Newbie Z4MR owner - EML and nervy front end, help!

[ic5mav]

Hello everyone,

This is my first post and I would like to say how nice it is to find a great community for such a low volume car!

I am a happy owner of an 06 Z4MR with 29k, in Interlagos blue with tasty trimming such as Logic7, Prof Nav, Bluetooth. Happy until a couple of things...

1. The engine management light came on the other day. After getting a friend of a friend with the relevant diagnostics tool to find the fault code, I have three codes which, from Google, are described as:

P1633 Throttle Valve Adaptation; Limp Home Position
P114B Post Catalyst Fuel Trim Via Oxygen Sensor System Too Lean (Bank 1)
P2196 O2 Sensor Signal Stuck Rich

Any idea what these mean?

2. The front end of my car has always produced creaking noises over uneven surfaces, especially over speed humps (there's a lot in London). I had the anti roll bar changed which didn't really fix this. After reading this forum, I had the nuts on the strut brace torqued up which seemed to reduce the creaking somewhat. This has however returned. Do these require constant torquing or is this caused by something else?

After driving a friend's Z4MR, it is also apparent my car is a lot more nervy in terms of front end grip. The only difference is that I have Avon ZZ3s (with plenty of tread) and he has Contis, but I doubt this is the cause. The bushes have been checked and given the all clear. I am thinking this will be related to the above problem as creaking would suggest movement at the front. Any help would be appreciated!

In the meantime, here is the car in question after a nice clean..



Many thanks,

ic5mav

 

[Top pup]

Point 1 sounds like a lambda sensor, have a search seems to be a common problem.

On point 2 I've had the strut bars re-torqued twice now, so it could be that they've come loose again. In relation to your friends car I would put the difference down to tyres, these cars are very tyre sensitive, and from my experience with other BMWs will get more nervous if the front tyres wear on the edges.

 

[Rudd]

cant help but just wanted to say welcome to the forum. nice car and great colour

 

[gannet]

yes - nice car and colour

twitchy front end, I would say tyres and or alignment...

 

[a11y]

Welcome

There's so many colours than are my first choice for an ///M...

Twitchy front end, as gannet says, tyres and/or alignment would be my guess too. A decent alignment setup should be less than £100 for all 4 corners - been discussed a lot recently so should appear on a search I think.

 

[AlanJ]

Welcome.....

 

[RustyZ4]

Hi & Welcome

Cant help with the codings, but twitchy front end like Gannet said, tyres and/or alignment

 

[Andy]

It will be an O2 sensor.

If you look in the FAQ, I posted all the codes too.

Welcome and enjoy !

 

[ic5mav]

Thanks for the responses! This newbie feels very welcome indeed

EML issue – I’m probably going to BMW specialist CPC Performance (http://www.cpcpe.com/ ) soon, I spoke to Phil Crouch there, who has been recommended on some posts on pistonheads. Anyone dealt with him before? Or know of any decent indys around West or North London? He seems very helpful and on first thoughts suggested it was maybe an air leak or airflow sensor issue too (cheers Top Pup, Andy). I’ll let you guys know how it goes.

Front end –Yes I’d like to get the alignment checked soon as it hasn’t been done in the 6 months/2000 miles I’ve owned it. It drives straight and doesn’t pull to one side, although I realise you could still have misaligned wheels anyway. Best description is it feels skittish over uneven surfaces and doesn’t fill you with confidence. I appreciate that tyres are paramount in handling/feel but was surprised at such a difference between the two Z4MRs. BTW tyre wear is even as far as I can tell.

But I take it the creaking is a result of the strut brace needing torquing up again? This was done 4 weeks ago with not much motoring in between. Top pup - I've seen your post here http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=16014&p=236044&hilit=strut+brace#p236200 mentioning you have had to torque them up a couple of times.. did you eventually get new nuts or was there another solution?

Cheers

 

[BMWZ4MC]

Creaking, and twitchy...another Z with spring failure perhaps??

