Intersting post. I have been fighting this issue for 2 winters now.

I have a 2004 4.4. When the temp is somewhere between 13 and 27 degrees, the engine idles rough at start. If I start backing out of my space, at idle, the car bucks and shakes, and the CEL flashes. It usually stops and the CEL clears, or goes solid than clears in a a day.

The Levers have been replaced TWICE. The problem never cleared. To me, the CEL is a symptom, the problem is the idle, and I was searching for other cold start idle issues when I came across this.

The worse case was last January, when it was about 4 degrees out. I started the car and I swear, only 3 or 4 of the cylinders fired. CEL flashed, went solid, than flashed some more. The car had no power, but could drive. I drove it home for 2 reasons: 1, I was afraid to get stranded in such cold weather, and 2: it was CPO, so if it really broke, they would have something to fix!

I took it to the dealer the next day (it ran fine, but CEL was on) and the dealer told me the DME was "asking" to be reprogrammed. The issue disappeared with the warm months, and has now reappeared. I am taking it to the dealer again.

My CPO ends in May, but since all work has a 2 year warranty, I should be able to work with them until the issue is fixed.

This sounds exactly what I've had happen to my 2004 4.4 just recently. In Beantown too! The temp range seems to be right at that rough idle sweet spot. My issue went away too when the air temp rose above freezing. I had a misfire code and SES light that just cleared itself after a day of driving. The best way I've found to get around this (and by no means is this a fix or recommendation of any sort with your X) is to start it and leave it for a few minutes to warm up. After that, I went easy on the accelerator until the engine's reached normal operating temp. Jamming my foot on the gas seems make it buck more and cause SES light flashes. YMMV.

you still working on fixing it, or just going to live with it? I must say, I have been tempted to live with it, not sure when to throw in the towel.

I'm going to live with it until I have to fix it. It's only happened once so far in the 2.5 years I've owned it so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I have an aftermarket warranty so I can't really fix anything until it really breaks.

update - BMWUSA and dealer opened a PUMA case. Car will go in for more diagnostic work in the next week.

honestly the car should have never left the dealership without being fixed the 1st time. the bmw way is to fix it the first time on time.

I had similar problems with my 2005 4.4 x5 . dealer replaced intermediate levers under CPO. two days after I brought it back , it started acting again. Took it back to dealer. they say the lever settings were not set up correctly. I asked them to look at other possible causes such as oil separator hose, cam sensor etc ( from other thread) , he said those were unlikely causes for misfire. they will test it again in the morning (cold start)....and most likely will be bringing it back tomorrow afternoon.

It seems like replacing intermediate levers is a major work. How much would it have cost me out of warranty?

Update: Dealership opened up a PUMA case, and after a few days, the dealership was sent updated software.

They are keeping the car overnight and will check morning startup. I discussed with the SA that there's some "quick" fixes such as the increase in idle RPM to 800, which may fix initial cold start but will make daily driving worse with jolting/bad shifting. He's not sure what the software reset will do, and said he'll let me know if this was part of the programming.

We'll see - but I personally don't think it's a software update. If I shut down the car right away after start when cold and restart, the engine is still rough - which would suggest to me it has to be a component vs. temperature issue, not a software fix. We'll see!

It is temp dependent. Once the engine warms up the idle should smooth out. If the engine is warm and it still idles rough then it might eliminate the lever issue. Or it could be the levers plus something else. Hard to say.

it sounds like levers, it looks like levers....it must be










software :nanana:

sorry, couldn't help it :p: