P0011 and P0016

[SnowRacer]

Yikes. Any update?

[MadGus]

Nothing yet, Snow... the shop that I'm scheduled at will perform the "autopsy" in early December. They had three S54 rebuilds for track cars in front of me in their queue.

Missing an entire fall season of driving... SUCKS!

[MadGus]

Well, after consulting with Rachael at Perception Motor Werks and Ben at Rogue Engineering...

the cost to rebuild this motor to a zero mile, OE spec 3.2L S54 is just not going to be worth it (in my opinion).

I have found someone on the forums who is going to buy the car for parts, and have started my search for another low mileage Z4M. Hoping to pull the trigger on purchasing one in the next couple of weeks here.

More to come, but with a different VIN!

[Vanne]

Any idea about root cause? Like previously mentioned I’ve never seen one go like that. Did the chain linkage sheer? Or was it something else? Keen to find out more. Again, sad to hear about this mate.

[MadGus]

Originally Posted by Vanne

Any idea about root cause? Like previously mentioned IÂ’ve never seen one go like that. Did the chain linkage sheer? Or was it something else? Keen to find out more. Again, sad to hear about this mate.

Vanne - I wish I had more answers to share. My original plan was going to start with pulling the valve cover and vanos to validate that the upper timing chain guide is still intact (replaced with the Beisan chain guide 3 years ago) and to check that the two exhaust cam hub tabs are also intact (upgraded the oil pump disk to the Beisan drilled one 3 years ago as well).

I didn't end up having the shop dig into the motor, as once they eyeballed the failure and we covered the likely rebuild options/costs (bent valves, likely damaged pistons, mandatory new oil cooler, etc.). It just didn't seem worth the labor cost to ask them to try and answer the "why did it fail" question.

At this point, with the car back in my garage, I'm not motivated to spend the time digging (even at $0/hr)... I'd rather spend time sorting out my next/replacement Z4MR. I'm confident in the maintenance that I did to the car over the five years I had it, and the codes I chased for the few months before the failure pointed to either bad sensors (cams or crank), dirty/stuck vanos solenoids, or a stretched timing chain... the intermittent nature of the rough idle and codes being thrown was just such a head scratcher!

Occam's razor: I'm resigning myself to the fact that this was an incredibly uncommon failure, which I believe was either caused by some error made by me in retiming the engine multiple times during this troubleshooting, or by a stretched timing chain.

[vinela]

Hi 2007 3.0 si. with a P0172 code. The Mechanic tells me leak is from valve cover and I need to change the valve cover not just the gasket. It looks in great shape. Any reason why I need to change the cover (not just gasket)? No leaks, just the air leak around the valve cover.

[vinela]

Also the car has 65K miles on it and has had no other issues.

[MadGus]

Vinela - if you’re getting P0011 and P0016 codes and your mechanic says you need a new valve cover, I hate to tell you… but you need a new mechanic.

[vinela]

Gus, thanks for that correction (and the truth). Posted in a hurry, code is P0172. Mechanic says plastic valve covers tighten over time with the heat, and recommends changing both Gasket and Cover together.

[MadGus]

There are several potential causes for the P0172 code in BMW vehicles. These include a faulty mass air flow sensor (MAF), a malfunctioning oxygen sensor, a vacuum leak, a clogged fuel injector, a defective fuel pressure regulator, or a problem with the engine’s computer system.

Good luck! The valve cover itself would not be the first place to look for a vacuum leak (IMO).

[vinela]

Thanks Gus, the vacuum leak was "traced" to the boot by a BMW/Mercedes independent shop in SM. The part was not available, so I took it to my regular mechanic for a second opinion. He actually did a vacuum test and traced the leak to the Valve cover. Says since the 2007 N52 has a plastic Valve cover, he needs to replace it with a new cover (and gasket) rather than just a new cover.

[MadGus]

Good luck with the repair!

[MadGus]

End of Thread