Is it time to retire my beloved 528xi n20?

rshabby · 02-16-2023, 09:21 PM

I love my 528xi N20, I’ve been driving it for over 5 years and hope many more to come! but I think it may be time to put it away for good. 3 days ago I was accelerating through an intersection when it felt like the brakes auto engaged or the engine lost complete combustion power for a second. It threw me and wife forward and then back into our seats. Not going to lie, this scared me a bit but played it cool in front of her. Then about 24 hours later I was driving to the local drug store, taking off from a red light It stalled on me, was able to roll into a driveway. I tried many times to turn the engine over but wouldn’t start. I was able to push it to a safe spot and the wife picked me up to get my Carly to run my diagnostic. when getting back to my car I tried to start it first and behold, it's started without an issue and was able to drive it back home.
I've uploaded the pdf from carly with all the diagnostic data.

part of me is wondering either i have a bad battery not supplying enough juice to the components or I have serious electrical issue.

any advice would be greatly appreciated.
thanks!

rshabby · 02-16-2023, 09:23 PM

of note this happened at mile 202842

TZ · 02-16-2023, 09:46 PM

Very high mileage! Has the battery ever been replaced?

rshabby · 02-16-2023, 10:27 PM

I think I solved the problem, went to take the battery out only to find out the battery compartment was retaining water somehow??? there was about 2in of water...
battery was last replaced in 2018.
this would explain why the loss of power and other weird things happening when accelerating, the shifting of water.
it does have lots of miles, lots of HWY driving from Michigan to Chicago and then Indiana to Detroit.

rshabby · 02-16-2023, 10:28 PM

some photos of the water, any idea how this area can collect water? bad trunk seal perhaps?
do these electrical components need to be replaced?

Surly73 · 02-17-2023, 08:09 AM

That is a scary number of warnings, I think you need to break it down into groups. Also - the water in the trunk is a "good" find. That needs to be cleaned up, everything dried up, and the source dealt with. Sun roof drains, taillight seals, plugged drainage passages etc... Searching should bring up a bunch of that stuff for F10s - you're not alone with "trunk water".

I see a grouping of fuel pressure warnings - I would be inclined to dig into those as a set. Either LPFP or HPFP could be having an issue if the submerged electronics isn't to blame.

I see a grouping of power warnings. I would say there is a failed/malfunctioning parking brake actuator. It is shorting, and potentially draining the battery while parked. Auto start/stop is disabled, startability threshold warnings - this is all power drain stuff. NOT necessarily that you need a new battery (lots of people throw money at batteries when they don't need to). It should definitely be charged with a plug in charger connected via the under hood terminals (not directly on the battery) when you sort out the water issue.

There were a number of communications errors. I would dry everything out, clear them all, and see what returns.

There was one error in there that a SVT revision doesn't match expectations - was this car coded by someone or was an add on retrofitted? Some times those things can cause some odd behaviour. I had a coding/options/retrofit issue which when combined with xHP transmission flash, caused the DSC to jam on the brakes during a high torque upshift once in a while. That was super fun. Some additional retro-fit and VO coding and that was resolved.

rshabby · 02-17-2023, 08:37 PM

I agree, there is usually only 10-15 warnings before all of this happened. I read on here that this situation should be covered under my comprehensive insurance. filed a claim today, the BMW dealer can't get to it for another 2.5 weeks though.

The module with "SG EMF" is the parking brake module. I suspect the day I took a left turn too fast and felt loss of power or a sudden break, was actually this module shorting from shifting water and trigging the parking brake which likely broke the actuator.

the other black box is the fuel control unit, similar story here, all my issues arise when accelerating shifting water and the car stalling.

to my knowledge the car has never had any retrofits. I have coded some personalization stuff with carly, turning off auto stop, folding mirrors with locking, closing the trunk from the remote.

I had already purchased a HPFP before discovering the submerged fuel control unit.

