[nick97]

Yesterday when i was driving the car normally on the hwy the drivetrain malfunction popped up and car went into a reduced power mode. I don't drive the car very aggressively, however i noticed that it didn't pull as hard as it used to a couple of days leading to the drivetrain malfunction. Car has a jb4 (map2), ER catless dp and a BMS filter. I scanned the car with the jb4 app and these are the codes it gave:
131501 VANOS, Intake, cold start: not adjustable
120408 Reduced power mode
180001 Catless Downpipe detected.

[NinetyEight740]

Replace vanos solenoids

[nick97]

Originally Posted by NinetyEight740

Replace vanos solenoids

Car drives completely normally though. I set it to map 0 this morning and the warning has yet to come again. I'll even try completely removing the jb4 and see what happens then. Also something else that i noticed is that when the car is WARMED UP, when i start it up it revs up pretty high (1.5k-2k rpm) for a couple of seconds and then stays at around 1k rpm. Cold start is normal.

[NinetyEight740]

Replace solenoids and change the oil with oem filter only.

[nick97]

Quick update if someone else has a similar problem: Turned out the valvetronick bolts for the intake camshaft were completely torn. My engine is full with the parts of the bolts. The camshaft is still spinning so i might not need a new engine if i can fish out all the bolt pieces. Turns out there is a recall for this but my vin is not covered, of course.. i'll contact bmw NA and see if they can help out. The car is a 07/2011 N55 with 95k miles.

[Stück]

I think you mean the VANOS mechanism bolts which are known to break on early N55's.

Replace both VANOS units, both bolts that fasten them to the camshafts, and then drop the engine oil pan to recover the broken bolt heads from the VANOS units.

Check the units against the heads recovered and dont stop looking until you've recovered them all. Set timing, reassemble and done.

[nick97]

Yes, sorry about that.
The intake vanos adjuster bolts had snapped, all 4.
Decided to change the other adjuster too, and 2 of the bolts snapped while i was trying to remove them.... so yeah lucky on that one.

[TitanLH8]

I'm having somewhat of a similar issue however this only happens sporadically and haven't figured out any patterns yet. Once in a while, when the engine starts up from auto start/stop at a light, I'll get the drivetrain malfunction error message. I have to restart the car and the error goes away.

Car has no issues while driving and haven't seen this message while the car is in motion. Currently driving a 2012 535

[ziekxq]

I had similar issue. Changing new spark plugs fixed it.

[jonobro]

Originally Posted by nick97

Quick update if someone else has a similar problem: Turned out the valvetronick bolts for the intake camshaft were completely torn. My engine is full with the parts of the bolts. The camshaft is still spinning so i might not need a new engine if i can fish out all the bolt pieces. Turns out there is a recall for this but my vin is not covered, of course.. i'll contact bmw NA and see if they can help out. The car is a 07/2011 N55 with 95k miles.

did your car ever shut off and put itself in Neutral

[JDFlys]

Is there anyway to verify if the bolts have sheared? I have a 07/2011 N55 with 102k on it. Bringing it to the dealer next week. Any idea what the repair cost on something like that is?

[ziekxq]

Originally Posted by JDFlys

Is there anyway to verify if the bolts have sheared? I have a 07/2011 N55 with 102k on it. Bringing it to the dealer next week. Any idea what the repair cost on something like that is?

There is a recall on the vanos issue. If the stuff has gone inside the engine then I dont know.

[nick97]

Originally Posted by ziekxq

There is a recall on the vanos issue. If the stuff has gone inside the engine then I dont know.

Not all 535s are included in the recall. Mine wasn't and when i called BMWNA they just told me it's a known issue, however my car wasn't manufactured in one of the factories the recall was for. My advice is to check if your car has the recall and go change them immediately. I got lucky this thing didn't destroy my engine.

[ziekxq]

Originally Posted by nick97

Not all 535s are included in the recall. Mine wasn't and when i called BMWNA they just told me it's a known issue, however my car wasn't manufactured in one of the factories the recall was for. My advice is to check if your car has the recall and go change them immediately. I got lucky this thing didn't destroy my engine.

Hehe, I did check and my recall was done already during the CPO process.

Looks like you got really lucky, at this point anyone running 535 shoud get this replace rather than wait for it.

[DallasJordan]

I'm getting a drive train malfunction on my 2011 550i m sport after putting techron fuel system cleaner. I've had it happen before but cleared up after refilling with fresh fuel. This time, not so much. Getting misfire on cylinders 4, 5, and 8.. any suggestions?

[NYC535iowner]

I have a 2013 535i X-drive. I had the message come up last year a few times. The last time it happened I took it to a certified shop to get it fix but for some reason their scanner can't find the error. So the shop wasn't able to find the problem or fix anything since their scanner can't find the error code.
They kept the car for about 1 week, they tested, drove it etc and the message never came up.
I was just told to keep driving and next time it happens come back to the shop.