545i stick/shift owner needs HELP!
02-07-2007, 10:31 AM
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My Ride: 545i 6-speed Orient Blue/Auburn
Hi Guys,
I have been a very happy owner of a 2005 (March Production ED) 545i. Until the car started to hesitate at lower speeds and vibrate at higher speeds. I have been in and out of the dealership for the last eight months with a (convenient) diagnosis of "could not duplicate".
This hesitation/vibration/jerking is there all the time, especially between 2000 and 3000 RPM. However, it's more noticeable when the engine is cold. To the point that when I finally got a regional BMW Tech to drive it with me and he acknowledged the issue together with technician and Service manager in the car. The car was in the shop for almost two weeks and according to them they replaced the fuel pump and the fuel injectors.
Unfortunately it's still doing the same thing, but now the dealership pretends they fixed it and they don't feel it. I had the GM drive it and he felt the hesitation but started to explain that it's so minor perhaps normal for this type of car. He even put one of the technicians on the phone and he explained to me that after 22,000 you should expect some deterioration in ride quality. I could not belive my ears. In a $65,000 automobile I should expect some deterioration, unbelievable!
I asked for them to have the regional BMW rep call me and to my astonishment he repeated what the technician said, plus that it's an inherent characterisitic of the V8 that it will hesitate until it's warm.
SO, MY QUESTION TO YOU FELLOW V8 DRIVERS IS, IS THIS CORRECT ARE YOU ALL EXPERIENCING WHAT I AM EXPERINCING?
Thanks!
I have been a very happy owner of a 2005 (March Production ED) 545i. Until the car started to hesitate at lower speeds and vibrate at higher speeds. I have been in and out of the dealership for the last eight months with a (convenient) diagnosis of "could not duplicate".
This hesitation/vibration/jerking is there all the time, especially between 2000 and 3000 RPM. However, it's more noticeable when the engine is cold. To the point that when I finally got a regional BMW Tech to drive it with me and he acknowledged the issue together with technician and Service manager in the car. The car was in the shop for almost two weeks and according to them they replaced the fuel pump and the fuel injectors.
Unfortunately it's still doing the same thing, but now the dealership pretends they fixed it and they don't feel it. I had the GM drive it and he felt the hesitation but started to explain that it's so minor perhaps normal for this type of car. He even put one of the technicians on the phone and he explained to me that after 22,000 you should expect some deterioration in ride quality. I could not belive my ears. In a $65,000 automobile I should expect some deterioration, unbelievable!
I asked for them to have the regional BMW rep call me and to my astonishment he repeated what the technician said, plus that it's an inherent characterisitic of the V8 that it will hesitate until it's warm.
SO, MY QUESTION TO YOU FELLOW V8 DRIVERS IS, IS THIS CORRECT ARE YOU ALL EXPERIENCING WHAT I AM EXPERINCING?
Thanks!
02-07-2007, 10:39 AM
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My Ride: 2003 X5 3.0----->gone
2004 Porsche Cayenne S : Gemballa front and back bodykit, fabspeed bypass pipes, Gemballa exhaust pipes, full option, 20" factory sport design rims------>gone
2005 545i 6-spd manual---->de-badged, CDV removal, Autosolutions short shift kit, resonator removal, premium package, PDC, xenon, almost full options, hardwire V1 install ....looking for mods...
2007 550i 6-spd----> Premium package, sport package, Logic7, heated everything, Rogue Engineering SSK, CDV removal, hardwire V1 install, aFe cold air intake, Custom Magnaflow exhaust....
My car hesitates a little when its really cold at startup but I did not notice any vibration. Its not a normal problem is not a characteristic of the V8 engine...wish you luck in getting resolved.
02-07-2007, 10:57 AM
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My Ride: 2007 530xi
I experienced something similar in 98 Jeep Grand Cherokee when spark plug was not working properly so engine was sometimes running on 6-7 cylinders.
02-07-2007, 11:58 AM
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Originally Posted by Jeffs' post='388394' date='Feb 7 2007, 02:39 PM
My car hesitates a little when its really cold at startup but I did not notice any vibration. Its not a normal problem is not a characteristic of the V8 engine...wish you luck in getting resolved.
