x35d extreme cold starting

[nbhms]

A bit of background: I've owned diesels in the past, and had issues with all of them at various points starting in cold weather, so I'm familiar with diesels and cold.

A few years ago we bought a used 2011 X5 35d after taking a break from diesels for a while. I've had to do a few repairs, but for the most part really enjoy owning it. We live in Atlantic Canada, where winters can be cold but the last few years have been relatively mild. It'll go below zero regularly in winter, and when starting the vehicle we'll get the glowplug symbol on the dash for a second or two, but then it starts right up.

This weekend though, it got extremely cold (-44 Celsius with wind chill). We needed to go out, and leaving the house it started fine in the garage (little sluggish, but started right up). However, at our destination the X5 was out in the open, and sat for quite a few hours (by the time we were ready to return home, the temperature had likely "gone up" to about -30). When we started it to return home, it took about 5 attempts to start. Glowplug symbol would show on dash for only a second or two, it would attempt to start, and immediately cut out. We did this 4 or 5 times, waiting a few seconds between attempts, and it eventually started.

So, I have a few questions:

1. my understanding was the pushbutton start BMW diesels the glowplugs were all automated, and it would enable the glowplugs as long as it needed, and only attempt to start when it was ready. so in my thinking, I should have seen the glowplug symbol for 4 or 5 seconds, maybe longer, instead of just the 1 or 2 seconds I usually do, before it attempted to start the engine.

2. is there a way on the E70 diesels to manually engage the glowplugs and let them warm up for longer before attempting to start?

3. Is there possibly an issue with the glowplug controller, glowplugs themselves, or is -30 to -40 Celcius just too cold for an X5 diesel?

thanks for any insight,

nbhms

[T-Dubbs]

Its most likely a weak battery. how old is it?

Mine starts in the deep freezes in Calgary, without a hiccup.

[RL18]

This is what I do come winter time in Maine, which can be just as cold as Canada.

Run an anti gel additive. I use optilube xpd and will mix in the winter blend when it gets below zero. I use it year round for peace of mind. It’s possible that where you are they switch to no.1 diesel, but where I am they do a mixture I believe of no.1 & 2 which seems to be no good below like 5F. Pure No. 1 diesel should be good down to -30F or so. As far as additives go optilube makes the best overall product, the next cheaper option would be archoil.

Next I would buy a ctek charger or similar charger and use it to keep the battery healthy. I do the refurbish setting every few weeks during the cold months.

Also make sure you are keeping up on maintenance and not past due on glow plugs and glow plug controller. They should have no issue starting in those temps with healthy battery. My were replaced around 60-70k I believe, I’m now at 150k and replaced them a few months ago.

Now if you’re not stock, aka tuned, running an oil additive will also help with how your engine runs in the cold as well as protect it against wear. I’ve recently started using the optilube oil additive, archoil offers a similar product as well. If stock don’t do this as you will clog your dpf faster.

Lastly if it’s really cold out, like 0F or below. And your say just going to run an errand or even dinner. Just leave it running. It’s probably not a great idea to keep a stock one idling for long periods of time due to clogging the dpf, but if your tuned, just leave it running, especially at those temps. The money you’ll save in fuel won’t be worth the damage you can cause to your engine by turning it off and on. Running on a cold engine is not great and diesels have a hard time staying warm in cold temps. With this recent cold snap we got in Maine with below zero temps -15F and -40F with wind chill I was lucky to get up to 130-140F while idling and around 160-170F while driving. And no it’s not a bad thermostat, it was just friggen cold.

[nbhms]

Thanks for the replies. I'm just east of the Maine border, so basically same weather.

I do have a CTEK I put on it every month or so, but I've never done the refurb option.

I don't have a history on the vehicle, as I purchased it at an auction in fall of 2019. So unless there is a way to check, I think I'd just have to assume it's all still original parts, for glowplugs, glowplug controller, and battery, since I haven't replaced any of those. I'm closing in on 200k on the vehicle.

