How I spent my summer vacation

"phenotyp" (phenotyp) 07/01/2015 at 01:37 • Filed to: Break my wallet, bmw

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Yeah, that’s not gone well.

First time I’ve seen that one. Got stuck in limp mode on the left (inside) shoulder of a very busy highway.

What the fuck, BMW pumps? I've had this car six months. First was the high-pressure fuel pump (replaced once by the previous owner, and again by me), now the coolant pump fails on my way to the beach. Big shout out to Bavarian Auto Repair in San Antonio for getting the car in, getting the new pump and thermostat, and getting me back on the road in less than six hours. Apparently everything's designed to fail at 60k miles.

Sneaky Pete > phenotyp 07/01/2015 at 01:44

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Don’t even want to know how much that cost to fix...

phenotyp > Sneaky Pete 07/01/2015 at 01:46

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Eleven dollars.

(Buy the warranty, kids!)

TheOnelectronic > phenotyp 07/01/2015 at 01:47

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Is that the 535i?

the N54 engines were known for HPFP issues. Only had mine give out once, thankfully.

What was really fun was going on the forums and watching the BMW fanboys trying to claim it’s because BMW was using technology nobody else had even thought of and, “That’s the price you pay to be on the bleeding edge of car design, bro!”

phenotyp > TheOnelectronic 07/01/2015 at 01:51

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Yup. Bought it in December. HPFP had been replaced at some point prior to my buying it, and it failed again in January, but didn’t strand me like this one. BMW’s plastic parts are fucking atrocious. First time in my life I've been stranded on a highway.

unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) > phenotyp 07/01/2015 at 01:53

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I really didn’t like bmw’s decision to go to an electric water pump and no temp gauge. At least a mechanical pumps bearings will tell me that’s its time to replace.

phenotyp > unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) 07/01/2015 at 01:55

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Yeah. Really wish I could have known that the temp was rising before it'd reached catastrophe levels.

not for canada - australian in disguise > phenotyp 07/01/2015 at 01:55

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unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) > phenotyp 07/01/2015 at 02:00

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The only way you can read the temp is through the cluster (ktemp I think). You could buy those obd2 gauge readers that work with your phone or a gauge pod.

phenotyp > unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) 07/01/2015 at 02:25

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Probably will get one of those OBD readers.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > phenotyp 07/01/2015 at 02:44

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BREAKING NEWS! BMW COOLING SYSTEMS ARE TERRIBLE!

Sorry, couldn’t help myself, not trying to be a dick.

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > phenotyp 07/01/2015 at 02:50

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ah german cars. never own one past 60k

philipilihp > phenotyp 07/01/2015 at 06:44

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I know this situation well. Had this happen to me while under warranty, but they replaced the pump, put me back on the road, and had me come back exactly a week later, again on a flatbed, to replace the thermostat, while trying to charge me the $50 deductible a second time as well.

McMike > unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) 07/01/2015 at 07:38

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(grumble grumble yells at clouds) WTF? Electric pump and no gauge?

Fuck you, BMW. What’s next, a fuel warning that displays “Warning, no fuel” light as you coast to the shoulder?

Brickman > McMike 07/01/2015 at 09:12

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Don’t give them any ideas ;)

vondon302 > phenotyp 07/01/2015 at 09:32

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Woo hoo german engineering ! Just kidding.. Its a gorgeous car. 6Hr turnaround is awesome kudos to that shop.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > phenotyp 07/01/2015 at 09:33

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A. Are you local to Texas or just passing through?

B. This reminds me of just how lucky I’ve been with my 135i to this point. Had a coil pack go bad the second day I had the car (symptoms were eerily HPFP-like and had me scared to death), but haven’t had to touch a thing in the two years since. My next issue can’t be far away.

phenotyp > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 07/01/2015 at 09:47

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A: live in Austin, was on my way to the coast.

B: what is it with BMW’s coil packs? It seems like they have roughly the lifespan of a fruit fly.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > phenotyp 07/01/2015 at 09:52

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Did not know that, I’m up in Dallas.

I don’t know, that first coil pack went out at 60k miles and you would have thought the car was going to explode when it did (BMW’s limp mode is a touch on the alarmist side), but the rest have soldiered on to 80k without real issue. It’s running like crap because the plugs and coil packs all need to be replaced (I have the parts sitting at home, but I also have laziness), but they’re still functioning well enough to have avoided any issues since that first one failed.

unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) > McMike 07/01/2015 at 12:12

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BMW will call that activefuelefficiencydyamics.

But yeah evey chassis from E60 and up have no temp gauge.

phenotyp > philipilihp 07/02/2015 at 00:34

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Holy crap. At least these guys did the pump and thermostat together.

philipilihp > phenotyp 07/02/2015 at 03:29

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I guess they were just trying to maximize my deductible?

phenotyp > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 04/22/2016 at 02:47

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Still driving the 135?

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > phenotyp 04/22/2016 at 10:52

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Still have it, but just acquired a nice little NA Miata recently and I’m about to sell or trade the 135 in on something nice for my wife who is wrapping up grad school this semester. Been a great car, though, really haven’t had any problems with it since the coil pack failed on me and it’s actually been pretty easy to work on. It was time to drive something different but I get the feeling I’ll miss it a good bit.

phenotyp > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 04/22/2016 at 11:15

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Sweet. Now that my daughter is past the baby/toddler era and moving quickly into little-personhood, I’ve been thinking about replacing the 5er with something more like a 1 or 2.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > phenotyp 04/22/2016 at 11:26

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I think they’re perfect for that use case. We’re a couple of years away from kids, but if I had one of my own at this point and wanted something comfortable and fun that was masquerading as something pragmatic, a 1 or 2 would be high on the list again.