"Drive train ..Full Performance Not Available"

junior2017

New member
Hi fam,

I have a 118i F20, 2012 model. She has been good all these five years but that just changed last week. The "drive train..full performance not available" message popped up on my screen as I was climbing a hill. The car just stalled and it was so embarrassing to be overtaken by trucks and stuff. It drives better on flat surfaces but still feels laboured and not at its usual performance. Took it to a mechanic and I was told it's turbo and needs to be replaced. Needless to say it costs a fortune to replace it. Any other ideas? is there anyone who has faced a similar problem? Is it possible that there are other factors other than turbo?

Please help.

:blueCry::blueCry::blueCry:
 

SubLoaded

Resident Derailer
Staff member
Hey Bud,

Give us an intro :fencelook:

I'd trust what your mech said - I'm sure he has read out the appropriate error codes?

I've heard of cases where solenoids could cause this problem or bad fuel/running the car low on fuel as well. You could try fill up and let the car sit for a while before attempting again but then again, back to my first poitn, if you trust your mech then listen to him! :hammerhead:
 

Jeremy.d

Active member
Welcome fam,
There was a post a few weeks ago saying these models are quite prone to catastrophic failure. I dont know if it's true or not though.

Could be Limp Mode. I'm sure other forumites will be able to give you a better idea about it.

Hope you enjoy the forum blud:thumbs:
 

junior2017

New member
Yeah the code he pulled up is:

120308-Description: Charge-air pressure control, plausibility Pressure too low.

I will ask him to check solenoids as well. Nothing wrong with a second opinion isn't it! :=):

thanks mate!
 

husaindindar

///Member
Hi and welcome.

On what basis did the mech say it's the turbo?
Any fault codes that he read off the DME?

Get the codes read and post them here.
It will help us with pointing you in the right direction.


junior2017 said:
Yeah the code he pulled up is:

120308-Description: Charge-air pressure control, plausibility Pressure too low.

I will ask him to check solenoids as well. Nothing wrong with a second opinion isn't it! :=):

thanks mate!

Posted just after your response, sorry...


+1 on second opinion
 

junior2017

New member
Jeremy.d said:
Welcome fam,
There was a post a few weeks ago saying these models are quite prone to catastrophic failure. I dont know if it's true or not though.

Could be Limp Mode. I'm sure other forumites will be able to give you a better idea about it.

Hope you enjoy the forum blud:thumbs:

Thank you so much bro:ty:! OMW, I hope it's not something that will spoil my festive season mode!::thumbdo:
 

Waseem 333i

Active member
So when this error came up, how were you driving? Full throttle? Did you hear any noises? It can be a boost pipe that broke. What noises is happening now?
 

junior2017

New member
husaindindar said:
Hi and welcome.

On what basis did the mech say it's the turbo?
Any fault codes that he read off the DME?

Get the codes read and post them here.
It will help us with pointing you in the right direction.


junior2017 said:
Yeah the code he pulled up is:

120308-Description: Charge-air pressure control, plausibility Pressure too low.

I will ask him to check solenoids as well. Nothing wrong with a second opinion isn't it! :=):

thanks mate!

Posted just after your response, sorry...


+1 on second opinion


Yes Sir!!!!:thumbs:


Waseem 333i said:
So when this error came up, how were you driving? Full throttle? Did you hear any noises? It can be a boost pipe that broke. What noises is happening now?

Full throttle at around 130km/h. Yes there was some roaring/deep noise especially on my side (driver) of the engine. That sound is mostly common when I'm starting it in the morning, coupled with rattling sometimes.
 

6spdmanual

Active member
I also had a similar issue recently with my F20 118i. Turns out my only problem was coils. A few hours later I was on the road again, no issues.
 

poovie9

New member
The exact same thing happen today to me, it went really sluggish and there was a loud hissing noise coming from the turbo, i switched the car off and restarted and everything went back to normal, strange :dunnoanymore:
 

Spectre

New member
Morning everyone.
Same thing just happened to me.
Has anyone gotten to the bottom of it?
My daily F20 118i N13 just had a downpipe and stage 1 done a week ago, no issues before.
Dyno numbers were 320 Newtons and 166.2Kw
 

KPM3_30

Moderator
Staff member
Morning everyone.
Same thing just happened to me.
Has anyone gotten to the bottom of it?
My daily F20 118i N13 just had a downpipe and stage 1 done a week ago, no issues before.
Dyno numbers were 320 Newtons and 166.2Kw
Sorry to hear man - those engines are unreliable as hell when stock, a DP+SW may have just made things worse. Best thing is to have codes scanned and go from there.
 

TurboLlew

Honorary ///Member
What preventative stuff did you do before the stage 1/DP? Read up on the Peugeot/Prince engine issues and see what preventative work you can do while you're at it. Whether it is a simple fix or not, you're going to have to address the other issues.
 

Kyle

///Member
Morning everyone.
Same thing just happened to me.
Has anyone gotten to the bottom of it?
My daily F20 118i N13 just had a downpipe and stage 1 done a week ago, no issues before.
Dyno numbers were 320 Newtons and 166.2Kw
It's impossible to tell without taking the car in for a full diagnostic scan (preferably by a mechanic that has proper tools for this as the generic readers can be misleading). The drive train error is generic and just means the car isn't happy with one of the signals it's receiving from the various sensors around the car.

I wouldn't drive the car apart from taking it to the mechanic. Once you have the error report the members here can potentially provide some input on the way forward. As mentioned though, these engine are known to e unreliable and expensive to repair.
 

///Avi

///Member
What mileage is the vehicle on? Have you done the timing chain guides?

Best would be as suggested above is to have the vehicle scanned. A drive train error is a general message so it could be anything really.
 

Spectre

New member
Thank you for responses.
Within the last two weeks: Timing chain kit, Valve stem seals, oil and filter change, iridium plugs.
After that, DP and SW was done.
I was just informed by a BMW Tech that it is the turbo and something to do with the internal wastegate causing boost loss.
Does it sound about right? Apparently the rattle is coming from the wastegate not closing properly upon acceleration.
Mileage is on 120k KM with a FSH at SMG. one previous owner.
 

///Avi

///Member
Yes, these cars do develop turbo issues also related issues are the oil lines and coolant lines.

Has the tech read the codes? If the boost isn’t hitting target it will show up in the codes.
 
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