Engine warning light. BMW e60

obi604

Hi

Have a 2006 BMW 523i. Automatic. Serviced well over the years. Engine oil level is ok.

Started it up and noticed it shuddered a bit. Then driving shuddered a bit more. Not violently, but very noticeable.
Journey home was 10 miles. Made it home but felt like it would not make it at stages.

I noticed the engine management light was on. Attached.

Any idea as to what this possibly could be?

jmreire

obi604 wrote: »

Hi

Have a 2006 BMW 523i. Automatic. Serviced well over the years. Engine oil level is ok.

Started it up and noticed it shuddered a bit. Then driving shuddered a bit more. Not violently, but very noticeable.
Journey home was 10 miles. Made it home but felt like it would not make it at stages.

I noticed the engine management light was on. Attached.

Any idea as to what this possibly could be?

DO NOT DRIVE !!! Have it scanned ASAP and find out exactly what is causing the engine light to come on.

emeldc

Could be any number of things. Most likely a coil pack or mass air flow meter.

commited

Could be a load of stuff but possible it's a coil pack

obi604

Thanks. Weird thing is nothing shows up on iDrive, just the symbol in the dash. Normally iDrive will say what’s wrong and do not drive in control messages etc.

My garage is 4 miles away. Are ye saying I most likely need to get it towed as too dodgy to drive? (Even though I drove 10 miles home!!)

Alanstrainor

obi604 wrote: »

Thanks. Weird thing is nothing shows up on iDrive, just the symbol in the dash. Normally iDrive will say what’s wrong and do not drive in control messages etc.

My garage is 4 miles away. Are ye saying I most likely need to get it towed as too dodgy to drive? (Even though I drove 10 miles home!!)

Ah I don't think I'd be as afraid as others seem to suggest on this thread. I'd let it idle in the drive first and see how it was, if it was managing to idle ok I'd consider driving it tbh.

As others have said there's tonnes of things this could be.

emeldc

Even a momentary misfire can pop the light on although yours sounds like it’s down on a cylinder. If the garage is only 4km away I’d say you’ll be safe enough.

obi604

emeldc wrote: »

Even a momentary misfire can pop the light on although yours sounds like it’s down on a cylinder. If the garage is only 4km away I’d say you’ll be safe enough.

4 miles
Is “down a cylinder” linked to the coil pack

emeldc

obi604 wrote: »

4 miles
Is “down a cylinder” linked to the coil pack

Yea, the coil pack supplies the spark to each of the plugs. 4miles even, take it handy. Failing that maybe the garage will come to you with the diagnostic tool. No harm in asking.

obi604

emeldc wrote: »

Yea, the coil pack supplies the spark to each of the plugs. 4miles even, take it handy. Failing that maybe the garage will come to you with the diagnostic tool. No harm in asking.

Thanks. When you say coil pack. Is it just the coil pack needed?

Or does the spark plus need replacing too?

emeldc

obi604 wrote: »

Thanks. When you say coil pack. Is it just the coil pack needed?

Or does the spark plus need replacing too?

There shouldn’t be any need to replace the plugs unless they’re due to be changed anyway.

obi604

emeldc wrote: »

There shouldn’t be any need to replace the plugs unless they’re due to be changed anyway.

They still have 40,000 miles left.

What is rough ball park figure for a coil pack?

Mad_Mike

This happened the fathers 2006 525 last week
Very same as you describe. He drove it without any issues for a couple of days, but he only goes about 10 miles a day.
Turned out it was the coil pack on cylinder no 6, which is the one at the back of the engine, near the windscreen.
I changed it for him within 2 minutes and engine is perfect again, and engine light went the minute the coil pack was changed

Mad_Mike

obi604 wrote: »

They still have 40,000 miles left.

What is rough ball park figure for a coil pack?

Very hard to say, but they are a common issue with the BMW engines, although very simple to sort too, but should last 100k surely??

obi604

Mad_Mike wrote: »

Very hard to say, but they are a common issue with the BMW engines, although very simple to sort too, but should last 100k surely??

