[45ACP]

My 2007 335i has sometimes been experiencing limp mode when accelerating from a full stop. It always occurred before shifting into the next gear, and never during when cruising-around-town shifting. Turning the engine off and back on would clear the limp mode and make things back to normal for a while. After putting up with this for a few weeks, the SES light would light up as well, but randomly and not as often as limp mode. I was able to check the fault code and believe it was the following, if I remember correctly:

P1350 Misfire During Start Cylinder 5

I took the car to the dealer and they said it was due to oil buildup on the VANOS intake. There was already a TSB about it so they cleaned it up and told me the car was fixed. However, as soon as I left the dealership onto the main road, limp mode went off again. The service advisor told me to hold onto the car to see if the problem would hopefully go away overnight, but after a week later, nothing was resolved. I brought the car in a second time and they've been holding onto it for the past week and a half. The cams were taken out and examined, the VANOS intake was replaced, everything was triple-checked. The techs put at least 100 miles on the odometer to diagnose and test the issue with various sensors and instrumentation. Meanwhile corporate is dumbfounded about what the issue could be and has advised the dealer to continue holding onto the car.

Anyone have a clue about what is going on? I've had the fuel pump replaced before, and have not experienced any related symptoms like last time.

[oddjob2021]

wow seems intense... just got unlucky man... i have no idea what is going on

[BMWTECH#007]

Sad, goodluck. Sounds like an isolated issue. I'm intrested to see what the fault is and what fixed it.

[45ACP]

Dealer is going to replace the solenoid valves, including the VANOS intake again, and reevaluate from there.

[BavarianBullet]

Originally Posted by 45ACP

Dealer is going to replace the solenoid valves, including the VANOS intake again, and reevaluate from there.

I'm not quite sure what a "vanos intake" is on the N54 but the fact that you're fine until the car idles for a little while means that it's likely caused by idle vacuum condition drawing in oil somewhere. (kinda like bad valve guides suck oil at idle and puff blue smoke when leaving from stoplight)

I wonder if it's just a bad seal somewhere or if you're getting oil vapor collecting from too much crankcase pressure or a bad PCV valve (or equiv).

I need some good engine diagrams or shop manual for the N54 engine...

good luck with it. Keep us posted!

[BoostNinja]

How many miles are on your car and how often are you having your oil changed?

[45ACP]

Car has been driven nearly 19k miles. I only average about 12k miles per year and change the oil every 6 months.

Anyway, the latest repair attempts have not resolved anything. Corporate was supposed to send a "specialist" today to check it out, but he's suddenly not available due to health reasons.

I wish I had some recourse, but my state's lemon law applies to ownership for the first 18 months. My car is 19 months old I hope BMWUSA will become frustrated enough to buy the car back, but I highly doubt they would.

[BoostNinja]

any new news?

[45ACP]

The car has been in the shop a month now. They think the cam bearings have gone bad and all the necessary replacement parts are supposedly on national backorder. I'll probably have another status update next week.

I was mistaken about the fault code in my original post. Referring back to my notes, the actual code was:

P0012 A Camshaft Position - Timing Over-Retarded (Bank 1)

Also the "specialist" I was led to believe was from corporate was really the shop foreman. I just want my freakin' car back.

[oddjob2021]

dude im so sorry man, you just got the short end of the stick on this one... i would be pulling my hair out! if you were in miami i'd let u drive mine for the helluvit to get some of that torque feeling back

[gumpy]

Sounds like they should be replacing the camshaft position sensor instead. I had an EVO 8 with 90,000 miles on it and one morning it would not start. I looked at everything under the hood and found the camshaft position sensor to be cracked. On the EVO, it sits right in the front of the engine by the breather. It was hit with a stone or some other object and was cracked. Replaced it and it ran and started fine again. This part was only $70.00 for the EVO. I hope it is that simple for you.

Good Luck. Let us know what you find out.

[45ACP]

The service advisor just called and said the car has been repaired. No fault codes within the limited road testing they conducted. If something is going to go wrong, they said it would probably take an additional 75-100 miles to find out. They offered to allow a tech to drive it home overnight, or for me to pick it up and test it myself. I would have to go through the time and inconvenience of going through the service process again though. Any suggestions?

[oddjob2021]

cant you call lemon law? if you take it in for the same exact problem 3 times? well if it were me, i'd just want the car back, but knowing the problem can still occur? damn... how hard... i would take it back and baby her for 100 mls. after that open her up and see if she cries out again?

[45ACP]

I decided to pick up my car later tonight. Wish me luck!

Lemon law is applicable up to the first 18 months of ownership here. I missed it by one month. If I still have problems with the car, I will ask BMWUSA to consider buying it back from me. I would still purchase another BMW regardless of this inconvenience.

[45ACP]

So far the car is running great -- much better than the loaner 335, in fact.

Here are the service notes regarding the repair:

CEL is on due to VANOS on intake cam mechanically stuck or jammed. This is second visit for same fault. Filed PUMA case. PUMA requested to remove intake cam and inspect for possible wear on bearings. Found none. PUMA then requested to replace intake VANOS gear unit. Removed and reinstalled intake cam and then replaced intake vanos unit per PUMA. PROBLEM NOT SOLVED.

--------------------

C/S check engine light on. Limp home mode activated. Found faults in DME for intake VANOS unit sticking per PUMA case 20527804. Replaced intake VANOS for second time along with both intake and exhaust VANOS solenoids.

--------------------

CEL is on after repairs. Faults for inlet VANOS jammed mechanically. Resubmitted PUMA case. Requested removal of both intake and exhaust camshafts for inspection of hook rings and cam bridges. Removed both camshafts. Found scoring on both cam bridges and hook rings. Replaced both inlet and exhaust camshaft bridges, hook rings, and bolts. Cleared faults. Testdrove. No faults returned.

[oddjob2021]

sweet, keep us updated if a problem arises