BMW Announces Voluntary N54 Engine (HPFP) and X5 Recall

[Jason]

This just in:

ABC aired a story segment on this morning's Good Morning America (video) on the BMW high pressure fuel pump (HPFP) issue as well as a full-length piece on tonight's Nightline. This has helped prompt BMW to take the following action.

Also see the main discussion thread for this topic - http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=447262

BMW to Conduct Voluntary Emissions and Safety Recalls

* 26.10.2010
* Press Release

Woodcliff Lake, NJ – October 26, 2010... BMW of North America has notified the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of its intent to conduct a voluntary recall of some model year 2007-2010 BMWs equipped with twin-turbo inline six-cylinder engines, all of which feature BMW’s High Precision Injection direct fuel injection system. It has also asked for approval from the California Air Resources Board to conduct this action. Affected vehicles may experience a failure of the high-pressure fuel pump.

Symptoms include long-crank engine starting times along with the illumination of the “Service Engine Soon” light. In certain cases, the driver may experience reduced engine performance in a Safe Mode accompanied by a tone and the illumination of the “Engine Malfunction” light.

Based on the individual service history of the vehicle, the action will entail replacement of the high-pressure fuel pump and/or a software update.

Approximately 130,000 vehicles are potentially affected with about 40,000 expected to require a new high pressure fuel pump. Affected BMW models include:

• MY 2007–2010 335i models.
• MY 2008–2010 135i, 535i and X6 xDrive35i Sports Activity Coupes
• MY 2009 – 2010 Z4 Roadster sDrive35i

In a separate action, BMW has notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that it will voluntarily recall approximately 20,800 MY 2008 X5 Sports Activity Vehicles equipped with normally-aspirated inline six-cylinder engines to replace the low-pressure fuel pump. In this case, should the fuel pump experience a failure, the engine will stop running and the driver will lose power assist for the steering and brakes although both the steering and the brakes remain operational.

Letters will be sent by First Class mail to owners of affected vehicles in the coming weeks, requesting the scheduling of a service appointment with an Authorized BMW Center to have the update performed.

No injuries have been reported with either of these issues.

In the case of either issue, if the customer experiences a problem, they should contact their authorized BMW Center. Customers with additional questions should contact BMW Customer Relations at 1-800-563-4269 or email CustomerRelations@bmwusa.com.

[JHOOPS2]

WooooHoooo!!

[Mr. Clarkson]

and what of the N55s

[3onDubs]

no recall for 2011?

[JHOOPS2]

Originally Posted by Mr. Clarkson

and what of the N55s

Wait 3 years...

[scrufy]

Did everyone miss this from page 2?
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"BMW admitted to ABC News that it wasn't until March of this year, four years after these cars were introduced, that it finally found a fix: a properly working fuel pump. "We were making changes but we also had to see and make sure that they were actually reliable in the field," said Baloga.

Still, even after March, BMW did not tell customers to come in and replace the potentially defective fuel pumps. Instead, they allowed drivers to get a new part if and only after the old one failed. "
------------------------------------------------
What they are saying is the new pump is the fix... so were still screwed.

[dbjb]

Originally Posted by scrufy

Did everyone miss this from page 2?
------------------------------------------------
"BMW admitted to ABC News that it wasn't until March of this year, four years after these cars were introduced, that it finally found a fix: a properly working fuel pump. "We were making changes but we also had to see and make sure that they were actually reliable in the field," said Baloga.

Still, even after March, BMW did not tell customers to come in and replace the potentially defective fuel pumps. Instead, they allowed drivers to get a new part if and only after the old one failed. "
------------------------------------------------
What they are saying is the new pump is the fix... so were still screwed.

933? 943? Either? What was wrong with it anyway? I have a 943 IIRC. Fingers crossed that it, along with the software update, was the magical fix.

[Mr. Clarkson]

Originally Posted by JHOOPS2

Wait 3 years...

that's what I assume. Need that lead time and books filled with issues in order to justify it.....despite using the same pump

[moveswiftly]

FINALLY!

[335iseb]

From what I gather through google is that the 943 pump has been in the works from late last year. First post about the new pump being installed I found as far back as January 19th, 2010 so it's not that very new in terms of hardware since it was probably built in 2009. The 943 pump had failed on the guy who had it installed after just 1 month.......so unless we have a newer pump than the 943 it might minimize the failures but it's probably not the "end all" fix we're all waiting for.

