My Recent N63tu HPFP Adventure

[TGrits10]

-Update 4/19/2021 - The other HPFP kicked the bucket, synopsis added to thread.

Thought I'd put this in here since it could help someone in the future. Had a HPFP die on my 2015 36k-mile 650i GC, correctly diagnosed it, then doubled my cost by seeking to have it replaced for free under warranty by the local dealer.



Rather than rehash, I'll just link to the thread wherein I spoke into a void:



https://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sh....php?t=1377983

[pdubq]

Rough luck bud... glad to finally got her back on the road though.

Thanks for sharing the codes, will keto in mind and use to help discuss with dealer when my hpfp eventually goes out!!

[DRock3d]

Be better next time, the only issue I had was waiting on them to get the part.

[TGrits10]

Originally Posted by pdubq

Rough luck bud... glad to finally got her back on the road though.

Thanks for sharing the codes, will keto in mind and use to help discuss with dealer when my hpfp eventually goes out!!

Thanks, I'm annoyed about the money and hassle but ultimately, that's not coming back, and this time yesterday it was still in limbo. Today, we solved the problem and I have my car back. Perspective!
In other news, it's only right to share the experience and put the information out there. Fellow car people posting about their experiences has helped me immeasurably over the years. What did we do 20 years ago when we couldn't go to the internet for answers?

[benacto]

thats terrible that your dealership doesn't repair it for free. as I remember when I had the n63tu 550i, bmw sent me a letter and email saying bmw NA recognize that engine has issues with it's entire fuel system and had extended the warrenty to 10 years /120k miles, and that if you had spend any of your own money repairing it, they will pay you back.

mine FPFP went out, injectors went out, fuel seal leaked, all on different timeline, and they were all repaired and replaced by bmw for free at my dealership.

you might want to contact bmw NA, not your dealership.

[TGrits10]

Originally Posted by benacto

thats terrible that your dealership doesn't repair it for free.

No they do, my SA was aware of the extended warranty and all that, the problem is that when they went to confirm the bad HPFP their diagnostics steered us off course. Once they took a look at the HPFP it was diagnosed and replaced free of charge.

[TGrits10]

Update: the other HPFP crapped out, unfortunately had a similar experience as before with the dealer service dept. Updated that linked thread, also cliff's notes:

-Identical symptoms/behavior & codes as last time
-Dealer again misdiagnosed it, this time as a bad fuel rail pressure sensor
-Insisted they investigate the HPFP
-HPFP replaced under warranty, fuel rail pressure sensor now working just fine
-Faith in dealer techs reduced from 0 to -1.

[Billyperks]

"-Faith in dealer techs reduced from 0 to -1."
I couldn't agree more- on a different note- took my car in for a XM radio issue.
The signal was not coming in- the tech diagnosed antenna malfunction, turns out it was a radio ID issue. XM was sending the signal to my old 5 series account.

[benacto]

Originally Posted by Billyperks

"-Faith in dealer techs reduced from 0 to -1."
I couldn't agree more- on a different note- took my car in for a XM radio issue.
The signal was not coming in- the tech diagnosed antenna malfunction, turns out it was a radio ID issue. XM was sending the signal to my old 5 series account.

oh yeah, that happened to me before... but in my case, I had 2 accounts going at the same time... so they end up giving me a year free after I made a stink about it.

[TGrits10]

An interesting development that I've been holding off on mentioning in case it was temporary:

The tendency to stumble/stall under certain circumstances following cold starts has completely evaporated. Also, the rough idle has not entirely cleared, but it is significantly improved. Specifically:
-Cold start, car parked facing uphill in gently sloped driveway, back down to bottom of driveway, shift to Drive to pull up to other side of driveway, engine stalls. Used to be reliable as gravity, now cannot make it happen. I've tried.
-Cold start, car parked uphill in gently sloped driveway or parking space, shift to Reverse, engine stumbles, coughs, recovers with emphatic revs, tries to play it off but we all saw. Used to happen more often than not, has not happened since the 2nd HPFP was replaced.
-Rough idle when warm, strong enough to send surges through the transmission and shake the car, such that I would shift to Park at long lights. Now there is a mildly annoying shaking that I feel through my seat but passengers don't, doesn't transmit to transmission.

I replaced the plugs & coils, ran fuel injector cleaner through, ran fuel system cleaner through, and eventually gave up since swapping the injectors was too big-ticket for something was merely annoying. Then it got solved by something unexpected. Nice to be reminded that I don't always know everything.

So anyway, that's cool. Seems to me the HPFP was likely not at 100% the entire time I've had the car, and causing what I eventually wrote off as irritating-but-normal N63tu behavior. Turns out maybe it's not so much normal, but widespread? Now I'm curious how many N63s out there could benefit from new HPFPs even if they aren't clearly failing.