Unreliable POS

[Ghent]

I have 2013 135 vert that has 28,000ks on it. Its a weekender. Until 6 weeks ago it was reliable and run.. that has all changed

6 weeks ago I stopped for fuel at a BP station and when I came out and started the car it told me that everything in the car had failed - transmission, cruise control, brakes, traction and even the windshield wipers went full speed and wouldn't turn off. The car wouldn't go into gear so I restarted it about 10 times and it finally went into drive and limp mode and I was able to get it to the Richmond BMW service center - only to find out that my warranty had expired 3 weeks before. After the service centre looking into what was going on with the car they told me that water had gotten into the electronics and they had to rewire several things - 2 days and a ton of cash later my car seemed perfect and I drive it home.

fast forward 6 weeks and several weekend trips later. Today I decided to drive it around town and get a car wash. I parked it at the car wash and went to the store to pick up a few things and when I came back it was in the same parking spot without a wash. The guy quickly told me that there was something wrong with the car so they hadn't moved it. I went and started it only to get the same warning lights as before - transmission, brakes etc. Couldn't get the car to go into gear this time to get it to limp home and after turning it on and off the car won't even start. No chance that its moving.

Of course today BMW is closed and so I have left it at the car wash - in a secure lot - until I can contact them tomorrow. I am certain that even though I have a warranty on the repairs that this is going to cost me a fortune - especially since I will have to have it towed to the dealer (more than 40ks from my house).

OK rant over

Has anyone else had an issue like this? I would still consider this a new car with the low k's. Am I better off just dumping the car and getting another fun vehicle (not sure that with my experience with BMW in Australia that it would be another BMW).

[PeteA]

Sucks. But from your explanation it seems as though there is a critical issue with a seal somewhere. Find out where water is getting in and fix it.

BMW should have fixed the cause as well rather than just the symptom.

[The Wind Breezes]

If at all possible I'd just get rid of the car.

[blingers]

if there is no water leaking, then sounds like a battery issue? charge the battery and also check if the positive terminal link (Battery safety terminal?) is broken.

[martymil]

sounds like the reverse sensor module, water has got in the rear right boot space
most likely a leaking tail light or a leaking petrol neck seal where the cap meets the body.

It throws the dash into a frenzy and all sort of different multiple error codes come up.

all bmw repairs come with a 12 month warranty so it should be covered.

quite common actually, when I replaced mine I put a plastic bag around it with moisture satchels in the bag and put an elastic around the harness and bag that goes to it.

[froop]

Originally Posted by martymil

sounds like the reverse sensor module, water has got in the rear right boot space
most likely a leaking tail light or a leaking petrol neck seal where the cap meets the body.

It throws the dash into a frenzy and all sort of different multiple error codes come up.

all bmw repairs come with a 12 month warranty so it should be covered.

quite common actually, when I replaced mine I put a plastic bag around it with moisture satchels in the bag and put an elastic around the harness and bag that goes to it.

Hmm, I wouldn't say that his issue is this problem with a submerged PDC module. Mine leaked too and caused all sorts of problems but I never had any issue with the car actually starting. The instrument cluster would turn on and off all the time as I was driving but it still drove with no issue. Still, no harm checking it out. But if it was due to the PDC it's unlikely that the issue would have gone away when BMW played around with the ECU.

The OPs issue sounds more like an ECU problem if he's getting that many codes and the car won't go into gear or start etc.

[JBT2]

Could be water in the frame rails too - look here at post #18. http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=728301

Also has photos showing the right boot well with the PDC module. I believe it's the white box towards the top of this photo.



Left boot well here.

[Ghent]

Its being towed to BMW around noon today. The service adviser insisted and said he was 100% confident that it couldn't possibly be the same issue because they "always fix things right and never have to redo them". I am certain that they will try and say that this is unrelated to the previous issue that they resolved. Its going to be a fun day.

Thanks all for the comments. Since it was water the last time, or so BMW said, I am assuming that where ever the leak was they didn't close up. I am going to look closely and see if I can find any water. The odd thing is that I don't drive the car in the rain. Verts aren't as much fun when your getting wet.

At least it waited until yesterday when I was close to the house to die. We had taken a drive to Marrysville and the black spur on Saturday. Would have really sucked to get stuck out there.

[woosh]

Maybe make a call to BMW Aus to vent your frustrations, and to ensure you don't get charged another few k if it's the same issue.

[Ghent]

I did call BMW and they towed it to the dealership this afternoon.

The part that gets me is that when the tow truck came the car started right up and he was able to drive it onto the bed. No warning lights, no stalling, acted perfect. Seems to me that there is a short in the system somewhere from the work that they did.

I'll find out more this afternoon or tomorrow morning I hope

[Ghent]

So far the only thing that BMW has figured out is that a sensor in the transmission is periodically sending a fault that won't let the car run. No idea why so far.. but this is the same area that they worked on and a;ready fixed 6 weeks ago

[woosh]

Free fix?

