TDIclub Secret Society of BMW Owners (SSBMWO)

truman

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 18, 2000
Location
columbia,MO,usa
TDI
'05 Passat Variant, Still miss the 03JW
How does the size, comfort, and cost of ownership of a 328d wagon compare to a BHW wagon?
 

n1das

TDIClub Enthusiast, Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2002
Location
Nashua, NH, USA
TDI
2014 BMW 535xd ///M-Sport, 2012 BMW X5 Xdrive35d, former 3x TDI owner
I reached a milestone today....I took delivery of my 2014 535dx 6 years ago TODAY on Wednesday 8/14/2013. Only at 128k miles and climbing.

My order for the car was entered into the system on 7/1/2013, a little more than 24 hours after the 535d and 328d models first appeared on BMW's website. I was watching and waiting to pounce on the opportunity the moment it presented itself. The "customer sold" status on the order bumped it ahead of others in the normal build queue and the build started almost the next day. About 2 weeks later, the build was finished and the car spent about a week or so going through all of its quality checks before leaving the factory. Then it spent about a week at the port waiting for enough cars to fill the container ship. It took about a week to come across the pond to the port of entry in NJ. BMW wasted no time in getting the car transported to my BMW dealer (Tulley BMW in Nashua NH).
 

tditom

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 5, 2001
Location
Jackson, MI
TDI
formerly: 2001 Golf GL, '97 Passat (RIP) '98 NB, '05 B5 sedan
I reached a milestone today....I took delivery of my 2014 535dx 6 years ago TODAY on Wednesday 8/14/2013. Only at 128k miles and climbing.
My order for the car was entered into the system on 7/1/2013, a little more than 24 hours after the 535d and 328d models first appeared on BMW's website. I was watching and waiting to pounce on the opportunity the moment it presented itself. The "customer sold" status on the order bumped it ahead of others in the normal build queue and the build started almost the next day. About 2 weeks later, the build was finished and the car spent about a week or so going through all of its quality checks before leaving the factory. Then it spent about a week at the port waiting for enough cars to fill the container ship. It took about a week to come across the pond to the port of entry in NJ. BMW wasted no time in getting the car transported to my BMW dealer (Tulley BMW in Nashua NH).
Congrats on your milestone.
I have a 2014 535d xDrive too. I've been receiving notices from BMW for the EGR. My local dealer has the parts in stock, so I'm debating having this done. The car runs fine, so I'm not keen to fix something that hasn't yet broken. Have you had this done proactively? I'm kind of concerned they may mess something up while retrofitting. Any advice? Thanks.
 

n1das

TDIClub Enthusiast, Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2002
Location
Nashua, NH, USA
TDI
2014 BMW 535xd ///M-Sport, 2012 BMW X5 Xdrive35d, former 3x TDI owner
Congrats on your milestone.
I have a 2014 535d xDrive too. I've been receiving notices from BMW for the EGR. My local dealer has the parts in stock, so I'm debating having this done. The car runs fine, so I'm not keen to fix something that hasn't yet broken. Have you had this done proactively? I'm kind of concerned they may mess something up while retrofitting. Any advice? Thanks.
I've been declining the recall at my BMW dealer. I'll deal with it if an issue shows up. My 535dx is only at 128k miles and going strong.

The BMW EGR cooler recall for the N57 engine reminds me of VW dealer horror stories with the PD TDIs where the EGR cooler kept failing (cracking) due to the techs leaving out one hard to reach bolt which mounts the cooler. The car was fine until a VW dealer service department touched the EGR cooler. VW dealers kept replacing EGR coolers multiple times instead of addressing the root cause of failure.

Don't fix it if it ain't broke, lest one fix until broke.
 

tditom

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 5, 2001
Location
Jackson, MI
TDI
formerly: 2001 Golf GL, '97 Passat (RIP) '98 NB, '05 B5 sedan
I've been declining the recall at my BMW dealer. I'll deal with it if an issue shows up...

...Don't fix it if it ain't broke, lest one fix until broke.
Thanks, We're of the same opinion on this.
 

PeteZ06

Veteran Member
Joined
May 16, 2012
Location
Algonquin, IL
TDI
E320 CDI
I reached a milestone today....I took delivery of my 2014 535dx 6 years ago TODAY on Wednesday 8/14/2013. Only at 128k miles and climbing.
My order for the car was entered into the system on 7/1/2013, a little more than 24 hours after the 535d and 328d models first appeared on BMW's website. I was watching and waiting to pounce on the opportunity the moment it presented itself. The "customer sold" status on the order bumped it ahead of others in the normal build queue and the build started almost the next day. About 2 weeks later, the build was finished and the car spent about a week or so going through all of its quality checks before leaving the factory. Then it spent about a week at the port waiting for enough cars to fill the container ship. It took about a week to come across the pond to the port of entry in NJ. BMW wasted no time in getting the car transported to my BMW dealer (Tulley BMW in Nashua NH).

