Girlfriend Bought A 2012 X5 x50i - Now I'm worried

[Buddyl33]

Originally Posted by Serf27

Did you have the codes cleared after you did the work?
You should invest in your own scanner that will read all BMW faults if you’ll be attempting to fix this yourself.

A code for an injector may have also been present for cylinder misfire.

So I had a local BMW enthusiast and very capable mechanic look at the car with me today. He cleared the codes and before there were misfires on Cyl 1 and Cyl 5. Now there is only a code for a misfire on Cyl 7. Nothing else.

Originally Posted by My135i

Pull the plugs again and smell it, if it smells like gas and it's wet, chances are it's your injectors! Do that at least to the cylinders that's misfiring. I had the same case but different times

So we pulled the plug on cyl 7 and it was wet. It didn't really have the smell of fuel, at least not strong, but it was damp. It also wouldn't light with fire. We pulled the plug on cyl 6 as well and it was dry. We swapped the coils on cyl 6 and 7 and the misfire stayed on cyl 7. He also did a compression test on cyl 6 and 7. Cyl 7. I happened to see the gauge and it was reading around 90. That feels low but I couldn't find any numbers in my google search on what it should be.

While looking we found both breather hoses were cracked. While those need replaced we both doubted that was causing a single misfire on one side constantly. His thoughts were that even though the valve seals were replaced in June 2019, they could be going bad again. We also noticed about .75 quarts of oil consumption after 1100 miles of driving.

So he recommended she take the vehicle to BMW and get another oil consumption test done on it and then argue to get the valve seals replaced again. He guessed this would be a fight since it had been done prior and that BMW had recommended an engine and turbo replacement to a prior owner and it wasn't performed.

After leaving he said another BMW tech friend of his was saying his shop in AZ was seeing a lot if Index 12 injector failures. That tech thinks that's the problem. So we're going to start with replacing a single injector and those two breather hoses. That should get done this weekend and then we will go from there.

[My135i]

Originally Posted by Buddyl33

So I had a local BMW enthusiast and very capable mechanic look at the car with me today. He cleared the codes and before there were misfires on Cyl 1 and Cyl 5. Now there is only a code for a misfire on Cyl 7. Nothing else.

So we pulled the plug on cyl 7 and it was wet. It didn't really have the smell of fuel, at least not strong, but it was damp. It also wouldn't light with fire. We pulled the plug on cyl 6 as well and it was dry. We swapped the coils on cyl 6 and 7 and the misfire stayed on cyl 7. He also did a compression test on cyl 6 and 7. Cyl 7. I happened to see the gauge and it was reading around 90. That feels low but I couldn't find any numbers in my google search on what it should be.

While looking we found both breather hoses were cracked. While those need replaced we both doubted that was causing a single misfire on one side constantly. His thoughts were that even though the valve seals were replaced in June 2019, they could be going bad again. We also noticed about .75 quarts of oil consumption after 1100 miles of driving.

So he recommended she take the vehicle to BMW and get another oil consumption test done on it and then argue to get the valve seals replaced again. He guessed this would be a fight since it had been done prior and that BMW had recommended an engine and turbo replacement to a prior owner and it wasn't performed.

After leaving he said another BMW tech friend of his was saying his shop in AZ was seeing a lot if Index 12 injector failures. That tech thinks that's the problem. So we're going to start with replacing a single injector and those two breather hoses. That should get done this weekend and then we will go from there.

My recommendation is to replace all 5-8 injectors because if one goes bad, more likely the rest will follow and since it's already open, replace it now because if the next goes bad, you'll end up paying the same labor you're paying now! Il get it from FCP Euro, it's lifetime warranty

[320iVan]

Originally Posted by Buddyl33

So question on the turbo replacement. It's a rather pricey shop item at around $7000 parts and labor. Surely there is a less expensive route that falls between full shop replacement and full DIY.

it may be worth contacting a company that repairs turbines so as not to buy a new one and not get a fake. Perhaps you have such specialists nearby. In most cases, it turns out to be much cheaper.

We have a new turbine costs about 1500 dollars. repair with installation about $600.

[My135i]

Originally Posted by 320iVan

it may be worth contacting a company that repairs turbines so as not to buy a new one and not get a fake. Perhaps you have such specialists nearby. In most cases, it turns out to be much cheaper.

We have a new turbine costs about 1500 dollars. repair with installation about $600.

You can buy remanufactured turbo for as low as $1200 from FCP EURO and carries lifetime warranty

[Buddyl33]

Originally Posted by My135i

My recommendation is to replace all 5-8 injectors because if one goes bad, more likely the rest will follow and since it's already open, replace it now because if the next goes bad, you'll end up paying the same labor you're paying now! Il get it from FCP Euro, it's lifetime warranty

Fortunately the guy doing the work is only charging $150 in labor to do the injector. His rates are super low and this is what he does on the side.

[Hoffmann707]

sounds to me more like a failed high pressure fuel pump on that bank, there around 150-200, could find a used one on ebay with a later production date to save money, turbos for these are really cheap on ebay, i bought a low mileage later production turbo for 150, maybe spent 200 total, much easier to replace then on a n54.

[Buddyl33]

Well the X5 is no more. After facing thousands of dollars in potential repairs she took the loss and traded it in.

[Serf27]

This is how “never buy a bmw!” Spreads.
A shame it didn’t work out. The x5 is great.

[Buddyl33]

Originally Posted by Serf27

This is how “never buy a bmw!” Spreads.
A shame it didn’t work out. The x5 is great.

It was needing way too much work to be her primary vehicle. Probably several thousand more in work. Car was fucked to begin with. Not saying the DR is bad but this one was.