I meant the cost

obi604

Mad_Mike wrote: »

This happened the fathers 2006 525 last week
Very same as you describe. He drove it without any issues for a couple of days, but he only goes about 10 miles a day.
Turned out it was the coil pack on cylinder no 6, which is the one at the back of the engine, near the windscreen.
I changed it for him within 2 minutes and engine is perfect again, and engine light went the minute the coil pack was changed

Would this be a relatively cheap part and labour at a garage.

listermint

obi604 wrote: »

Would this be a relatively cheap part and labour at a garage.

50 60 quid part. Pull it yourself and swap

Mad_Mike

Start at about 2 mins 40 seconds
You don't need to take off all the other stuff just to swap out a coil pack
It's really only for getting access to the plugs if changing them

Start the car and let it tick over
You will hear that it's not firing correctly and "missing"
Pull out the first plug, see if the sound of engine gets worse, or stays the same
If it gets worse, that coil pack is good, if it stays the same, you've found your faulty coil

Each time you do this, put the coil pack back in and reconnect before moving to the next one. You should find which one it is very quickly
Alternatively, you can use an OBD2 reader and read the error code from the computer and it will tell you which cylinder is misfiring

Mad_Mike

As @listermint says, just do it yourself as it's a simple fix.
As a ballpark figure, they are about 35 or 45 euro with Micksgarage depending on brand

https://www.micksgarage.com/d/ignition-coils/bmw/bmw-5-series/5-series-2003-to-2010/523-i-190-2497/products

obi604

Mad_Mike wrote: »

As @listermint says, just do it yourself as it's a simple fix.
As a ballpark figure, they are about 35 or 45 euro with Micksgarage depending on brand

https://www.micksgarage.com/d/ignition-coils/bmw/bmw-5-series/5-series-2003-to-2010/523-i-190-2497/products

But it may not be the coil pack at all. Most likely is but may not be.

Let’s say it is indeed the coil pack, would it be ok to drive it the 4 miles to the garage? (Is a coil pack issue less severe on the engine and driving the car in this state etc)

Interslice

obi604 wrote: »

But it may not be the coil pack at all. Most likely is but may not be.

Let’s say it is indeed the coil pack, would it be ok to drive it the 4 miles to the garage? (Is a coil pack issue less severe on the engine and driving the car in this state etc)

Driving a car 4 miles with a misfire or a dead coil pack wont do it any harm. Its just not a good idea long term.

obi604

Interslice wrote: »

Driving a car 4 miles with a misfire or a dead coil pack wont do it any harm. Its just not a good idea long term.

thanks!

I drove it 10 miles home last night
and then 4 miles today

I guess neither will have done any harm......I hope

Alanstrainor

obi604 wrote: »

thanks!

I drove it 10 miles home last night
and then 4 miles today

I guess neither will have done any harm......I hope

I wouldn't be worrying tbh.

Mad_Mike

obi604 wrote: »

thanks!

I drove it 10 miles home last night
and then 4 miles today

I guess neither will have done any harm......I hope

Any luck with this since, or did you get sorted ok?

mikeecho

obi604 wrote: »

They still have 40,000 miles left.

What is rough ball park figure for a coil pack?

I've no idea, but I bought the cheapest possible coil pack online (micksgarage or misterauto .. not sure which) a few years ago for an e46 , and it only lasted 18 months.

My advice is not to buy the cheapest coil pack.

w211

micks cheapest selection are pure garbage. Only problem that cheap one cost way more than good premium one on other EU countries. Go online and order from UK, Germany, France etc. Only disadvantage are the waiting time about 5-7 business days. All my parts coming from Germany. I order every week (for me and my customers) and they are happy (no advertising). I got many times 2x more expensive parts because out of stock. Only be 100% sure what is you coil pack OEN. These numbers/letters are printed to the coil pack. You can not order the wrong part if OEN match.

obi604

Mad_Mike wrote: »

Any luck with this since, or did you get sorted ok?

hey, just got it sorted today, garage was busy with bank holiday etc.

turns out it was indeed the coil pack. all sorted now.

Mad_Mike

Good stuff