E53 x5 3.0 diesel, hard starting

[fresh76]

Hi guys
Can i get some advice pleeeeezzzzzz...
Just bought my 1st bmw about 3 months ago
Firstly, I love the car and the brand quality.
Heres my dilema,
Recently the car has been taking a couple swings to start, and has since been getting worse. yesterday went out of town and noticed when hot it takes much longer to start up...The car has 180k on the clock, once it starts it idle fine, no smoke when driving and pulls ok.
Can anybody offer some advice or recommend reliable mechanic???? going to the stealers is beyond my affordability
Thank you guys in advance:argh:

 

[RAArmstrong]

Simple one first... Battery? :fencelook:

 

[fresh76]

Hi
Car has a nice strong swing..just taking long time to fire up.
almost 10 - 20 seconds when hot, a little less when cold
It takes much longer when engine is warmed up....just afraid of damaging my starter...

 

[ChefDJ]

Simple one first... Battery? :fencelook:

+1

Battery may have a dead cell. Yours has the same symptoms mine did when I got it.

So first change the battery, and don't go for a cheapy...

 

[RAArmstrong]

Simple one first... Battery? :fencelook:

+1

Battery may have a dead cell. Yours has the same symptoms mine did when I got it.

So first change the battery, and don't go for a cheapy...

I only said it after remembering our conversation :rollsmile:

 

[Ralf*]

Hi
Car has a nice strong swing..just taking long time to fire up.
almost 10 - 20 seconds when hot, a little less when cold
It takes much longer when engine is warmed up....just afraid of damaging my starter...

almost the same symptoms I had which made me sign up here at Fanatics in 2007....I have E39-530d
Also would crank and crank and crank---20-30 seconds with intermittent hic-cups of possible firing up
Was always worst when the engine was hot
when it finally took, ran sweet and good

Advice given was Cam-Shaft_sensor....or Crank-shaft-sensor

I opted for a staged approach by replacing the easier and cheapest components first, all the way to most difficult to expensive

First component was the Cam-Shaft-Sensor, as it sits right in front on top, 5 minutes to change

That was 7 years ago....starts first time every time now..

just giving you my experiences, and not saying that this is your problem, but worth a possible investigation.

 

[Clownshoe]

When was it last serviced? I had the same thing with the Land Rover with the BMW diesel. I did a service myself and discovered the factory airfilter is an 8 year old car (Full dealer Service History). Ran fine after that. There could be a lot of things causing it but without someone actually looking at it, it would difficult to tell. Does it blow a cloud of black smoke when it does start? The longer you leave it the more collateral damage you are going to get (starter, etc).

P.S> BMW is not the only option. Try a specialist BMW workshop. I am sure there are recommendations for your area.

 

[RowenS]

Bud,

I've just been through a very similar exercise, please PM me your number and I will talk you through the the process.

 

[zaleonardz]

Diagnostics is your first route.

 

[fresh76]

Hi guys
Took the car for full diagnostics..fault show low fuel rail pressure on start up.
Then went to my trusted diesel centre and we found that No. 1 and No. 5 injectors back flowing badly, hence the low fuel pressure.
Would only look at changing the faulty 2 but all advice i got so far recommend that i do all six.
So far quote i got R14k with labour for recon my six injectors completely.
Any other suggesstions?
I would like to thank all u guys for the quick responses...I REALLY AM IMPRESSED WITH UR HELP THUS FAR
:idea:

 

[Clownshoe]

R2000 per injector sounds about right.

I would say that doing all the injectors seems prudent. They should all be in similar condition... unless a previous owner had 2-3-4-5 reconditioned previously!!