E61 520d hit water.

I have a c310+. It has a menu that gives backpressure and exhaust temps and suggests it can force a regen (not tried), it also has a data menu that says 'Status, last regenerati [assume it cat fit the 'on' on the end to make the word regeneration] amd then a reading in what I think is metres. However, this resets every restart and is basically just a dumb counter of metres travelled after every start up.

Maybe I should sort ISTA after all.

With those backpressure readings though I think the DPF is relatively healthy for a 157k car?

 

The distance since last regen is pretty rubbish in ISTA too - I think it's in metres but it never really made sense to me.
Your DPF figures look great - you don't need an extra regen.

 

It's weird. Mine just zeros at each switch off and starts counting metres travelled from every new switch on. So I think the reading is meaningless in that case.

The back pressures are good. I think that's the type of trips the car does and I wonder if it's dunking has managed to wash it out. Got a lot of steam from every exhaust join when I got it running again!!!

Anyway - thanks for the reassurance on the DPF state - every thread on that thing is a horror story of doom and gloom but mine seems OK for nearly 160k!

 

I havent used the car much since before Christmas, but it all seems ok still.

One problem I have identified today is that the driver side footwell carpets (front and back) are sopping wet. I felt the passenger side acter the flood as that was deepest given the road camber and that was dry. So I assumed the wet on the driver footwell mat was because my feet and shoes were full of water when i was moving it and I never checked the rear passenger side footwell. Only reason I realised today is that I was looking for something in that footwell!. I have hoovered as much water out of the carpets as I can with the wet n dry vac but I have a feeling I should lift the carpets on this side, dry underneath and then leave the dehumidifier in there for a few days.

I was half tempted to just stick the dehumidifier in there without lifting the carpet but i am not sure it will really dry under the carpets that way?

It looks a lot of work to remove that carpet completely, but I was thinking remove the driver seat and the doorway surrounds and then it should peel back enough to get underneath, dry any wet from the floorpan, pin carpets up with an air gap under them and then dehumidifier for a few days?

Thoughts on whether this will be sufficient? I dont know what electrics run along the floor pan on the driver side. There is a sub under my seat in the floor which I doubt is very happy currently!

 

Definitely lift the carpets at the least, they hold so much water. When I’ve dealt with wet carpets in the past removing them, hoovering as much water as possible out and leaving them outside in the sun for a full day usually has them somewhere near dry.
Removing will be seats out and centre console unless you take the seat out and then cut it where it goes under console.

 

Thanks. How big of a job is it to take all the carpet out? Just wondering what time to allocate to it. Luckily I have a big workshop so can do it over several evenings and just shut it all up when I get cold!

 

Its not that big a job, front seats out, glove box out centre console out, accelerator pedal out, foot well panels. The carpet where it goes under the heater box at the front is just cut and stays in place. Rear seat needs to come out along with releasing the handbrake lever, door cover strips and pillar trims. Nothing major really so probably easier to get them out and better access for drying. Also then gives the option of a water test while the carpets are out to ensure no leaks.

 

So... the carpets in the e61 will have to wait a few days as the disco 3 had a leaking brake line so is out of use until I fix that (and do rear brake pads and discs while I have it in the air).

However, an issue with the e61 that's become apparent in the last few starts is that straight after it's started it won't pull itself up the slight slope outside the house. Accelerator does nothing really! Give it a minute idling and it's fine and once driven up the road it pulls like normal. I'm wondering if this is a MAF fault? It would have got a real soaking with the drowning the car took. What do folks think? Not sure how to diagnose this one other than unplug and see if its OK on the next cold start (if its like my land rovers it will default to set readings?). I have the c310 scanner so can look at readings but not sure what they should be at idle on cold start.

 

I'd suggest reading the fault codes before unplugging the MAF.

In this cold weather your problem could be failed glow plugs or a failed glow plug controller.

 

Thanks Jason.