Good to hear... I'm only at 55K miles on my 2014 535Dx M Sport.. warranty still for another 2 years. I'm planning on doing a EGR and DPF delete as soon as the warranty goes. Enjoying it with a Stage 2 tune for now.
 

PeteZ06

Veteran Member
Joined
May 16, 2012
Location
Algonquin, IL
TDI
E320 CDI
One observation about the 535D after 20 months of ownership....

The engineers definitely didn't put ease of certain maintenance duties at the forefront of their list.

I've owned diesel VW, Audi and Mercedes vehicles, so I'm comparing it against those.

Did the fuel filter yesterday, and seriously what the F?!?! Every other diesel Ive owned the fuel filter was right there under the hood, loosen a few screws and swap it out in 10 minutes. But this thing, you need to remove at least 15 screws from under the car to remove a few panels to get to the filter. Then when you disconnect the filter you better have a few large towels on hand because the car pisses so much diesel out of the line and filter. Almost an hour job from start to finish with jacking up the car.

Then how about the cabin filters, why in the world would they have the access to them behind the passenger air bag? The air bag needs to come out to get to the filters. Again, almost a 45 minute job because then the filter housing is so far deep under the dash that you almost need a midget to get in there.

So I absolutely LOVE this car, the blend of looks, performance and fuel efficiency are hard to beat. But I guess you can't have it all. Just wish the maintenance was as easy as my previous cars.

I'm at 57K miles now, bought it with 38K. All trouble free so far.
 
Last edited:

Tin Man

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 18, 2001
Location
Coastal Empire
TDI
Daughter's: 2004 NB TDI PD GLS DSG (gone to pasture)
Just did the same thing, but had a friend help who can go under the car. Got some help from online and youtube instructions.

PIA!

Noticed there was some dirt in the stuff that came out of the filter but no water. The pollen filters were a bit easier with only the battery needing to be disconnected. No trouble with the airbag or side panel.

I too prefer the VW diesel filter accessible from the top of the engine. Dunno why BMW insists on it this way, but they even had "security" star heads on some of the screws under the car - presumably to thwart DIY types from trying it.

The topsider engine oil and filter change were easy.
 

mjez

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2012
Location
Fox Lake, IL
TDI
00 Jetta
Tin Man and PeteZ06
What did you guys use to purge the diesel line after the filter replacement? I have to change fuel filter in my 2014 535d for the first time and I was curious as to what others are using to do this job.
Thanks

Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
 

PeteZ06

Veteran Member
Joined
May 16, 2012
Location
Algonquin, IL
TDI
E320 CDI
Tin Man and PeteZ06
What did you guys use to purge the diesel line after the filter replacement? I have to change fuel filter in my 2014 535d for the first time and I was curious as to what others are using to do this job.
Thanks

Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk

Good question.

From what I read before doing this, there is a purge valve built in some place. The only thing purging the system will do is bypass the long few cranks the car will do initially.

I didn't purge it.. just installed the new filter and went to start the car.

On the first start the car cranked over probably 20 times before it finally fired up. I let it run about a minute or two and then shut it off. Went to start it again and again it must have cranked about 15 times before firing up... let it run a few minutes and thats it. Now it starts up like before every time, it must have bled out the air already. I was running errands in the car today so already started it 4-5 times with no issues.

Good luck and let me know if you need any help.

You'll need a 8mm socket for the panels and a 10mm socket for the plastic bracket that holds the filter. Then a flathead and a phillips for the clamps attaching the lines.

Get plenty of towels ready.. lol
 
Last edited:

Tin Man

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 18, 2001
Location
Coastal Empire
TDI
Daughter's: 2004 NB TDI PD GLS DSG (gone to pasture)
I filled the new filter with diesel but ended up with too much air in the system. Better next time to use a Bimmercode app to prime it....
 

mjez

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2012
Location
Fox Lake, IL
TDI
00 Jetta
Good question.

From what I read before doing this, there is a purge valve built in some place. The only thing purging the system will do is bypass the long few cranks the car will do initially.

I didn't purge it.. just installed the new filter and went to start the car.

On the first start the car cranked over probably 20 times before it finally fired up. I let it run about a minute or two and then shut it off. Went to start it again and again it must have cranked about 15 times before firing up... let it run a few minutes and thats it. Now it starts up like before every time, it must have bled out the air already. I was running errands in the car today so already started it 4-5 times with no issues.

