[ADM]

Not a very pleasant feeling to have a "Drivetrain malfunction" warning light come on (without any warning) as you are exiting at 70 mph from a high speed expressway. The saving grace was that I was already well onto the exit ramp and approaching a red light and no longer driving at 70 mph, when it occurred. Otherwise, I might have been involved in a heavy duty collision as the car experienced a quick, and sudden dramatic almost total loss of power. Scary to say the least.

Even with the “Drivetrain malfunction” warning light, the "Systems Check" on the Vehicle came up with a "green light - All systems OK".

Rough idle at red light and then quirky limp to the side of the road. The car's automatic transmission threw itself (I know this sounds very odd, but that is what happened) into neutral and a new warning message appeared indicated that the car was "not in park".

Put it in park and shut the engine off. Again checking the manual computer readout of vehicle status, which again came up with a "green light - All systems OK".

Restarted the engine, it caught and (after a rough idle) provided the power to drive. Shortly thereafter a new warning light came on, "Low coolant, top off immediately to avoid engine damage".

Drove the few miles to home and waited an hour to open and check the coolant level. Yes it was low. However, no previous warning.

The 2014 328d Xdrive car was brought to my mechanic, where multiple fault codes were present and a visual inspection indicated that there was some major issues due to a melted intake manifold, coupled with diesel particulate on the engine cover (which manually lies on top of the engine). In otherwords, it appeared that the intake manifold had large holes in the plastic like cap, and it seemed to reinforce the opinion that the engine was cooking its own exhaust!

Vehicle was then towed to the BMW dealership.

Bottom line after several hours of BMW investigation:
EGR valve and cooler were both faulty, causing severe damage to the intake manifold and cooler coolant leak, as well also damaging the throttle control actuator.

Did a little research on line and found that there had been a BMW recall for all Model 328s in the US, EXCEPT for the Diesels for similar symptoms -- That recall cited a faulty Bosch Fuel injector system that promoted similar symptoms. Fortunately, mine was not the result of the faulty Bosch Fuel Injector, as in those scenarios, where it was reported (via posts on-line related to the BMW recall regarding that issue), that many of those vehicles had major damage to their fuel systems.

Further research on the web showed that there was a “technical campaign to fix faulty diesel EGR valves in the EU” (https://www.bmwblog.com/2018/08/08/b...ves-in-the-eu/). This article was posted on 8 August 2018.

Another BMW Blog post (https://www.bmwblog.com/2018/08/14/s...ssue-is-fixed/) dated 18 August 2018, focused on anther issue related to faulty EGRs.

While these situations were outside of the US, I did not come across any published formal recall for BMW 3 series diesels based in the US.

Car was repaired and I am back on the road.
Since I know of 2 other BMW diesels in our family, and I always properly maintain/service my vehicle, I asked the SA if there were any pro-active preventative steps I/we could take in the future to pre-empt this from reoccurring. His response was not encouraging — not anything really…

Because of the incident and the European recalls, I thought I would put this out there.

Me, considering what could have been — loosing power at 70 mph on an expressway w/o warning, etc — I’m considering myself to be pretty lucky.

[FaRKle!]

Originally Posted by ADM

I asked the SA if there were any pro-active preventative steps I/we could take in the future to pre-empt this from reoccurring. His response was not encouraging — not anything really…

You can monitor the EGR Cooler temps with an app like Torque Pro. If it's failing I'd imagine you'd see a pretty high temperature there. I have that channel as one of my readouts along with the DPF temp to see when a regen is occurring.

[rbreding]

Glad My egr is disabled and no xdrive on the 328d.


ADM.....how many miles?

[ADM]

Just pushed past 65,000.

[n00bkiller944]

Wow. Any pictures of the carnage?

[n00bkiller944]

Originally Posted by FaRKle!

You can monitor the EGR Cooler temps with an app like Torque Pro. If it's failing I'd imagine you'd see a pretty high temperature there. I have that channel as one of my readouts along with the DPF temp to see when a regen is occurring.

Cool idea. Do you just have your phone mounted in the car so you can monitor?

[ADM]

Originally Posted by n00bkiller944

Wow. Any pictures of the carnage?

