CEL 1213 on 540iA

[Tiger]

Augh... CEL 1213. The symtoms is first thing in the morning, engine is rough and CEL light up. After driving and warm up, CEL goes away. Sometime it is quite roiugh in morning that the engine will stall when trying to back out of the driveway. Just a matter of throttle technique stops the engine from stalling.

That was several months... and now CEL is on all the time. I know I will have to do diagnostics...

fuel pump is original with 137K miles.
intake gasket and ICV done by dealer at 96K miles
MAF is original
MAF boot is new a couple of years ago.

Fuel mileage is not great... keep going lower over long time... now at 15MPG for strictly city driving. It used to be 17+ MPG.

Where to buy fuel pump without paying $300 for it. Recommended pumps?

Help is very much appreciated.

[Tiger]

Found fuel pump... Bosch fuel pump on ebay for $60.

[632 Regal]

unplug the motronic deal and let it relearn, we all know these mess up for no reason, unplug and replug, done. if it consistently goes the same code you may have an issue, but until then don't worry. I have the 1212/1213 code for over 100k... unplug and replug... same shyt many months later.

[shogun]

Found fuel pump... Bosch fuel pump on ebay for $60.

Bill R. was not so happy with the cheap no name fuel pump from Ebay
http://www.bimmernut.com/forum/showthread.php?40658-Well-the-poor-old-535-and-her&p=319680

[Tiger]

No name pump... yes I seen those too... but this unit is Bosch. More tips from you is greatly appreciated Shogun.

The car has minor hot start problem for long time... and now I am having cold start problem too... takes much longer than 4 seconds of cranking to start up the car. I think I should change out the fuel pump now... since we know BMW OE fuel pumps does die regularly.

I will call up a friend to come over and hook up fuel pressure gauge to test the system.

[Tiger]

Ya know... if you keep getting this problem... might as well fix it.

[bubba966]

My M-Sport has 182k miles and the original fuel pump is still quite ok. It did just get it's third MAF if I'm recalling correctly. It run/start any better if you unplug the electrical connection on the MAF?

[Tiger]

It seems to run smoother with the MAF disconnected.

We found air leak at the throttle body to intake manifold with carburator cleaner. Unfortunately almost all torx head stripped out as we try to remove the 6 bolts... so we decided to just yank out the whole intake manifold and do the whole job.

My water pump is also leaking so I have to change it too and will change the tube oring also in back of engine while the intake manifold is out.

I plan to send my fuel injector to have it cleaned and flow tested..

It's a fun job!!!!

Now I am looking for a write up on this job... I can't seem to get my coil pack module off the engine so my intake manifold have free room to get in and out.

[MBXB]

I think there was one in the archives Tiger. I took a bunch of shots. PM me if you need em.

[Tiger]

Thanks for the offer... I just got the manifold out. Now I have to order lots of parts.

[632 Regal]

You will be happy how it runs when your done. With the original torx it is impossible to remove the TB without taking the intake off. I forgot to do mine and had to pull it again to replace the front.

[Tiger]

Update: Finally yanked out teh intake manifold. Found lots of things wrong with the car...

Knock sensors are crumblings... all 4 of them.

Valve cover gaskets are leaking

Big vacuum plug in the back of the manifold has a massive split.

Fuel injectors... 6 of them look normal... 2 of them is caked with carbon... can't even see the pintel.

Intake manifold show positive sign of leak. I know the front seal is leaking and I am guessing the back is leaking too... who knows.


I am going to change all heater hoses and maybe the reservoir too... something is leaking. Will be chanigng water pump and the back tube seal too.

I am going to upgrade my injectors to the more modern 4 holes injectors. I am curious how much more fuel mileage increase I can get over factory spec... The car is running about 15 MPG city. When I first got the car 11 years ago, I average 18 local. I got 25 highway. So they say I should get like 3 MPG increase... that would make my 4.0 run EPA 20/27?!

[MBXB]

+1 on Jeff's comment.

Don't forget the fuel pressure regulator on the fuel rail, brake booster vac hose, O-rings on the tube. Bottom line.. any rubber anything around the intake

[Robin-535im]

Wow - isn't it amazing how well they still run when all that stuff is bad? I bet it's going to be like a brand new engine when you're done. I recently did something similar and it fixed lots of longstanding minor things like throttle hesitation, idle smoothness, startup speed, ...

