[Fb2017]

Hello everyone, I am pretty desperate, frusterated and fed up with this car. Its a 2011 328xi with the N52N motor. For the last 30 000km the car has had a snall misfire every now and then. I changed the plugs and coils and it made the car 70% better. The problem has started to rear its ugly head again. I put in new oem plugs, more coils and it still shakes. You can actually hear popping from the exhaust when the car is warm. The missing/shaking happens when the car is both cold and hot. It is much more pronounced when at operating temperature though. I have babied this car since day one and have always given it the good stuff. I don't even know where to look at this point. All help is welcomed.

Car has 120000km on the odometer, zero leaks, absolutely zero trouble codes yet it idles like crap. It has always had 91 gas and gets euro formula castrol oil. The car revs fine but once warm between 800rpm and 1000rpm it shakes and shudders. It has no issues driving, just realllly annoying when stuck at the lights or waiting for someone etc..From what I can tell with the carly app bank 1 is running 5% rich. When the ac is on it makes the shaking less pronounced. Someone please point me in the right direction

I'm happy to buy a case of beer to the winning tip haha.. thank you all in advance

[Fb2017]

Alsoo I should add I just cleaned out the vanos solenoids as well. No change

[Noir]

have you gotten it professionally scanned or eith a "real" scanner?

[scanspeak]

Eccentric shaft sensor?

[Fb2017]

I used the carly scanner... two weeks earlier I had it scanned by a buddy with inpa and still no codes

[Fb2017]

It very well could be, what are the symptoms of the eccentric shaft sensor?

[maxor]

Having this same issue, Car died on me eariler, a simple restart brought it back to life.

This could either be the eccentric shaft sensor or the crankshaft position sensor from the research i've done.

Gonna see if i can narrow this down, Keep me updated on your progress!

I want to avoid taking it to the stealership for as long as i can

[Fb2017]

Will do for sure.. I really wish this car would give me a code for something.. anything..

The popping is just small pops every time it misses. I'll see if I can take a video or something.

[maxor]

Originally Posted by Fb2017

Will do for sure.. I really wish this car would give me a code for something.. anything..

The popping is just small pops every time it misses. I'll see if I can take a video or something.

Same issue here, cleared the codes before taking it out for a drive, when i came back engine turned off, CEL on, no logged codes, Pain in my ass.

[Fb2017]

Yeahh.. it really takes the joy out of the car... I've considered getting rid of it but I've invested too much to give up.

I really dont know what it can be... possibly O2? One sensor seems stable the other is a bit erratic.. in the pic i attach it says bank one for both first entries... i suspect one is bank 2 just poor translation.

If theres any other info that can help
Im happy to post it

[Fb2017]

The numbers are all over the place.. heres whatever I could dig up

[Fb2017]

Heres more.. sorry for duplicates the app crashed

[Fb2017]

If anyone can understand the above I will be hugely grateful

[Fb2017]

Anybody??

[nsjames]

go back to your buddy with INPA.

pull up the rough running screen. Watch it for a while. This will at least point you to what cylinder it likely is.

swap injectors with another cylinder, preferably in a different bank. If the rough cylinder follows the injector, you need injector. If it doesn't, it's ignition, or like it was in my case, a crappy connection at the cyl 1 injector. I retensioned the pins and it never came back, that was 25K miles ago.

Since it only happens at idle I'd also suspect a vacuum leak.

[Fb2017]

Heres a video of what is happening. Inpa is going to happen next weekend. If anyone has suggestions in the interim I'm open to them!

As for a vacuum leak, if anyone has a diagram of where to check for them do share. I have had some time locating the vacuum lines on this car.

Thank you

[Fb2017]

So heres a small update..

Took the car to a bmw specialist and it stumped even him. No vacuum leaks, O2 sensors (all of them) working fine, he said fuel pressure would be fine considering the car is running slightly rich. Coils fine, plugs fine.

Possible culprit he thinks at this point is injectors but he also mentioned that on the n52 engine he has never needed to change them on any (as he pointed to a 323i with over 200k on the odometer)

He said all cylinders especially 4&5 were running rough according to the cyl. Rough running test. Just no clue why.

I really don't want to start burning money to the tune of 250$+ per injector. How would you rate some of the remanufactured ones on rockauto?

If it cures the problem maybe I'll send the OEM ones for cleaning? Whats your suggestion guys? How to test for faulty injectors on an engine that won't throw codes.

[nsjames]

$250 per?

crazy talk. I bought an entire set of flow matched remans for like $150. They've been in the car for 30K miles.

edit:
my "failed" injector ended up being the connector sucking. Pull the connectors and retension all of them with a pick, look for solid witness marks on the injector male spade that the female spades are gripping them tightly.

[Xencer]

That noise is making me think your catalytic converter has broken up and is restricting the exhaust. Do you get a misfire at high rpm? I am thinking this because if it happens while cold and while fully warmed up, it's not a sensor issue because it still happens in open loop mode.

All of those engine parameters you posted don't mean much to me because I'd rather look at the OBD parameter data. Post your short term fuel trims and long term fuel trims with O2 sensor voltage and A/F sensor voltage or current, which ever one you can find.

I'm thinking a restricted exhaust will make it run rich because there is less air flow in and out of the engine overall. Take your exhaust off behind the catalytic converter and shine a flashlight up in it to inspect it. However, this does not confirm if it has broken up upstream near the cylinder head.

[Fb2017]

Yeah 250 each up here in Canada.. the dollar is shit and the dealers claim to have less "buying power" vs down south.

I will give the connectors a shot then take a look at the exhaust when possible.

Will post fuel trims shortly thank you

[nsjames]

Originally Posted by Fb2017

Yeah 250 each up here in Canada.. the dollar is shit and the dealers claim to have less "buying power" vs down south.

I will give the connectors a shot then take a look at the exhaust when possible.

Will post fuel trims shortly thank you

don't buy them from a dealer.

N52 injectors are standard parts that any decent rebuilder can rebuild.

or simply send them off to have them cleaned and checked properly.

random google find.
https://www.torontoinjectors.com/pro...r-full-service

I'm sure there's more.

[Fb2017]

Yeah I found a local shop to clean them. Just on the fence if it really is them.

Trying to install inpa.. its a bitch and a half.

In regards to a bad catalytic converter I'm not so sure as the car doesn't miss under load. It sure compensates on bank one for fuel though. Hoping to send some shots once I got it up and running. Much easier to interpret vs carly.