Good luck and let me know if you need any help.

You'll need a 8mm socket for the panels and a 10mm socket for the plastic bracket that holds the filter. Then a flathead and a phillips for the clamps attaching the lines.

Get plenty of towels ready.. lol
After watching a video of service tech explaining why HPFP fail I'm trying to avoid doing it this way. According to that guy, the fuel pump is working for several seconds without lubrication causing it to produce small metal particles which result in fuel system failure. Better to be safe than sorry.

Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
 

PeteZ06

Veteran Member
Joined
May 16, 2012
Location
Algonquin, IL
TDI
E320 CDI
After watching a video of service tech explaining why HPFP fail I'm trying to avoid doing it this way. According to that guy, the fuel pump is working for several seconds without lubrication causing it to produce small metal particles which result in fuel system failure. Better to be safe than sorry.

Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk

I see that happening if the fuel pump was running completely dry, installed right out of the box with absolutely no lubrication in it. But everything is still lubricated, its just like cold starting an engine in the morning with all the oil sitting in your oil pan, there is still a layer of oil over all the moving metal parts. If the HPFP fails because of this every 25-30K miles then we have bigger issues.

What do people do when they run their tank fully empty out of diesel? I would imagine they just fill up and start the car after a few extra cranks :)
 
Last edited:

mjez

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2012
Location
Fox Lake, IL
TDI
00 Jetta
What do people do when they run their tank fully empty out of diesel? I would imagine they just fill up and start the car after a few extra cranks :)
That happened to me once but in a work truck, one of the fuel lines got something stuck in it and even though there was fuel in the tank none of it was getting through to the pump. Long story short, it would not start until it was bleed out of air manually, cranking it many times did nothing at all.


Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
 

35 Yr Dsl Veteran

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2019
Location
Ft. Pierce & Lake Placid, FL
TDI
2012 Touareg TDI Sport
Glad to see this thread. Have to get this off my chest!!!

Had a 2010 X5 xDrive d35 that the engine BLEW at only 113K miles!!! Put a buttload of money into swapping the engine for a used 2011 engine, but still had other issues, and frankly I was jaded by the vehicle, so I traded in on a 2012 Touareg TDI, which I LOVE!

I should have SCRAPPED BMW in hindsight. Would have lost $1,000s less had I done so. The nickel & dime addition engine swapping costs were frustrating.

If only the BMW had a SEPARATE shifter position for manual shifting, instead of combined with "sport" mode. I might still be driving BMW today.

What happened, was I went to pass a vehicle on a two lane road whilst manually shifting, and it unfortunately (against my will) downshifted FAR lower than I would have done manually, and it revved HIGH (well under redline though), and that is where actual engine damage occurred.

A few miles later (maybe 10), I pulled into Walmart to buy something. Seemed like engine was idling roughly, so I opened hood & saw the unusual vibration. Ran fine otherwise. Note: there was no CEL.

So I went on my way, and noticed that my MPG on gauge was unusually low (25 vs. normal 30 at highway speed). Thought maybe I had a head or crosswind. So another 10 miles or so down the road, engine starts making horrible tapping sound, so I pull over as soon as I can. Got towed to European specialty shop that had worked on BMW with good results. They looked at it and engine was blown, and was cheaper to swap engines than to repair blown one.

A couple years prior we had towed at max. capacity to Canada our RV w/o incidence. Thank goodness it did not blow then!
 

Blue_Hen_TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 23, 2005
Location
Slower, DE
TDI
owned: 96 B4V, 06 Golf, 12 NMS, 15 GSW
I have 335D, but I use the priming function on the Foxwell tool. I've changed fuel filters twice. The first time, I ran the pump for about 30 seconds, and the car still cranked a few times before firing up. The second time I changed the fuel filter, I ran the full priming function on the Foxwell tool, and it seemed to run about a minute and a half and the car fired right up.

Cliff notes: it takes quite a bit of priming to purge the BMW fuel filters.
 

PeteZ06

Veteran Member
Joined
May 16, 2012
Location
Algonquin, IL
TDI
E320 CDI
I have 335D, but I use the priming function on the Foxwell tool. I've changed fuel filters twice. The first time, I ran the pump for about 30 seconds, and the car still cranked a few times before firing up. The second time I changed the fuel filter, I ran the full priming function on the Foxwell tool, and it seemed to run about a minute and a half and the car fired right up.