02-07-2007, 01:03 PM
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mlahti:
I have not experienced any hesitation, jerking or vibration in my car. Although I don't live in a cold location I have had it on numerous ski/snowboard trip. The cold weather never effected the smoothness. Good luck and let us know if you find a solution.
I have not experienced any hesitation, jerking or vibration in my car. Although I don't live in a cold location I have had it on numerous ski/snowboard trip. The cold weather never effected the smoothness. Good luck and let us know if you find a solution.
02-07-2007, 01:43 PM
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My Ride: 530i 6 speed
My now gone 545i did hesitate quite a bit when it was cold. The first mile on cold mornings was sometimes pretty rough, it didn't take gas well, hesitated, and shook. It was annoying and I had even passergers comment on it. It was barely noticable on warm days (i.e., above 60 F or so).
Also, the idle fluctuated quite a bit, but for wahtever reason not every day.
All this was explained to me to be normal for this car and it is supposedly caused by the fact that it is necessary to run the engine very rich to warm up the converters faster. This makes sense, but then why don't other cars do this?
Also, the idle fluctuated quite a bit, but for wahtever reason not every day.
All this was explained to me to be normal for this car and it is supposedly caused by the fact that it is necessary to run the engine very rich to warm up the converters faster. This makes sense, but then why don't other cars do this?
02-07-2007, 04:45 PM
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My Ride: 545iSMGSilver GrayAuburn Dakota LeatherLogic 7 Premium SoundSports Package
No thats not normal. Somthing is wrong... Some wild guesses would be like what others said... spark plug, air flow sensor, fuel pump, valvetronic levers...
02-08-2007, 01:11 AM
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My Ride: 05 545i jet blk/blk sports,sound
I've been complaining about this problem forever. I guess they just wore me out with "It's normal for the V8", so i gave up for now.
02-08-2007, 05:27 AM
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My Ride: 05 545i Sport, Man, Cold WX Pkg, Black Sapphire Met on Black
mlahti
Living in Western Pa where the ambient temp is about 4 and the wind chill is minus 20 at the mo, I need to let my 545 warm up for a considerable amount of time (20 min in the morning). I have still found that the first few minutes down to the store to get my coffee are a little jerky, but after that......I fly over the hills with no issues.
I might make the same suggestions as above (fuel delivery, air sensors, etc) but with the added thought of doubling your warm-up time.
On a different note, the fact that you are being told you should expect deterioration of your vehicle after only 20k miles is absolutely rediculous.
They should be shot. 
Not sure of your options for dealerships in Ann Arbor, but you might want to check around. I myself have about a 90 minute drive to my dealership of choice......it's worth it.
Living in Western Pa where the ambient temp is about 4 and the wind chill is minus 20 at the mo, I need to let my 545 warm up for a considerable amount of time (20 min in the morning). I have still found that the first few minutes down to the store to get my coffee are a little jerky, but after that......I fly over the hills with no issues.
I might make the same suggestions as above (fuel delivery, air sensors, etc) but with the added thought of doubling your warm-up time.
On a different note, the fact that you are being told you should expect deterioration of your vehicle after only 20k miles is absolutely rediculous.
They should be shot. Not sure of your options for dealerships in Ann Arbor, but you might want to check around. I myself have about a 90 minute drive to my dealership of choice......it's worth it.
02-08-2007, 05:55 AM
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My Ride: 530i 6 speed
Warming up a car in the morning by letting it idle is one of the wost things you can do. The oil T takes much longer to come up, so the stress and wear is bigger than when you start driving right away. Also, the oil pressure is lower in idle and that combined with the oil being cold longer increases wear. And with the synthetic oil we have, viscosity at low Ts is not really an issue.
There was a study in a German car magazine a while ago and also one on some SAE proceedings (I'll try to find it in my chaos at home), which compared the two options and the cars that warmed up idling had increased wear and also much increased emissions over the first minutes.
http://www.sueddeutsche.de/automobil/artik...9570/print.html
(sorry, its in German)
There was a study in a German car magazine a while ago and also one on some SAE proceedings (I'll try to find it in my chaos at home), which compared the two options and the cars that warmed up idling had increased wear and also much increased emissions over the first minutes.
http://www.sueddeutsche.de/automobil/artik...9570/print.html
(sorry, its in German)