ECU Gone Insane?

[tjswarbrick]

2012 N55 135i. Bought 2 years ago at 45k miles. Now at 75k.
Many months ago I installed a JB Stage 1 (Didn't feel the need for a JB4 or 4+ here in Cali since I'm keeping my DP/MP/Cats and only get 91 octane "premium.") Replaced spark plugs at the same time.

Upon initial installation, I was very impressed with power output and response, as well as exhaust character-enhancement.

A couple months later, I began having intermittent no=boost conditions. It would display a CEL or limp-mode warning. Just act like a low-compression NA car.
As that got worse, I pulled out the JB chip.
Problem persisted.
Occasionally, my driver's door lock would go berserk and either not lock, or not unlock.
In June, I had my HPFP replaced.
Door lock magically fixed itself. And Full boost, all the time!
Except response doesn't seem what it was prior. Turbo lag noticeable (which it really wasn't before.)
Shifting toward the power peak, it comes online at about 4k-4500 in the next gear. And there is a good half-second boost lag. I just don't remember it doing that before. Opening throttle slowly, it spins up fine. But popping it open in 4th or 5th it feels like I get a miss, or too rich mixture, or a few ticks of lag. But it isn't all the time, and not noticeable in normal driving.

2 weeks ago I reinstalled the JB Stage 1.
Pull felt stronger about 4500 rpm, but lag felt somehow worse.

Thinking improving flow would help things, and finally having time to spend, this weekend I installed an MDesign Performance Carbon Cold Air Intake (Thrusday night) and Agency Power Axleback Exhaust (Saturday.)
I did not some dents in the stock exhaust plumbing after the resonator ahead of the muffler. New mandrel-bent SS tubing would take care of that!

Sunday, it felt great. But lag was not fixed.

Monday morning, putting top down, it tell me my trunk is open. I didn't do that...
Driving to work, expressway onramp. 3rd gear, DSC off, engine not quite warm but had moved from cold. WOT acceleration, I get a pop & fart and loss of power. Let off, babied it, got to work fine. Never got on it to test, but the turbo did not seem to be spooling right.

On the way home, it's like 95 degrees. I got stuck behind a Corolla on the uphill onramp, so didn't get to test the boost. When I got out on the the 4-lane, I passed him no problem and it felt mostly good though laggy.
5 minutes later, 60mph 6th gear, go to pass slow-moving traffic at not-quite WOT. Threw a DSC Error, went into limp mode.
Felt more like overheating "barely any power" mode than no-boost "limp" mode. Pulled off, shut it down 3 minutes, fired it up. After 30 seconds, light went off, car felt normal enough, drove the remaining 15 freeway miles home in the slow lane without tapping into the boost.
Even with that, response felt sluggish but not non-existent.

Got home, picked up my daughter for Dr. Appt and run some errands. (Wife's car was gone.)

Driver's door didn't unlock!
As soon as I pulled out of the driveway, it tells me the trunk is open!

3 blocks down, stop, close trunk, move on.
Exhaust sounded a little farty, and the two times I had to accelerate it felt excessively laggy again. But I wasn't going WOT, even at 75mph in HOV lane.

After DR Appt, driver's door didn't unlock. I used the actual metal key. (Passenger did.)
Then - hmm - "Trunk Open."

Fixed. Drove away. Babied it.

Next stop - radio presets were cleared. She quickly reset them!
Next stop - Radio Presets Cleared Again! And Passenger Door didn't unlock with key!
I checked the settings, and my "Both Doors" setting went back to default "driver only." Also, I like the 3-blinks-to-pass feature; this had also reset to default "Off."
I put these back where I like them.

Filled up with a fresh tank of gas (always Chevron Supreme; except 3 occasions where I went 30 miles out of my way for 96 Octane Race Gas.) Went home. Made dinner. Used wife's car to pick up Daughter No. 2.
Once the household had settled down, and outside temp dropped to 65 degrees, I pulled the JB S1 out.

Fired up - felt & sounded fine.
Started off - felt & sounded fine.
Let it come up to temp a bit. Got on it in 2nd. Felt fine.
Went to same expressway onramp, turned DSC off, tried to duplicate morning's failure. Nothing doing - felt fine. And ripped a hole in the stratosphere! (Like it's supposed to.)

Whipped it down the expressway for 2 miles, babied it back along residential streets, felt as awesome as ever.
This morning, much less farty than yesterday. (I do like the AP exhaust. But Sunday afternoon and yesterday morning/afternoon it seemed to have some extra bloat in sound output.)
It's doing much better than it had been, but lag seems a bit more pronounced than it did last night (or before I started having issues.)
Door and trunk locks worked fine today, 3-flash signals work, and radio presets are still dialed in.

So, WHAT is going on with my car?
What would cause the turbo to spool slowly?

