2000 e39 528i - Avoiding the Money Pit

[BimmErLoveR77]

Hello All,

I am a new forum member, but I have been lurking and soaking up the knowledge espoused on this site for a while now, even before I owned my own BMW. My attainable dream cars are an e46 M3, or a mint e39 M5. My first oh-yeah! experience with a performance BMW was with my neighbor's Euro-spec 635csi when I was in high school. What a beautiful car, with plenty of go!I recently purchased my first BMW, and I have a few issues that were not apparent on the numerous test drives, or the PPI by a reputable BMW shop. It had a clean Carfax with all of the service records up until about 89k, I bought it with 118k. She needed some maintenance and repair immediately on one of her front wheel bearings, a control arm (bushing), belts, rear brake lines, and a couple other minor things. I got them taken care of before I started DDing her. The car is a non-sport 5A, manufactured date of 10/99. I noticed that it has the ubiquitous cold loping idle (every 8 seconds or so), poor fuel mileage (combined 18-20mpg), and all-or-nothing acceleration. After doing extensive research, I have determined that this could be the VANOS issue, CPS, DISA, or even a dirty ICV. I am going to remove my ICV this weekend to inspect/clean it. Before I start chasing the problem by fixing the cheapest part first, I would like to do a thorough diagnostic battery on my car. I have researched the different options, and the level of detail I am looking for can only be found by INPA/DIS. I know that EDIABAS is installed with INPA, and is the protocol that BMW uses to communicate OBD II info to diagnostic programs. I am working on getting an old IBM Thinkpad with a physical serial port on it, as well as the 20 PIN OBD cable/adapter. Where can I get the INPA/DIS software that I need? Is there any cost associated with acquiring the software? I have already changed the fuel filter and spark plugs as diagnostic/preventive measures. Thank you in advance for any assistance you can provide. I have looked through posts looking for what I need, but most of them are outdated.:help

*EDIT - I forgot to mention that I have no MIL lit. No idea if there are any codes that would not trip the MIL stored.

[328 Power 04]

You may have a vacuum leak somewhere. But your plan of attack is a good one.


For your car, all you really need is a USB K+DCAN cable with a 20-pin adapter. You will be able to reach all modules with this setup on your car, because you have the M52tu (dual vanos) and all the electronics that go with it. You don't need the serial connection for this one (all your modules are K-Line, no L-line). INPA will do, DIS will frustrate you more than help (at least at the beginning).

[BimmErLoveR77]

Hi 328 Power 04, thanks for replying! Ok, so the USB K+DCAN cable and the 16 pin to 20 pin adapter cable, a laptop, and INPA will help me diagnose my woes. I have looked at the cables on Amazon, just trying to take an educated guess which ones will actually work and not be DOA. I'm going by reviews, star rating, and number of reviews. The shop I took it to for the PPI and subsequent repairs said that if I had a vacuum leak, I would definitely have an indicator light lit. Not sure if that is the case or not, but they seemed to know their stuff. Autobaun Auto, Palmyra PA.

[BimmErLoveR77]

Hello Bimmerforumers,

Well I got my diagnostic system up and running the other day, a IBM Thinkpad x31, and a BMW INPA EDIABAS NCS K + D-CAN FTDI Interface + Jumper Switch + 20 Pin Adapter Cable from OBD Innovations (http://www.obdinnovations.com/bmw-inpa-ediabas-ncs-k-d-can-ftdi-interface-jumper-switch-20-pin-adapter-cable/). This cable has a built in switch to jump pins 7&8 together, or isolate them, which means NO soldering! This allows for scanning of all BMW models.The price was great for including the 20 Pin Adapter Cable I needed. I attempted to read the MS42/M52TU engine modules. I kept getting the IFH-0018 error, which appeared to be because I hadn't disabled the COM 1 port (serial) so that the USB serial adapter could use it. Once I cleared that up, I was up and scanning. I got both ignition and battery on black circles, read some shadow codes from different modules, and got some live VANOS data once I started the car. Now I don't know what to do with the information I have received from the car. Is this the right place to ask for help in analyzing my results? i will attach the screenshots from INPA. Thank you in advance. Oh, a big shout out to David Mc, without whom none of this would have been possible; you are true forum royalty. I have never received such detailed and complete assistance from any web source, for any issue! Thank you again, David Mc. My concerns are cold start loping idle, seeming lack of low rpm smoothness, loud exhaust note under gentle acceleration, and 20 mpg combined with 93 octane. I drive 20 miles one way to work, where 75% of it is sitting in traffic, so the fuel mileage may be ok. I'm thinking one of my VANOS solenoids is failing, but I want to try and get the diagnosis right the first time, hence 'avoiding the money pit'.

582779582780582781582782

[David Mc]

I will have a look at this data when I get home in a few days. Intge meantime have a look at this site http://www.beisansystems.com/

[BimmErLoveR77]

Hi David Mc. I have reviewed that site for the VANOS seals many times, lol. I originally thought that the VANOS might be out of whack when I test drove the car, but I thought the included warranty would cover it. Foolish me, lol. I plan to clean my ICV, refurbish the DISA valve, and do the VANOS seals soon. I just wanted to see what the car's modules would tell me first. We also put a radiator in my wife's car recently, so I'm burned out on car repairs, lol.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

[BimmErLoveR77]

So I filled up with 93 Oct on Friday, and my range changed to 476 miles...weird. I drove about an hour away all highway, with an average speed of 54 mph (I was doing 70 or so), and I averaged 29.6 mpg. So if there is actually a problem, I think it is only affecting low speed operation (under 50 mph). In traffic, the car seems to lurch forward, instead of slowly accelerating. I am working on getting what I need to clone the 40GB IDE HDD in my Thinkpad x31 to a bigger 80GB drive. Once I complete that, i will load DIS and run the diagnostics on her, and see what she tells me.