Glow plug controller - N57 engine

[XP3NNY]

Hey guys

As it was sunny over the weekend I did the basic service on my X5 (oil + all filters) and was very happy to discover that the glow plug controller (which I need to change) is actually reachable without removing many parts (picture below was taken from another forum). Question I have is if you need to disconnect battery when replacing it? Anyone else did it on the N57 engine in their X5? Anything else I need to do in order to change it?

Thanks,
XP3NNY

glowplug-controller-n57.jpg (289.72 KiB) Viewed 8615 times

[marti]

Yes disconnect battery, your lucky on my X6 35d you have to remove the intake manifold

[XP3NNY]

Thank you. So that's a nice "little" job for Saturday

[AdamsX5]

How the Saturday job go?
Got mine booked in dealers for diagnostics and then repair under warranty if covered. Excess is £250.
Other option is to drive to Doncaster and let seller dealer repair it FOC but the hassle and I will pay for diagnostics anyway to prove the fault as they will say glow plugs are fine. My car is not doing regen because if this and it will soon clog up the dpf as you need a working controller.
Can’t even force regen.

[XP3NNY]

How the Saturday job go?
Got mine booked in dealers for diagnostics and then repair under warranty if covered. Excess is £250.
Other option is to drive to Doncaster and let seller dealer repair it FOC but the hassle and I will pay for diagnostics anyway to prove the fault as they will say glow plugs are fine. My car is not doing regen because if this and it will soon clog up the dpf as you need a working controller.
Can’t even force regen.

I didn't manage to do it this weekend as the controller that I've order was used and I bought a new one. Contacted the seller on eBay and they are going to send a new one out. Hoping to do it next weekend.

Pic below shows what I've received last Thursday - clearly not a new unit.

IMG_3487.jpg (202.73 KiB) Viewed 8543 times

[AdamsX5]

I spoke to warranty company and they will get it diagnosed. However they won’t cover wear and tear.
Can this be a wear and tear item surely it’s an electrical component fault. Not sure how funny they gonna be.

[XP3NNY]

I spoke to warranty company and they will get it diagnosed. However they won’t cover wear and tear.
Can this be a wear and tear item surely it’s an electrical component fault. Not sure how funny they gonna be.

I never had a good experience with car warranties (3rd party ones). Everything was always rejected on wear and tear basis - including gearbox on my Audi A6 which had to come off, be dismantled and then I was told it's wear and tear. The most common argument I heard was that most parts don't have any real 'life expectancy' over 3 years, and it doesn't matter that car was services at main dealers etc.

You can always try and see what they say.

[AdamsX5]

I’m that case it may be case of getting it diagnosed and let seller sort it as it is still under 3 month warranty.

[marti]

I spoke to warranty company and they will get it diagnosed. However they won’t cover wear and tear.
Can this be a wear and tear item surely it’s an electrical component fault. Not sure how funny they gonna be.

Wear & tear I reckon......

[AdamsX5]

Having diagnostics and then claim authorisation
If they deny claim I pay £120 for something I already know. If not it’s £250 to replace.
I’m assuming it will be covered. But you don’t know Warrantydirect. They will have to remove intake so big job for them.
They have told me it’s either controller or wire harness.

[XP3NNY]

Having diagnostics and then claim authorisation
If they deny claim I pay £120 for something I already know. If not it’s £250 to replace.
I’m assuming it will be covered. But you don’t know Warrantydirect. They will have to remove intake so big job for them.
They have told me it’s either controller or wire harness.

In a way it's hard to see how glow plug controller could have 'wear and tear' - mind you warranty companies are best at coming up with excuses so fingers crossed

[AdamsX5]

Just collected car and paid the diagnostics fee.
The warranty company still pondering over whether to pay for it. They have said it’s a coveted component but want to know how and why it got faulty. Any repair costs to be uploaded to them via garage main dealer.
However me been very suspicious or cautious I did another read of faults. I have 5 faults but when I came out of dealership I now have 7.faults. ...2 more on the engine one for IBS sensor and another one attached below. So from a simple glow plug controller issue I now have the IBS sensor faulty???
If the warranty company denies claim I now have to prove dealership caused this.

[AdamsX5]

Just an update.
The warranty company finally decided to cover it.
With the excess and my 30% contribution they will only pay £140 and I’ll pay £305.
Total cost is £445.
They took 2 weeks to see if they could wiggle out.
It’s a covered part and could not be wear and tear.
It’s going in Friday so hope this sorts it as the car has been sitting on drive.
Just need to sort winters now and have got 2 new summer tyres for rear to match fronts.

[marti]

Just an update.
The warranty company finally decided to cover it.
With the excess and my 30% contribution they will only pay £140 and I’ll pay £305.
Total cost is £445.
They took 2 weeks to see if they could wiggle out.
It’s a covered part and could not be wear and tear.
It’s going in Friday so hope this sorts it as the car has been sitting on drive.
Just need to sort winters now and have got 2 new summer tyres for rear to match fronts.

Crikey!!!...£445,,,only took me 2hrs to change mine and £54 for parts, yours looks easy to do...I had to remove the intake manifold...Im in the wrong job

[AdamsX5]

They said the intake needs to come off.
The part is around £120 so 30% is around£40. Plus a few gaskets.
£300 from me which is not bad since my excess is £250.
Anything goes wrong they need to sort and they will rescan codes to get rid of new codes for engine.
Could be wiring harness in which case they won’t cover any more so I will have to cough up for that .