Lumpy / stalling whilst idling.

[Frontman]

Bit of an update on my previous post ( from which I had some helpful responses) RE; amber engine light and poor idling.
It started with the amber light and poor idling, after un hooking the battery the light went off ( and has stayed off) but the tick over has got worse. Seems to run fine at speed and runs slightly better on LPG than petrol but has cut out a couple of times.
I went to a local garage and he cleared the codes and then up came
" vanos inactive camshaft control bank 2"
I realise there could be various options and was wondering if anyone had had similar problems/code and the outcome.
Any help or advice appreciated as usual ( before I start stripping the front of the car)
Cheers Col. 

[Steamyrotter]

Not following the previous post so this may have been suggested..
Check the state of your battery and alternator.
anything not quite right could easily send the ecu & vanos doolally..

[gchristofi]

Is it struggling to idle when cold and warm?  Did you get to the bottom of your other error messages that were coming up?  These issues might be unrelated.

Do you know if your LPG system is hooked into the OBD system at all?  Some do so that they can monitor the live fuel trims and make appropriate adjustments.  It has been known for this communication to cause errors on CANBUS and throw up spurious messages, including he vanos one you mention.

[Frontman]

Cheers for the response,

I had to jump start the car ( can't remember if it was about the time the trouble started) after it had been stood for a few days, so I will get the alternator and battery checked.,

The engine runs the same cold or hot and I am taking the car back in the next few days to have the codes read again.
Not sure about the LPG to OBD hook up but I will check that out.

Thank's again for the input.

[Frontman]

Update. Battery testing.

Ran through a few tests with car in awake & asleep modes.
From cold this morning, tested on terminals under bonnet ( not sure how much difference this makes but it saves me having to lift the LPG tank up)

11.8 engine off in awake mode
13.9 running ( on lumpy tick over)
12.9 engine off/ awake
12.0 engine off/asleep
Then opened door to wake up
11.2
Started and 13.9 again
14.0 running at 1800ish RPM.

I realise that this may not be the cause of the problem but do these figures mean it's time for a new battery. And have we any reasonably priced ideas ?

Cheers once again
Col

[Horizon]

I fitted a Bosch S5 019, 100ah 5 years warranty, usual price around £100, but check ECP website and discount codes. The 019 is for the diesel and has a bit more power than the petrol rated battery, fits perfect and has the vent tube fitting.

[X5Sport]

Alternator looks OK at least.  Battery state looks poor, but that may just need a proper overnight charge.  Can you/have you given it a charge?

Once charged, check the voltage four hours (or more) after last engine run/charger disconnect and with the car asleep again.  If it's less than 11.9V then you are looking at a dying battery.  Fully charged and in good condition it should show around 12.4-12.6V.

I also fitted a Bosch S5 when mine went on the X5.  Comes with a 5 year warranty.

Richard

[Frontman]

Looks like a new battery anyway and the Bosch S5 seems to be the one.
May try a charge but I was wondering if it is possible to charge it from the terminals under the  bonnet ?
Also do I need a black magic and pixie dust charger as I have seen on some posts or will a bog standard one do.

Cheers Col

Oh and just realised I've put this on the wrong bit should have been on e53 so sorry for any confusion.

[X5Sport]

Charging should be done from under the bonnet according to BMW.  Saves having to take the boot apart..

Any charger supplying between 5A and 10A will do.  The CTEK option is because it's rebadged by BMW and folks with them like them.  They are more expensive because some models are battery conditioner chargers and can be left permanently connected say if you are going away for a while.

Richard

[Frontman]

Cheers again for the help/ ideas & info.
As I said the battery is under the LPG tank and although I have lifted the tank to un-hook the battery I have never thought about taking it out. The guy who I got the car off ( a good friend of mine) said that he had, had a new battery fitted when he had the LPG put in, although the installed battery seemed ok as he didn't want to take the tank out. So I will keep you informed as to if it is possible to change the battery with the tank still hooked up.
I am going to carry on with this post on the X5 E53 section so as not to cause any confusion ( me mainly, trying to find my post on the wrong bit !)
Thank you again for the help
Cheers Col,
With a special thanks to;
Richard
Gchristofi
Steamyrotter.
Gobshites the lot of you, lol