Dreaded RANDOM problems - HELP!
09-25-2010 | 10:44 AM
#1
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Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 26
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From: Western Connecticut
My Ride: 2004 BMW 545i Sport Titanium Silver, Cold Weather, Sun Shades, Active Steering, K&N filter (Carbon Delete), CDV Delete), 18x8.5, 18x9.5 Beyerns, 5mm Rear Spacer, Smoked Side Markers (LED), 35% Tints/20% Rear, and a few other mods/add-ons. :)
1946 Willys Cj2a Chev.350/Th350/Dana 300. 39.5x16.5x15 Swamper Boggers, 15x12 Rock Crawlers, Custom Suspension, Custom Interior, Custom Everything! 400HP, 350Torque
2003 Ford F-350 XLT Lariat Super-Duty Powersttroke Diesel 8" lift, Racing Reservoir Shocks, 36x14.5x16.5 Swampers,16.5x12 Weld Typhoon Wheels, Tuner, Air Raid filter, Banks Wastegate, 4.5-5" Magnaflow Exhaust, MANY mods!
I have had very little luck with my 2004 545i Sport from the very first day I bought it - had numerous codes pop while on my way home (330 miles or so) - after I made it halfway home and the dealership closed! I got it from a dealer in Pennsylvania (thank GOD!) who has been pretty good about trying to fix the "unknown to them" problem. I will withold the name for now as they are working with me. The car is currently at the BMW dealership for analysis/diag time....
The car has completely random times where it will not start. No crank, no start. It will often leave you stranded for 5 minutes - or over 30 minutes. Then without doing a THING, it will start again. I have taken it to both an independant shop and the BMW dealership near me. It has happened to both shops; no one can explain it. VERY frustrating to say the least. No one in my family wants to ride in my 545i SPort anymore! I have since stopped driving the car due to other more dangerous issues.... read on.
This is in combination with randomly occurring system failures that lead to a series of other faults, that make the car dangerous to drive and almost impossible to keep running. With no warning or conditions (normal driving both city and highway), the increased emission light will come on - normally followed by what seems to be a lateral "bump" in the rear end that triggers the dynamic stability light. The car begins to sputter, cough, and acts like it is running on 1 or 2 cylinders. I am a guy who has worked on cars and race cars since I was 16 -- 1 or 2 cylinders is FAR weaker than any limp mode. With it running like this, it will NOT stay running unless you are very good at heel and toe driving. The active steering will sometimes let go at this point making the steering erratic and jerky or very hard. The tach is jumping all over the place, it's backfiring in the intake, and seems to be trying to run on water and gas or like the car has water in the distributor on older cars. Essentially, it seems like the cam sensor is off, the fuel injectors are firing at wrong times, and the spark is getting sent to cylinders that are no ready to be ignited yet. It's a damn mess!
Here are the items that have been replaced so far in attempts to solve this issue:
Crankshaft position sensor
Thermostat
Battery
Negative battery cable
Clutch cylinder and bushings
Gas Cap
There are numerous codes that come up that were read by the AutoLogic box. At ONE occurrance of this problem, we got SIX pages of faults actively happening.
Some of the codes are (and this is after the items were fixed from the above list)(forgive me for not remembering the proper terminology):
Crankshaft position sensor (already new)
Camshaft position sensor A&B(?)
Almost all the fuel injectors
Mass air sensor
Brake pad sensor (replaced)
Low Brake fluid sensor (all new and topped off)
Thermostat sensor (already new)
Active steering
Dynamic stability
Gas cap (already new)
Knock sensors
Increased emissions
Bulbs out (all fine)
There were several others.....
