I just bought an 05 545i 66k miles, non certified but I did get a great lakes titanium extended warranty. When I first got it I was in love with the car. Now the problems are starting to show up and I have only had the car about 60 days. I am afraid I have to put out a lot of money for car I just bought.

1. The car shakes/vibrates when in idle and the rpms will jump. Not a lot, maybe a couple hundred, but it never sits steady. The shaking was small at first but now its pretty bad. I have read that putting gas from a "non recommend" station can cause carbon deposits which will cause the car to shake. I put supreme gas in it all the time, however not at the same brand gas station all the time. Any one have any insght as to wheter this true, if not what else could this possibly be?

2. First thing in the morning and only in the morning I get this horrible shreaking/whining sound when the car is just sitting and running for about 2- 4 minutes and it goes away. It seems to be in sync with the little white tick marks along side the tach, when they drop the noise seems to go away. It very much sounds like belts. It will not do it again no matter how many times I start and stop the car through out the rest of the day. The next morning I get the same thing. I have been told that it is probably the tensioner or something like that. Is that a costly repair?

3. Last. I do not have nav, I have L7 with a changer. I can not for the life of me figure out how to get mp3 cds to play in my car. I have read countless forums on this issue. Please correct me if I am wrong. I have read that if you have the correct software to play an mp3 cd and you just burned it incorrectly that it will read "medium cant be read" as opposed to if you have the wrong version of software that the screen will actually just go dim when insert an mp3 cd. Is that true?

If so then I do have the correct version of software and apparently I am just burning it wrong. Does anyone know a surefire way to burn mp3 cds so they will play.

 

Phew, from you thread topic I thought you had big problems there, but alas you may be ok afterall.
First Welcome and congrats on your E60.
Second, your rough idle at cold start sounds like a problem that can be solved by a good tune up, air & fuel filter change, (might as well change the oil while you'r at it) spark plugs, new belts & a fuel system flush (but only if you can find a shop equipped to do it) or just fill up with premium gas and add a bottle of BMW fuel system cleaner.
Someone else will chime in about the cd issue. Good Luck!

 

Replace the plugs. I heard the last two are a real pain to get at. So you may want to find just an independent shop to do it. They can swap out your fuel filter pretty easily also. Then can also look at your noise issue. I doubt its anything major either.

I'd be shocked if all this ran more then a $300ish or so. Unless the noise issue turns out to be replacing an alternator or something along those lines.

 

Shreaking at cold start-up. A new tensioner, belts &/or alternator should clear that up. It's all ball-bearings these days!

Good luck...doesn't sound too expensive for those fixes.

 

For the CD/MP3 functionality, you need to have this feature turned on when your vehicle is reprogrammed. There are software updates that specifically address this as it was not originally avail in 2005 MY 545is.

I had mine reprogrammed for other reasons and specifically asked them to activate MP3 functionality. Unfortunately, the only place to do this is at the stealers. Agree with all the others on the belts and tensioning. I would spend a little cash on doing the fuel system cleanup and the spark plugs [see my post earlier today]. Well worth the money, esp. as it would appear you are going to keep the car into the 100K mile range.

Enjoy your new beast and welcome to the Forums..

S

 

The other issues seem to be addressed but as for MP3 capability... I'm sorry to be the one to say it but you dont have the hardware for it. I have a MY05 545 with L7 but no Nav... so I'm in the same situation as you. you just dont have the proper hardware for it. there was a small time frame where if you did not have Professional NAV it didnt come with the correct HW to decode mp3s.

 

Unfortunately I can verify and tell you that this is correct regarding the mp3. I too had the same issue...2005 545i but no NAV. If you had NAV they can do the retrofit, but without it, sadly it won't work. You can always go the ipod route for the mp3's. Good luck!

 

Absolutely needs a software update. See your local dealer. No need to worry.

 

You may try running a bottle of Chevreon Techron ( you can get it at autozone) I had a similar problem. A new tank of premium and a bottle of Chevron Techron and we are doing fine.

 

This worked wonders in my old chrysler that would idle rough

Looks like you are out of luck in the MP3 department

http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=18875

Get an aux input.