535i Andrew

Fitted my winter wheels this morning. The summers have only done 584 miles this “summer”. Drove it round to my friend who wanted me to free up a grease nipple on his 1971 Scimitar GTE SE5a 3.0.

Try a new sensor then a reset. Make sure the handbrake is off when you do the reset.

Cheek I don’t drink that much....that often.... I’m doing a sober October I’ll have you know

Not shabby at all. I was just over £360 for the discs, pads and brake fluid. I just charge myself beer as labour rate

Another vote for genuine discs. a) you know they will fit b) be two piece to keep unsprung weight down which the OCD people like c) be cheaper than you think. My 348x36 discs were cheaper from my local friendly dealer than aftermarket stuff from ECP. Easy diy depending if you have a 9mm Allen key if you have 348x36 discs

Lol I’m not sure which was worse, the N62 or the N55. I had to remove a mountain of bits from the E60 to do its plugs too!

As part of my recent service on my F10 where I needed to change the oil and filter, air filter and micro filters I also changed the spark plugs. I fitted genuine BMW spark plugs which are Bosch ZR5TPP33S bought from my local dealer for £8.71 + VAT each All proper BMWs have the need for spark plugs, a minimum of six and preferably eight. For the F10 generation they should be changed at every second oil service, four years, or ~36,000 miles which ever comes first. This post shows the method I used on my F10 535i which includes the bits BMW and some videos on the tube of you helpfully miss out in their guides. Tools needed 6mm socket for air duct hose clips 7mm socket for air duct hose clips 10mm socket for air duct securing screw Torx T25 bit/screw driver Torx T30 bit/screwdriver ¼” ratchet ¼” bit holder ¼” universal joint 3/8” ratchet 3/8” 150 mm extension 3/8” 200 mm extension 3/8” universal joint 8mm multipoint thin walled spark plug socket (14mm bi hex) 3/8” drive short, not long! Torque wrench – 23Nm for spark plug torque Pick tools Long spark plug socket and short spark plug socket with UJ and extension bar. Top right corner is the air filter lid (BMW), following this anti clockwise is the mass air flow sensor duct which has the mass air flow sensor screwed to its rear. Behind this is a cable tray that supports three cables ducts. Under the cable tray is a foam insulation piece. The lower duct joins the mass air flow sensor duct and takes the air down towards the turbo, partially hidden by the ignition coil cover which is in the centre (TwinPower Turbo) Unclip the oil pipe from the bracket on front of the cylinder head cover. Pull up the cylinder head cover at the front and pull forwards to disengage it from the mass air flow sensor duct, there are two rubber insulators, make sure you keep them safe. This now exposes the tops of the ignition coils with easy access to 1 and 3. They are the easier two of six to do. Start with an easy one, cylinder #1. Pull up the coil clip. This is engaged via a cam to the coils electrical plug so that when you pull up on the clip the coils electrical plug is partially ejected. Pull out the coil electrical plug. Firmly pull upwards on the coil with your finger thru the hole. It will need a bit of effort to release the coils grip on the spark plug and the coils rubber seal at the top of the spark plug bore. Make sure when you pull the coil upwards you don't catch any wiring to the injectors or the coil wiring itself. I then hoovered out the spark plug bores to remove any loose debris to prevent anything from entering the cylinders. Using the 8mm spark plug socket, UJ and extension undo the spark plug. Mine creaked and squeaked their way out. The threads are quite long so takes a bit of winding out the hole. Old and new plugs. Spark plugs had a bit of superficial carbon deposits on them but the engine had only been run a short time before changing the spark plugs and was still quite cold. The spark plugs cleaned up well and showed little wear. They had done 17,555 miles in the four years which was two oil services ago. To get the plugs back in I used the long socket to get the plugs lined up in the hole so that there was little risk in knocking any debris into the cylinders and to not damage the electrodes. Once I started tightening the first spark plug using the long socket, it jammed on the spark plug bore. The spark plug bore has a dog leg in it. The top part or the bore is at say 60 deg from the horizontal and the lower part of the bore is at say 45 deg from the horizontal so once I wound the spark plug in, the top part of the long socket jammed. I had to back the plug out to free the socket and then use the UJ set up to tighten the plug to 23Nm. Remember this bit….. To get to the plug for cylinder #2, you need to unclip a vacuum line from the air inlet duct. Squeeze together the serrated tabs and pull it out the duct. The vacuum line is rigid plastic so