D5 Service

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Thom
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2022 1:10 pm

D5 Service

Post by Thom » Wed Dec 14, 2022 3:38 pm

Hi All,

The time has come for booking my F10 D5 in for a service. I'm currently teetering around 85,000 miles and it has previously only seen small independents looking at the history. I'm based near Lincoln and was wondering if anyone had any recommendations? I've seen BMR having been mentioned many times but would would be a 3-4 hour trek each way. Would it be worth it? Sytner Notts is pretty much on my doorstep which I guess would be the obvious choice?

Any thoughts of the best place to suggest and if there's any preventative maintenance I should also be thinking about? I'm averaging 35-40k miles a year so need to keep her in good shape mechanically.

Many thanks in advance

Thom
D5 BiTurbo #156 (Alpina Green)
D3 BiTurbo Coupe #234 (Alpine White)
E85 Z4 3.0i (Sterling Grey)
Renault Twingo Mk1 (Vert Yanos)
Audi A2 1.4Tdi (Pine Green)

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Paul0568
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Re: D5 Service

Post by Paul0568 » Wed Dec 14, 2022 4:22 pm

Hi Thom,

My F11 D5 has always been serviced by Sytner (initially Tamworth and more recently Nottingham). Pricing 12 months ago was around £320 for a minor service and £480 for a major. I had a major service at 140,000 miles. My experience last year wasn't great as I had to wait about 10 weeks to get a pair of front springs fitted. Fortunately my last visit earlier this month for the EGR Cooler recall was excellent. I would also consider BMR if they were closer. You will pay a premium for Sytner but they know the cars better than most.

In addition to the front coil springs, my car has had rear suspension air bags and the suspension compressor dump valve replaced. These are specific to the touring so no need for you to worry. Other than that it has been general wear and tear items (brakes and tyres). If you are doing 35-40K miles per year you will probably need a set of pads every year or two depending on how you drive. These are standard parts used in other BMW's and can be sourced online for a fraction of the cost of the main dealer. There was thread earlier this year which lists part numbers and OEM manufacturer. My pads have been replaced every 50K miles.

Look out for paint bubbling on the tops of the doors. This should be covered by the manufacturers paint warranty up to 10 years old. I had 3 doors repainted under warranty in February 2021.

Your car looks fantastic. Enjoy racking up the miles!
F11 D5 BiTurbo #162

Thom
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2022 1:10 pm

Re: D5 Service

Post by Thom » Wed Dec 14, 2022 5:41 pm

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the great advice, it sounds like Sytner might be the best option for this one. I'm fairly certain my EGR recall needs doing but apparently it's not showing up when I ask at Sytner Notts. Did yours have any symptoms before changing or was it purely precautionary?

I'm very jealous of your F11, it looks fantastic. I have three little ones so the F10 can be a bit of a squeeze sometimes. Plus Tourings are just cool.
It fills me with confidence that you've hit 150k with minimal issues!

Thom
D5 BiTurbo #156 (Alpina Green)
D3 BiTurbo Coupe #234 (Alpine White)
E85 Z4 3.0i (Sterling Grey)
Renault Twingo Mk1 (Vert Yanos)
Audi A2 1.4Tdi (Pine Green)

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F30 ED Sport, Up! GTi, F10 520d, E92 320d

D3orbust
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Location: Tyne and wear

Re: D5 Service

Post by D3orbust » Wed Dec 14, 2022 8:00 pm

Symptoms for me were a smell of coolant in the cabin and the car was also using a lot of coolant up, the D5 was returned to me with a missing Alpina key ring, missing wheel key and they forgot to connect up two coolant hoses but that’s a different story

After so many bad experiences I never take my car to a main dealer for any type of work, I can usually find a good place using the regional section on Pistonheads
B5 G30 number 332 (development car)

D5 number 21

D3MT number 284 (gone but will be sadly missed)

Metrics
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Location: Berks

Re: D5 Service

Post by Metrics » Wed Dec 14, 2022 9:35 pm

I would echo the sentiments about main dealers, sadly it's rare these days to get a garage who will look after you well, they are focussed in getting it in and out pronto.

As it's your first service Thom, I would suggest using a specialist, as they can give you more thorough appraisal of how the car is and let you know what needs doing now, or in the near future. It will help you plan its care knowing what it needs, especially as you intend you use it as intended, to cover big miles.
I only use BMR for my cars - no one else comes close to treating your car like their own, as they are enthusiasts.

I've run my D5 for almost 6 years and 60k miles (now at 137k). Here's my experience on maintenance and preventative work to keep them A1:

1. Oil change - ignore the CBS intervals, 18k is bonkers between oil changes. I do an interim oil service at 9k. Use quality oil and a genuine filter. This step alone will prevent loads of other issues.
2. Gearbox oil service - officially sealed for life. Get the box & TC flushed, new ZF oil and filter. Do this at 60-70k miles to keep it trouble free.
3. Inlet manifold, EGR & inlet valves will be absolutely full of carbon by this age and this will cause issues. If the EGR cooler is original, it will be replaced at BMW's cost. The inlet manifold will need professional cleaning or replacing, and the inlet valves walnut blasting. You will not believe the difference in how the car will run after this!
4. There's a plastic coolant pipe that comes off the head, under the inlet manifold - it's a common failure point on N57 due to age and heat cycles. Mine split literally as I pulled onto my drive. I thanked my lucky stars that day!! Preventative change on this one (esp. if done when doing no. 3)
5. Bulkhead grommet for LHD steering column. These perish and then let in water. Do not wait for this to happen, it will ruin your interior (I found this out from a mate's experience). Prevention job.
6. Diff mountings tear and output seals leak, due to the monster torque.
7. Timing chains - this one will divide opinion as it's preventative but £££. Some N57 engines have failed due to chain wear/stretching/snapping. Of course much of this depends on how the car has been used, oil change frequency, motorway vs town driving (and the dreaded stop start, which you should code to be off permanently!)
Given the monster torque these units put out I decided to get the chains replaced on mine last year for pure peace of mind. It's not a small job as you can imagine, but it means you can use the car as intended and not worry about the what if!!

