Fred T

Hello John (Bruce, Mike, Jeff and others), I am very grateful for all your help and advice with this. Sadly the plot thinkens! After the Specialist worked on the car it was fine for a while. I thought I would just add some RedX treatment (I did double double check it was the correct product) to the next tank full of diesel for good measure. The car was fine for a week or so ........ then I took it for a weekend run!!!!!! For the first part of the journey we travelled in two cars. I followed the BMW at a steady 70 on the motorway for 150miles and a few miles around town. I did notice a tiny bit of smoke from the BMW exhaust when under load (e.g going uphill around town) but nothing to worry about. Later the same day we drove on another 70 miles. The next day I could see smoke - in the rear view mirror - from the exhaust when pulling away from roundabouts etc. It got worse quickly and by the end of that day the car was throwing out CLOUDS of thick BLACK smoke under acceleration - the type of smoke cloud that can be seen by anyone within 400 yards behind!!! I drove the car home steadily the next day. It drives fine, is not noisy, appears to have normal power and is not using oil. Being at a bit of a loss I booked it in with the local BMW Dealer (for a basic £75 diagnostic look) in the hope of getting to the bottom of it. I did give them a full written history of events, but I'm not sure they read it. I have just picked it up and they could NOT tell me why it is smoking now. They told me it shows as needing new glow-plugs (but car starts very well and is NOT at all smokey on startup - so I am not interested in sorting that at the moment). There is no problem showing up on diagnostics re the turbo, EGR or injectors - or anything else. In the end they (the booking in staff) wanted to tell me that taking out the swirl flaps can cause some smoke! No one else has reported this problem so far as I know (and it was fine for a while) and it now smokes to epic proportions (under noticeable acceleration only though). It has a fresh tank of diesel. I am now going to ask my local mechanic chum to just apply his old fashioned (non-diagnostic) mind to it all before I start changing turbos or the like (and may ask him to replace the swirl flaps!). Can any of you make sense of latest problems I am having? (PS: has anyone you know ever welded the swirl flaps onto the spindle they sit on). Confused Fred (Thanks for even reading though all this)

Hello all, I am thinking of going to the Goodwood Festival of Speed - for the first time. I just fancy seeing some cars do the hill climb. See some nice cars sitting around and even see some loved BMWs? Do any of you have any advice at all? What to see/do - What not to bother with? Which day is best? Anything you wish you knew before you attended yourself? Cheers Fred

Thanks again all - I am looking forward to summer now. I am now getting used to the easy power available at almost all speeds - great fun :-) Fred

Hello Mike, Bruce, Jeff and others. I am pleased to say that the car went to the specialist garage yesterday and it has come back as good as ever. On the odd occasion I have had to use the car recently no warning lights at all have come on - the car just remained in 'limp-mode'. The garage could find NO history of the warning lights related faults! Thankfully they did find the cause of the main problem. When my mechanic friend removed the swirl flaps his logic told him to not block the now disconnected vacuum pipe (the specialist blanks it off when doing that job - so they dd just that) AND it seems that the turbo boost pressure sensor had become disconnected (possibly shook loose after swirl flap removal) - so the turbo did not want to play. The car is great to drive again :-) (and all for just £93 (phew!)) Thank you to you all for your help with this. Fred

Hello Bruce, Jeff and others, I really appreciate the help you have all given me. The car is booked in for 15th May - so I hope it all becomes clear then (and not too expensive!). I will let them know all the input I have had from the forum (and get a full story from them - and hope it is useful for others in future?) Cheers again, Fred

Hello all - thanks for your help with this. Just a quick update:- My local garage had a look at the car. One code that came up is that there is no turbo boost - presumably this is why car has gone into limp mode! They also found several other fault codes - some of which they could not find information. They are a decent garage but had to admit the recent history was not making a lot of sense at this time. I popped that car over to the local BMW specialist - they had a 5 minute look and confirmed the boost problem. So............. I have booked it in with them and will give them the history of the car over the past few weeks (and all it's, sometimes contradictory, warning lights/symptoms). I am assuming they will be able to shed some light on the whole saga - and fix it. I will let you know the outcome. Thanks again to you all.

Hello Victoria, I'm afraid I don't have any direct help to give - but as a fellow 'newbie' I am currently getting forum help with my car, so thought I would try to help. I have had numerous auto cars (and have a 2004 E46 330d Touring now) so have built up a bit of a relationship with the local gearbox specialist! I am not sure whether they can 'diagnose' your car issue over the phone but if you could ask for 'Jeff' he might be able to help from his years of experience. I would give Exeter Gearbox Centre a call on 01392 404349. He will of course try to get some work from you if he can - but he may give you enough free advice/guidance to give you somewhere to start investigating. Best wishes, Fred

Thanks dilly, I am feeling more optimistic that the current problem with the car will be a 'glitch' and then, with a remap, the car is going to be great for a nice summer (with sunroof and re-gassed air-con (already done)). Cheers again, Fred

Hello Bruce, Jeff and others again, It is so good of you to help me with this. I have just checked the brake fluid level - and that is fine (I'm pleased to say). As the car is not my daily transport I will have time to let my local mechanic (who I have known for years and he has always been reliable) search the codes. It is really helpful to have your suggestions as, I know, he will appreciate some specific tips/clues as to possible background/causal factors. Thanks again VERY much. I will, of course, let you know the final outcome! Cheers Fred

Hello Bruce, dilly and others - thanks for the welcome. I'm looking forward to some nice days out driving! Cheers, Fred

Hello Ben and Mr Beemer, I have recently bought my second 330d touring auto. It is an example of the previous model to yours (but as a 2004 model I still very happy with it). With the help of a kind watcher of the forums I am presently investigating a possible hic-cup with sensors. More significantly I have removed the inlet swill flaps (which I think were never fitted to your model?) so have been thinking of having the car's mapping checked. I have been given the name of a local company (in Exeter) which have a good reputation. I THINK they are charging about £300 for tuning on a dyno. Could I ask whether this is about the current going rate for such work? Enjoy your 330d, Fred

Hello Mike, Thanks for your reply. I have bought the car as something of a present to myself and spent time and money getting it serviced etc to use as a weekend tourer (no pun intended) - so think I went into panic-mode as the car entered (I hope) limp-home mode! I will do as you suggest and get the codes as a priority. I will also have a look at the battery - this was not an issue I was aware of - so thanks again for taking the time to help. Regards, Fred

PS: Having posted the question I am now wondering whether the car has gone into 'limp-home' mode due to the problems it thinks exist with the 'handbrake' and or 'DSC off' from the warning sensors? As you can probably tell by now, I am thrashing around with this problem a bit - trying to think of an outcome that is not TOO expensive! Your help would be very gratefully received! Fred

PS: The warning lights on issue (at the same time) does not make any sense to me either! Fred

PS: The warning lights issue does not make any sense to me either! Fred