It's like covering your eyes and believing what's in front of you doesn't exist..
The point of the Powerchip "fix" is that the secondary air system is only active during a cold start to reduce cold start emissions. This is something that typically lasts 20 seconds to maybe 60 seconds depending on how cold the start is. If the secondary air passages are blocked, you get a code thrown that triggers the SES light. This prevents one from getting an inspection.
Hence it is up to you. You can spend $8000 and have the heads removed and the secondary air passages cleaned out, OR you can pay Powerchip for a programmed chip that ignores the secondary air issue (oh, and you might have slightly higher emissions for 20-30 seconds on a cold start). There is NO performance issue tied to this problem.
The only con here is the design by BMW in the first place.
__________________ Current stable:
2001 M5 LeMans Blue/Silverstone
Dinan: springs, Konis, rear sway bar, monoball bushings, and exhaust
Ground Control camber plates
Stoptech front brake kit
Brake ducts opened
TC Design brackets
OE 9.5" rear wheels all around & 275/35-18 Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec for street
275/35-18 BFG R1 & Nitto NT-01 R-comps for track
2003 330i ZHP 6MT Imola Red/Black Alcantara
2006 330i sport 6MT Electric Red/Black
2001 Audi S4 6MT Silver/sport Alcantara
1996 Volvo 850R wagon
Last edited by CSBM5; 11th November 2008 at 19:14.
The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to CSBM5 For This Useful Post:
But, I doubt the cylinder carbon build up is "caused by the secondary air system." It appears that the owner was just not running the car hard enough ... AT ALL. I have seen other non-BMW engines that were similarly "abused," to my way of thinking, without any secondary air system involved, and they were every bit as bad. Some were worse, if you can believe it. Carbon is one MEAN molecule ... well, except when it morfs into diamonds.
Thanks again. The pictures tell a much better story than just text, at least for me. (I'm "A picture is worth a thousand words" kinda guy.)
__________________
"The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance; it is the illusion of knowledge."
But, I doubt the cylinder carbon build up is "caused by the secondary air system." It appears that the owner was just not running the car hard enough ... AT ALL. I have seen other non-BMW engines that were similarly "abused," to my way of thinking, without any secondary air system involved, and they were every bit as bad. Some were worse, if you can believe it. Carbon is one MEAN molecule ... well, except when it morfs into diamonds.
Exactly. Perhaps that's not obvious to others though that are seeing this thread. All the more reason to only use top tier gas and also use Techron on a regular basis in additon to NOT driving an S62 like a donkey cart. This engine is made to run and run hard.
The Following User Says Thank You to CSBM5 For This Useful Post:
regarding the powerchip fix. Keep in mind that powerchip borrowed a line or two of code out of a euro dme, more or less (i'm probably oversimplifying).
I had noticed a few years ago, when we started seeing the carbon build up SES lights in US spec cars, that none of our european members had it. The engines are the same, and i didn't buy that it was just a fuel issue. I emailed powerchip and mentioned this to them, and asked if they could look into a euro dme to see if secondary air flow was actually monitored (with regard to the SES light). It wasn't so, so the "fix" was relatively simple, take some code from a euro dme (which does not check for sec. air flow) and apply it to the US dme.
__________________
Mike
91 M5 Alpine White II, Silver Gray 3/90 production
17x8/17x9 M system with PS2, 20mm touring roll bar; Ground Control Coilovers; Confortti Chip, CD43; bmw/nardi blackline steering wheel, 3.8 Cam Gears
08 535i / 6 speed
Space Gray; Gray; Sport/Premium/Nav
00 M5 Ti Silver; Imola/black sportiv --Sold
Engine:
Supersprint Headers, Dinan CAI kit and MAFS, Throttle Bodies, Cams, Ported heads, Exhaust, Custom dinan software, Evosport Pullies, Dinan clutch and lightened flywheel; Ignition solutions plasma coils
Suspension:
Dinan Stage 3 with front and rear Strut Tower Braces, Beastpower Sway bar brackets, Dinan Wheels with 275/285 PilotSport, X5 Thrust arm bushings, Stoptech 355mm 4 piston front, 355mm 2 piston rear brake kit, Dinan 3.45 diff
Interior/Misc:
Eurodash, updated steering wheel, Bluetooth retrofit, Sirius Retrofit, hardwired V1, Widescreen Mk4 nav, M audio retrofit, Ice Link, BSW Stage 1 speaker upgrade, bmw towbar
The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to mottati For This Useful Post:
CSBM5 (11th November 2008), jclyman (11th November 2008), Mike S. (11th November 2008)
I dont understand how you guys can call Powerchip a con. Its a very sensible solution given that the only other option is spending $8k for BMW to clean it out or at least half that with any indy shop. Let's not forget, as stated earlier, this problem could come back.
Looking at this engine, there seems to be more carbon buildup on the pistons than normal compared to other s62 engines I have seen.
It's a con in the context of someone advertising the car as 'carbon build up fixed by powerchip'. That was the point..
It's not 'fixed', it's just ignored.
__________________ **** it, let's do it - Australian proverb
"If you are in control, you're not going fast enough."
Mario Andretti
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Envisage0 For This Useful Post:
jclyman (11th November 2008), TopEnd (11th November 2008)
Me either. After just purchasing my beast I am very sad that this can happen. I hope BMW has addressed this problem with the e60 or any other engines they build. I think this is why we have recalls. Wow. If this would have come out when the e39 M5s first were marketed they would have not sold a single one.
Me either. After just purchasing my beast I am very sad that this can happen. I hope BMW has addressed this problem with the e60 or any other engines they build. I think this is why we have recalls. Wow. If this would have come out when the e39 M5s first were marketed they would have not sold a single one.
recalls are typically for safety related defects. This would probably come under 'normal wear and tear.' I don't think the german engineers really think about lifespan beyond 100k miles. Euro emission laws must not either.
It's a con in the context of someone advertising the car as 'carbon build up fixed by powerchip'. That was the point..
It's not 'fixed', it's just ignored.
Thank You, I post a comment(#12) saying that I hate when people who are selling m5's say " Carbon build-up fixed with power-chip"... Then all of a sudden people started to twist what I was saying.. I NEVER said buying a power-chip as a solution to pass inspection was wrong. I NEVER said it's wrong for Powerchip to lead us into believing that the chip cleans the carbon build-up(because they have never made such claims). I never said any of those things. I simply hate to see any e39 m5 for sale ads (craiglist, ebay, autotrader etc) where the owner claims that the carbon build-up issue is fixed with the powerchip... POWERCHIP DOES NOT CLEAN THE CARBON BUILD-UP... POST#1 DOES. Power-chip is a good solution. NOT THE ANSWER. The price for the answer is expensive, if it were me I would be fine with the solution, However I would never tell someone interested in my car "powerchip fixed the carbon build-up"..
Last edited by TopEnd; 11th November 2008 at 20:37.
Titanium silver
This engine is made to run and run hard.
Linear Mode
