I thought that a few of you might find this story interesting...
In October of last year I had my dealer R&R the radiator, water pump, thermostat, and the upper/lower radiator hoses on my 2004 X3 2.5. At the time it had 156,500 miles on the clock and the only cooling system failure had been the expansion tank(at 148,800 miles). While it was apart the tech noticed that a couple of the vapor separator hose were beginning to collapse so I had the entire VS system replaced with the upgraded parts. The intake had some sludge in it so the tech performed BMW's proprietary intake system cleaner process.
Fast forward to late December where at around 158,500 miles the truck started throwing an intermittent SES light. I ran it over to the dealer and my Service Advisor(a great guy- CCA member, E36 M3, Z4, and Triumph Bonneville owner) told me that the fault is for the dreaded “catalyst efficiency.” I had resigned myself to spending a few hours under the truck trying to install spark plug anti-foulers(and cursing the stuck O2 sensors) when I ran across an ad for Cataclean: http://www.cataclean.com/ It was apparently developed in England and is now sold over here by Mr. Gasket and Prestolite. Pep Boys had it for $18/bottle so I figured that I’d give it a try. You add it to the tank when it is almost empty(below 1/4 tank), drive for 10-15 miles then fill up with a quality fuel). I added it when the OBC showed a range of 30 miles and then I drove it for 20 miles before filling up with Shell 93.
I’ve since driven the truck for over 1,100 miles and the SES light has not returned. I’m thinking that the catalysts may have been fouled with oil from the failing vapor separator and the Cataclean removed the contaminants, but who knows?
In October of last year I had my dealer R&R the radiator, water pump, thermostat, and the upper/lower radiator hoses on my 2004 X3 2.5. At the time it had 156,500 miles on the clock and the only cooling system failure had been the expansion tank(at 148,800 miles). While it was apart the tech noticed that a couple of the vapor separator hose were beginning to collapse so I had the entire VS system replaced with the upgraded parts. The intake had some sludge in it so the tech performed BMW's proprietary intake system cleaner process.
Fast forward to late December where at around 158,500 miles the truck started throwing an intermittent SES light. I ran it over to the dealer and my Service Advisor(a great guy- CCA member, E36 M3, Z4, and Triumph Bonneville owner) told me that the fault is for the dreaded “catalyst efficiency.” I had resigned myself to spending a few hours under the truck trying to install spark plug anti-foulers(and cursing the stuck O2 sensors) when I ran across an ad for Cataclean: http://www.cataclean.com/ It was apparently developed in England and is now sold over here by Mr. Gasket and Prestolite. Pep Boys had it for $18/bottle so I figured that I’d give it a try. You add it to the tank when it is almost empty(below 1/4 tank), drive for 10-15 miles then fill up with a quality fuel). I added it when the OBC showed a range of 30 miles and then I drove it for 20 miles before filling up with Shell 93.
I’ve since driven the truck for over 1,100 miles and the SES light has not returned. I’m thinking that the catalysts may have been fouled with oil from the failing vapor separator and the Cataclean removed the contaminants, but who knows?
