What are the chances,,,I was working on a couple of different cars and both of them were 2014 3 series with N55,,,,both have them had check engine lights on ,,,,both of them had identical faults air mass rich and lean faults ,,,intake pressure low and some misfires.
As you can see both of them the intake charge pipe cracked and broke causing the check engine light to come on,,,mileage both of them were over 60k miles,,,,,this is a easy fix,,,, except you have to remove that a/c hose that is in the way,,,,,the hose is easy to remove,,,,you just have to evacuate and recharge the a/c system.
-
Recent Comments
vic san on N20 vanos unit broken Mark on N55 intake camshaft beari… JC on F30 A/C noise Jordan on New B engine mechanical water… jmiddle204 on X3 4×4 transfer case
bmwtechnician 
I don’t understand why BMW uses plastic parts here and in other places that are known to break. Does increase in starting sticker price of a few hundred dollars really matter to make these parts more reliable? It would actually help BMW’s image to not have parts like this that are know to fail. Even on M cars, for example on prior gen M3’s plastic throttle actuator gears would fail. Does a hundred dollars on sticker price of M3 really matter to make these gears aluminum instead? I’d like to hear what goes on behind closed doors at BMW’s marketing division.
LikeLike
A lot of it has to do with cost and also the use of recycle materials,,,,it’s cheaper and easier plastic parts,,,,also weigh plays into it.
LikeLike
Do cost pressures have do with Euro’s decline against dollar in recent years making imports into Germany more expensive? What is meant by “recycle materials”, plastic can be remolded? I know it’s cheaper to make plastic parts from a mold vs. CNC machine or cast for aluminum. But it seems that a minor increase in cost would be worth reliability trade off in case of charge pipe.
LikeLike
Recycle material is when they can melt parts back to a plastic and make another part out of the old plastic.,,,the same way they do with metal and aluminum parts
LikeLike
Hey bmwtech, ’12 E92 335i N55 50k here, and I have a busted charge pipe (I know, big surprise huh?) and I’m waiting on an aluminum replacement to arrive in a few days. The usual P0172 code came up – fuel mixture too rich and service light.
1. Now when the new pipe comes in and I install it, is it absolutely necessary to reset the DME fuel adaptions after it’s installed?
2. If it is, then what is the correct procedure to re-adapt after it’s been reset?
Great site and keep up the excellent work!
LikeLike
You can if you want,,,but I have done it several times without resetting adaption values,,,I would just clear fault,,,,if you want to reset adaption value you will need some kind of diagnostic equipment to reset the adaption value.
LikeLike
Thanks for the info. Yeah, I have the right software to reset the adaption value. So if I choose to reset, the re-adaption after a reset is not necessary (multiple idles and driving sessions)?
LikeLike
No it’s not necessary,,,unless you want to set everything back to factory specs .
LikeLike
Somewhat unrelated, but there are several posts on the forums of the N55 engine seizing up right after an oil filter housing gasket installation. Some people are speculating there is a need to prime the oil system before starting, and if not done, this causes the seizing.
Any insight on this? The OFHG repair is probably the most common repair and is needed on every I6 BMW engine made since 2006…I’m wondering if it was a bad installation job that left a towel in the oil ports on the cylinder head that is causing the seizing, or if there is a true need to prime the system.
LikeLike
I have heard the same thing on different forums,,,I can tell you I have probably replaced about 50 OFHG or more and all the ones I have seen at the dealership and I have never seen this happen yet,,,,when we do the job at the dealer it takes us about 1hour to perform this job,,,,I think when people do this job at home they might take a couple of days to do it when that happen all the oil drains out of the cylinder head and the oil filter housing will be completely empty and that could cause a problem.
LikeLike
What would you suggest to do? Do an oil change at the same time and fill up the oil filter housing with oil, or disconnect the fuel pumps and crank the engine to prime it?
Wouldn’t it be the same if someone just lets their car sit all week without driving it?
LikeLike
I changed the charge pipe on my F30 N55 without removing the AC-pipe, it’s VIN ends with F268150 I don’t recall that pipe significantly being in the way. I do remember flexing the AC-pipe a bit, but its soft and flexible, so no problems. I talked to someone that have got a quote from BMW that was around 700$ for the whole job, now I understand better why. Thanks for sharing!
LikeLiked by 1 person