careful how much strain you put on it. I could then repeat the same process to change cylinder #2… …except I used the short spark plug socket on a longer (200mm) 3/8” extension which is narrow enough to clear the dog leg of the spark plug and get a few turns by hand. Picture below was for cylinder #3. Once the spark plug for cylinder #2 is installed, place the vacuum line back over its connection but don’t clip it home as you will need to take the air duct off later. Spark plug for cylinder #3 is straight forward. End of easy access to the spark plugs. To get to spark plugs for cylinders #4 - #6 you need to take off the lower duct, before that you need to take everything between it and the air filter box lid and move the cable tray at the rear of the engine. Using a 6 mm socket loosen the jubilee clip between the air filter box lid and mass air sensor duct and undo the 6No. Torx T25 screws securing the lid to the base. Pivot up the lid and then pull this to the nearside to disengage it from the duct. I removed the complete air box but you only need to take the lid off. See this thread on how to change the air filter Unclip the mass air flow sensor wiring plug. There is a small tab, press that towards the duct and pull the plug out. Slacken off the jubilee clip 7mm socket between the two air ducts. I then started working on removing the cable tray cover at the rear of the engine, this sits over cylinder #6 so needs to come off to access that one. Unclip its cover at the near side, two clips one each side above the inlet manifold, work towards the offside and there is a further clip half way along. Lift up the nearside of it and rotate it to allow you to disengage it from the clips on the offside. Remove it from under the bonnet and lift out the three cables towards the front of the car, this is to allow access to the two Torx T25 screws that secure each side of the cable tray to the cylinder head cover. Nearside, one under the screwdriver and one just in front of it and lower down Offside, there are three screws visible but the centre on is not securing the cable tray. These are a bit tricky to access as they are at an angle which meant using a Torx T25 bit and a universal joint to get to them. Don’t let these screws drop! I then removed the mass air flow sensor duct. It’s held down via rubber bobbin on a stud that needs to be pulled upwards to free it and then pull it out from the lower duct. This exposes the sound insulation material that is secured under the cable tray that we have now loosened off. The sound insulation is held over a ball stud on the nearside of the cable tray, this needs to be untangled to allow the tray to be lifted up, its still tethered in the engine bay with other wiring looms. There is the wire to the mass air flow sensor that passes thru a hole in the insulation take note of its orientation. Lift up the cables and move the sound insulation to the nearside. This allows access to the spark plug for cylinder #6. The top of its coil is just visible in the centre of the picture below. I changed this one out before stripping out anything else from the engine. Still cylinders #4 and #5 to go. Phew! The lower duct now needs to come out. Slacken the jubilee clip with a 6 mm socket at the lower end of the lower duct. Now the disconnect the cylinder head vent pipe. I chose to disconnect it at the cylinder head end. It’s held with four clips, one hidden from view on the underside. which with my dads help using three pick tools and a finger nail we could disengage the clips and pull the pipe gently outwards from the cylinder head cover. Disconnect the electrical plug from the lower end. Using a 10mm socket remove the securing bolt that holds the duct to the cylinder head cover. Free the duct from within the engine bay carefully withdrawing the vent pipe out of the cylinder head cover. You’ve previously disconnected the vacuum line when you did cylinder #2 Set it aside with all the other bits you’ve removed. I checked the inside of the duct and it was perfectly intact and clean, apart from a very slight mist around where the cylinder head vent pipe joins but that’s acceptable. You can now access the spark plug for cylinder #4. There is a bracket holding two electrical connectors that is preventing access to cylinder #5. Hmm this isn’t in TIS nor on the YouTube video I watched. Thanks! I unclipped the two connectors from the bracket which is needed to gain access to the Torx T30 screw that holds the bracket to the cylinder head cover This allows access to the spark plug for cylinder #5. Last spark plug and we are done. Just to put everything back together in reverse order. Run engine and check Literally, just after I finished filming this, the revs picked up and the Big Money Worry light came on. Oh bother or similar words. Read this post in how I solved that problem to get it back firing smoothly on all six again.

