ZinMe

My wife was driving our 545 Saturday and came home soon after she left when the iDrive and center display on the dash showed a gear-like symbol with an error message that said there was a transmission problem and we should drive conservatively. (The car was in standard drive mode on our automatic when it happened.)

I poured over the owner's manual to find more info-- but I couldn't find anything.

Knowing about the history of software glitches, I shut off the ingition, started it again-- same problem. Did it a second time-- this time the transmission problem disappeared, but an emission system problem appeared-- "increased emmissions- take for service". Again, I shut off the ignition and started again. The emission system error message remained.

I called the service dept at 4pm on Saturday and left a message for a service advisor.

I restarted the car again, and the emmission system error was gone. No problems now for two days.

I also haven't rec'vd a return call from the service dept as of 11:40AM on Monday.

This is my first "problem" at 2400 miles. Just curious if anyone has had similar issues.

swajames

I had a similar issue with an engine malfunction message telling me to stop the car. The message went away of its own accord after a restart. I called the dealer and took the car in to be checked over. Dealer called back and said that that they found no error codes stored in the car's systems. I've had a rough idle issue on my car that hasn't been resolved after three trips to the dealer (last time they did a valve adjustment) so I *know* there's something wrong but it seems almost as though the dealers rely on the car telling them what's wrong and in this case the error seems to have cleared itself and left no trace......

ZinMe

This thread hasn't been heavily read, but for anyone who happens to have a similar problem in the future, here is an update.

The problem I mentioned above went away on its own for about five days. Last Thursday night however I had the exact same problem except this time it happenned while I was driving instead of my wife. The transimission felt like it was slipping and it made some peculiar (but not loud) noises. Same warning lights (transimssion, emmissions) came on. I called my dealer (Mt View BMW) to schedule an appt for the next morning.

Of course in the morning, the car was working fine-- no transmission or emmissions warning messages. Brought it in anyway. They took it seriously anyway (which was a pleasant surprise based on issues I've had with Mercedes service in the past) but as a result of not being able to replicate the problems, the diagnostic work took longer than expected. They just let me know that the emmissions problem was caused by a faulty crank sensor (part needs to be ordered for tomorrow) and that the transimission problem is covered by a bulletin which recommends a software upgrade (although my advisor didn't have the bulletin and what upgrade version info handy....) Should be ready tomorrow.

I'll re-post when they provide the bulletin and software version.

I'm glad to know they think they've found the problem, but it is frustrating to have two failures withing the first 2,600 miles . We had 30+ problems in 3.5years with our ML320 before we persuaded the dealer to repuruchase it from us... keeping my fingers crossed for the BMW.

Swajames-- I haven't had enough experience to strongly recommend him, but Andrew at Mt View BMW's service dept has been very helpful in this instance if you have similar problems. He mentioned that the error codes didn't help them much on Friday so they independently checked likely causes and reviewed the service bulletins to figure it out.

swajames

Thanks Zinme, appreciate the update. Good to see the service guys look beyond the existence (or otherwise!) of fault codes. Would be interested to hear how this improves with the new sensor and software.

ZinMe

Car was ready at noon today. They replaced the crank shaft sensor and upgraded the software to 18.1. Everything seems to be fine....

HurstTX

I think this problem just happened to me going to lunch. Started the car and pulled out of my parking spot. Before getting out of the parking lot, a message saying engine failure/reduced power came up. Then a warning saying cruise control was lost, followed by an increased emissions message. I stopped, turned the car around and went back to the parking spot. I have the 6-speed and the car wouldn't go over 9 mph in first gear. I was pretty freaked when the car wouldn't accelerate. I'm glad this issue didn't happen on the road with cars speeding by.

I left the car over lunch to see if it would 'get better' and when I restarted it, it only said reduced engine/increased emissions. I've read that in the past putting the gas cap on loose can cause the increased emissions problem. I checked but it seemed OK (plus I'm at a quarter tank so I would think the issue would've come up after I filled up and not a week later). I'm hoping that it's just the gas cap regardless. If it continues having the error message, I'll bring it into the dealership.

I'm hoping the car didn't have any problems because of the evacuation (I spent over 35 hours on the road due to hurricane Rita, not the most fun I've had in the car to-date .

Thanks for the info on what happened to your car. At least what happened to me doesn't sound like a completely isolated event.

ZinMe

HurstTX-- Sorry to hear about the evacuation ordeal.

Your car is under warranty, so you should take it into the dealer for service. The computer will have the warning codes stored so they can diagnose even if the problem has ceased.

In my case, the technician believes that the faulty crank shaft sensor caused problems with the operation of the transmission.... you may have the exact same thing.

Good luck.

Scott

Funny that these are all happening at the same time, but I just had that -- my first error ever -- a few minutes ago. Upon restart, no tranny message, just emissions. Will see if it goes away on its own, but even if it does, may have service look at it just to be safe.

Please update if anyone else experiences this, and what solution you used.

ZinMe

Funny that these are all happening at the same time, but I just had that -- my first error ever -- a few minutes ago. Upon restart, no tranny message, just emissions. Will see if it goes away on its own, but even if it does, may have service look at it just to be safe.



Please update if anyone else experiences this, and what solution you used.
[/quote]

Scott-- I'm noticing that our build dates were probably within the same week or two of each other. I'm wondering if they got a bad batch of crank shaft sensors. Seriously. Also, if they want to compare findings, send me an personal note and I'll provide contact information for my tech at BMW of Mt. View.

Scott

Funny that these are all happening at the same time, but I just had that -- my first error ever -- a few minutes ago. Upon restart, no tranny message, just emissions. Will see if it goes away on its own, but even if it does, may have service look at it just to be safe.

Please update if anyone else experiences this, and what solution you used.
[/quote]

Scott-- I'm noticing that our build dates were probably within the same week or two of each other. I'm wondering if they got a bad batch of crank shaft sensors. Seriously. Also, if they want to compare findings, send me an personal note and I'll provide contact information for my tech at BMW of Mt. View.
[/quote]

Thanks I really appreciate that! The message has now gone away after a few restarts, but I'm going to take it in as soon as I can...