Latest development........ Well, I finally broke down and took the 530 to a dealer to have my starting issue analyzed. Drum roll..............................Fuel injectors. They are not totally junk yet so they suggested a $250 cleaning or full replacement for $1330. I think I will try some injector cleaner on my own before I start looking on ebay for some replacements.
Dont waste your money with injector cleaner. Use this guy: http://www.cruzinperformance.com How did they diagnose it as injectors? Seems dubious.
The fact that they are willing to remove and clean the injectors for $250 means they are absolutely screwing you with the replacement price. Jeron, I don't think they mean a bottle of Techron, I think they mean removing and completely cleaning the injectors. It is my understanding that this method is a lot more thorough...
Adam said he was going to try injector cleaner rather than the $250 dealer job. I said use Cruizin beacause it is half the price, the same job the dealer would do and he may have used replacement injectors incase one of yours is bad.
Some further details I will try to answer everyone's questions and comments in a rather short fashion for I feel as though I owe a few more details. In regards to what fuel I'm runnin - Premium, usually BP if I can. The whole $250 price quote was merely for a fuel treatment. No removal of fuel injectors or exterior cleaning. That is specifically why I chose to try it myself first. If the 530 is still struggling I will send the injectors to Cruzin for a cleaning as suggested. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the Techron works it's magic! I think after that I'll start the hunt for new /used injectors. As far as how they determined the injectors were the issue, I haven't a clue. The person at the dealership was clueless, she speculated it was scanned for codes. Of course the mechanic that scanned it was gone arleady. The bright side of my dealer experience is that they only charged me for an hour of labor. That's it! Hopefully their diagnosis of the injectors will be accurate. To Be Continued..............
If they were going to clean the injectors in the car, even by directly injecting cleaner into the rail, then$250 is rape. As far as sourcing new/used injectors, that is why I suggested Cruizin. I had a slightly bad injector (-10%) and he had an used one that flow matched to my good 5 and he sold it to me for a very fair price. However, overall, like I said in my first post, I think the dealers diagnosis of the problem as injectors is them blowing smoke.
Warm start gremlins - Leaking fuel injector Bad fuel pump check valve Bad fuel pressure regulator Dirty wiring
Leaking injector? The dealership did suggest that. Does that just require new seals and a good cleaning? I am still having my starting issue after running a bottle of fuel injector cleaner. About to put another in. The fuel pump was replaced about a year ago, not to say it hasn't gone bad.
Can you see or smell a leak ? I'd think you would want to do all of the injector O rings while you have the fuel rail off. If the idle is smooth etc. I would not spend the money now on testing spray patterns, cleaning etc..... http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=DT53&mospid=47587&btnr=13_0900&hg=13&fg=15
Yes, it does have an odd smell, mainly when the air conditioning is on, as if something is burning. Would I smell leaking fuel from the injector? Idle is smooth once the engine catches.
+1. If they are that gunked up they need to be pulled and professionally cleaned with a sonic cleaner machine. Even a car that is meticulously maintained needs to have certain items cleaned from time to time. Especially if you are not using Top Tier fuels.
Starting Issue Update...... Here's is an update to the starting issue. Since the last posting I have run a bottle of Chevron Techron fuel injector cleaner & a bottle of Sea Foam through the engine to see if I could bust the crust off the injectors. Still started the same. Since then, I have had a fellow enthusiast borrow a fuel pressure check gauge from a neighbor and checked at the rail. The test proved that I am losing all pressure within aboout 10 minutes. Does this mean a fuel pump? OR..... throttle body? Keep in mind, the BMW dealership I had diagnose the problem told me it was leaking fuel injectors. Is it possible to lose all engine fuel pressure by leaking injectors? By leaking, is that translated to o-rings? Please advise.............
I would surmise that it is a fuel delivery issue based on what you have tested at the rail, and not the injectors (by the way go easy on that Sea Foam, I would stick with the Techron). Have you replaced the fuel filter yet? That is simple and inexpensive. Also I would put the fuel pressure gauge in-line BEFORE and AFTER the fuel filter while you still have the old filter in the car.
injectors vs pump to verify the source of the leak, pull out the rear seat cushion, you'll see a cutout in the sound mat, lift it and remove the cover held by 4 screws, you'll see a fuel hose.unless it's a plastic hose, while the guage is hooked up, run the car to build up normal fuel pressure, shut it off and pinch off the hose with a vicegrip, if the pressure holds, the check valve is the culprit I can't remember seeing a set of injectors leak down that fast, that would put a half cup of fuel in the cyls with bad injectors, you'd see smoke on startup. I have seen lots of check valves fail Don't waste time on the fuel filter, if anything, a plugged filter would hold pressure longer.
To be continued...... The fuel filter has been replaced, so I should be good there. I did pinch off the fuel line by the fuel filter in a first attempt to "check" the check valve and the car was unphased. I will try by the pump. Thanks, To be continued.....
No updates as of today Sorry, I haven't had the chance to test the check valve yet. I am trying to do all these things under the supervision of a fellow enthusiast, at his garage. I am at the same time trying to do control arms, refinish some 17" sport rims ands misc other projects. The starting issue seems to always come last. It is getting very annoying. I promise this week I will work on it and repost. Thanks. To Be Continued............
