Misfires after sitting for two weeks.

[garrett.fell]

So - I haven't really driven my X since I got the alternator bracket oil leak fixed a few weeks ago. It's been sitting in my garage

So I went to start it yesterday and it was running really rough on first start. Shaking and bucking like crazy! No SES flashing like I've seen before and no CEL light. It eventually did start/run fine and I have not had this type of behavior in nearly a year.

Since then I've done plugs and about every gasket you can imagine. The car did pass the intermediate-lever test and I believe I am outside the manufacturing "window" for that issue.

So - I hook up my laptop to the car, run DIS and get this.....

Misfire during warmup. I don't believe I've seen this exact error before or it described this way. Anyway - ideas what could cause this? I drove the car about 35 miles yesterday and all seemed well. It was just the initial start. Temperature was in the low 50's in the heated garage so not very cold at all.

I need to look into the other errors as well. .




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[LVP]

I was getting similar codes, but not worded as yours are. Here are mine.

5EB1 - steering angle sensor supply - not really sure what this is, but thought it was from them messing with the joint on my steering shaft
279A - throttle actuator - relearn abort
2742 - misfire cyl 1 - misfire with cyl cutout
2746, 5, 9, 8, 7 for misfires on cyl 6, 8, 2, 7 3 respectively

My misfires were at really low temps with the car sitting outside after sitting overnight. Would start and run rough (shaking) and throw the CEL. My intermediate levers were suspect, but they were not part of the recall campaign either. We checked the setting for them and they were set at 0.1mm (min. spec was 0.3mm). BMW did allow an adjust up to 0.8mm to get these issues to clear the warranty periods. See what yours is set at - never hurts to eliminate some variables. I doubt we're dealing with the same thing though.

If you get the rough start, turn it off and then re-start, does it run smooth? To verify the CEL is working correctly, do you see it when you turn your key to the first position on the gauge cluster bulb test (I ask because mine was actually covered up inside the cluster by tape from the PO).

All of my misfires indicated they would throw the CEL. See if you can go further to each misfire and see what it says.

As an aside, any idea what the brake force distribution error is? I get that more times than not on the scans too.

[garrett.fell]

Do you recall how you were able to determine the settings for the variable valve lift stuff?

In my previous experience with shaking at start it WAS usually in very cold temps after the car had been sitting outside. In this case it was sitting at about 50 degrees for at-least 24 hours. In the days and weeks prior it did get below 0

Previously the errors were more in-line with what you're describing "misfire with cutout" - I'd get the shaking and flashing SES light then it'd be lit solid until I cleared the code. Looks like all my lights are visible - I recall your story with them being covered over with tape. WTF?

This time I started/restarted it 2-3 times before it ran smoothly. No CEL but as we can see the computer did log a few errors.

No clue about that braking force distribution error - it's been there ever since I got the DIS working which is about a year ago.


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[LVP]

The shop I went to had the Autologic software and programmer (Autologic-Diagnostics -BMW Diagnostics). The vehicle needed to get to a certain engine temperature, then he was able to see the setting and adjust to whatever value and/or increment by 0.1mm. I haven't gone into the bowels of DIS for setting this, but it must be there somewhere. Autologic is the non-dealer version of the BMW software.

Here is a thread on another forum showing screen shots from INPA.(645Ci Valvetronic Intermediate Lever Spring Loose - Bimmerfest - BMW Forums)

I find it takes some hunting to find these types of procedures in DIS. Maybe in Expert Mode?

[garrett.fell]

Ah. I found it. Minimum stroke adjustment. I set it to .3. Not sure what it was at before. Maybe .3 already.


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[garrett.fell]

I found a smoothness test. No idea what this means but it didn't suggest anything was out of whack.


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[LVP]

Awesome! Screen shots? How did you get there? If my 0.3mm setting doesn't work, I'll need to adjust mine up and test. Does DIS have incremental adjustment or you enter a value and set it?

[garrett.fell]

I found it under service functions - DME I believe. In the minimum stroke adjustment it just gave you an option of .3 or .8 - but tells you that .8 is not recommended on the e53.

I picked .3 - and it asked if I wanted to make that setting permanent. Not really sure what it was set at initially but it's definitely .3 now.

Not sure what's up with the one outlier I have there. It didn't bitch about it though so.....hmmmm


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[LVP]

Sweet - keep me posted. The Autologic listed off the issues with the 0.8mm adjustment. Again - it was a bandaid fix by BMW. I'll keep an eye on mine too. We've got mild weather here again (around freezing), so it'll be a while before I can truly see if the issues come up again.

Cheers.

[Junkycosmos]

thank you all for posting this

My 2005 4.8 is having the common rough start issue very intermittently only when very cold out. Been keeping it in the heated garage (40-50) this year so that has helped a lot this winter still had the issue twice though after sitting over at least 1 night and when the air temp was near zero. Has me wondering if this could have anything to do with the X mass airflow sensor not understanding how cold the air really is.

My issue occurs rarely but always after sitting over night or two nights, only when the air temp is very low (15 F?) and always goes away when I apply a little throttle for about 20 seconds.

I will check DIS in this area and see if I can try this.