BMW "regeneration cycle" eh?!

Cosmic182

Cosmic182

Cosmic182

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Joined
25 Jul 2006
Posts
3,105
Hi there

Having dropped my BM 1 series (petrol) off this morning for a problem that has been bugging me for a while, when i change UP the gears (only happens when changing up) when I got back to the throttle, there's completely no power for a couple of seconds then all of a sudden power kicks in (like a lag) Now BMW have just rang saying there's no physical problems what so ever, yet the car is in what the call a regeneration exhaust cycle, meaning I have to drive the at a constant good speed for around 30 mins to clear this. Is this a load of tosh? or is true? warranty runs out in a couple of months so wanted to get it checked out.

TIA guys.
 
MikeHiow said:
Diesel? I believe the DPF needs these 'regeneration cycles'?
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Its petrol, now he said on the phone with it being a diesel.....thats when i interupted and said its petrol, he then paused for a bit yet continued with his story...i read up on google that its only diesels that are affected? :confused:
 
[TW]Fox;18200480 said:
There is no dpf on a petrol 1 Series :confused:
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This is what I've just said to my mum ! :confused: he told me to drive it in excess of 100km for 30 mins to clear it, I said if it still does it by the end of the week ill be bringing it in again.
 
Diesel cars with a particulate filter run regeneration cycles to "burn off" the stored soot, petrol engines (afaik) have not yet ever been fitted with any form of particulate filter.

The guy is taking you for a ride I reckon. They can't find the fault easily and quickly so have decided to fob you off, but the guy who came up with the story and then phoned you (probably a manager..) was too dumb to check or ask if it was a diesel.

Even worse, he was perpetuating the myth that modern filter systems need the engine to be put under a certain amount of load to effectively burn off the deposits, it simply isn't true.

It was of the very first ones, but ones from the past say 6 years or so are quite happy as long as the engine is up to temperature, the cycle just takes longer to complete as there is less hot gas for it to recirculate...
 
Ill give it till saturday, im going to leeds on friday so that will be a 30 mile run all along the motorway, if its still doing it, it can go straight back in! Only good thing that comes from their service is a free clean :(
 
And they say a BMW FSH is vital when buying!:rolleyes:

When I read storys like the OP's, it makes me wonder!:(
 
If its likely to be the EGR, would that just be a case of cleaning it or if its caput, replacing it? I am tempted to ring them tomorrow to get them to look at it again as I can't see a 30 min/mile trip sorting this problem out when it is not a diesel.

Reading up on EGR problems that other people have, It sounds more and more like the problem, It just also baffles me that they said my car would not be ready until tomorrow, having dropped it off at 10am, they rang up at 2pm saying its ready to collect, which also makes me think someones had a look at the report and said its this...without even having it in the garage or out on a run.
 
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Cosmic182 said:
If its likely to be the EGR, would that just be a case of cleaning it or if its caput, replacing it? I am tempted to ring them tomorrow to get them to look at it again as I can't see a 30 min/mile trip sorting this problem out when it is not a diesel.
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You can clean them out they get full of soot and can stick causing exhaust gasses to enter the inlet at low engine speeds which can cause a loss of power.. I have no experience of BMW egr valves but generally removing and giving them a good clean with carb cleaner can help.

You could try unplugging it and seeing how it drives you will get warning lights but the car should still drive and you should get a constant power rather than it being sluggish to start..

There is no regeneration on petrol cars so no idea what BMW are on about. It sounds like they thought your car was a diesel and are using it as they have no idea..?
 
If it has the cruddy kind of EGR (a pipe and a valve), then conceivably it could be programmed to clear it out.

The better kind of EGR is to have a phase variator on the exhaust camshaft, which recent enough versions of VANOS do.


Excluding the above, they're probably talking out of their behinds.
 
R420LA6X2/4MNA said:
And they say a BMW FSH is vital when buying!:rolleyes:

When I read storys like the OP's, it makes me wonder!:(
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Mines been in for its oil service today and although the service guy never mentioned it I had a bit of paper stapled to the reciepts with the tyre depths on it. The front ones were something like FR 1.6, 5 and 3mm with the FL 2, 4 and 2mm. I thought it was a bit low so just been out to check both are roughly the same with the inside at 3.9mm getting deeper towards the outside at 5.6mm. Don't know if they were trying it on or it was incompetence.
 
[TW]Fox;18202100 said:
Because of what it tells you about the ethos of the owner, not the quality of the work done.
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You would not know irony if it whacked you in the face.

Anyway, surely the point in a used car is the way its been looked after, never mind the owners ethos.

Ethos is all well & good until incompetence spoils the brew!
 
R420LA6X2/4MNA said:
You would not know irony if it whacked you in the face.
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You don't really suit smart remarks, I think you need a bit more practice.

When buying reasonably new cars you want to see evidence that when owning that car, cost was never really something that the owner was that bothered about.
 
[TW]Fox;18202100 said:
Because of what it tells you about the ethos of the owner, not the quality of the work done.
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I'm certain that the vast majority of new BMWs are company car purchases and many of the drivers don't give a hoot for them. They have service histories because they are sold with servicing in the lease contract or whatever.

And most low-mileage ex-company cars have been used to ferry Mr Manager two miles to the train station and never get warmed up properly.

A full service history means nothing on any brand really, just that it's been to a dealer x times in it's life.
 
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