These cars are well put together. As ever, looking after them regularly and well, including preventative works means they will go on and on for years, miles and smiles!
Last edited by Metrics on Thu Dec 15, 2022 1:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
2019 G31 B5 Biturbo No.299
2012 F10 D5 Biturbo No.13
1993 Mercedes 190E 2.6 Sportline spec
1991 Mk1 Golf GTI Sportline cabriolet

Frosty
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Re: D5 Service

Post by Frosty » Wed Dec 14, 2022 10:08 pm

Asim,

For 2, 3 & 4 how much time was the car off the road for?

I was planning on the gearbox oil change for next year, but was not aware of the inlet manifold and valves issue, so will look into this too.

Cheers

Paul
D5 F11 Touring #107
B8 Touring #21 SOLD - but regretted

Paul0568
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Re: D5 Service

Post by Paul0568 » Wed Dec 14, 2022 10:26 pm

Thom wrote:
Wed Dec 14, 2022 5:41 pm
Hi Paul,

I'm fairly certain my EGR recall needs doing but apparently it's not showing up when I ask at Sytner Notts. Did yours have any symptoms before changing or was it purely precautionary?

Thom
I searched the BMW Recall website using the BMW chassis number and it showed it was still outstanding. I had not received a letter so assumed it slipped through the net. I was losing a small amount of coolant so wanted it sorted as I have a trip to the Alps planned in January. My local BMW couldn’t do anything until mid-Feb, but Sytner Nottingham sorted it in under two weeks.

As Metrics has recommended, I have switched to more regular oil changes (10K miles in my case). I haven’t considered a gearbox service or timing chains.
F11 D5 BiTurbo #162

Metrics
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Re: D5 Service

Post by Metrics » Thu Dec 15, 2022 10:02 am

Frosty wrote:
Wed Dec 14, 2022 10:08 pm
Asim,

For 2, 3 & 4 how much time was the car off the road for?

I was planning on the gearbox oil change for next year, but was not aware of the inlet manifold and valves issue, so will look into this too.

Cheers

Paul
Hi Paul

Difficult to give you a breakdown as the inlet replacement was done at the same time as the timing chains. The coolant pipe is literally a 5 mins job when the inlet is off.
The inlet on my car isa new one, but there are videos on youtube on how to remove and clean it. It's not too bad a job to remove if you take your time (I had to remove mine to do the coolant pipe).
This coking issue is inevitable on all modern diesels as the exhaust gases are reburnt to reduce NOx.

As a guess I think all 3 jobs could be done in one day at a specialist, but best to ask the experts.
2019 G31 B5 Biturbo No.299
2012 F10 D5 Biturbo No.13
1993 Mercedes 190E 2.6 Sportline spec
1991 Mk1 Golf GTI Sportline cabriolet

Marc 76
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Re: D5 Service

Post by Marc 76 » Mon Dec 19, 2022 9:11 pm

Some good advice above and I can concur the diff hangers and output shaft seals do fail, and for anyone who doesn't know its an easy check to make as the diff hanger bush can be seen from underneath and the bottom of the diff casing will be wet under either or both output shafts if they are leaking. Granted you need to be right under to see the diff hanger.
This also gives me chance to recall some of my main dealer experience...

My car was with Sytner Sheffield for some warranty work initially on the rear air system and they spotted the diff hanger split and one leaky output shaft.
"Don't worry sir, it's covered under your warranty and we'll sort it"
So after being told it was indeed sorted, i subsequently had the car to my local garage for a check of the front TCA's on their ramp, which bizarrely the BMW mechanic had told me (on the video they send out after they've checked the car over) that they both had excessive play and needed to be replaced, but then later in the day the guy i was dealing with in service said they were in fact ok and didn't need replacement?!? Alarm bells were ringing.
Turns out my trusted local mechanic said they were indeed ok, with no play whatsoever. Subsequently, weeks later Sytner decided that they weren't ok again after all, and changed them anyway!
So, while it was on the ramp and we were checking the TCA's, i had a quick look at the diff and what i thought would be a shiny new hanger to find a wet oily underside and the original hanger, which was indeed split! And they said they'd done this work.
Back to Sytner it went again and this time they completed the work, but not without promising the car back at the end of the day and in the event keeping it overnight thus leaving me stranded 35 miles away from home with no option of courtesy car (they did this three times over the course of my warranty period)
Attached to that there were also more instances of being let down where they took the car and didnt do any work for one reason or another (sorry we ordered the wrong side) etc etc.

So what with all of the above, plus Sytner related stuff i haven't mentioned here regards my last 20 months of Alpina ownership, and added to that previous experiences of BMW main dealers over the last 20 years of running a BMW daily ("its your turbo Sir, the actuator has sort of cockled over" (turned out to be faulty fuel pressure sensor)) i'd be looking for a trusted independent to carry out service work, although i have had bad experiences with them too. It's a minefield, good luck!
F11 D5 BiTurbo #049
1990 Escort Series 2 RS Turbo
1983 Escort 400bhp Time Attack Car

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