Bad HPFP replacement?
ECU needs reflash after HPFP replacement?
JB S1 doesn't play nice with intake and exhaust, but took several hours to adjust to 'em and realize it?
Dying coils?
LPFP going out?
Turbo on it's way to the graveyard?
Other???
Help!!!

Anyway, unless it can be definitively pointed to and corrected, I'm not putting that JB tuner back on.

I did have a too-hot issue a couple weekends ago, and got the waterpump and t-stat replaced at a dealer. But that had absolutely zero noticeable effect on engine response issues.

ER CP was my first engine mod, last summer, and once I got the clamps on tight enough it's been solid - so I don't think it's that.

[zx10guy]

Just taking a stab in the dark, have you checked your trunk to see if any of the electronics are sitting in water? From what I've seen, it's not a common problem, but can happen. I was getting bizarre behavior when my junction box got shorted due to being wet. I was getting all sorts of weird error messages on the nav screen and the gauge cluster lighting up like a Christmas tree. At its worst, I lost video to the nav screen and my gauges went dead, but the car kept running.

[1and1]

If everything back there is dry, and no signs of water ever being present, then consider battery. Beg, borrow, steal a known good strong healthy battery to run for a few weeks as a test.

Cause heaven know the E8x, N5x series, hell, ANY bmw really, loves some good electricity and will display any number of random odd symptoms if there isn't enough juice to keep em happy...

[tjswarbrick]

I got a new high-capacity (Group 94) Northstar-made AGM battery at the end of November. Had ECM reprogrammed to modify charge cycles thusly.
No water anywhere near it, fortunately.

But I did disconnect it to install the JB tuner.
One service advisor I spoke with today said to make sure the connections there, and the terminal under the hood, are tight and free of corrosion. They are clean, but I'll double check 'em to make sure they're good.

Thanks for the pointers!
You're right - when the battery was dying in the fall, the electronics where psycho.
If the problem comes back now that the JB has been removed, I'll get it load-tested. But it should be solid.

[Dackelone]

First thing to do is check/read for faults. Anything less is just shaking the 8-ball for a guess in the dark.

When you have electrical issues... check your battery. What is the standing voltage and whats the voltage with the engine running. Check the battery terminals that the cables are tight and have no corrosion. Also have the battery tested. A bad battery can cause a lot of strange things to happen.

Did you ever have the battery cable recall done?

[tjswarbrick]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

First thing to do is check/read for faults. Anything less is just shaking the 8-ball for a guess in the dark.

When you have electrical issues... check your battery. What is the standing voltage and whats the voltage with the engine running. Check the battery terminals that the cables are tight and have no corrosion. Also have the battery tested. A bad battery can cause a lot of strange things to happen.

Did you ever have the battery cable recall done?

Thanks Dack.

Sending piggyback back to Burger for them to check out. He also needed codes read. Calling around for a scan, every reputable shop wants to perform a full hour and a half diagnosis. I don't blame 'em, but I don't want to throw away $200, either. Still working that angle.
I'll check the voltages and connections. Like I said, if things go south again, I'll take it to a pro.
I prefer to do my own work, but am often limited on specialty tools and such.
Bought the car used - not sure if recall was performed. But when I took it to a dealer for the waterpump a couple weeks ago they checked and said nothing was outstanding other than the airbag.

p.s. - what's so tough about battery cables, anyway? My 1996 Jetta and 2006 C230 both had battery cable recalls, too.

[rominun]

Originally Posted by tjswarbrick

Thanks Dack.

Sending piggyback back to Burger for them to check out. He also needed codes read. Calling around for a scan, every reputable shop wants to perform a full hour and a half diagnosis. I don't blame 'em, but I don't want to throw away $200, either. Still working that angle.
I'll check the voltages and connections. Like I said, if things go south again, I'll take it to a pro.
I prefer to do my own work, but am often limited on specialty tools and such.
Bought the car used - not sure if recall was performed. But when I took it to a dealer for the waterpump a couple weeks ago they checked and said nothing was outstanding other than the airbag.

p.s. - what's so tough about battery cables, anyway? My 1996 Jetta and 2006 C230 both had battery cable recalls, too.

Hey man, ever considered getting INPA installed on a windows laptop? BimmerGeeks does it for 30$ as long as you have the dcan cable (30$ on amazon). You can do just as much diagnostic work as the dealer with that software.

[tjswarbrick]

Originally Posted by rominun

Hey man, ever considered getting INPA installed on a windows laptop? BimmerGeeks does it for 30$ as long as you have the dcan cable (30$ on amazon). You can do just as much diagnostic work as the dealer with that software.

Hadn't heard of that one. Was thinking of the Carista adapter and app, but haven't read enough positive reciews to pull the trigger.
Agree it's getting to the point where I need to consider my own code reader. Thanks!