 

[James_G]

Thanks for the responses! This newbie feels very welcome indeed

EML issue – I’m probably going to BMW specialist CPC Performance (http://www.cpcpe.com/ ) soon, I spoke to Phil Crouch there, who has been recommended on some posts on pistonheads. Anyone dealt with him before? Or know of any decent indys around West or North London? He seems very helpful and on first thoughts suggested it was maybe an air leak or airflow sensor issue too (cheers Top Pup, Andy). I’ll let you guys know how it goes.

A friend has used him and says good things. For some reason said friend always emails these people rather than phones through, and apparently Phil's not brilliant at answering his emails. Said friend has been told not to be such a prat.

Front end –Yes I’d like to get the alignment checked soon as it hasn’t been done in the 6 months/2000 miles I’ve owned it. It drives straight and doesn’t pull to one side, although I realise you could still have misaligned wheels anyway. Best description is it feels skittish over uneven surfaces and doesn’t fill you with confidence. I appreciate that tyres are paramount in handling/feel but was surprised at such a difference between the two Z4MRs. BTW tyre wear is even as far as I can tell.

If you are going to CPC, you might as well get your alignment done at Wheels in Motion as they are only a few miles apart. I had mine done there a few weeks ago and they did a very thorough job on mine.

Only 2000 miles in six months. Shame on you - get some miles under her wheels and she'll thank you for it. :driving:

 

[Top pup]

But I take it the creaking is a result of the strut brace needing torquing up again? This was done 4 weeks ago with not much motoring in between. Top pup - I've seen your post here http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=16014&p=236044&hilit=strut+brace#p236200 mentioning you have had to torque them up a couple of times.. did you eventually get new nuts or was there another solution?

They were just torqued up again and seem ok, probably worth checking anytime you hear strange noises from the front of the car.

 

[paddy wright]

welcome

 

[ic5mav]

I hope it's not broken springs! Having checked the FAQ (cheers Andy), the common broken spring issue is regarding the rear springs right?

Thanks for the info James_G, you say Phil's not too good at answering emails (true as I had to ring in to kindly prompt him to mine), but he hasn't rang me back yet either to let me know when I can bring the car in! Yep, alignment will be done straight after the other problems are sorted. That's one fine MC by the way, I haven't seen many in that colour

And don't worry, I'll be putting plenty of miles on the zed in June on a road trip to Italy via some choice tarmac at the Swiss Alps . In fact there will be 2 other Z4Ms joining the party too!

 

[hamza]

I can certainly recommend the indy i use for my M,

http://www.technosport.co.uk/

has always looked after all my cars, comes highly recommended.

I also had an alignment done recently at The Alignment Centre, i did have to go back for them to do it again but i think im happy with it now

http://www.thealignmentcentre.co.uk/

 

[texasjohn]

Why not try BMW for the O2 sensor and ask for the replacement on a goodwill basis? It is a very common fault and some searching on the internet and this forum will bring up plenty of support for that argument

Just a thought.

 

[ZEE4KEVIN]

true

 

[ic5mav]

Thanks for the info hamza, I've had a good experience of the Alignment Centre in the past with a Golf GTI, and am not too far from Technosport.

Now that I'm pretty sure its the lambda sensor, and from the posts here it is a common problem, it would not seem too much to ask for the dealer to fit one out of goodwill. Somehow I have a feeling the dealer will see otherwise.

Will let all you know how it goes.

Rgds

 

[ic5mav]

Having been to CPC last week, the fault was indeed the lamda sensor which Phil Crouch changed for me. He is very knowledgable and I would recommend to fellow M enthusiasts. MPG has risen from 18 to around 23, driving the same sort of roads as before.

The alignment has been done and I have torqued up the braces under the bonnet, which has improved front end feel.

Just as I was getting the zed back to full health.... another problem! After exposure to the sun, the driver's side window is sticking when going down, something that can be treated with a bit of silicone spray as suggested on this forum. Does anyone know if this solves it completely or just delays onset of regulator failure?

 

[Aliv6]

Mine is more nervious now than it used to be and the only change i've made is putting Vredesteins on it. I think i'm going to sell them and go back to the michelins.