problems this morning...
 

Hey guys, this morning when I started up my car (an '05 4.8is with 19K miles) after it had been sitting for a couple of days, I had this heavy, pulsing vibration through the car and the check engine light flashed 7 - 10 times and then turned off. I quickly turned off the car and restarted it and then it was fine.

What could be causing this? Is it serious? My car is still under warranty, so should I take it to the dealership? Or should I ignore the problem? I just hate going to the dealership.... Also, I just put in a new ITG drop in air filter replacement. Could this be causing this?

My car shakes too, I only drive in the weekends.

It's still under warranty so I would take it to the dealer and at least have the codes checked.

This way if something it happens again or if something more serious happens you are documented.

It nothing to worrie about, it just been cold start because it been sitting for to long , let it run for 5min. and it will be okay.:thumbup:

i'm sure this wasn't just a cold start! This car sees harsh winters and starts up fine, and now it's 75-80F degrees.

well, i put a call into the dealer today and they told me the soonest they could get the codes would be next TUESDAY! I thought CEL's were urgent/serious.... are they? Or is it BMW who just doesn't care about the cars anymore?

I wouldn't worry about it. If it does it again, then yes take it to the dealer. Otherwise, its most likely just fine.

Can't say for sure if it's serious. The reason is that it happens to my 2 of my cars if I just start the engine, roll it out of the garage then shut the engine. In any case, the car never goes to nominal temp so when you restart later it seems rough ans 1 ocassion it through flashing cell which reset itself and never comesback.
A serious problem, like MAF, O2 sensor or other emission related component will persist. This is when you want to contact your dealer.
I'll still bring it to dealer since it's under waranty but my dealer always 2 weeks out for service appointment(so it's normal, my doctor seems to have the same policy only urgent matters get same day appointment:D ).

a flashing check engine light means a misfire is currently happening. I'd be careful as you can do some costly damage to you catalyst this way. it could be a bad coil pack. Get someone with a BMW DIS or GT1 to pull the codes and point you to which spark plugs are miss firing.

I would definitely have the dealer take a look at it. It might just be nothing but if it is something it could lead to a bigger problem down the road.