Sorry, didn't realize I should have done this until I saw your reply. Some how I was a bit frazzled by it all, so I did not focus on it. Would have been a good thing to have done for sure.

Basically, the underside of the engine cover that has the large letters "BMW" on it (that lifts off) had a large black circle of particulates attached to it from the diesel spay eminating from the holes in the intake manifold.

Picture something like a cover cap of a large magic marker/highlighter, that protrudes in the center top of the manifold -- located on the uppermost part on the top of the engine. That cap had holes in it large enough for a pen to be inserted into it. That is part of what melted down.

Hope that helps.

[FaRKle!]

Originally Posted by n00bkiller944

Cool idea. Do you just have your phone mounted in the car so you can monitor?

Yeah I put my phone in a mount (using one that plugs into the 12V socket between the cup holders) and use it as extra gauges. My typical readout is boost, boost commanded, turbo drive pressure, ambient air temp, charge air temp (intake manifold temp), coolant temp, and DPF temp. I keep the EGR temp on page 2 (swipe to go to it).

I use an OBDLink LX OBDII adapter. Much better bandwidth than those crappy ELM327 units (they're terrible for logging).

Originally Posted by ADM

Basically, the underside of the engine cover that has the large letters "BMW" on it (that lifts off) had a large black circle of particulates attached to it from the diesel spay eminating from the holes in the intake manifold.

If you had holes in your intake manifold you should've been able to see that by monitoring boost as well vs commanded boost.

[Japeri]

Originally Posted by ADM

Not a very pleasant feeling to have a "Drivetrain malfunction" warning light come on (without any warning) as you are exiting at 70 mph from a high speed expressway. The saving grace was that I was already well onto the exit ramp and approaching a red light and no longer driving at 70 mph, when it occurred. Otherwise, I might have been involved in a heavy duty collision as the car experienced a quick, and sudden dramatic almost total loss of power. Scary to say the least.

Even with the “Drivetrain malfunction” warning light, the "Systems Check" on the Vehicle came up with a "green light - All systems OK".

Rough idle at red light and then quirky limp to the side of the road. The car's automatic transmission threw itself (I know this sounds very odd, but that is what happened) into neutral and a new warning message appeared indicated that the car was "not in park".

Put it in park and shut the engine off. Again checking the manual computer readout of vehicle status, which again came up with a "green light - All systems OK".

Restarted the engine, it caught and (after a rough idle) provided the power to drive. Shortly thereafter a new warning light came on, "Low coolant, top off immediately to avoid engine damage".

Drove the few miles to home and waited an hour to open and check the coolant level. Yes it was low. However, no previous warning.

The 2014 328d Xdrive car was brought to my mechanic, where multiple fault codes were present and a visual inspection indicated that there was some major issues due to a melted intake manifold, coupled with diesel particulate on the engine cover (which manually lies on top of the engine). In otherwords, it appeared that the intake manifold had large holes in the plastic like cap, and it seemed to reinforce the opinion that the engine was cooking its own exhaust!

Vehicle was then towed to the BMW dealership.

Bottom line after several hours of BMW investigation:
EGR valve and cooler were both faulty, causing severe damage to the intake manifold and cooler coolant leak, as well also damaging the throttle control actuator.

Did a little research on line and found that there had been a BMW recall for all Model 328s in the US, EXCEPT for the Diesels for similar symptoms -- That recall cited a faulty Bosch Fuel injector system that promoted similar symptoms. Fortunately, mine was not the result of the faulty Bosch Fuel Injector, as in those scenarios, where it was reported (via posts on-line related to the BMW recall regarding that issue), that many of those vehicles had major damage to their fuel systems.

Further research on the web showed that there was a “technical campaign to fix faulty diesel EGR valves in the EU” (https://www.bmwblog.com/2018/08/08/b...ves-in-the-eu/). This article was posted on 8 August 2018.

Another BMW Blog post (https://www.bmwblog.com/2018/08/14/s...ssue-is-fixed/) dated 18 August 2018, focused on anther issue related to faulty EGRs.

While these situations were outside of the US, I did not come across any published formal recall for BMW 3 series diesels based in the US.

