Help! Cylinder 1,3,5,7 Misfire at cold start, car shakes, SES light on

[bulkwarrior]

My car (2006, 4.4i) got this problem for a while. Whenever it's very cold in the morning(like today, 15F here in upstate NY), when I start the car it vibrates quite a bit, and the Service Engine Soon(SES) warning light comes on. If I turn it off and restarts, it runs smoother(when it's warm enough the SES light sometimes goes off when you restart it). I brought the car to autozone for a free reading and they said cylinder 1,3,5,7 misfire, and sold me 8 spark plugs(ngk iridium at $6.99 ea.). while I am puzzled why only odd number cylinder misfires, I think it might be a good idea to change the spark plug first(my car got about 80k miles), and see if this problem goes away.

Does anyone has similar problem(cold start misfire?)? Any possible cause?

Many thanx for the inputs.

[TheKingSim0n]

lol wow, you might want to read this: http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...os-please.html

[paulymano]

Check your crankcase ventilation and the oil separator. Be careful that the crankcase ventilation don't freeze up on you especiallly driving short distances in extreme cold conditions. This will cause major repair work. I just had over 3K of repair bills because of the havoc of a frozen crankcase ventilation.

[ayagutak]

ignition coil change them

[m5james]

Originally Posted by ayagutak

ignition coil change them

As confident as your reply sounds, that's the worst and most expensive advice I've heard in the past 7+ yrs of owning BMW V8's. The fact that his misfire is only on one bank of the engine speaks volumes that replace all 8 ignition coils would be a complete waste of money. Sorry man. From what I've learned on the 5/7 boards and now here, the X5 definately is more prone to OSV (M62/N62) and intermediate lever (N62) problems. On the 5/7, its usually the the CCV, MAF or CPS...not sure if the N62 even has them, but the M62's either have one or two based on year.

[bulkwarrior]

can't be ignition coil. Otherwise won't have so many cylinders misfire(all odd number cylinders). I think it's the oil separator but could be wrong. I've been garaging my x so it didn't give me any trouble lately. Will wait the winter out and see.

[ABMW]

Change plugs, report back...maybe you'll be lucky. Doubtful, but you already bought the plugs, so take the 20 mins. and change them.

When doing so, maybe you'll find other issues. By chance, for example you might spot something obvious.

Either way, eliminate the plugs and go from there. It's obviously electrical in nature.

Strange the plugs would still be misfiring if it's at autozone, given that the car would be warm and hence there should be no frost "plug" in the crankcase vent.

I'm continually amazed at German engineering. At times, I'm just dumbfounded. They have some of the harshest winters around. If frozen vents are going to create so much hassle, why not install a simple heater on the vent. It would cost all of $10.00 in parts to create one on your own.

Sounds like a solvable issue, and not a system wide ignition fault, however. At least, that's my opinion.

[Repoman]

Good luck with it bulkwarrior. I wish I could help you but mine has been running like this for about 8K miles now. I have searched hi and low on the internet for a fix and other than the obvious fixes for physically broken parts I haven't been able to cure mine. I hope you get it fixed, in the meantime I will be to see what you did.

[killcrap]

replace all 16 intermediate levers. and if wear is found on the shaft, replace both shafts also.

[CTSportX5]

Intermediate levers... been hearing this one alot. Seems to affect alot of 4.4s. Mine just shock a bit on cold morning start, i hope this is not the start of it.