# 2011 335d- SES light/possible cylinder head??



## moejav (May 11, 2012)

I'm talking to a lawyer who does consumer law work tomorrow morning, I'm giving him all my correspondence with the dealership etc... to see if it's worth pursuing, I called two dealers, and neither had a way to test the fuel injectors, there are companies out there one here in town that can test common rail, hi-pressure, direct injection diesel fuel injectors. It seems to me by not having a way to test the injectors, they're forcing you to replace all 6 injectors, rather thank just 1 or 2 or 3. I guess the mentality of switching out both light bulbs when one goes out. I don't know. The dealer in Cincinnati had my car from July 30th - August 27th the temp tags had expired!! It broke again on the way home, and I had to tow it in the next day. Now they've had the car since August 28th another Month!!! Good Luck!! I think we should all get together and file a class action myself!! Good Luck MaryFrances!!


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## Tedj101 (Nov 24, 2009)

moejav said:


> I'm talking to a lawyer who does consumer law work tomorrow morning, I'm giving him all my correspondence with the dealership etc... to see if it's worth pursuing, I called two dealers, and neither had a way to test the fuel injectors, there are companies out there one here in town that can test common rail, hi-pressure, direct injection diesel fuel injectors. It seems to me by not having a way to test the injectors, they're forcing you to replace all 6 injectors, rather thank just 1 or 2 or 3. I guess the mentality of switching out both light bulbs when one goes out. I don't know. The dealer in Cincinnati had my car from July 30th - August 27th the temp tags had expired!! It broke again on the way home, and I had to tow it in the next day. Now they've had the car since August 28th another Month!!! Good Luck!! I think we should all get together and file a class action myself!! Good Luck MaryFrances!!


From what I have seen (mostly on this forum) the individual claims will not be similar enough to support a class action. (People's experience has been all over the place on this issue...)

Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, but do go see your consumer lawyer. He may well be able to help _you_...


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## F32Fleet (Jul 14, 2010)

moejav said:


> I'm talking to a lawyer who does consumer law work tomorrow morning, I'm giving him all my correspondence with the dealership etc... to see if it's worth pursuing, I called two dealers, and neither had a way to test the fuel injectors, there are companies out there one here in town that can test common rail, hi-pressure, direct injection diesel fuel injectors. It seems to me by not having a way to test the injectors, they're forcing you to replace all 6 injectors, rather thank just 1 or 2 or 3. I guess the mentality of switching out both light bulbs when one goes out. I don't know. The dealer in Cincinnati had my car from July 30th - August 27th the temp tags had expired!! It broke again on the way home, and I had to tow it in the next day. Now they've had the car since August 28th another Month!!! Good Luck!! I think we should all get together and file a class action myself!! Good Luck MaryFrances!!


It depends. Sometimes the injectors are upgraded and you have to switch them all out (N54 cars).

Injectors aren't like coil packs where you can just pop them out. Personally I would rather replace all 6 (assuming the "new" ones are good).

Your issue is different from everyone else. Your issue is that an injector took a dump and poured a ton of fuel causing engine failure. The coincidence is that there were no codes and the car ran fine prior to you picking it up. Your issue is whether or not the dealer is being truthful with regards to the injector and the miles they put on the car.


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## ard (Jul 1, 2009)

@moejav-

You are getting twisted up in the wrong battle: If BMW said "when the spark plugs go bad, replace the entire motor" they have every right to do so! You are not going to win a battle over "why dont you test individual injectors", pressing that issue with an attirney isnt worth the hot air. (And if the atty says 'this is a good issue, I need $1500 to take the case" you need to run) Dont confuse 'right' or 'logical' with 'legal'....


