Rough Idle On Cold Days?
 

I have a 2006 X5 E53 4.8is and I get a rough idle when it is really cold outside. It does not seem to be a cold start issue as the problem is still apparent when I've driven the car for well over an hour.

I know the 4.8is has a bigger exhaust and it seems like the cold weather is causing the exhaust to rumble, which causes my car to shake and vibrate very rough. The vibrations feel like my X5 has message chairs and the steering wheel shakes. The rough idle is more apparent when the car is stopped at a stoplight with the engine engaged in drive. The vibrations lessen when I put it to neutral and park.

I've taken the car to a couple dealers already and when they hooked it up to the computer there were no error codes, engine misfires, and etc. It checks up as everything is running fine so they have no idea what is wrong.

So here is my question for all the other 4.8is owners on here. Is what I am experiencing normal for the 4.8is in the cold winters due to the larger exhaust? Or is there something really wrong with my X5? I don't experience these rough idles when the weather is warm.

Any suggestions and input would be greatly appreciated.

TIA

most likely failed eccentric shafts. they are known to cause rough running.

Have them check the intermediate levers on the valve timing gear. That was a known issue for 2004 & 2005 X5's with the N62 engine (which includes the 4.8is), produced from 6/04 up to 2/05 production. Problem was technically fixed after that and for the 2006 model year, but you never know.

From the SIB: "Incorrect tolerances and geometry of Valvetronic intermediate levers are causing uneven cylinder filling during the transitional cold start period (60 seconds after the engine has been started) when the Valvetronic system is switching from the initial 6 mm to a minimum 0.3/0.8 mm valve lift."

mine has been doing the exact same thing here in DC, and if I don't move within 3 minutes of starting, the engine basically stalls and the fuel management revs the engine and then moves it to a high idle

mrkbbd what car do you have (& production date)?

'06 4.8is with an August '05 production date

see my edited post above (#3)

thanks X5 Meister, I already have a service appt for the 3rd week in March, so I'll bring that bulletin with me

Do you already have that bulletin?

I just meant your text, I'm sure they can look it up when I get there, unless you have the actual one

Here you go SIB 110205.
Also read this thread: Bought a BUM X5...WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

well, this explains the slight rough idle I have on startup...great.

Will BMW NA do this repair after warranty is up? Seems like a manufacturing defect. They are admitting to it. They should honor in the same way they extended the 6yr/100k warranties for the S54 engines.

What do you think Killcrap?

Hey JT, does your production date fall in that range?

What are your referring to with S54 engines btw?

8/04 build so yeah, its in that range.

BMW shamefully tried to deny early E46 M3 owners any warranty repairs for their blown S54 motors due to failed bearings. So nice of them to blame owners for "over revving" their motors even though all the blown motors did not register any overrev codes. They didn't believe any of the owners until the SMG M3s started to blow their motors too. Thats when they discovered they had a bad batch of bearings. So to continue to sell M3s and not have the enthusiast crowd bail out on BMW, they extended the engine's warranty on all early model S54s to 6yrs/100k.

This is very typical BMW NA BS. They know they have a defect and they pretty much keep it on the hush hush as to no affect their image and hurt their name brand, and thus sales. Rather than own up to their mistakes and fix the issue for owners. I don't think BMW NA will do anything for out of warranty owners even though its CLEARLY a manufacturing DEFECT.

Interesting info.

Given that your car falls in that range, the job might have already been done. Do you have all the maintenance records printed from a dealer? As far as being covered under extended CPO warranty, I don't know. Maybe they will. The SIB doesn't specifically say that they will, but then again it hasn't been updated since Jan 2006. The SIB's for the CCV issues on the M54 and N62 engines have recently been updated to specifically include CPO coverage, but then again those are more prevalent issues. If your DME has stored the above fault codes then I think you might be able to make a good case, if it hasn't then it might be hard to prove it without stripping the engine yourself and looking at the date codes on the levers themselves. Keep one thing in mind though, this is a HUGE job and one you sure as hell don't want to pay out of pocket for.

if you have cpo warranty it covers it, if your cpo coverage is over, bend over. $3500. if you have factory warranty its covered, if your over factory warranty but depending on milage and time, they will good will it, if they fail at 60K and your still within the 4 years, they will good will it, if it fails at 40K and its been less than 1 year after your warranty expired they will cover it.

68k miles now, car originally purchased 2/05. What do you think? seems like I'm out of the range, but really close. If I take it down to complain about the issue, how much are they gonna charge me to run that test?

Diagnostic fee runs roughly $130+ tax...

very rare for your car to have this symptom, especially when it doesnt reach less than 20 degrees ambient temperature. unless your car is stalling on cold starts, and the check engine lamp is on, i wouldnt worry about it.

Thanks kinda funny. After reading some of your posts, it was what made me worry about it... :)