I had changed my spark plugs on my F10 535i and once the engine was up to temperature the dreaded Drivetrain error appeared on the idrive. O.k. so I had disconnected lots of things to do the job so I figured I would clear the codes and see what happens. What I should have done was read then codes, make a note of them and then clear them. Using my Foxwell NT530 scanner I cleared the codes and took the car for a drive, almost immediately something was not right. There was an uneven beat to the engine and a brief hesitation. I drove it for 10 miles and no warning re-appeared and in the main the car performed o.k. but there was a slight misfire very occasionally, but nothing that gave me a warning or any fault codes. Something isn’t right with the N55 and I don’t know what as I’ve no codes to go on. Oh bother or similar words. The next day I decide to double check all the connections I had disturbed under the bonnet. This means striping out the ducts and taking everything off again, except this time I left the lower half of the air box in place and just removed the air filter lid. I also left the cylinder head breather pipe connected to the cylinder head this time and opted to remove the joint on the lower air duct. Torx T25 needed for that. With a bit of wiggling we separated the two and got the lower duct out the car for the second time. I removed each coil in turn to inspect them for any signs of obvious damage and made sure the coil plug connections and the fuel injector wiring was o.k. The only issue I could detect from a visual was a small nick to the coil wiring insulation on the coil for cylinder #6. It would be the difficult one right at the back. I made a neat repair with a length of insulation tape to prevent any shorting from this wire. I might have just caught the insulation on the earth connection when pulling out the coil wiring plug. I’m confident enough that the nick is far enough away from any metal to not give any issues. I don’t think that’s the source of the fault here. Put it all back to together and start up. Again once up to temperature there is a slight misfire and uneven beat to the engine. Take it for a drive and once warm and giving it a bit of power, I was grateful for it to fire a warning “Drivetrain” and the check engine light was on with a low power available warning. Straight back home and check the codes. Misfire to cylinder #1. Great I’ve now got something to work with and thankfully it’s the easiest cylinder to get too. To eliminate the ignition coils being the problem, I swap the coils between cylinders #1 and #2, clear the fault codes and take it for a drive again. Again misfire is still there when driving and when giving it the berries it again faults with “Drivetrain” error. Back home again and check codes. Misfire to cylinder #1 is up again. Therefore it’s not the coil as there is no fault in cylinder #2 as the fault didn’t move with the coil. It must be the coil wiring or the new spark plug at cylinder #1. Well the spark plug is the easier one to check. I dig out the ones I removed and found the cleanest looking one and gave it a clean. Pull the coil back out from cylinder #1 and swap out the new spark plug for an old one. Put it back together, clear the codes and take it for a drive. Immediately I could tell the engine was as it should be. Smooth and powerful and no faults on the drive and importantly no fault codes in the DME were found after that drive. It’s a duff new spark plug then. But hang on, this is the one I made a mess of installing (remember earlier in my spark plug install post?) and got the long spark plug socket jammed in the dog leg of the spark plug bore. Perhaps I damaged the insulator? Nothing visible on the spark plug I removed, but perhaps it only manifests itself when hot, once it expands slightly a crack opens up and there is an opportunity for it to earth out bypassing the electrode tip. Lesson #1 learned, use the proper tool to not risk damaging the ceramic insulator. Lesson #2 learned, don't clear the codes, make a note of them first. I now need to source a 7th new spark plug. Thank my lucky stars it was the easiest cylinder to get too and not cylinder #4 or #5 or #6! My Foxwell NT530 scanner proved invaluable in this situation and has clearly paid for itself in this one job alone. Nothing like having a wife who is 36 weeks pregnant to sharpen up the need to get the car back firing on all six while waiting for the “we need to go now” shout!

Lol its mostly just me in the car and I have the extra rubber mats to keep the very light grey (!) carpets clean. Busted! I opened it up back in March to have a snoop at as there had been much chat on here about the orientation of the filters so I went in and had a look at mine and was horrified at the amount of silver birch seeds that were stuck on so I cleaned it earlier in the year. I had Fuse F54 blow just before lockdown so I took the lower dash trim off to help gain access to the fuse box so while I was in there with the cover off.......

Needs no other answer!

I'm remembering what I did 6.5 years ago. I couldn't find it either so we binned the expensive Westfalia additional kit and I retro fitted the same type of relay that I fitted to my F10 for supplying pin 10 on my dads F10. However Matthew has given a better answer and explained earlier (what I didn't appreciate at the time) that it was upside down/back to front in the LHD v RHD set ups and I didn't have access to wiring diagrams. You are quite right to want it to work properly.