[pinmagic]

"Based on the individual service history of the vehicle, the action will entail replacement of the high-pressure fuel pump and/or a software update."

Isn't this exactly what they're doing now???

[bryce]

Originally Posted by shockin330i

You'll get a new one.. :dunno:

the 933 is a remanufactured version of the same exact pump. i hope bmw doesn't think throwing re-built pumps at the issue will make it go away

Originally Posted by MusclezMarinara

New one is 943

wrong again. you should probably just stop posting in this thread. teh NEWEST pump is the 933, it came out in march.

[MusclezMarinara]

Originally Posted by bryce

the 933 is a remanufactured version of the same exact pump. i hope bmw doesn't think throwing re-built pumps at the issue will make it go away



wrong again. you should probably just stop posting in this thread. teh NEWEST pump is the 933, it came out in march.

Sorry 933 is the new remand pump

Software updates if you already have the NEWEST 933

[Mr. Clarkson]

Originally Posted by pinmagic

"Based on the individual service history of the vehicle, the action will entail replacement of the high-pressure fuel pump and/or a software update."

Isn't this exactly what they're doing now???

Yup. But now there's a letter.

A LETTER!

Clearly we can see how that makes the repair better than just the ol' repair they've been doing for a while now.

[Alan l.]

My buddy that works at BMW confirmed that the 933 is the latest and greatest. He said you can tell on the part number stamped on the actual fuel pump whether its a re-manufactured pump or a brand new one. He told me how to tell but i forgot It was some number that was lazer printed on the actual hpfp, not the part number on the box.

I got a new 933 pump according to him and he said the version i just got came out in august/sept. Not sure how accurate this is but he changes hpfp all day so i would think he knows what he's talking about.

Here are some pics of the pump that i got (this one was going into a 535)

[BimmerSchnitzel]

Originally Posted by pinmagic

"Based on the individual service history of the vehicle, the action will entail replacement of the high-pressure fuel pump and/or a software update."

Isn't this exactly what they're doing now???

+1

Does this mean we can request a HPFP replacement now with or without the sympotoms of it going out??? Right now it just sounds like they are doing the same song and dance.

[cadeucsb]

Originally Posted by BimmerSchnitzel

+1

Does this mean we can request a HPFP replacement now with or without the sympotoms of it going out??? Right now it just sounds like they are doing the same song and dance.

A recall does not require failure. As for the part they are using to replace your HPFP, its no different than what they have been using so its not a guaranteed fix.

Plus a true recall should alleviate some fears on the reseller market.

[BimmerSchnitzel]

Originally Posted by cadeucsb

A recall does not require failure. As for the part they are using to replace your HPFP, its no different than what they have been using so its not a guaranteed fix.

Plus a true recall should alleviate some fears on the reseller market.

So it's going to be just like the seatbelt tensioner recall. I'm all for this because I've been bitching for months about the power loss due to the "software fix" so maybe with a new pump and the newest SW revision, I can get my old car back!!!

[cpippolo]

I suspect if there are no signs of failure they will just update the software. The "and/or" leaves them that opportunity.

When the Mazda RX-8 didn't hit its advertised HP figures upon launch Mazda sent out $500 gift cards to all purchasers. Maybe even after the software fix the engine will still put out 300HP since it was originally understated, but would be interested in seeing a stock 135 or 335 on the dyno after the software fix.

Starting to have secon thoughts about putting a deposit on a 1M. Still knid of pissed that I bought a car with no turbo lag and then they programmed some lag in after I bought it.

[pinmagic]

Originally Posted by BimmerSchnitzel

+1

Does this mean we can request a HPFP replacement now with or without the sympotoms of it going out??? Right now it just sounds like they are doing the same song and dance.

You can request a HPFP replacement OR softwared update. Guess which one they'll be doing, if your HPFP hasn't failed.

[nordique14]

Unless BMW actually has a fix then this is a waste of time. The fact that they were prompted by "bad press" tells me it is more of a marketing fix than an engineering fix.

[Itanius]

Well this is good news indeed. Let's hope they find (or have found) an actual solution to the root problem, instead of addressing the symptoms with software band-aids and refurbished fuel pumps.