I would suggest replacing everything rubber and all sensors outright since you're in there. I don't know the M60's real well, but things like oil separator hoses, temperature sensors, gaskets, vacuum lines, etc... It'll cost an extra few hundred bucks but it's really nice to have it all done while the top end is torn apart. Watch your knuckles! :)

- Robin

[Tiger]

Yeah, I was shocked that it was running and passing inspection.

Yes, I will plan on replacing everything I can.

[Tiger]

Brake booster hose? Mmm... gotta check that out.

Got the other two.

I am wondering about the EGR valve on back of the intake... it was replaced by dealer 40K miles ago... should I replace that too?

[Tiger]

I notice my intake manifold is dirty on the inside... probably from all that leak when my intake boot was cracked... How do I go about cleaning the inside of the intake manifold while it is out of the engine? Carb cleaner?

[Jr ///M5]

It's hard to clean the intake and a new one is a little pricey. About your question concerning the EGR valve, yes, you should replace it also. Unless you want to pull the manifold again later to do it.

You should take a good hard look at the valley pan while you're in this deep, make sure there isn't any anti-freeze showing up around the gaskets.

This total operation took like 2 days for me, but I replaced all the valve cover gaskets and painted them up too. You'll be happy with the wrenching you've done, it'll run like new again!

[Tiger]

Yep, already ordered the EGR and valve cover gasket set. Will remove, sand and refinish the valve cover. It is butt ugly right now.

I am gonna try my hardest to clean out the intake manifold...

[632 Regal]

You should take a good hard look at the valley pan while you're in this deep, make sure there isn't any anti-freeze showing up around the gaskets.

JR! Good to see your letters again! I won't say I am positive but I believe the valley pan gasket just seals off the interior of the engine from ambient, no coolant involved. It can develop air leaks which are just as bad as the upstairs ones. The deal with replacing the valley pan is it is one sealed unit with the rubber embedded to it so you can no longer just replace the gasket. A bit pricey too (I think 250ish). I just sprayed permatex red gasket sealer around the thing and forgot about it.

If you have hex bolts on the front and rear covers you can attack them later, the torx once the aluminum oxidizes your fubarred, the new hex bolts look to have a coating or are stainless, I couldn't tell and shurly don't remember them intricate details.

If you see any antifreeze its most likely from the head gaskets... a true clue that another engine is next in line.

[632 Regal]

Intake manifold... if it's still off the car take both the inlet and back plate off, dump enough mineral spirits (paint thinner) to soak it all, rotate like a rotisserie chicken over about 2 hours (not constantly). A bottle brush would speed things up tho. then rinse with sprites and done. Could also try the quarter car wash (which costs 8 quarters here) after soaking it good. I don't think it will make much of a difference personaly but you asked.

[Tiger]

Still off... waiting for parts. I will be taking the inlet and EGR out. Mineral spirit... didn't think of it. What the heck is sprite? The cola drink?

[paul p (chi-town)]

unplug the motronic deal and let it relearn, we all know these mess up for no reason, unplug and replug, done. if it consistently goes the same code you may have an issue, but until then don't worry. I have the 1212/1213 code for over 100k... unplug and replug... same shyt many months later.Say Jeff,
I’m assuming this involves popping the cover to the computers under hood and pulling the ECU box. Will a pos/neg battery cable reset do the trick?
How long does this need to be unplugged...

Hang up & Drive!
94 BMW 530iT&A 161K, ‘Helga’ ( Shaky, shaky *sigh*)
92 BMW 325i 189K, ‘Rolf’ ( Shooting for 200K *woot* )
85 Toyo MR2 140K ‘Jerry’ ( Um, stored *sniff* )
“When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."
- Hunter S. Thompson

[632 Regal]

Say Jeff,
I’m assuming this involves popping the cover to the computers under hood and pulling the ECU box. Will a pos/neg battery cable reset do the trick?
How long does this need to be unplugged...


Yes same as the battery trick but takes 5 seconds this way and you don't need to deal with the radio code.

Battery should be unplugged 30 min if you go that route.