You don't need that for the trailer. On the Westfalia loom I fitted 6 years ago the wiring needed for pin 10 was an additional kit from Westfalia. It was very expensive for what it was when fitted to my dads F10. When I needed to wire up pin 10 on my towbar I bought myself some lengths of 2.5mm^2 cable and a split charge (caravan) relay for £20 and fitted it myself. Far more robust relay that the Westfalia one.

^If you fit other tyres as in not the correct size that the manufacturer specified, you need to inform your insurance company. Ideally you should stick with the correct sizes as per the sticker on the driver door cill as so many systems rely on correct wheel speeds relative to front/rear wheel speeds. Changing tyre sizes alters the rolling radius and this wheel speeds. I run two sets of wheels as I was fortunate enough to buy an F10 that came with a second set of wheels shod in full winters. You can pick up some bargains on ebay for a second set of wheels to fit with winters if you have the space to store a second set of wheels.

Completed the major service (oil, oil filter, air filter, micro filters, spark plugs) and cured a misfire! More on the plugs and misfire later. Oil (Castrol Edge 5W- 30 M bought from Amazon) and filter with air filter was changed after a year and ~2,600 miles. Keeping the turbo bearings sweet and internals as clean as I can. Also changed the oil sump plug, the sump plug access hatch securing bolt and its retaining nut which was a plastic one to replace the metal ones which just rust... While the oil was dripping out the sump I changed the micro filters Oil was changed just like a year ago except this time I reset the oil service indicator using the method as described in this post...... ....having selecting the idrive to show the service icon, it would not reset until I called this up on the idrive. Air filter was changed as before Spark plugs were a bit more involved.... ...and gave rise to a small set back but that's sorted for now after a bit of diagnostics and I'll cover that in another post. Its now currently plugged into its Ctek charger. Next job winter wheels, before I run out of time this year.

As part of my recent service on my F10 where I needed to change the oil and filter, air filter and spark plugs I also changed the micro filters. I fitted genuine BMW micro filters from my local dealer £82.83 plus VAT, second box from the bottom in the picture above. These are activated carbon filters to remove nasties and pollen from the air before entering the cabin. The micro filters are located behind the glovebox and are accessed via the passenger footwell Tools needed Torx T20 screwdriver, that's all! Get yourself down on the ground looking into the passenger footwell and look for the horizontal screw that secures the transmission tunnel side trim. Pull the trim panel firmly outwards above the net to release two trim tabs. I've cheated here in the pic below as the trim is removed just to make the picture easier. Now pull the trim panel forwards (towards the bulkhead parallel to the transmission tunnel) to disengage it from its locating lugs/hooks as shown below The trim panel needs to be removed to allow the lower dash panel to be removed. This is held in by two screw and two clips which need to be pulled free. Screw 1 location Screw 2 location First clip location, at the first screw location Second clip location, just by the second screw Lower the trim panel to the floor of the footwell carefully as its attached by wires for the footwell light and if fitted a 12V socket. There is also a delicate foam tube that is the heater duct. You need to disconnect the electrical connections from the 12V socket and light... ...and remove its wire from another clip Remove the panel from the car to access the micro filters which are in the black box. Picture below is looking upwards. Undo and remove the 4 torx T20 screws (two on the rear edge, one one the nearside and the last is located just by the grey drain pipe) and flip down the rear of the cover carefully as its attached by a drain pipe at the transmission tunnel. Unhook the front of the cover and lower it down. Make sure the cover is clean, you can gently remove it from the grey drain pipe to clean it if required. The micro filters should now be visible and may even drop out on their own accord, if not hook them out with a finger taking note of the correct orientation of the air flow which is arrows on the filters pointing to the rear of the car. Old and new filters Old one fitted by BMW in October 2018 7,142 miles ago on the left, new on the right. Push the new filters up into the recesses making sure you have them the right way round! You need to gently bend/force the front most filter to get it passed the carpet. Hook the black cover in the lugs and carefully align the cover so that the gasket is sitting correctly and re insert the four screws. Refit the dash lower trim panel re-fitting the two electrical plugs and the clip holding the light wire in lace, push the clips in place and fit the screws. Lift up the transmission tunnel trim panel and push it rear wards so that the lugs engage on the transmission tunnel and firmly bang home the two clips at the front and finish with the last screw Took 10 minutes if that to change them. I did this while I was waiting for the oil to finish dripping out the sump.