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## moejav (May 11, 2012)

@ ard - 

I picked up the injectors and I'm having them tested locally at Diesel Injection, they have stores all over the place, the one here in Cincinnati and the one in Louisville are owned by the same person I think, but they can test common rail direct injection hi-pressure injectors which is what these are. The dealer didn't say I needed to change them, the technician was recommending changing them based on what he'd seen on similar jobs with regard to replacing the intake manifold, and removing cleaning the cylinder head. There was nothing mentioned on my receipt from the dealer when I picked it up, I didn't sign any waivers saying I was told to replace the injectors etc... I'm some dumb, not plum dumb, someone tells me spend $2500 - $3000 on new injectors or risk hydrolocking your motor and spending $16,000 to replace it well I'm going to spend the $3000, but why am I forced in a sense to replace all 6, why can't they be tested and replace the ones that aren't operating correctly? But no alarms went off, no SES light until I stopped the car and restarted, no reduce engine power icon, no nothing to warn me about the motor, no limp mode no nothing except now a new motor. MaryFrances again I wish you well I hope no one has to go through what I'm going through right now!!


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## magbarn (Jan 28, 2003)

Keep vacillating between keeping or selling the D before the warranty runs out. I'm heavily leaning on dumping this car as it sounds like its going to be exponentially much more to keep this car running vs my E46. And I totally bought the line 'Diesels are much more reliable' hook line and sinker. Even the 335i's HPFP issues were fixed, but this carbon buildup seems to much harder to fix on the D vs the 335i.


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## moejav (May 11, 2012)

magbarn said:


> Keep vacillating between keeping or selling the D before the warranty runs out. I'm heavily leaning on dumping this car as it sounds like its going to be exponentially much more to keep this car running vs my E46. And I totally bought the line 'Diesels are much more reliable' hook line and sinker. Even the 335i's HPFP issues were fixed, but this carbon buildup seems to much harder to fix on the D vs the 335i.


It's mainly the sedan's that have the problem, the X5d doesn't seem to have the problem of carbon buildup. One thing that can be done, after it's out of warranty is an EGR delete and perhaps removing the DEF. Most of the problem is the EPA stuff!! Also, it helps I've been told to drive it like you stole it, of course the local po po might not by into the "If I don't drive it aggressively, and fast officer, I'll have to have the cylinder head removed and cleaned as well as replacing the intake manifold and fuel injectors :bigpimp:


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## F32Fleet (Jul 14, 2010)

magbarn said:


> Keep vacillating between keeping or selling the D before the warranty runs out. I'm heavily leaning on dumping this car as it sounds like its going to be exponentially much more to keep this car running vs my E46. And I totally bought the line 'Diesels are much more reliable' hook line and sinker. Even the 335i's HPFP issues were fixed, but this carbon buildup seems to much harder to fix on the D vs the 335i.


I wouldn't let it bother you although an extended warranty may be under consideration.


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## magbarn (Jan 28, 2003)

BMWTurboDzl said:


> I wouldn't let it bother you although an extended warranty may be under consideration.


Who's the guy/gal to contact for this? My local dealers want full retail.

Also, hasn't BMWNA been known to call carbon build-up a regular 'maintenance item' In other words won't pay for it?


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## Hoooper (Jun 17, 2013)

magbarn said:


> Who's the guy/gal to contact for this? My local dealers want full retail.
> 
> Also, hasn't BMWNA been known to call carbon build-up a regular 'maintenance item' In other words won't pay for it?


it seems like they dont pay for "carbon buildup" alone but if you have an issue come up as a result of excessive buildup they have covered the repairs including all carbon removal


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## F32Fleet (Jul 14, 2010)

magbarn said:


> Who's the guy/gal to contact for this? My local dealers want full retail.
> 
> Also, hasn't BMWNA been known to call carbon build-up a regular 'maintenance item' In other words won't pay for it?


Visit the extended warranty thread under the maintenance forum. Like the poster above. It seems to be a maintenance item unless it's coupled with something else such as an injector or DDE failure. I also think a lot depends on how savvy your SA is as well.


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## SpeedyD (Sep 18, 2011)

I have the extended warranty through 100k miles. My question really is....do you keep it beyond 100k? I probably have another 2 years or so before I hit 100k but that time flies by....