[T-Dubbs]

Originally Posted by nbhms

Thanks for the replies. I'm just east of the Maine border, so basically same weather.

I do have a CTEK I put on it every month or so, but I've never done the refurb option.

I don't have a history on the vehicle, as I purchased it at an auction in fall of 2019. So unless there is a way to check, I think I'd just have to assume it's all still original parts, for glowplugs, glowplug controller, and battery, since I haven't replaced any of those. I'm closing in on 200k on the vehicle.

Well a battery is fairly cheap for peace of mind. But for glow plugs and controller, I wouldn't touch them unless you have a CEL.

[RL18]

Originally Posted by nbhms

Thanks for the replies. I'm just east of the Maine border, so basically same weather.

I do have a CTEK I put on it every month or so, but I've never done the refurb option.

I don't have a history on the vehicle, as I purchased it at an auction in fall of 2019. So unless there is a way to check, I think I'd just have to assume it's all still original parts, for glowplugs, glowplug controller, and battery, since I haven't replaced any of those. I'm closing in on 200k on the vehicle.

You should be able to look up the vin and see where it was purchased, owner history, and dealerships it’s been serviced. I just called the dealerships on my x5d and 335d before I bought it and had them email me all the service history. Helps simplify what you need to do for maintenance.

Depending on the ctek charger you have It should have a setting for it. Mine is the mxs 5.0 model.

If you’re still on stock battery, glow plugs, and glow plug module. I’d go ahead and replace all being at 200k. Don’t wait for them to fail as they will damage things on their way to failure, wear your starter, cause electrical issues. I guess I’d have to look, but maybe my glow plugs and glow plug module were never changed before I got my x5 at 89k. My 335d had it done around 89k when I got it though. For a battery I think I bought mine at autozone, not sure if you have those where you are but the brand is a duralast I believe (I’ll have to check). For my battery it was a direct replacement, literally all the same specs as stock. So I just used my foxwell schwaben scanner to register the new battery, you don’t need any special scanner because your not changing any specs, just telling the car you’re replacing with the same battery.

With that done you should have no problem, although I would find out if you are getting pure no. 1 diesel in the winter, if not I strongly recommend adding an anti gel like optilube or archoil during those times where you know it’ll be below zero

[wcs531]

Originally Posted by RL18

Depending on the ctek charger you have It should have a setting for it. Mine is the mxs 5.0 model.

I thought I read that recondition mode either should not be used on AGM or at least doesnt do anything for AGM. I have an older ctek 4.3 so maybe its different with the newer ones?

As for glow plugs and being tuned, did you notice any reduction in smoke on start up? I have a small puff at start which is apparently normal but would love to reduce that as much as possible. I've been meaning to do them anyway so should probably just do it preventatively.

[RL18]

Originally Posted by wcs531

I thought I read that recondition mode either should not be used on AGM or at least doesnt do anything for AGM. I have an older ctek 4.3 so maybe its different with the newer ones?

As for glow plugs and being tuned, did you notice any reduction in smoke on start up? I have a small puff at start which is apparently normal but would love to reduce that as much as possible. I've been meaning to do them anyway so should probably just do it preventatively.

Ive never heard that before. My ctek charger specifically has a mode to recondition an agm battery and I’ve used it dozens of times.

As far as smoke on start up, the color matters. Blue smoke is most common. Which could be oil leak, vcg leak, bad glow plugs/module, etc. I haven’t noticed it much lately but I just had vcg and glow plugs/module replaced a few months ago. From what I understand though there will always be some blue smoke on start up and it’s completely normal. I think it’s more so excessive blue smoke on start up that means there’s an issue. With a dpf and scr you wouldn’t see it. Which is also why the OP should do his glowplugs/module because bad glow plugs would show excessive blue smoke on start up but he’d have no way to tell that with emissions intact.