Anyway, I am sure anyone can sense my frustrations on this. I have local shops telling me it's the fiber optic harness for the motor or the computer (DME). The extreme poor running condition has not yet occurred when it's been at BMW, but they have only driven it 8 miles. BMW "guesses" it might be the computer (DME) but stated that would be a costly "GUESS" since it didn't happen directly to them - I just brought the screen shots of the AutoLogic report. The codes had to be cleared out for me to get the car home the last time I drove it. They are stumped telling me they are unable to duplicate the situation <--kinda hard when it's so random. The dealership where I bought the car doesn't want to pay for more diagnostic time on a problem that "seems to only happen when I have the car". I drive this car well. No racing around, no pretending like I have an M5. I get over 23.5 MPG, that's gotta indicate something! The only thing that I can say that seems to make the situation happen (sometimes) is when I get gas - and no, not only at 1 mom and pop gas station, it's a busy Mobil or Shell station - and it's been numerous times. I used the BMW fuel treatment at the fill-ups and that seems to be the "crazy" events that sometimes trigger the car to act like a broken moped.
Anything like this happen to anyone else? Any ideas? ANY help would be appreciated. I contacted the previous owner who said that random NO START has happened to him for a couple years and that after around $3000 in diagnostic fees and testing - BMW could not diagnose anything wrong with the car. He said he dumped the car for that reason alone. Previous owner also said that the poor running conditions never occurred with him - but there is a lapse of ownership for approximately 8 or 9 months. I should also point out that the independant shop noticed the car had been in some kind of crash or damage where some front end parts were replaced and it left windshield glass in and around the clutch pedal and clutch cylinder.
Whew .. a lot to say - sorry for the lengthy message!
The car has completely random times where it will not start. No crank, no start. It will often leave you stranded for 5 minutes - or over 30 minutes. Then without doing a THING, it will start again. I have taken it to both an independant shop and the BMW dealership near me. It has happened to both shops; no one can explain it. VERY frustrating to say the least. No one in my family wants to ride in my 545i SPort anymore! I have since stopped driving the car due to other more dangerous issues.... read on.
This is in combination with randomly occurring system failures that lead to a series of other faults, that make the car dangerous to drive and almost impossible to keep running. With no warning or conditions (normal driving both city and highway), the increased emission light will come on - normally followed by what seems to be a lateral "bump" in the rear end that triggers the dynamic stability light. The car begins to sputter, cough, and acts like it is running on 1 or 2 cylinders. I am a guy who has worked on cars and race cars since I was 16 -- 1 or 2 cylinders is FAR weaker than any limp mode. With it running like this, it will NOT stay running unless you are very good at heel and toe driving. The active steering will sometimes let go at this point making the steering erratic and jerky or very hard. The tach is jumping all over the place, it's backfiring in the intake, and seems to be trying to run on water and gas or like the car has water in the distributor on older cars. Essentially, it seems like the cam sensor is off, the fuel injectors are firing at wrong times, and the spark is getting sent to cylinders that are no ready to be ignited yet. It's a damn mess!
Here are the items that have been replaced so far in attempts to solve this issue:
Crankshaft position sensor
Thermostat
Battery
Negative battery cable
Clutch cylinder and bushings
Gas Cap
There are numerous codes that come up that were read by the AutoLogic box. At ONE occurrance of this problem, we got SIX pages of faults actively happening.
Some of the codes are (and this is after the items were fixed from the above list)(forgive me for not remembering the proper terminology):
Crankshaft position sensor (already new)
Camshaft position sensor A&B(?)
Almost all the fuel injectors
Mass air sensor
Brake pad sensor (replaced)
Low Brake fluid sensor (all new and topped off)
Thermostat sensor (already new)
Active steering
Dynamic stability
Gas cap (already new)
Knock sensors
Increased emissions
Bulbs out (all fine)
There were several others.....
Anyway, I am sure anyone can sense my frustrations on this. I have local shops telling me it's the fiber optic harness for the motor or the computer (DME). The extreme poor running condition has not yet occurred when it's been at BMW, but they have only driven it 8 miles. BMW "guesses" it might be the computer (DME) but stated that would be a costly "GUESS" since it didn't happen directly to them - I just brought the screen shots of the AutoLogic report. The codes had to be cleared out for me to get the car home the last time I drove it. They are stumped telling me they are unable to duplicate the situation <--kinda hard when it's so random. The dealership where I bought the car doesn't want to pay for more diagnostic time on a problem that "seems to only happen when I have the car". I drive this car well. No racing around, no pretending like I have an M5. I get over 23.5 MPG, that's gotta indicate something! The only thing that I can say that seems to make the situation happen (sometimes) is when I get gas - and no, not only at 1 mom and pop gas station, it's a busy Mobil or Shell station - and it's been numerous times. I used the BMW fuel treatment at the fill-ups and that seems to be the "crazy" events that sometimes trigger the car to act like a broken moped.
