F8X S55 owners BEWARE!!!!

[horsepower_and_hounds]

Originally Posted by YNWACY

I have recently installed VRSF Intercooler, charge pipes, radiator and Eventuri Cold Air Intake V2 and 2 days ago had an error message "Drive train malfunction".
I took it straight to my mechanic and scanned for error code.
The code was:
108C01 charge air temperature, plausibility: temperature too high
I've left my car with him and today we opened the intercooler reservoir and it's empty....
I've read pretty much the whole thread, is the best course of action to take out the intercooler and put it under a pressure test to see if the leak came from the intercooler?

Was the correct IC bleed performed? If not once it equalized down there would not be enough coolant there to prevent it from the errors....just curious

[TopJimmy]

Check all around the TMIC reservoir tank. I've seen the seam plastic welds look really bad in a few cases. The leak could be there.

[M4DNS55]

Originally Posted by TopJimmy

Check all around the TMIC reservoir tank. I've seen the seam plastic welds look really bad in a few cases. The leak could be there.

Will do, mechanic will pressure test the system today.

[HeatGun]

Lol, it appears that I am in the same boat.
I just bought a 2015 M4 with 93k miles about a week ago; the car had a PCV valve problem; due to the issue, I removed the valve cover and replaced it with a new one by myself; the PCV issue is resolved. Everything looked pretty clean under the valve cover; oil was clean though I noticed that the charge cooler coolant tank was empty.
The next day, I dropped off my car at my indy shop for an oil change, and I asked them to top off coolant as well. When I picked up the car, I checked the charge cooler coolant tank, and it was empty. The indy shop says that for sure, they filled up, but I did not believe it. Do you guys think the coolant can be gone while the car was sitting? If the intercooler were leaking, it wouldn't leak while the car was sitting off, right?

Anyways, I topped it off, let the car idle for 20 mins, and I haven't checked the coolant level yet. It's at my office, and I'll check it tomorrow.

[WeekendWarriorz]

Originally Posted by HeatGun

Lol, it appears that I am in the same boat.
I just bought a 2015 M4 with 93k miles about a week ago; the car had a PCV valve problem; due to the issue, I removed the valve cover and replaced it with a new one by myself; the PCV issue is resolved. Everything looked pretty clean under the valve cover; oil was clean though I noticed that the charge cooler coolant tank was empty.
The next day, I dropped off my car at my indy shop for an oil change, and I asked them to top off coolant as well. When I picked up the car, I checked the charge cooler coolant tank, and it was empty. The indy shop says that for sure, they filled up, but I did not believe it. Do you guys think the coolant can be gone while the car was sitting? If the intercooler were leaking, it wouldn't leak while the car was sitting off, right?

Anyways, I topped it off, let the car idle for 20 mins, and I haven't checked the coolant level yet. It's at my office, and I'll check it tomorrow.

Yes it is possible that they filled it up and it's leaking. Drive the car and check the fluid every day for a week and see. A VRSF charge cooler is $450 and an affordable alternative for the piece of mind.

[BzsBimmer]

I can’t remember if both coolant systems are independent of each other. I believe they are but not sure if doing a bleed procedure helps anything if so.
Simple enough to do to make sure no air in system and coolant is topped off after. Then use as baseline.

There was another user that used a BT scope and looked to see if cooler was leaking.

[HeatGun]

Originally Posted by WeekendWarriorz

Yes it is possible that they filled it up and it's leaking. Drive the car and check the fluid every day for a week and see. A VRSF charge cooler is $450 and an affordable alternative for the piece of mind.

How difficult is it to replace the charge cooler? I changed the valve cover myself, took me like 4-6 hours I think. I had to remove the charge cooler from its mount bolts but did not disconnect any hoses. I guess changing the cooler is a step more than what I did already. Do I need to bleed the system after changing the cooler? Also, where is it $450? I see 550+
https://www.vr-speed.com/vrsf-s55-to...0-f82-f87.html

[WeekendWarriorz]

Originally Posted by HeatGun

How difficult is it to replace the charge cooler? I changed the valve cover myself, took me like 4-6 hours I think. I had to remove the charge cooler from its mount bolts but did not disconnect any hoses. I guess changing the cooler is a step more than what I did already. Do I need to bleed the system after changing the cooler? Also, where is it $450? I see 550+

Apologies for my mistake, $549 is the price. To be very blunt all the charger air coolers are the same (all knocked off an original design and built in China). Installation is pretty basic if you can do the valve cover.

[HeatGun]

Originally Posted by WeekendWarriorz

Apologies for my mistake, $549 is the price. To be very blunt all the charger air coolers are the same (all knocked off an original design and built in China). Installation is pretty basic if you can do the valve cover.

Now I remember something, when I removed this hose shown below I saw some fluid in there, first I thought it was oil now I think it was coolant. I cleaned up all the fluid and installed it back. I'll remove it again tomorrow and see if it's wet. I assume that it needs to be bone dry, right?

