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07-14-2021, 08:41 PM | #1 |
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Valvetronic deactivated- MAYDAY
Hello fellas, hope you are doing well, certainly you are and more than me..
I've just came from the workshop (an indie very recommended), because I wanted to check the valvetronic, as you probably know we suffer from issues and my case was not the exception, I have the CEL 2E0F (valvetronic deactivated) in my 135 n55 2013, so I asked to the workshop to check it, they said me that the CEL keept appearing, so they tried to calibrate the valvetronic with a launch scanner, the car didn't responded at all to the cycles, the RPMs didn't moved at all, noting happened, the old CEL stayed but also a new CEL (can't remember the code but something related to misalignment) appeared, they recommend me to come next week in order to use the official scanner and check what was wrong... But here comes the worst part.... I leaved the workshop and the car had no power, the rpm increased and increased but without getting faster and neither shifting ( in that exact moment i knew that i was totally f#&ed) ... After some driving the car just went to safe mode and I stoped at the middle of the highway almost praying to not be crashed... I turned off and on the engine, it started, I went back to the workshop office, they tried to calibrate again the valvetronic without sucess, we went together to check the car, which appeared to be better, but again, the power loss is significant... So I left the car hoping that my workshop discover what happened. Considering that 1- My valvetronic doesnt make any weird noise, the car was pulling good before but with a CEL (valvetronic deactivated) 2- Even that they tried twice to calibrate the valvetronic it couldn't be done, there was no rpm fluctuations during the process What do you think guys?, I'm really worried about all of this. Really appreciate your support Felipe |
07-15-2021, 08:33 AM | #2 |
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I am going to guess that the eccentric shaft is frozen in place and the entire Valvetronic system is not working correctly. It could be just the motor or the DME that tries to control it all. Exactly which would have to be determined but likely one or more of those things.
I've got 2 BMW's, 135i and X3, both with N55, and both have had the eccentric shaft freeze up. Sucks because I have low miles, annual oil changes, ensure I warm the car up when driving, and so on. I mostly had the rattle noise but sometimes the cars would die at street lights. Lucky for me they always started right backup. |
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07-15-2021, 09:28 AM | #3 |
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this gets posted daily... search...
It's likely that the valvetronic acutator died. extremely common. happens all the time on N52 and previous generations. The problem on an n55 is that you need to remove the valve cover and two injector wells to service it which is annoying. replace the valvetronic actuator. When that dies the valves will be stuck at minimum lift meaning no airflow through the engine. The car may not even idle at really low lift values. You shouldve just unplugged valvetronic instead of trying to actuate it via software... when the dme sees valvetronic not working right it disables it with the valves at maximum lift. the car continues to drive fine with disabled valvetronic. Then when you cleared codes the car tried to use valvetronic again and it probably failed at minimum lift hence why now it doesn't drive right now. You can manually set valvetronic to max lift with an allen key (google/youtube it) but sounds like you're better off just taking it to a shop to have the actuator replaced. |
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07-15-2021, 02:34 PM | #4 | |
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Do you know if it's dangerous to drive it like that?, i mean, is there a risl driving with the valvetronic more time like that? Last edited by Felipekv; 07-15-2021 at 02:44 PM.. |
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07-15-2021, 04:57 PM | #5 |
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I went through all this a few months ago. The eccentric will need replacing. The DME sees increased current demand in the VVT motor from increased resistance in the eccentric movement. This causes the DME to shut down the whole system. You'll need to replace the eccentric and might as well do the motor since you're in there.
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2012 135i Mods: air scoops, CP, K&N filter, PS1, ADE FMIC, BMW PE, JB4, 1M front body, full M3 suspension front and rear, M3 brakes front and rear, M3 rear subframe and LSD
Owned so far: 88 M3 x 2, 95 325is, 95 M3 x 2, 06 Mini Cooper S, 08 335 xi, 09 Z4 35i, 01 M3, 12 135i |
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07-15-2021, 05:24 PM | #6 | |
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07-15-2021, 06:28 PM | #7 | |
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Manually setting the eccentric shaft tto max lift requires drilling a hole through the valve cover. It's relatively easy. Like I said, search on youtube. The car will run fine without valvetronic. It controls airflow with the throttle plate liker an n54. It might idle a bit lumpy and you might see a bit less mpg but otherwise I drove months like that just fine. |
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07-15-2021, 07:29 PM | #8 | |
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07-16-2021, 04:53 AM | #9 |
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07-16-2021, 05:02 AM | #10 | |
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ISTA is your best friend. Believe what it is telling you. I did the valvetronic motor reset 3 times before the whole thing went into shut down mode. |
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07-16-2021, 08:54 AM | #11 | |
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Sometimes I want to beat some sense into these engineers. |
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07-22-2021, 08:22 AM | #12 |
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Update!
The shop found the problem, it was the valvetronic fuse that was blown, when they called me and said this I was almost jumping of happiness, so yesterday i took the car from the shop, they changed the fuse and recalibrated the valvetronic, 440 usd it costed, anyway, far less than I expected. 😅 |
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07-22-2021, 08:55 AM | #13 | |
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07-22-2021, 10:45 AM | #14 | |
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07-22-2021, 10:32 PM | #15 |
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I asked them and they just said, "it's in the fuse box in the engine bay" and I said, OK, the true my friend is that I was just thinking about the invoice.. Lol
But here's another GREAT Part of my story, today I was driving normally and from nowhere appeared a checkengine light!!, I used the torque app to check the CEL and I have the P0420 catalyst system efficiency below threshold (bank 1), I cleared and scanned again after some driving , and now appears the same CEL but like "pending" without checkingine light. Is this another great news from my 135?? Does this means that I'll have to pay some bucks in a O2 sensor and labor to replace it??? Or maybe it's related to the valvetronic recalibration I've just logged with torque my O2 voltage, in the first part the car was at idle (probably 600 rpm) and then I tried to keep the rpm in 2000, is it normal to have 0 voltage lectures? Last edited by Felipekv; 07-23-2021 at 12:33 AM.. |
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07-23-2021, 01:47 PM | #17 |
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The "electronics box" inside the passenger side cowl compartment houses several fuses and relays. Three main fuses are valvetronic, injectors, and coils.
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07-23-2021, 05:09 PM | #18 | |
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Anyway by now I'm struggling to discover what is causing my new CEL, if it's the o2 sensor or the catalytic converter |
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