Anything like this happen to anyone else? Any ideas? ANY help would be appreciated. I contacted the previous owner who said that random NO START has happened to him for a couple years and that after around $3000 in diagnostic fees and testing - BMW could not diagnose anything wrong with the car. He said he dumped the car for that reason alone. Previous owner also said that the poor running conditions never occurred with him - but there is a lapse of ownership for approximately 8 or 9 months. I should also point out that the independant shop noticed the car had been in some kind of crash or damage where some front end parts were replaced and it left windshield glass in and around the clutch pedal and clutch cylinder.
Whew .. a lot to say - sorry for the lengthy message!
09-27-2010 | 06:16 PM
#3
Thread Starter
Members
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 26
Likes: 0
From: Western Connecticut
My Ride: 2004 BMW 545i Sport Titanium Silver, Cold Weather, Sun Shades, Active Steering, K&N filter (Carbon Delete), CDV Delete), 18x8.5, 18x9.5 Beyerns, 5mm Rear Spacer, Smoked Side Markers (LED), 35% Tints/20% Rear, and a few other mods/add-ons. :)
1946 Willys Cj2a Chev.350/Th350/Dana 300. 39.5x16.5x15 Swamper Boggers, 15x12 Rock Crawlers, Custom Suspension, Custom Interior, Custom Everything! 400HP, 350Torque
2003 Ford F-350 XLT Lariat Super-Duty Powersttroke Diesel 8" lift, Racing Reservoir Shocks, 36x14.5x16.5 Swampers,16.5x12 Weld Typhoon Wheels, Tuner, Air Raid filter, Banks Wastegate, 4.5-5" Magnaflow Exhaust, MANY mods!
LOL ... I was hoping for a little more inspiration!
I figured the same - I dunno, maybe I just needed to vent.
It just sucks to be in this situation, not knowing exactly what to do.
I figured the same - I dunno, maybe I just needed to vent.
It just sucks to be in this situation, not knowing exactly what to do.
09-28-2010 | 02:07 PM
#5
Thread Starter
Members
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 26
Likes: 0
From: Western Connecticut
My Ride: 2004 BMW 545i Sport Titanium Silver, Cold Weather, Sun Shades, Active Steering, K&N filter (Carbon Delete), CDV Delete), 18x8.5, 18x9.5 Beyerns, 5mm Rear Spacer, Smoked Side Markers (LED), 35% Tints/20% Rear, and a few other mods/add-ons. :)
1946 Willys Cj2a Chev.350/Th350/Dana 300. 39.5x16.5x15 Swamper Boggers, 15x12 Rock Crawlers, Custom Suspension, Custom Interior, Custom Everything! 400HP, 350Torque
2003 Ford F-350 XLT Lariat Super-Duty Powersttroke Diesel 8" lift, Racing Reservoir Shocks, 36x14.5x16.5 Swampers,16.5x12 Weld Typhoon Wheels, Tuner, Air Raid filter, Banks Wastegate, 4.5-5" Magnaflow Exhaust, MANY mods!
Great thought and you are right! BMW has already thought about that and replaced it already. It did not fix the problem however. I guess I could "over-ground" the car just to make sure there is great grounding all over. I know it can't hurt - so I will try doing more grounds when it gets back from BMW. Maybe I will call my service advisor and ask them to recheck the grounds. Makes sense to me!
09-28-2010 | 02:40 PM
#7
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 57
Likes: 0
From: Concord CA
Mine has gone through a lot of the same gyrations. I had the cam position sensor replaced after the vehicle would leave me stranded, it would just crank, but not start. How frustrating. I am not impressed with aoll the problems I see on these forums.
