X5 e70 35d, dde no communication

[hartwa]

Pulled the fuel line found diesel in the connection... this is where i am puzzled.

Put 5psi air in 1 end plugged the other 2 ends. Sprayed soapy water in plug...no leak under pressure.

Clearly i have a fuel leak.... But is it coming from somewhere else dripping onto that connection and then wicking back to the DDE.

The outside casing of the wire harness at the fuel sensor is just 4 wires for about an inch before there's a protective conduit. Is it wicking through the small wires...between the copper and insulation. I am having a hard time buying this.... But I know there was diesel in my DDE....how?

[hartwa]

2 months later I got a new DDE cloned and installed. I am checking the DDE every few weeks for diesel and so far so good. I did not change low pressure line yet. I have pressure tested this a couple of times and it does not appear to be leaking. The fluid in the electrical connection that I found looks to be oil.....

That side of the engine has a bad oil leak...I have corrected this by blanking the swirl flaps...the seals were leaking.

NOW THIS IS A STRETCH....I know that what was on my DDE connection was diesel because it had a green color on the white paper towel. Does the oil coming out of the intake have diesel in it? I am thinking that only the lighter fluid (diesel) can wick up the wires back to the DDE.

If anyone has any comments on this I would like to know your thoughts....

[Best4x4xFar]

Well it looks like I am joining this ubiquitous club. My wife started to experience intermittent stalling. Truck always restarted without issue, and was getting a DDE Main Relay code.

Replaced the DDE Main relay (and lost the FWM, btw after disconnecting and reconnecting the battery, but luckily was just under the extended warranty and the dealer replaced it). Car seemed to be doing well for a week or two.

Wife and I went to the beach, and it stalled once when we go there (And I thought oh great, 170 miles from home), but restarted fine. No new codes (yeah, I keep the Foxwell in the car), but the DDE main relay came up again.

Next day, we stopped for breakfast, and it wouldn't restart. Pulled out the Foxwell, and can't even communicate with the DDE now. This was the beginning of a 9 hour ordeal to get the car back home (Luckily I have AAA Platinum which covers on 200 mi tow, mainly because I own a classic Land Rover, never thought I'd have to use it for the BMW). Thank you BMW for programing the transmission NOT to go into neutral unless the engine is running, and for the cruel joke to include the red handle tool for putting the car into neutral, even though you no longer provide the access under the cup holder. My wife eventually located tools from a local store owner and I was able to eventually remove the plethora of underbody panels and put it into neutral to get it onto the tow truck.

Pulled the ECU, and sure enough module 4 has a sheen and odor of diesel (Happy Father's Day to me)

So is there any solution to this issue besides replacing the DDE? Obviously the fuel pressure/temp sensor needs to be replaced, but is the wiring harness okay? Is there a good way to clean it up?

I don't even understand how the diesel causes the failure (obviously it shouldn't be there, but Diesel is non conductive)..

[hartwa]

Sadly....I am still trying to figure out how I got oil in mine. I have drilled weep holes in the electrical connection for the low pressure fuel line and the control valve and then wrapped them in white towel to see if they leak. Not a drop yet in 1 month.

I am questioning whether my oil leak(s) played a roll.

[hartwa]

Fyi...i meant to say diesel...not oil in the 1st sentence above

[Best4x4xFar]

So I got the cover off the DDE, but how do I separate the board from the cast aluminum side of the case? I took out the screws, but it appears there is something else (adhesive?) holding the two together?

[Dextrous]

Just for anyone else wondering and for the sake of giving an update, I replaced the low pressure fuel line with the built in temp/pressure sensor, this is the item that fails and destroys everything.

The dde I had replaced at bmw through warranty, however they made me pay for a new wiring harness to ensure no trace amounts of diesel can contaminate the new dde in order for them to do the job and honour the 2 year warranty assocsciated with the parts and labour.

The back plate is glued on with adhesive, use heat and pry the board out, try to spread as much of the load out on the board as possible to not break it.


If anyone has this issue, replace the low pressure fuel line, for the cost savings of $300 for a fuel line you risk damaging a dde and possible more.

[Best4x4xFar]

So I cleaned the DDE board with Craig Labs DeOXIT DN5, multiple times over several different days, with at least 24 hours in between for drying and light compressed air application.

Cleaned the arness back to the entry point of the DDE box multiple times with WD40 Contact cleaner..

Cleaned the connectors in the same manner with the WD-40 contact cleaner first, then the DeOXIT DN5..

Reconnected everything, reconnecteds the battery, and truck started right up. Let it idle for maybe 30 minutes, no drama. Cleared all the codes with the Foxwell.

But I'm affraid to drive it, seems many have cleaned and through they had it only to have it leave them standed. Was supposed to be making a 40+ hour round trip drive in August, thinking of Turo'ing something for the drive at this point.

Don't know how much driving to do before I can be confident it is not going to leave me stranded..

Still have to replace the source of the issue as well. For now figure I'll check the DDE harness weekly for any signs of diesel and clean as needed.

Really hoping I don't need to purchase a new DDE. Is there some sacrifice the BMW gods prefer?

[mksuni@gmail.com]

My car has Zero power, no lights, no sound. I apparently changed all the fuses, no luck. Parking light comes when I connect to battery and goes off immediately. Any inputs please.

I later found out that the CAS is not connected properly. I got the power back. But still DDE is not communicating. Found that X20001 pin 13 ( Wake up circuit) is not having power when i ground it.
Any thoughts!!

Thanks,
Sunil

[X5-35d]

I believe this is an old thread, but thought I would try and get some insight given my Wife's 2013 is experiencing the same issue. She drove it into the garage and when she went back to it a few hours later, no start and Engine Malfunction. I popped the scanner on it to get no ECM comm. Happened to run into the above discussions, so went down the path of checking the ECU, and Module 4 plug had a sheen of diesel fluid and so did the harness plug. Use contact cleaner to clean both ends of the connector, plugged the unit up and I got comm. and crank/start. Put the entire car back together, and No-Go. So will try to go down the path of replacing the low fuel line-temp/sensor, but need some help. Is this under the intake? I saw a part # in the discussion, but it was pointing me not to a sensor but more to a fuel line? 'am I missing something? Have you all had luck with replacing the sensors or do I need to consider replacing the DDE as well? Thx again in advance for any insight.