One for HenryM3 and X5 Sport (or anyone else!)

[Smeeagain]

Questions for Henry M3 because he is currently the guru on all things thermostat and coolant temperatures and one for X5 Sport because he is the guru on all things battery and electrical

X5 3.0 D Auto Sport E53 2004

So I accessed the hidden menu to take some readings

Henry M3 first - coolant temp reads 70c plus/minus 1 or 2 degrees when driving at 70mph not he motorway after running to for about 30 miles, so fully warmed up. Temp gauge sitting at dead centre. 70c seems low to me or is everything just doing it's job properly? The  I accelerated hard and pushed on a bit for a few miles it went up to around 74c

X5 Sport - battery reading before cranking was 11.9v, then when cranking it dropped momentarily to 9.6 v, then started and it came up almost instantly to 12.2 and started to club. Going along the motorway at 70mph after 30 miles or so, it was sitting at 13.9v. Switched on radio and arisen and to dropped slightly to 13.7/13.8v. Switched on the headlights and it dropped to 13.6/13.7v.

Does that sound alright and a healthy battery state? No reason to believe otherwise just wanted to post the readings for your feedback

Smee

[henrym3]

That to me is very low, especially for a turbo engine, does it take longer than normal to warm up, are you getting good fuel consumption, Hopefully someone with a similar engine will come on and confirm or not. Can't believe you have a thermostat that opens way down at the very low 70's. My guess is that it may be stuck partially or fully open. You should have full heat coming out the heater in around 3kms of normal driving, although it is hard to tell in this good weather.
Well done on getting into the hidden menu, you'll be able to find faults you didn't know existed.

[Smeeagain]

Yes warms up quickly, heater works very well and consumption is particularly good
Smee

[Upex]

[quote="Smeeagain"]
Yes warms up quickly, heater works very well and consumption is particularly good
Smee
[/quote]

Come on Smeeth, quantify...

Regards warming up, how quick is quick, and consumption wise, what's particularly good and how driven?

My stat to is keeping engine at low 70s, saw 75 when pushed a bit and it was a warm day. Feedback here is to swap it out, and specs of stats are to open low 80s, not 70s, so I say you need a new one!

Battery wise, seems a bit low, I'd give it a good charge and see how it holds up then, as if been standing a while etc, all the elements stuff can chop away. If it's 5yrs old or more, change it anyway, better to have a full bang on first trtime.

[X5Sport]

I would expect a battery to drop momentarily when starting and those voltages sound on the lower end of the scale when running.  If you can check the battery with the car asleep (open bonnet then lock car and come back 20 mins later) from under the bonnet it should be showing at least 12.6V four hours after the last engine run.  Less than that is a low/failing battery cell (6 x 2.1V).

I would expect just over 14V running at 1200rpm TBH and no more than 14.4V.

What would be useful is to find how much current the starter is drawing?  You'll need a current clamp and it should be ~180A (2.2kW @ 12V).

[henrym3]

My battery readings make Smee's look good. After X5 Sports comments I got in touch with the supplier I got my battery from 13 months ago, Autosessive, very helpful, get it tested, take a photo or get the shop to say it's not up to spec and they will refund or replace. Seems fair. As a general rule it is at 12v,drops to 11.8v by morning and if it's a sunny day the solar panel will take it back to 12v. As soon as I open the door it drops to 11.6v Absolute max it ever shows on run, long or short is 13.6v.
My question to X5 Sport is, should I fully charge the battery as best I can before taking it to get tested or just remove from car and get tested.

[X5Sport]

Tests should always be done in a fully charged battery.

Your readings will be lower because the car is 'awake' and drawing current.  That reduces the voltage hence testing with the car asleep.

[Smeeagain]

[quote="Upex"]
[quote="Smeeagain"]
Yes warms up quickly, heater works very well and consumption is particularly good
Smee
[/quote]

Come on Smeeth, quantify...

Regards warming up, how quick is quick, and consumption wise, what's particularly good and how driven?

My stat to is keeping engine at low 70s, saw 75 when pushed a bit and it was a warm day. Feedback here is to swap it out, and specs of stats are to open low 80s, not 70s, so I say you need a new one!

Battery wise, seems a bit low, I'd give it a good charge and see how it holds up then, as if been standing a while etc, all the elements stuff can chop away. If it's 5yrs old or more, change it anyway, better to have a full bang on first trtime.
[/quote]

Warms up the heater with 3km of driving s Henry said. i do mainly motorway driving and get comfortably more than 40mpg on the motorway at a steady 70. look back at my old posts and you will see that I've always had good consumption.
Smee

[Smeeagain]

[quote="henrym3"]
That to me is very low, especially for a turbo engine, does it take longer than normal to warm up, are you getting good fuel consumption, Hopefully someone with a similar engine will come on and confirm or not. Can't believe you have a thermostat that opens way down at the very low 70's. My guess is that it may be stuck partially or fully open. You should have full heat coming out the heater in around 3kms of normal driving, although it is hard to tell in this good weather.
Well done on getting into the hidden menu, you'll be able to find faults you didn't know existed.
[/quote]

Ok, so Im not seeing any problems with eating or consumption, so what improvements will I get by replacing it, or perhaps more importantly, am I causing any damage by not replacing it?

Smee

[Smeeagain]

[quote="Upex"]
[quote="Smeeagain"]
Yes warms up quickly, heater works very well and consumption is particularly good
Smee
[/quote]

Come on Smeeth, quantify...

Regards warming up, how quick is quick, and consumption wise, what's particularly good and how driven?

My stat to is keeping engine at low 70s, saw 75 when pushed a bit and it was a warm day. Feedback here is to swap it out, and specs of stats are to open low 80s, not 70s, so I say you need a new one!

Battery wise, seems a bit low, I'd give it a good charge and see how it holds up then, as if been standing a while etc, all the elements stuff can chop away. If it's 5yrs old or more, change it anyway, better to have a full bang on first trtime.
[/quote]

Its two years old Bosch Silver S5. I will stick it on the CTEK conditioner at the weekend.

[henrym3]

I don't see your doing the vehicle any harm, there probably is an argument that you could get even better consumption if running a higher temp but probably not much, 1 or 2 mpg. Must admit I haven't researched what temp' a 3.0l diesel thermostat should open. Just as a side note, check your viscous fan isn't locked on and or your electric fan isn't running all the time. Either of these situations would keep your temp low. If your happy with the vehicle, then leave well alone.
Next for X5Sport I'm getting my readings from having one of those digital volt readers plugged into the cigarette lighter socket and then I just look in the window and get the reading. Would that be enough draw to keep the vehicle awake. BTW the digital volt reader when tested against a multimeter gives the same reading so it's fairly accurate. 

[Smeeagain]

Viscous fan not locked and electric fan not on all the time. And yes will probably leave alone, but now Ive accessed the hidden menu I will keep an eye from time to time.
Smee

[weirdfish]

Go on then, how do you access the hidden menu?

[Smeeagain]

here is the link.Says it is for E38, but it works. Other links that I had seen for E53 didn't work, but this is the one I used
http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/129948

Smee

[Upex]

Another stupid question or two from me,

Are there two fans on these? Can't say I've noticed. Which should turn and when, ie how can we tell if we have a problem with one or the other, as if my stat ok and it's a fan blowing when it shouldn't, keen to find out before changing the stat.

Also, should fans check out, how much coolant needs to be drained to allow stat removal? My coolant was changed in March, so not keen to dump it all and start again, and of course, the more you drain the more you spill, so if can get away with dropping less, it's a winner, plus less chance of adding air and whatnot?