I should have mentioned, I replaced the glowplug relay and now have no glowplug faults showing. The only fault showing is related to the throttle body. That may have been there pre dunking though so may be unrelated and as far as I can tell it doesn't move at all and is stuck in the open position. (I haven't checked again recently though).

This is like when my discovery tdv6 was running on the egr gasses as one of the egrs had jammed open. Don't know if that happens with this engine. As far as I can tell the EGR in this BMW wouldn't inhibit turbo air into the engine.

 

In that case I'd look to freeing up or replacing the throttle body before looking at anything else. Now here I'm guessing but on old (and possibly more modern) petrol engines you need that "choke" when the engine is cold.

 

Sorry - its my description. The valve is free to move but the motor doesn't do anything - from reading, the electronic box on it fills up with oil over time and then shorts out/fails. Its not well named as a throttle body (traditionally that would be what you would find on a petrol car) - apparently its actually an anti shudder valve and only closes on shut down to smooth the diesel out as it turns off and is open the rest of the time.

The MAF is quite delicate hence why I wonder if thats taken a battering. Even the wrong cleaner on it can ruin it, so I would imagine the litres of dirty water that clearly passed through the system wont have done it any good.

Another thing I noticed is that on startup and initial pull away there is some faint white smoke from the exhaust - not plumes, and quite possibly just water vapour from the exhaust condensation. I have never looked carefully at it before so it may be that it has always done this.

 

Hmmm. Weirdly, it won't even start with the MAF unplugged. Think this points to another problem? No fault codes other than throttle body but that's really the anti shudder valve and I think only does things on shut down. It is permanently open (have checked) so don't think affects startup.

 

Yes I remember now. I cleaned the oil out of the anti-shudder valve on my 535d.

I'm not so sure about the MAF, there's a lot of scaremongering on the web. I've cleaned them with all sorts, brake cleaner, isopropyl alcohol, contact cleaner. You must not rub them or you will kill them - then you'll see a fault code. They're a minute, calibrated, heating element that is cooled by the airflow. The problem comes when they get dirty.

Most cars are generating a lot of exhaust condensation right now because it's so cold.

 

I'm surprised it won't start without the MAF but that might just be how it's programmed to operate. I think the MAF in these also contains an air temperature sensor so the DDE will not have air flow or air intake temperature.

 

So I checked the cam amd map sensor connections were clean as well. All seemed good. Checked a connector above the fuel pump (I confess, not sure what it was) and that had a little oil in it so I cleaned it. The engine was warm at this point but it did start without the MAF connected at this point. I'll try another cold start without the MAF and see if cleaning these connections has done anything.

Went for a drive without the MAF and it seemed different, not necessarily better. Bit dull until it came onto boost when it then perhaps had more getup and go. It was warm at this point though and it's cold when I get this total lack of accelerator pedal response.

 

This is the only place I can find someone else describing the same thing. I couldn't really make out any FIP connections with the manifold on.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/3256097717832236/posts/9704173376357939/

 

Brief update on the wet carpets issue. I was wrong to associate it with the drowning the car had. It was the classic bulkhead ducksbill drain thing clogged up and filling the scuttle until water seeps in past the bonnet cable grommet. It just seemed to keep filling up with this recent rain and therefore didn't make sense it would be the December flood water.

I'll check the passenger side when it's all off for a full service in a few thousand miles. As long g as the car lasts that long that will be soon looking at my forthcoming trips!

 

Today's update is that the BM has just done 250miles non stop on the motorway. Mostly taking it easy but occasionally pressing on to overtake. Every odd noise was impending doom in my mind but turned out to be things like road surface or other cars making odd sounds! That's now 600 miles since stripping and drying it out. Will do a full service soon.



Anyone know where the breathers are on these? Wondering specifically about the diff and gearbox. I might drain and refill the diff as I doubt it's ever been done anyway. The gearbox oil cooler needs changing so I can at least get a look at the oil that comes out when I do that (I bought the cooler before the drowning!)