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      10-09-2018, 12:48 PM   #1
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Drivetrain Malfunction - Fuel Injector Failure...

On Sunday I was driving my wife's 2014 X3 (x35) and as I went to pass someone on the highway, the car lost power for a second and then drivetrain malfunction error popped up with CEL. Became extremely difficult to accelerate and I tried not to push it too much. Car immediately sounded like shit - almost like a go kart and so I pulled over about a quarter mile after this happened. There was white smoke coming out of the exhaust and distinct smell of gas. Super rough idle so I popped the hood and engine was shaking pretty bad so I shut it off.

I had tried leaving the car off for like 30 minutes and hoping something would reset, but no luck. Had to drive home about 4-5 miles going about 30 the whole way and trying really hard to avoid using the accelerator.

Had it towed to an indy shop (out of warranty :/ ) and they said all 6 cylinders are misfiring, 1 of the coilpacks is completely black, and he thinks the HPFP is shot - he's still researching - but I guess makes sense why the car was bucking so much under any amount of acceleration.

Anyone else had a similar issue? I've been checking all the F series N55 forums and can't find much that is similar.

Last edited by aps; 10-11-2018 at 08:22 AM..
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      10-09-2018, 12:57 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Anshu View Post
On Sunday I was driving my wife's 2014 X3 (x35) and as I went to pass someone on the highway, the car lost power for a second and then drivetrain malfunction error popped up with CEL. Became extremely difficult to accelerate and I tried not to push it too much. Car immediately sounded like shit - almost like a go kart and so I pulled over about a quarter mile after this happened. There was white smoke coming out of the exhaust and distinct smell of gas. Super rough idle so I popped the hood and engine was shaking pretty bad so I shut it off.

I had tried leaving the car off for like 30 minutes and hoping something would reset, but no luck. Had to drive home about 4-5 miles going about 30 the whole way and trying really hard to avoid using the accelerator.

Had it towed to an indy shop (out of warranty :/ ) and they said all 6 cylinders are misfiring, 1 of the coilpacks is completely black, and he thinks the HPFP is shot - he's still researching - but I guess makes sense why the car was bucking so much under any amount of acceleration.

Anyone else had a similar issue? I've been checking all the F series N55 forums and can't find much that is similar.
Cracked charge pipe perhaps?
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      10-09-2018, 01:01 PM   #3
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Originally Posted by BMWZ4 View Post
Cracked charge pipe perhaps?
Sorry, forgot to mention, that was my first thought immediately (happened on my F30 335i), but nope, looks completely in tact and not even loose.
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      10-09-2018, 02:22 PM   #4
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Uh, you obviously have a fuel injector leaking down. If he tries to sell you a high pressure pump he is ripping you off. You could probably get away with just the one injector on the black spark plug cylinder but it would be wise to replace all 6. The white smoke and smell of fuel out of the exhaust is a result of the injector dumping fuel into the cylinder. Based on how much you drove it with the issue you may have melted down your catalytic converter as well. Hope this helps.
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      10-09-2018, 03:55 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Barbera335 View Post
Uh, you obviously have a fuel injector leaking down. If he tries to sell you a high pressure pump he is ripping you off. You could probably get away with just the one injector on the black spark plug cylinder but it would be wise to replace all 6. The white smoke and smell of fuel out of the exhaust is a result of the injector dumping fuel into the cylinder. Based on how much you drove it with the issue you may have melted down your catalytic converter as well. Hope this helps.
Moments after your post I got a call back to say he did further testing and it is indeed the injectors.

Apparently they need to at least be replaced in banks so 1-3, but he's gonna have to test it out after he replaces the first 3.

Says the HPFP is still a possible issue depending on how much damage was done...
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      10-09-2018, 04:10 PM   #6
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I had this exact same thing happen to me twice but I've never got it taken care of. Both times it happened after a longer, more spirited drive where the car was being pushed in sport mode. Had a drive train malfunction with a CEL and the car sounded terrible! Extremely rough idle, the engine was shaking and you could really feel it throughout the car. I didn't check to see if there was any smoke coming out of the back. After shutting off the car for 10-15 minutes and restarting it the CEL and drain train malfunction went away and the car was running fine and no longer in limp mode. When I connected the OBD2 after the fact the only code that was stored was a misfire in one of the cylinders. Recently changed the spark plugs and still on the original coils and injectors.
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      10-09-2018, 06:43 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Opulence View Post
I had this exact same thing happen to me twice but I've never got it taken care of. Both times it happened after a longer, more spirited drive where the car was being pushed in sport mode. Had a drive train malfunction with a CEL and the car sounded terrible! Extremely rough idle, the engine was shaking and you could really feel it throughout the car. I didn't check to see if there was any smoke coming out of the back. After shutting off the car for 10-15 minutes and restarting it the CEL and drain train malfunction went away and the car was running fine and no longer in limp mode. When I connected the OBD2 after the fact the only code that was stored was a misfire in one of the cylinders. Recently changed the spark plugs and still on the original coils and injectors.
Unfortunately the issue hasn't let up once for us once since the first sign of the drivetrain malfunction.

After the first time we had even let the car cool off for about 2-3 hours and drove it a bit near our apartment and all issues persisted - smell, light smoke, rough idle, bucking under any acceleration.

Really hoping that the injectors, coil packs, and spark plugs are all that need replaced.
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      10-09-2018, 06:53 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Anshu View Post
Unfortunately the issue hasn't let up once for us once since the first sign of the drivetrain malfunction.

After the first time we had even let the car cool off for about 2-3 hours and drove it a bit near our apartment and all issues persisted - smell, light smoke, rough idle, bucking under any acceleration.

Really hoping that the injectors, coil packs, and spark plugs are all that need replaced.
Forgot to mention but I do have a little bit of a rough idle/shake when stopped at red lights with no bouncing in the RPMs. I haven't got the drive train malfunction for a while now but I have been doing shorter, relaxed drives. Keep us posted with this, curious to know if that fixes your issue.
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      10-11-2018, 08:25 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Opulence View Post
Forgot to mention but I do have a little bit of a rough idle/shake when stopped at red lights with no bouncing in the RPMs. I haven't got the drive train malfunction for a while now but I have been doing shorter, relaxed drives. Keep us posted with this, curious to know if that fixes your issue.
So it was indeed the 1 failed fuel injector and 2 coil packs. Replaced 3 fuel injectors (needs to be done in banks) and the 2 coil packs and the X3 is running great again.
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      10-23-2018, 04:30 PM   #10
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What was your mileage at the moment when it happened?
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      10-23-2018, 04:40 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by F30ed View Post
What was your mileage at the moment when it happened?
55k
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