09-30-2010 | 07:59 AM
#8
Thread Starter
Members
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 26
Likes: 0
From: Western Connecticut
My Ride: 2004 BMW 545i Sport Titanium Silver, Cold Weather, Sun Shades, Active Steering, K&N filter (Carbon Delete), CDV Delete), 18x8.5, 18x9.5 Beyerns, 5mm Rear Spacer, Smoked Side Markers (LED), 35% Tints/20% Rear, and a few other mods/add-ons. :)
1946 Willys Cj2a Chev.350/Th350/Dana 300. 39.5x16.5x15 Swamper Boggers, 15x12 Rock Crawlers, Custom Suspension, Custom Interior, Custom Everything! 400HP, 350Torque
2003 Ford F-350 XLT Lariat Super-Duty Powersttroke Diesel 8" lift, Racing Reservoir Shocks, 36x14.5x16.5 Swampers,16.5x12 Weld Typhoon Wheels, Tuner, Air Raid filter, Banks Wastegate, 4.5-5" Magnaflow Exhaust, MANY mods!
Thanks for the replies. I do appreciate any other thoughts or theories!
I got an email from my Service Advisor telling me the car FINALLY began running rough for them, sputtering and throwing up a check engine light (he didn't specify which one). I passed along a note to re-check the engine and battery grounds. I don't want to tell them how to be a mechanic - but I figured it couldn't hurt either way.
CARFUCIOUS ... man, I hear ya on being not so impresssed. It almost seems like you get a fantastic running car - or one with issues. Blend in the fiber optic problems and add to the 'fun'. The difference in our cars is that mine would never even crank - leaving a BIG hole to figure out what portion of the start circuit could be blocking the start signal to the starter (or if it is the starter).
Thanks again for the feedback. I know it's impossible to try to diagnose a car over an internet forum, but like I said earlier - the more thoughts/input on this, the better! For that - I am thankful to this forum!
I got an email from my Service Advisor telling me the car FINALLY began running rough for them, sputtering and throwing up a check engine light (he didn't specify which one). I passed along a note to re-check the engine and battery grounds. I don't want to tell them how to be a mechanic - but I figured it couldn't hurt either way.
CARFUCIOUS ... man, I hear ya on being not so impresssed. It almost seems like you get a fantastic running car - or one with issues. Blend in the fiber optic problems and add to the 'fun'. The difference in our cars is that mine would never even crank - leaving a BIG hole to figure out what portion of the start circuit could be blocking the start signal to the starter (or if it is the starter).
Thanks again for the feedback. I know it's impossible to try to diagnose a car over an internet forum, but like I said earlier - the more thoughts/input on this, the better! For that - I am thankful to this forum!
09-30-2010 | 08:09 AM
#9
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,212
Likes: 0
From: Miami
My Ride: 05 545/6
not to add to the pile, but have you checked out the alternator? known problem point on the 545s. some of them fail quickly, some take their dear old time, throwing random codes left and right until they finally fail. mine took about three months to finally register enough trouble codes to get the dealer to replace it.
10-04-2010 | 11:23 AM
#10
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 57
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From: Concord CA
Chinpokumon- I agree, I wonder, right now, how many people are driving their cars, right now, with the "service engine soon" light illuminated. It seems I am just waiting for the next big failure when routine maintenance really should take care of keeping a car alive.
I don't accept the "highly crafted/tuned machine BS. I owned 2 NSX's and numerous Honda products that could be driven hard regularly and never give the trouble that my BMW has. I think the technology is just not completely sorted out before it is released.
Have you had any progress?
Mine has now developed "Excessive Emissions", I already did the vacuum valves and the fuel cap is tested as good...
I don't accept the "highly crafted/tuned machine BS. I owned 2 NSX's and numerous Honda products that could be driven hard regularly and never give the trouble that my BMW has. I think the technology is just not completely sorted out before it is released.
Have you had any progress?
Mine has now developed "Excessive Emissions", I already did the vacuum valves and the fuel cap is tested as good...