I have a 2006 520D. In the winter the car has been very sluggish when starting from cold - before it warms up it has little power and is easy to stall. Also I have noticed that the power delivery through the rev range (particularly between 2,000 and 3,000 RPM) is not smooth leading to hesitant acceleration. I have had the car checked by BMW who said they could not find any faults. Has anyone else experiecned anything similar? What would you recommend I do?

 

What you describe does not sound right and am surprised your dealer could find nothing wrong.
I would speak to the Service Manager at the dealership and explain the problem and that you are not satisfied this is normal and give them the opportunity to look at it again. It may be that you will have to leave it with them overnight to replicate the problem (on a "cold" engine).

If after this you are still not happy then I suggest getting on to BMW UK (check out website) and raising the issue with them and I am sure you will get satisfaction.
Good luck and keep us posted.

 

Thanks - I'll do that and let you know what happens.

 

Mine sometimes does the hesitation thing between 2000 - 3000 revs, the engine is fine when loaded up. It seems to be a known problem that I think that some other 520D owners have mentioned on this site, I think someone said there was an EGR update due around now to fix the issue. It seems worse I think when the temperature is between about 8-12 degrees.

 

The 520d auto I had on loan recently was wonderful to drive, very smooth indeed. I'd say there is something wrong with yours. I have also driven other Bm's with the same engine and was bowled over with the smooth power delivery from all of them.

 

I agree, sounds like a specific car problem, because my 520d has been fine (so far!) this winter. Good luck sorting it.

 

Hi, I think the problem is with a valve on the exhaust system. I find when you are easing of the power then slowly increase it gives a little hesitation then powers on. It's more noticable in 3rd gear for me.
My car is going back again because of it <_<

 

Thanks for the reply on this (and for everyone esle - this is a great forum I've only just found...). When you say 'loaded up' do you mean over 3,000 revs? My EGR should be up to date as they said they updated it all the oil service which it's just had. I've got it booked in for a couple of days for a week on monday. I think it might be a temperature related thing as I've only really noticed it in winter, though as I got the car in May 06 I can't be sure until the weather warms up again.

 

My 2006 520d does exactly the same thing. Got the EGR upgrade. "Problem" still there. The response of my dealer (3 visits) was: this is an issue with the particle filter automatic regenerating process. And it's true I never experienced this "hesitation problem" during the holiday season, when I always stayed on highways (above 2500 RPMs); on the opposite I have this issue every 200-400kms when traveling only within the city... So... I kind of believe this "could be " related to the particle filter...
If any of you have another explanation, I would love to here form you !!

 

Yes, it really sounds like the particule filter issue. My dealer is also unable to completely solve it on my car. The last time I complained about it they tuned the EGR valve to open widely. I don't really understand the meaning but my dealer told me that my car is tuned as "cars for high altitude countries". That clearly helps but don't completely solve the problem.