Car was repaired and I am back on the road.
Since I know of 2 other BMW diesels in our family, and I always properly maintain/service my vehicle, I asked the SA if there were any pro-active preventative steps I/we could take in the future to pre-empt this from reoccurring. His response was not encouraging — not anything really…

Because of the incident and the European recalls, I thought I would put this out there.

Me, considering what could have been — loosing power at 70 mph on an expressway w/o warning, etc — I’m considering myself to be pretty lucky.

Originally Posted by ADM

Not a very pleasant feeling to have a "Drivetrain malfunction" warning light come on (without any warning) as you are exiting at 70 mph from a high speed expressway. The saving grace was that I was already well onto the exit ramp and approaching a red light and no longer driving at 70 mph, when it occurred. Otherwise, I might have been involved in a heavy duty collision as the car experienced a quick, and sudden dramatic almost total loss of power. Scary to say the least.

Even with the “Drivetrain malfunction” warning light, the "Systems Check" on the Vehicle came up with a "green light - All systems OK".

Rough idle at red light and then quirky limp to the side of the road. The car's automatic transmission threw itself (I know this sounds very odd, but that is what happened) into neutral and a new warning message appeared indicated that the car was "not in park".

Put it in park and shut the engine off. Again checking the manual computer readout of vehicle status, which again came up with a "green light - All systems OK".

Restarted the engine, it caught and (after a rough idle) provided the power to drive. Shortly thereafter a new warning light came on, "Low coolant, top off immediately to avoid engine damage".

Drove the few miles to home and waited an hour to open and check the coolant level. Yes it was low. However, no previous warning.

The 2014 328d Xdrive car was brought to my mechanic, where multiple fault codes were present and a visual inspection indicated that there was some major issues due to a melted intake manifold, coupled with diesel particulate on the engine cover (which manually lies on top of the engine). In otherwords, it appeared that the intake manifold had large holes in the plastic like cap, and it seemed to reinforce the opinion that the engine was cooking its own exhaust!

Vehicle was then towed to the BMW dealership.

Bottom line after several hours of BMW investigation:
EGR valve and cooler were both faulty, causing severe damage to the intake manifold and cooler coolant leak, as well also damaging the throttle control actuator.

Did a little research on line and found that there had been a BMW recall for all Model 328s in the US, EXCEPT for the Diesels for similar symptoms -- That recall cited a faulty Bosch Fuel injector system that promoted similar symptoms. Fortunately, mine was not the result of the faulty Bosch Fuel Injector, as in those scenarios, where it was reported (via posts on-line related to the BMW recall regarding that issue), that many of those vehicles had major damage to their fuel systems.

Further research on the web showed that there was a “technical campaign to fix faulty diesel EGR valves in the EU” (https://www.bmwblog.com/2018/08/08/b...ves-in-the-eu/). This article was posted on 8 August 2018.

Another BMW Blog post (https://www.bmwblog.com/2018/08/14/s...ssue-is-fixed/) dated 18 August 2018, focused on anther issue related to faulty EGRs.

While these situations were outside of the US, I did not come across any published formal recall for BMW 3 series diesels based in the US.
I
Car was repaired and I am back on the road.
Since I know of 2 other BMW diesels in our family, and I always properly maintain/service my vehicle, I asked the SA if there were any pro-active preventative steps I/we could take in the future to pre-empt this from reoccurring. His response was not encouraging — not anything really…

Because of the incident and the European recalls, I thought I would put this out there.

Me, considering what could have been — loosing power at 70 mph on an expressway w/o warning, etc — I’m considering myself to be pretty lucky.

I just had a similar situation with my 2014 328d with 60k miles. Drive train malfunction warning flashed doing 70mph and all power was cut. Had it towed to BMW and was told egr valve stuck open, melting the intake manifold and damaging the engine. Best case, $11k in repairs or worst case, $25k for a new engine. Out of mfg warranty and extended warranty won't cover. I filed a claim with BMW north america and they also denied any fault. I was shocked they wouldn't help me out given all the troubles they've had with diesel egr's lately and the recall in Europe and Korea. A perfectly running BMW with low miles is totalled and I'm stuck with the bill. Any one have any suggestions?