02-16-2023, 09:23 PM	#2
rshabby New Member 0 Rep 10 Posts Drives: 2013 528ix Join Date: Feb 2023 Location: indiana iTrader: (0)	of note this happened at mile 202842
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02-16-2023, 09:46 PM	#3
TZ Second Lieutenant 53 Rep 231 Posts Drives: 2011 535i xDrive, 2014 435i CO Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: NJ iTrader: (0)	Very high mileage! Has the battery ever been replaced? __________________ 2011 535i xDrive Black/Black, Michelin PS AS 4 2014 435i RWD Convertible Service Manual: www.newtis.info Part: http://www.realoem.com
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02-16-2023, 10:27 PM	#4
rshabby New Member 0 Rep 10 Posts Drives: 2013 528ix Join Date: Feb 2023 Location: indiana iTrader: (0)	I think I solved the problem, went to take the battery out only to find out the battery compartment was retaining water somehow??? there was about 2in of water... battery was last replaced in 2018. this would explain why the loss of power and other weird things happening when accelerating, the shifting of water. it does have lots of miles, lots of HWY driving from Michigan to Chicago and then Indiana to Detroit.
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02-16-2023, 10:28 PM	#5
rshabby New Member 0 Rep 10 Posts Drives: 2013 528ix Join Date: Feb 2023 Location: indiana iTrader: (0)	some photos of the water, any idea how this area can collect water? bad trunk seal perhaps? do these electrical components need to be replaced? Attached Images
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02-17-2023, 08:09 AM	#6
Surly73 Lieutenant Colonel 535 Rep 1,873 Posts Drives: '11 535xi 8AT KWv3 MPE MHD xHP Join Date: May 2012 Location: Oakville, Ontario iTrader: (1)	That is a scary number of warnings, I think you need to break it down into groups. Also - the water in the trunk is a "good" find. That needs to be cleaned up, everything dried up, and the source dealt with. Sun roof drains, taillight seals, plugged drainage passages etc... Searching should bring up a bunch of that stuff for F10s - you're not alone with "trunk water". I see a grouping of fuel pressure warnings - I would be inclined to dig into those as a set. Either LPFP or HPFP could be having an issue if the submerged electronics isn't to blame. I see a grouping of power warnings. I would say there is a failed/malfunctioning parking brake actuator. It is shorting, and potentially draining the battery while parked. Auto start/stop is disabled, startability threshold warnings - this is all power drain stuff. NOT necessarily that you need a new battery (lots of people throw money at batteries when they don't need to). It should definitely be charged with a plug in charger connected via the under hood terminals (not directly on the battery) when you sort out the water issue. There were a number of communications errors. I would dry everything out, clear them all, and see what returns. There was one error in there that a SVT revision doesn't match expectations - was this car coded by someone or was an add on retrofitted? Some times those things can cause some odd behaviour. I had a coding/options/retrofit issue which when combined with xHP transmission flash, caused the DSC to jam on the brakes during a high torque upshift once in a while. That was super fun. Some additional retro-fit and VO coding and that was resolved.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

02-17-2023, 08:37 PM	#7
rshabby New Member 0 Rep 10 Posts Drives: 2013 528ix Join Date: Feb 2023 Location: indiana iTrader: (0)	I agree, there is usually only 10-15 warnings before all of this happened. I read on here that this situation should be covered under my comprehensive insurance. filed a claim today, the BMW dealer can't get to it for another 2.5 weeks though. The module with "SG EMF" is the parking brake module. I suspect the day I took a left turn too fast and felt loss of power or a sudden break, was actually this module shorting from shifting water and trigging the parking brake which likely broke the actuator. the other black box is the fuel control unit, similar story here, all my issues arise when accelerating shifting water and the car stalling. to my knowledge the car has never had any retrofits. I have coded some personalization stuff with carly, turning off auto stop, folding mirrors with locking, closing the trunk from the remote. I had already purchased a HPFP before discovering the submerged fuel control unit.
	Appreciate 0 Quote