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Stuart Truman wrote:Progress to date, dealer is recoding the car, something didn't take and the car is bricked. They have to replace a module (don't know which)

Interesting, keep us updated. Not sure I understand the car being 'bricked'.....before or after it went into them? And how did they managed to brick it?? Sounds a bit bizarre to me.....

I was experiencing hesitation now and again and also the engine cutting out at low speeds, usually coming out of a car park or coming up to a junction. It only happened a few times over a couple of years although I only do 5k per year.

I decided to use a bottle of redex in the tank for the first time ever at the start of the year and I haven't experienced the issues since. It's probably a Coincidence and I'm sure I've just jinxed it

I also only use BP ultimate as the car seems to run much smoother than with any other fuel.

"Bricked" is a term for when you update the firmware or software of a piece of electronic equipment, it fails and your piece of technology has become a brick (or as much use as one"

Stuart Truman wrote:"Bricked" is a term for when you update the firmware or software of a piece of electronic equipment, it fails and your piece of technology has become a brick (or as much use as one"

I understand the term, not how it happened though? Did they give you anymore details?

Apparently the airbag control module failed during the update and wouldn't roll back so they have to replace it. It's right up inside somewhere awkward and they've had to strip out all the interior to get to it.

Glad I've got a warranty, I'm wondering how the conversation would have gone if they'd told me they'd broken it and I didn't have cover....

AndyBeech wrote: Another thing to look for, any pipes relating to the intake side of the engine. Splits, cracks, perished hoses, hoses that should be round and not flat! I solved my idle drop with the simplest of fixes that I missed for ages. One of the smallest hoses which connects to the brake booster lines/vacuum lines at the back of the engine, it's an elbow shaped hose, had flattened if you like, don't know how or why, just perished over time I guess. Ordered a new one from BMW, nice round hose as it should be, fitted it and boom, idle solid as a rock. A £3 hose! Also had the affect of firming up the brake pedal as not enough air was getting to the master cylinder and instead just going back to the engine. If you look at the brake vacuum pipes, you have a sucking air pump and an air return valve coming off the intake elbow. The sucking air pump leads straight to the alloy air control bar at the top of the engine. As you can imagine, too little or too much air than expected up here and your idle's going to be off, as in my case. The engine will effectively choke, causing the rev's to dip slightly before the engine can adjust the fuel it's putting in to compensate, hence the rev's jumping back up.

Hi @AndyBeech, would you mind sharing the part number of the hose you replaced? I'm having similar symptoms (including the brake pedal) you described, but have a hard time figuring out the part from RealOEM. Thanks!

Edit: I figured out it is the hose with number 7 next to it (although the 7 refers to the hose clamp) on following image


I'll have to check with the dealer if the hose itself can be ordered, or if I need to get the whole assembly.

Both their tech and I thought it would be a vacuum leak for the rev drop. They haven't got that far. Day 4 in the big brother house and I get a call saying "your car is unravelling in front of us"!

Their coding computer is complaining that is can't find a module to communicate with. What module you say? Oh a f*cking Diesel Engine Control Module you say. I have the first diesel Z4M.

To say I'm unhappy is an understatement. Tomorrow they're connecting the car directly to BMW for them to manually code it. If and when that's successful they can start diagnosing the problem the bloody thing went in with!

Stuart Truman wrote:Both their tech and I thought it would be a vacuum leak for the rev drop. They haven't got that far. Day 4 in the big brother house and I get a call saying "your car is unravelling in front of us"!

Their coding computer is complaining that is can't find a module to communicate with. What module you say? Oh a f*cking Diesel Engine Control Module you say. I have the first diesel Z4M.

To say I'm unhappy is an understatement. Tomorrow they're connecting the car directly to BMW for them to manually code it. If and when that's successful they can start diagnosing the problem the bloody thing went in with!

Hi Stuart!

Sorry to hear what u are going through.

It still amazes me how lucky dealers are, they still a have clients!!
It's been a while since any of my cars have visited any Bmw or Audi dealers. In Spain they have demonstrated how incompetent they can be.

Hope everything turns out well with you //M.

Cheers

To be fair, Dick Lovett has been superb in the past. This looks to be a computer issue as when they code a car it interrogates the car to see what modules are fitted, then communicates to the mother-ship somewhere to see what needs updating. It then downloads those modules and uploads them to the car. It appears to have uploaded something wrong and broken it.

Well....
Anybody who has just read a little bit about coding bmws will tell you that when using SSS/GT/NCS BEFORE coding you read the modules and back them up just in case...
If they didn't do it at the dealer shame on them.
Unless the module it's no longer functional due two a major problem. bricked instead of soft breaked.

Not sure if you read back, but the module couldn't be rolled back. They tried that first

Ohhh... I see

hope they bring out with a fast solution.

Anchefonk wrote:Well....
Anybody who has just read a little bit about coding bmws will tell you that when using SSS/GT/NCS BEFORE coding you read the modules and back them up just in case...
If they didn't do it at the dealer shame on them.
Unless the module it's no longer functional due two a major problem. bricked instead of soft breaked.

The dealers do not use nor have access to this software.

The dealers are using ISIS - ISTA/P to attempt to update the module(s) software.

I am guessing the dealers are trying to code the DME, which I have done myself using WINKFP. It will not resolve the issue here for Stuart, I am certain. In any case, it is something they want to try.

Either they have decided or ISTA/P has decided it wants to update all modules in the car, not only the DME unit and the airbag module programming has hit some sort of bug between the programming software and the car.

Likely that the dealers version of ISTA/P has an issue with the Z4M or as Stuart said with a certain package.

To be fair, it could be the first time that a dealer has tried to run his version of ISTA, with a certain revision of DAT files on a Z4M with the software releases that Stuarts particular car has.

The cars are getting old now and the dealer software is designed to be doing things on the latest F and late E series BMW's. I am not sure BMW would have tested everything relating to their latest diag and prog software on a legacy vehicle in relatively small numbers like the E85.

The dealers software is actually pretty restrictive and walks them through a process. If it gives them silly messages, like they are getting, there is not much they can do. They do not have access to the INPA suite of software nor the knowledge needed to go into specific modules and fix issues, vehicle orders, etc.

We'll find out about the DME soon, as this has been deemed bricked and a replacement ordered. 8 days and counting.

Thinking about selling up so potentially someone is going to get a car with a bunch of new electronics modules in it...

Quick Qs, I had a coil pack go earlier today and replaced. The car felt instantly responsive and no stuttering at all; This could just be chance as ive only driven the car 2 miles home, and as mine normally stutters when cold - would a failing coil pack cause this at all?