[WeekendWarriorz]

Originally Posted by HeatGun

Now I remember something, when I removed this hose shown below I saw some fluid in there, first I thought it was oil now I think it was coolant. I cleaned up all the fluid and installed it back. I'll remove it again tomorrow and see if it's wet. I assume that it needs to be bone dry, right?

Don't mistake coolant for oil/blow-by from the pcv system

[HeatGun]

Originally Posted by WeekendWarriorz

Don't mistake coolant for oil/blow-by from the PCV system

First I thought it was oil. Anyway, only one way to find out. I'll check the coolant level tomorrow and monitor it in the next few days. I watched the first video for charge air cooler replacement from Kies, it looks super easy and straightforward.
The M4 is very fun to drive, definitely very different than my older E93 M3 but feels like built quality is way worse than E9X series

[Jbonly21]

Originally Posted by HeatGun

First I thought it was oil. Anyway, only one way to find out. I'll check the coolant level tomorrow and monitor it in the next few days. I watched the first video for charge air cooler replacement from Kies, it looks super easy and straightforward.
The M4 is very fun to drive, definitely very different than my older E93 M3 but feels like built quality is way worse than E9X series

To really find out if it's leaking, remember you have to drive the car at full boost. So if you are just cruising, it probably won't leak, you have to push it a bit at full temperature.

[TopJimmy]

Originally Posted by WeekendWarriorz

Don't mistake coolant for oil/blow-by from the pcv system

If there's any oil blow by it would be coming up a chargepipe.

If you find any coolant in your J-pipe then you know you have a leak internal to the TMIC and it should be changed out immediately. Also look/feel/wipe up the intake and see how far the green goes.

[AdmiralBulldog]

What is the typical likelihood of these intercoolers leaking at higher mileages? (50k miles plus)

[WeekendWarriorz]

Originally Posted by AdmiralBulldog

What is the typical likelihood of these intercoolers leaking at higher mileages? (50k miles plus)

Honestly there's no set mileage they tend to leak at. They leak at all kinds of mileage as seen by this thread. Best to monitor and evaluate your situation case by case.

[AdmiralBulldog]

Originally Posted by WeekendWarriorz

Honestly there's no set mileage they tend to leak at. They leak at all kinds of mileage as seen by this thread. Best to monitor and evaluate your situation case by case.

Thanks for the advice!

I'm in the market for a F80 M3 seeing as they are getting quite cheap second hand nowadays and all these discussions of problems on this platform (intercooler leaking, crank hub failure, numerous gasket leaks) are scary

[WeekendWarriorz]

Originally Posted by AdmiralBulldog

Thanks for the advice!

I'm in the market for a F80 M3 seeing as they are getting quite cheap second hand nowadays and all these discussions of problems on this platform (intercooler leaking, crank hub failure, numerous gasket leaks) are scary

I saw a new F80 come in with a valve cover, oil pan gasket, and rear differential leak at 25k miles. Leaks are an understatement and should honestly be expected on any BMW. My guess is they make gaskets out of materials that are prone to fail so they can get get revenue when they need to be serviced.

[HeatGun]

Originally Posted by TopJimmy

If there's any oil blow by it would be coming up a chargepipe.

If you find any coolant in your J-pipe then you know you have a leak internal to the TMIC and it should be changed out immediately. Also look/feel/wipe up the intake and see how far the green goes.

I did not see any coolant in the J-pipe so far though charge cooler coolant tank was nearly empty when I bought the car. Refilled and nothing so far. I am monitoring it closely.

[HeatGun]

Originally Posted by WeekendWarriorz

Yes it is possible that they filled it up and it's leaking. Drive the car and check the fluid every day for a week and see. A VRSF charge cooler is $450 and an affordable alternative for the piece of mind.

It has been a week since I refilled the coolant tank myself and so far no leak.

[swagon]

Originally Posted by HeatGun

Lol, it appears that I am in the same boat.
I just bought a 2015 M4 with 93k miles about a week ago; the car had a PCV valve problem; due to the issue, I removed the valve cover and replaced it with a new one by myself; the PCV issue is resolved. Everything looked pretty clean under the valve cover; oil was clean though I noticed that the charge cooler coolant tank was empty.
The next day, I dropped off my car at my indy shop for an oil change, and I asked them to top off coolant as well. When I picked up the car, I checked the charge cooler coolant tank, and it was empty. The indy shop says that for sure, they filled up, but I did not believe it. Do you guys think the coolant can be gone while the car was sitting? If the intercooler were leaking, it wouldn't leak while the car was sitting off, right?

Anyways, I topped it off, let the car idle for 20 mins, and I haven't checked the coolant level yet. It's at my office, and I'll check it tomorrow.

How did you know it was the PCV, what were the symptoms?

[HeatGun]

Originally Posted by swagon

How did you know it was the PCV, what were the symptoms?

See this video

[M4DNS55]

Originally Posted by YNWACY

Will do, mechanic will pressure test the system today.

All ok now!

Seems like mechanic may not have bled it properly the 1st time.

Been giving the car a hard time over the last 3 weeks or so and checking coolant labels daily.

No loss at all!