[Japeri]

I just bought my first BMW 9 months ago. It is a 2014 328d with 60k miles currently on it. Drive train malfunction warning flashed doing 70mph and all power was cut. Had it towed to BMW and was told egr valve stuck open, melting the intake manifold and damaging the engine. Best case, $11k in repairs or worst case, $25k for a new engine. It's Out of mfg warranty and extended warranty won't cover. I filed a claim with BMW north america and they also denied any fault. I was shocked they wouldn't help me out given all the troubles they've had with diesel egr's lately and the recall in Europe and Korea. A perfectly running BMW with low miles is totalled and I'm stuck with the bill. Any one have any suggestions?

[Enabled]

Just how far does the damage go? Really needs a whole new engine?

Either way, a low-ish mile used engine is sub $4000 and some labor. One quick example https://www.ebay.com/itm/253425437313

[Japeri]

My situation is identical to ADM. The EGR failed, allowing hot exhaust gas to flow freely to the engine essentially cooking it. The repair tech at BMW said it happens enough that BMW issued a TSB (technical service bulletin) to all the dealerships so they know how to troubleshoot and assess damage. Based on that TSB, the tech recommended I replace the EGR valve, EGR cooler, throttle body, particulate filter, etc, etc. The entire list of parts totaled $6500. After labor and tax, the bill was $10k. Neither my extended warranty nor BMW covered the repairs so it was entirely out-of-pocket to me. They originally thought the engine was damaged and needed replacement but fortunately it survived. Regardless, seems like an excessive amount of damage for an emissions component. Based on the recall in europe and korea, and the TSB issued in the U.S., do you think this will eventually be covered by BMW in the states? I'm hoping they accept responsibility down the road and end up reimbursing me.

[rbreding]

All these reports of failed EGR.......so glad mine is at least electronically disabled.

[Enabled]

Originally Posted by rbreding

All these reports of failed EGR.......so glad mine is at least electronically disabled.

Agreed, same here and I will be disabling my dad's X3 28d EGR as well, or at least "dynamic" egr.

[Hypermile]

I got a recall notice from GasBuddy yesterday regarding the EGR and melting manifold. I called the dealer and they advised me that the recall does not affect my '17 LCI.

[Hypermile]

Originally Posted by rbreding

All these reports of failed EGR.......so glad mine is at least electronically disabled.

How did you accomplish this? Can it be done on a North American '17 328d LCI?

Thanks in advance!

[rbreding]

Egr is disabled in the JR tune since my dpf is gone.

[graphicjunkie]

Couple questions....


Enabled: Your sig says self tuned. Can you elaborate, or pm me how/what equipment is used? Also, at that power level, how is your transmission holding up? Did you do anything to upgrade/beef it up? Same for differential(s)...


I have emission laws here. I can't pass emissions without my DPF. But I would LOVE to get rid of it, as well as the EGR. I would be ok with having to swap out my exhaust every other year for emissions testing. But how does the computer react to having a DPF put back in place for the testing? I wouldn't think it would care, but you know the saying about "assume".....


I had about 30K miles on my car when I had an EGR failure and an injector go out. (#2).
I would love to deactivate the EGR so i don't have to worry about that, as I'm crowding 70K now.


Thanks.

[theplasticbling]

I'd also like to comment on the EGR. I'm lucky enough to live where we don't have to do emmissions testing. Is it possible to delete the EGR on the US spec n47 rather than disabling it? Anything different from the Euro models?

[rbreding]

Originally Posted by theplasticbling

I'd also like to comment on the EGR. I'm lucky enough to live where we don't have to do emmissions testing. Is it possible to delete the EGR on the US spec n47 rather than disabling it? Anything different from the Euro models?

This was recently discussed on the facebook group. Someone just removed the N47 EGR with a euro supplied block off kit over the weekend. He is JR 3.0 tuned.

[theplasticbling]

Originally Posted by rbreding

This was recently discussed on the facebook group. Someone just removed the N47 EGR with a euro supplied block off kit over the weekend. He is JR 3.0 tuned.

Sweet. Thanks for the info.

[CleanKM]

Recall issued: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/201...8V755-1110.pdf