[rominun]

Originally Posted by tjswarbrick

Hadn't heard of that one. Was thinking of the Carista adapter and app, but haven't read enough positive reciews to pull the trigger.
Agree it's getting to the point where I need to consider my own code reader. Thanks!

If you have a windows laptop, INPA would be the best for in depth diagnosis. Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure the dealer uses INPA as well. I personally have INPA for in depth diagnosis, a 20$ code reader from amazon for basic codes, and mhd app on android for everyday things.

[Gangplank]

Carly app for iPhone and wifi adapter. Codes read so easy even I can do it. Lol!!

[tjswarbrick]

Originally Posted by Gangplank

Carly app for iPhone and wifi adapter. Codes read so easy even I can do it. Lol!!

I have an LG Android.
"This content is not available in your country yet."

But I do have a Windows PC.
So maybe I'll try that.
Got it to program the mObridge DAC/DSP, so it's set up for use with the car already...

[swagon]

Door and radio issues sound to me like the Footwell module (FRM3 in your case) is failing as well. since it controls lights, windows and all that stuff.

[Gangplank]

Originally Posted by swagon

Door and radio issues sound to me like the Footwell module (FRM3 in your case) is failing as well. since it controls lights, windows and all that stuff.

Totally forgot about that - known issue. I believe There is a recall/reimbursement program on the FRM. Certain cars have it covered

[tjswarbrick]

Originally Posted by swagon

Door and radio issues sound to me like the Footwell module (FRM3 in your case) is failing as well. since it controls lights, windows and all that stuff.

Was replaced 2 (3?) weeks ago, under warranty, when they did the water pump.
Hope the new one isn't bad...
No issues whatsoever yesterday.
It's done the crazy door thing before when it needed other service.

A couple advisors said it's normal due to the network in these cars; a couple thought that's crazy and look at the battery.
Since the battery is basically new, and it's the more experienced techs saying they've seen it before - I'm going with normal, but an outlier.

[tjswarbrick]

Working with BimmerGeeks to find the best scan/code/flash solution for my needs and equipment.
Thanks for pointing me there!
Car running and acting great since removing the piggyback...

[rominun]

Originally Posted by tjswarbrick

Working with BimmerGeeks to find the best scan/code/flash solution for my needs and equipment.
Thanks for pointing me there!
Car running and acting great since removing the piggyback...

Glad you got in touch with them. Very smart people!

[tjswarbrick]

They're recommending ISTA/D for my needs (2012 N55.)
Gonna try the Android first and see if that does the trick.
Also gonna confirm battery connections this evening.

[tjswarbrick]

Another couple days of running fine. All I can figure is either the JB had some issue, or I was getting to the bottom of a batch of bad gas.
All battery connections checked out. Sound and snug. Now water, no corrosion.
Didn't get to run voltage checks. Will before this is over.
Ordered the Pro-K+ Dcan cable and a USB-C OTG adapter. Already downloaded MHD to my phone.

[tjswarbrick]

Separated JB Harness from board module.
Received dCAN cable.
OTG adapter must be on a slow boat from China. Due in between late September and early October! If I had any idea, I'd have paid the extra 5 bucks to source one locally... I guess it'll be a little while before the diagnosis can be performed.

[tjswarbrick]

OTG cable arrived tonight.
Printed the MHD for N55 on Android manual. Hopefully I'll have some clues tomorrow.

[tjswarbrick]

Finally, finally, finally found some time to scan my codes.
Actually only took like 2 minutes once I got the OBDII cover off.
Probably more like 20 seconds.
But then I wrote them all down.

It doesn't give dates or times. Hopefully they're at least in order. Really helpful stuff here:

2774 - Air Mass: Air Mass Too High
2775 - Air Mass: Air Mass Too Low
28A0 - Intake Pipe Absolute Pressure: Pressure Too High
29E0 - Charge Air Temp Sensor: Short Circuit to B+
2BC1 - Mixture Control: Fuel-Air Mixture Too Rich
36C9 - DME, Internal Fault, Safety Function: Relative Fuel Mass

Pretty sure that last one put me into limp mode.

Had 4 Shadow (inactive) codes, too. Mostly "multiple fault."

It did point out that ECU System is in Normal Operation. Factory Software is 7629768, and Current Software is 868500.
I'm wondering if those are the latest. It's acting how a lot of people complained their early DCT's were. Excessive lag, and inconsistent boost. Been doing that since HPFP replacement. Makes me think there's something else going on there.

It's not like it has tons of lag or anything - still worlds better than most turbo cars I've driven (MK VII GTI, Subarus, Mazda 323GT, eclipse/talon twins.)
But it isn't as rock-solid, consistent, and responsive as I remember from before the HPFP started going out.

Anyway, I'll be sending the codes and module back to Burger for analysis.

[tjswarbrick]

Terry @ Burger confirmed that the module is operating properly.
Also recommended JB4 for use with bolt-ons.

So, I guess no tune for me.