Cliff notes: it takes quite a bit of priming to purge the BMW fuel filters.

yeah those suckers are big.. Ive read also that if you just turn on the ignition without starting the car, the fuel pump primes and bleeds the air thru a purge valve the 535D has. Next time I'll let it prime some more.
 

tomo366

TDI Lifer, Member #68
Joined
Jun 30, 1997
Location
Kensington, Maryland USA
TDI
2015 Jetta SEL TDI
I bought my CPO 328D 2.5 years ago now it had 30K on it when I bought it I decided to buy Gap Insurance and Extended service and warranty while expensive I am tired of getting underneath them anyway last week at 58K miles I got brake pad warning and A CEL took it in They replaced all 4 injectors, replaced Pads rotors and sensors and did the emissions recall...in then canceled the Gap Insurance an Got 500 Back...didn’t pay anything....for once a Warranty did me good
 

Blue_Hen_TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 23, 2005
Location
Slower, DE
TDI
owned: 96 B4V, 06 Golf, 12 NMS, 15 GSW
I bought my CPO 328D 2.5 years ago now it had 30K on it when I bought it I decided to buy Gap Insurance and Extended service and warranty while expensive I am tired of getting underneath them anyway last week at 58K miles I got brake pad warning and A CEL took it in They replaced all 4 injectors, replaced Pads rotors and sensors and did the emissions recall...in then canceled the Gap Insurance an Got 500 Back...didn’t pay anything....for once a Warranty did me good

Winning! Sometimes they're worth it.

I know injectors probably aren't cheap. Last I looked on the 335D, they were going for $300/each and we have two more. When I first bought mine (w/ 66K on the odo), I got an injector #6 error within a couple of weeks. I heavy dosed some Hot Shots Diesel Extreme and it went away until I got deleted and it never came back. I thought I might have CBU, but mechanic checked when I got the deletes done and he said no blasting was needed. $1K saved.

I'm just waiting for my glow plugs to go. Mine was a Florida car its first eight years of life, so maybe I'll get some extra life out of them.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
I doubt Tomo's car needed all 4 injectors. But when a dealer is charging a warranty for time and parts they tend to err on the high side.
 

tomo366

TDI Lifer, Member #68
Joined
Jun 30, 1997
Location
Kensington, Maryland USA
TDI
2015 Jetta SEL TDI
I doubt Tomo's car needed all 4 injectors. But when a dealer is charging a warranty for time and parts they tend to err on the high side.
The Code was for the #4 injector which I reset 2-3 times over a month period the Car was running great!
After the Brake Pad Lights came on I took it in as soon as the CEL came on again!
That was the 1st question I asked when I picked up the car was why did you replace all 4 injectors and he said to match them with updated injectors! LOL BS
I wasn’t going to argue....Work is fine no problems
 

Tin Man

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 18, 2001
Location
Coastal Empire
TDI
Daughter's: 2004 NB TDI PD GLS DSG (gone to pasture)
Dealers don't always have knowledgable customers. They might also think of customer satisfaction by avoiding other injectors failing, so replacing all 4 might be logical.

I've always had only one glow plug replaced at a time - perhaps at some point replacing all 4 might have saved time/$$

When I had my 335d, it was also thought that "many" of the error codes for injectors were due to a fault in the programming of the DDE (electronic brain of the engine). Updating the firmware apparently solved many problems - BMW did it three times in just 2011 alone. Diesel injectors in BMWs have a good reputation for lasting a long time.
 
Last edited:

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
When I had my 335d, it was also thought that "many" of the error codes for injectors were due to a fault in the programming of the DDE (electronic brain of the engine). Updating the firmware apparently solved many problems - BMW did it three times in just 2011 alone.
This is interesting. I usually have my guru check codes on my 335d when I'm there (oh, for VCDS for a BMW) and I seem to frequently have what I call phantom codes, that appear and then aren't there the next time. They don't trigger a CEL. I have no idea if the ECU has been updated, and since it's tuned and I prefer to stay away from dealer service departments, not sure I will. Kind of annoying however to think you've may have an issue, just to discover you don't.
 

PeteZ06

Veteran Member
Joined
May 16, 2012
Location
Algonquin, IL
TDI
E320 CDI
Last time I drove the 535D the CEL went off. Scanned it and looks like I'll be needing to drop the car off at the dealer to do the EGR recall.
 

Blue_Hen_TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 23, 2005
Location
Slower, DE
TDI
owned: 96 B4V, 06 Golf, 12 NMS, 15 GSW
I went on a 450 mile trip yesterday.....my 328D got 50.1 mpg best ever such a good road car not sure if it was the new injectors

Wow, good stuff! Best tank I've gotten out of my 335D was 42.6 (all highway, no A/C). Typical is mid-30s.
 
Top