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## UncleJ (May 7, 2006)

magbarn - The "go to guy" in your area (actually in any area) is Daniel Dutton at Pacific BMW [email protected] he gives a special price to festers. Check him out.:thumbup:


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## gmrsprsav (Jan 10, 2006)

TedJ101,
My 335d is still in the shop. I had to get something out of my car, the tech showed me the carbon build up in my engine. Right next to mine there was another 335d with the engine out, the tech said it had the same problem. My SA estimates they service 10-12 335d's. 2 of them are in the shop, side by side, with carbon build up. Reading this and other bmw blogs, I find that this is a common, similar problem. 
SR


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## Pierre Louis (Oct 23, 2011)

I'm convinced that burning out my catalytic converters and NOx sensors occurred for a reason. 

Flooring it enough for a strong downshift caused a bit of a change in the color of the exhaust fluid (made it yellowish) coming out the pipes and soon the SES light came on. My previous 2 diesels would puff out a large black cloud when I did this but only the first time, needing more miles before I could do it again. I had not been doing this with the 335d, and would not see the black smoke anyway with the DPF in place. 

It may be that I had extra crud waiting to be expelled. It probably went into the catalytic converters and fried them, as I've read they can only handle so much. The cats and NOx sensors were replaced under warranty. 

I need to do the strong downshift maneuver on a more regular basis (engine warmed up of course) to prevent the carbon buildup, it seems. Thoughts?


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## ficklerx (Sep 16, 2013)

gmrsprsav said:


> My SA estimates they service 10-12 335d's.


Mine will be back at Critz in a week or two for scheduled maintenance. Earlier in this thread I mentioned the one at Critz back in July. I hope it isn't the same one you are seeing now.

I will also have them check my second SES that is gone out. Tried to have it checked the day it occurred, but that and subsequent appointments were canceled by them.

Have you or PL asked for pricing on extended warranty from Critz?


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## flboater (Oct 16, 2013)

*2011 33d with the same problem*

As the title says i believe i have the same problem as others on this post. i bought my car in march of this year with 30k miles drove a few month and put on 10k when the ses ligt cam on. that was in july and since then the car has been in the shop almost continuosly. at first they said i had to replace an injector then they said it was a different injector. then they said it was the remaining four injectors and now they are replacing the head. i have opened a claim with bmwna tryig to get them to buy the car back but no luck. is it really that they designed suck a poor car that the heads only last 49k miles? Also, to any of you others that went through this, did replacing the head solve the problem?

Out of frustration of not having my car for almost three months i am reaching out to an attorney but i am pnot optomistic. have any of you had luck getting results to resolve this?


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## flboater (Oct 16, 2013)

I have a 2011335d with the same ses light issue. I bought mine in march with 30k miles drive it for a few month putting on 10k miles and since july it has been in the shop. at first they said it was injectors which they replaced one at a time and now they say its the head. is it possible that this engine is so poorly designed that this has to done every 40k miles? also have any of you had succes going to consumer attorneys? At this pount i just want bmwna to buy the car back from me.


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## F32Fleet (Jul 14, 2010)

flboater said:


> I have a 2011335d with the same ses light issue. I bought mine in march with 30k miles drive it for a few month putting on 10k miles and since july it has been in the shop. at first they said it was injectors which they replaced one at a time and now they say its the head. is it possible that this engine is so poorly designed that this has to done every 40k miles? also have any of you had succes going to consumer attorneys? At this pount i just want bmwna to buy the car back from me.


Usually it's the DDE in this case, but BMW requires the dealer to jump through the hoops with injector replacement first.

Zero adaptation failure is what you want to look for.

If the injector is at fault they want to clean the head due to the excess carbon it created.

Injector > head > DDE. Seems to be the procedure.


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## flboater (Oct 16, 2013)

Thanks for your reply. what is a dde? So are you saying that the problem was the injectors and that failure caused the carbon build up? if so how does tje dde come into play and if they replace the injectors and the head will that really fix the problem or is this just kicking the can down the road?


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