[Ghent]

BMW is now trying to blame the JB4 tuner for the issue. They can't seem to figure out what is going on so they say that it is interfering with the transmission sending signals. My understanding is that the JB4 doesn't do anything with the transmission unless you do a back-end flash which isn't available for my year. Not sure how the JB4 could have caused water to get into wires on the transmission though

[vtl]

Originally Posted by Ghent

BMW is now trying to blame the JB4 tuner for the issue. They can't seem to figure out what is going on so they say that it is interfering with the transmission sending signals. My understanding is that the JB4 doesn't do anything with the transmission unless you do a back-end flash which isn't available for my year. Not sure how the JB4 could have caused water to get into wires on the transmission though

I have seen instances where the ECU box wasn't closed properly after installing a JB4, resulting in water ingress into the DME.

Ultimately you're better off removing the JB4 when battling issues like this, its just one more variable you don't need right now.

[martymil]

The JB4 has nothing to do with transmission but if your claiming warranty it must be removed as they'll try to blame anything they can but their shitty workmanship

I personally will never deal with a dealer as they have absolutely no clue what they are doing half the time

Your Better of taking to a professional aftermarket workshop that deals with bmw's as they will find the fault

I have a good feeling that BMW didn't do anything last time as they could not find the fault but charged you for their time

[EB89]

Originally Posted by Ghent

BMW is now trying to blame the JB4 tuner for the issue. They can't seem to figure out what is going on so they say that it is interfering with the transmission sending signals. My understanding is that the JB4 doesn't do anything with the transmission unless you do a back-end flash which isn't available for my year. Not sure how the JB4 could have caused water to get into wires on the transmission though

This sounds similar to what happened to my car, turned out being the JB4 harness was crappy and the wires weren't contacting well.

BMW told you

"After the service centre looking into what was going on with the car they told me that water had gotten into the electronics and they had to rewire several things "

Did they say where?

My advice is to remove the JB4 and start from there...

[Ghent]

Originally Posted by EB89

This sounds similar to what happened to my car, turned out being the JB4 harness was crappy and the wires weren't contacting well.

BMW told you

"After the service centre looking into what was going on with the car they told me that water had gotten into the electronics and they had to rewire several things "

Did they say where?

My advice is to remove the JB4 and start from there...

They had stated that the water was in the wiring for the transmission, which they redid. I removed the JB4 and the issue hasn't returned as of yet. It went 6 weeks before though so I am not confident at this time.

[EB89]

Originally Posted by Ghent

They had stated that the water was in the wiring for the transmission, which they redid. I removed the JB4 and the issue hasn't returned as of yet. It went 6 weeks before though so I am not confident at this time.

Fingers crossed, MHD

[Ghent]

BMW removed the JB4 and said "fixed". I have been working on it today and have connected and disconnected the JB4 multiple times and each time that I connect it the issue returns. Its looking like the JB4 is causing the issue. Bad board maybe?

[titium]

Originally Posted by Ghent

BMW removed the JB4 and said "fixed". I have been working on it today and have connected and disconnected the JB4 multiple times and each time that I connect it the issue returns. Its looking like the JB4 is causing the issue. Bad board maybe?

just ditch the jb4 and sell it now while it's worth something.

enjoy the car until you can flash a proper tune (custom or mhd), that's what i did and I'm so glad i didnt get the jb4.

I've seen so many issues caused by it. Trying to diagnose a car with it in is a huge pain- even in map 0 which is supposed to be off its still doing stuff. I've even seen a few cars with huge boost leaks that run fine albeit slow and don't throw a code or limp until the jb4 is removed.

The code auto clear feature has got to be the stupidest feature of the jb4.

in my experience jb4 cars didn't really feel that quick in comparison to flash tune cars.

each to their own though this is just my 2c.

[TS135i]

Originally Posted by titium

just ditch the jb4 and sell it now while it's worth something.

enjoy the car until you can flash a proper tune (custom or mhd), that's what i did and I'm so glad i didnt get the jb4.

I've seen so many issues caused by it. Trying to diagnose a car with it in is a huge pain- even in map 0 which is supposed to be off its still doing stuff. I've even seen a few cars with huge boost leaks that run fine albeit slow and don't throw a code or limp until the jb4 is removed.

The code auto clear feature has got to be the stupidest feature of the jb4.

in my experience jb4 cars didn't really feel that quick in comparison to flash tune cars.

each to their own though this is just my 2c.

It appears Ghent drives a 2013 N55 like mine, these can't be flashed like older models, so piggyback tune is the only way.
Nearly 4 years on and no issues with my JB4...

[JBT2]

Mine is an N54 and has a JB4 fitted by the PO. No problems for the PO (AFAIK) and none for me...so far.