2011 BMW 535i has several issues. AC, soft close, and leak detection valve.

Asked by Jerry James May 05, 2020 at 07:03 PM about the 2011 BMW 5 Series 535i Sedan RWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I purchased the car just 4 months ago
with 104k.  It's now only at 111k.  The
first issue is the ac is blowing hot air.
When it was cool outside the heater
would blow cold, but after about a
month it started blowing heat all
sudden so I had hoped the problem
fixed itself. Now that the weather is hot
the cold air will not blow. It's like I have
the heater on at full blast.  I bought
some freon to put in it, but once I
hooked it up the pressure read that it
was completely full, maybe even a little
overfilled. the compressor doesn't spin.
Another issue is the driver door soft
close started making this loud popping
noise. It will still work, but even after
the door closes it's like it keeps trying
to pull the door in and sounds like a
gear that keeps slipping. It's extremely
loud. People look at me like wtf. And
about a month ago my check engine
light came on. Autozone said its giving
fault code for emissions canister valve
stuck open. But that it would be safe to
drive and repair could wait that it
shouldn't be to serious.The light would
some test go out for a few days and
then back on.  Well a few days ago I
was driving down the road and it felt
like there was no has getting to the
engine and it jerked forward and died.
As I'm rolling to a stop, on the display it
said fuel system malfunction drive
moderately. Something like that. So
after I got it pulled in to a lot where it
had died. I tried to start it, and it would
start after a few seconds of trying to
start. But the idle was really off and
would die in a couple seconds.  I
repeated and it did the same thing. So I
tried to give it some gas but it died
immediately, every time I tried to give it
some gas. I thought maybe the fuel
pump had went out. My grandpa met
me at the car about an hour later. He
jiggled something in the engine and we
tried to start it and it fired up just fine. I
dont believe whatever it was he jiggled
had any effect on the car starting but it
sure made him feel good. So I went
with it. I drove it to autozone as soon as
it started and had them hook it up to
the diagnostic thing again. This time it
said I needed to replace the leak
detection valve. If anyone can give me
any ideas as where to start the repair
process I'd be very grateful. Because
times are hard for my family right now
and I dont see how I can afford to just
start sending it to the shop not knowing  
if anyone else had these same issues.
Thanks

2 Answers

Congratulations you own a money pit! Scan for codes. Find a good BMW specialist because you need one.

40,160

Yes, I agree, you need to find a BMW independent garage. First thing is your car needs the AC serviced, you had a leak. The leak will need to be found and repaired then the shop can add the proper amount of refrigerant to the system, you don't want to overfill. The stalling not starting sounds like it could be the HPFP or High pressure fuel pump. Search online for issues with them failing early and how to replace.

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