glow plug control unit? is there anything else you would do whilst doing the job? The car was remapped yesterday and the mapper said it would be worth cleaning the carbon from the inlet manifold swirl flaps. He also mentioned that the Particulate filter is showing as 48 grams of soot and to clear this he would recommend driving at 2500rpm in maybe 4th gear for 30 mins on the motorway to clear the block is this the case?

Thanks in advance

[Sensible_]

Originally Posted by shane1985

My car 330d Lci has no running issues that i can notice but its giving me the following fault codes.

! 4A6E
DDE: Glow Plug, Cylinder 1, Activation
Error is currently present
Test conditions have been completed
short circuit or signal interruption

! 4A5E
DDE: Glow Plug, Cylinder 2, Activation
Error is currently present
Test conditions have been completed
short circuit or signal interruption

! 4A2E
DDE: Glow Plug, Cylinder 5, Activation
Error is currently present
Test conditions have been completed
short circuit or signal interruption

! 4A1E
DDE: Glow Plug, Cylinder 6, Activation
Error is currently present
Test conditions have been completed
short circuit or signal interruption

! 4A3E
DDE: Glow Plug, Cylinder 4, Activation
Error is currently present
Test conditions have been completed
short circuit or signal interruption

Would i be right in thinking i should now change the 6 glow plugs and the glow plug control unit? is there anything else you would do whilst doing the job? The car was remapped yesterday and the mapper said it would be worth cleaning the carbon from the inlet manifold swirl flaps. He also mentioned that the Particulate filter is showing as 48% blocked and to clear this he would recommend driving at 2500rpm in maybe 4th gear for 30 mins on the motorway to clear the block is this the case?

Thanks in advance

Wow. Poor advice I'm afraid.

1. That many glow plug faults indicate the controller is screwed. Perhaps some glow plugs aswell. Change glow plugs and controller at the same time.

2. Your DPF will not regenerate whilst there are glow plug faults present. You need to sort this now otherwise risk the DPF being clogged beyond what regeneration can clear.

Sort out the glowplugs then the DPF should start to regen as long the conditions are met I.e.

- More than 10L fuel in tank
- Coolant temp 75c and above
- Vehicle speed above 60kph
- No glow plug faults

[JJ0063]

That's weird. My car shows a glow plug fault but it regens as normal?

[Shane.]

Originally Posted by Sensible_

Wow. Poor advice I'm afraid.

1. That many glow plug faults indicate the controller is screwed. Perhaps some glow plugs aswell. Change glow plugs and controller at the same time.

2. Your DPF will not regenerate whilst there are glow plug faults present. You need to sort this now otherwise risk the DPF being clogged beyond what regeneration can clear.

Sort out the glowplugs then the DPF should start to regen as long the conditions are met I.e.

- More than 10L fuel in tank
- Coolant temp 75c and above
- Vehicle speed above 60kph
- No glow plug faults

Thank you i will get it booked in with the garage asap. I never let the car drop below 10L in fuel how do i get the car to regenerate does it happen on it own or does it need to be with the above conditions for a certain amount of time.

[E60525d]

Originally Posted by JJ0063

That's weird. My car shows a glow plug fault but it regens as normal?

How many glow plug faults have you got? I believe regen will still happen with 2/3 faults. Any more and it wont.

[JJ0063]

Plug 1 2 3 5 6 I believe although there is literally no sign of any issue. Starts perfectly in all weathers & no other issues.

[Shane.]

Ok out of interest I've spoken to a couple of BMW Specialists and I've had a range of prices to carry out the work what would you say i would be looking at to have the Glow plug controller and a set of 6 glow plugs changed.

[Shane.]

Originally Posted by JJ0063

Plug 1 2 3 5 6 I believe although there is literally no sign of any issue. Starts perfectly in all weathers & no other issues.

Ok so i spoke to the BMW guys who said a lot of people assume that glow plugs are just there for cold start but its not the case with glow plugs being faulty the car will not regen properly and will eventually block the dpf as i mentioned in the first post i have no issues the car starts and runs fine I'm pleased its been picked up and i can sort it out otherwise could have been expensive to replace the DPF.

[Sensible_]

Originally Posted by shane1985

Ok so i spoke to the BMW guys who said a lot of people assume that glow plugs are just there for cold start but its not the case with glow plugs being faulty the car will not regen properly and will eventually block the dpf as i mentioned in the first post i have no issues the car starts and runs fine I'm pleased its been picked up and i can sort it out otherwise could have been expensive to replace the DPF.

Good work. Any BMW diesel owner should regularly monitor:

1. DPF regen status
2. Coolant temp (your stats may need changing)
3. Glow plug faults

Also, depends on how handy you are but On the M57 engine the controller can be replaced DIY in 10mins without taking the manifold off. I guess you have an N57? Worth replacing the controller yourself just incase all you plugs are still good and it's just the module at fault.

