In Toronto, it's been -17 c for the past few days, when i start the car I get the following...

1-Occasionally the engine stutters soo badly I get an engine malfunction error and an emissions error, the engine seems like it's running on three cylinders and very very sluggish.
after 2 minutes when i turn the engine off and turn it back on it's perfectly ok.

2-I get a low coolant error. again this is temporary and then the error disappears.

3-In the extreme cold, Active steering occasionally goes down too with an error code. But corrects itself when it's a bit warmer

4-Not sure if this is the cold, but since I put my winter tires on, there is a burning smell coming from the back end. Sounds funny, but it's true, especially if I driver the car aggressively.


Any ideas?

thanks!

 

Keep the car inside if you can. BMW doesn't recommend running the car to warm it up but I always do because the car drives terribly when it is cold. Check to see if the tires are rubbing somewhere.

 

Does the stuttering / engine light happen on cold starts or just randomly while driving?

Yeah, really need to keep it inside.. that's ridiculously cold

 

Cold starts only, I live in a condo and I park two levels down, I start the car and It's perfect. but when I park outdoors for the day and start it, all hell breaks loose.

It could be a crack in the pressure valve or something, I will have to check.

This all started in Ottawa when it was -25c...sigh!

 

There is a common issue with the intermediate levers that causes a cold start idle issue on the earlier N62 engines.. It's possible that the extreme cold is wreaking havoc on the valvetronic tolerances, but that is a total guess.

I have read that if you unplug one of the VANOS solenoids it will disable the valvetronics system and use the "normal" throttle body. Perhaps you could give that a shot--can't hurt anything, but you're sure to get some errors. Would be interesting to see what happens.

SIB 11 02 05 has more info on the intermediate lever tolerance issue

 

The burning smell could be your brakes! I never use the emergency brake when the temperature drops below the teens. Often, it will freeze up and not release, or only partially release and then it burns up your brakes. Leaving the car in a gear (manual) will keep it from rolling.

 

Good point, I will test without applying the emergency break when the car is parked.

Thanks all for your suggestion. I will have to take her in anyway to see what is going on.

Hopefully one more month of extreme cold temperatures and the Miro's go back on!!

 

I have a mild issue of 1 and 3.

 

I'm having the same issue with intermediate levers and cold starts. Where are the VANOS solenoids located? I would like to give this test a try as well. Will it hurt to drive it like this?

 

It's been ridiculous cold here in Montreal the entire month of January. My 04 545 had minor cooling system issues early Jan along with unstable interior heating. Replaced the water pump, thermostat, new coolant, reservoir/cap, serp belt/tensioner plus ALL hose clamps. I should have done this maintenance before winter, but I just bought the car the end of November. Other than that, I've had no driveability issues if I let the engine warm up properly.