[Shane.]

Where would the best place be to buy the controller and the 6 glow plugs.

[Sensible_]

Originally Posted by shane1985

Where would the best place be to buy the controller and the 6 glow plugs.

I'd get them from Phil at Cotswold BMW. Send him a PM or just put the request in the official thread in the UK classifieds section. Legit parts, good service and you get the forum discount.

[Shane.]

Originally Posted by Sensible_

I'd get them from Phil at Cotswold BMW. Send him a PM or just put the request in the official thread in the UK classifieds section. Legit parts, good service and you get the forum discount.

I got this price from Phil didn't think the controller was to bad but thought the plugs were expensive

6 x Glow Plugs - £218.80
Control Unit - £112.07

Both include vat and delivery

[Sensible_]

In which case eBay is your friend. Just double check part numbers on bmwfans.info

[Shane.]

Who makes the BMW genuine parts is it -

Bosch or BERU ?

If its Bosch BMW quoted me £218.80 for the glow plugs, Euro car parts £95.94 or the BERU £104.94

the control unit BMW Quoted £112.07 but on eBay a new BERU comes in at £60?

[Shane.]

I wanted to check the coolant temp this morning so went in to the hidden menus and found after a 5 mile, 70mph drive on the dual carriageway the car was hitting 90/91c so I'm pretty sure the thermostat is ok.



Would i be correct in thinking that the car will try and regenerate when the filter has more than 50 grams of soot.

[Calluhan]

Take a look here mate:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=816994

Take a look at the following SIB:

SIB 180310 M57Y - Fault Code 480A or 481A, No Regeneration of the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF.pdf (36.0 KB, 5796 views)

Might give you a little more info.

Lots of posts Ive read talk about clearing 480 and 481 codes live in the car repeatedly - in actuality it needs a good long drive with passive regeneration to do this before they should actually clear themselves. A can of good quality DPF cleaner helps this too.

Have a read - see what you think

On my 335d the glow plug controller was A Beru. Now available for less than £60 on eBay. My local BMW parts showed me theirs. It was EXACTLY the same but they wanted over £120.....

I bought Beru glow plugs from ECP dirt cheap. Exactly the same part as the original ones I pulled out the car.

Hope that helps mate

[Shane.]

Originally Posted by Calluhan

Take a look here mate:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=816994

Take a look at the following SIB:

SIB 180310 M57Y - Fault Code 480A or 481A, No Regeneration of the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF.pdf (36.0 KB, 5796 views)

Might give you a little more info.

Lots of posts Ive read talk about clearing 480 and 481 codes live in the car repeatedly - in actuality it needs a good long drive with passive regeneration to do this before they should actually clear themselves. A can of good quality DPF cleaner helps this too.

Have a read - see what you think

On my 335d the glow plug controller was A Beru. Now available for less than £60 on eBay. My local BMW parts showed me theirs. It was EXACTLY the same but they wanted over £120.....

I bought Beru glow plugs from ECP dirt cheap. Exactly the same part as the original ones I pulled out the car.

Hope that helps mate

Thanks mate the link seems to be broken.

Yea I've just looked on eBay but noticed all the £60 ones are for the M57 engines new Beru controllers for the N57 are £97.

I have thought about trying a good quality DPF cleaner from Millers.

[Calluhan]

Originally Posted by shane1985

Thanks mate the link seems to be broken.

Yea I've just looked on eBay but noticed all the £60 ones are for the M57 engines new Beru controllers for the N57 are £97.

I have thought about trying a good quality DPF cleaner from Millers.

Strange....

Try this mate

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=816994

[Shane.]

Originally Posted by Calluhan

Strange....

Try this mate

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=816994

Works thanks mate i will have a read of this.

I think I'm gonna order a new Beru controller and start by replacing that first and see what happens as i find it hard to believe all the glow plugs will have failed.

[Calluhan]

Originally Posted by shane1985

Works thanks mate i will have a read of this.

I think I'm gonna order a new Beru controller and start by replacing that first and see what happens as i find it hard to believe all the glow plugs will have failed.

Yeah I just did them all. It's such a faff getting to it all I thought what the he'll and did the lot.

In my case it was my controller causing the codes.

[JJ0063]

Just an update to this.

BMW themselves have confirmed that the glow plug errors DO NOT STOP THE DPF REGEN

I even have a service bulletin print out detailing what can cause the DPF to not regen, saved on my PC.

[Sensible_]

Originally Posted by JJ0063

Just an update to this.

BMW themselves have confirmed that the glow plug errors DO NOT STOP THE DPF REGEN

I even have a service bulletin print out detailing what can cause the DPF to not regen, saved on my PC.

Yes, I think this changed...

Now it's just:

"No fault code concerning air, exhaust gas, or sensors stored in the DDE."

Considering glow plugs aid smooth running I don't see why anyone would leave the codes however.