Car shaking when in gear and foot on the brake!
 

When I am in gear and at a stop sign, traffic light, ect. and have my foot on the brake my entire car vibrates. Steering wheel, seats, floor, everything. Even my passenger noticed it today. As soon as I put the car in park or neutral the shaking goes away.
I had the exact same symptoms on my M3 and the motor mounts were broken. I had them replaced and this solved the problem. However, I just had all my motor mounts and transmission mounts replaced 2 months ago. I doubt they would wear out this fast.
I just took my car to the BMW dealer today. They said they had 2 separate techs look at the car for 3 hours and could find nothing wrong. The said they hooked it up to the computer and no fault codes or anything. I was told that it "might just be because the car is old!" So I paid $125.00 for a "diagnosis" to find the problem and I I now have $125.00 less in my wallet with no answer as to what is wrong! Anyone please chime in if you know what this problem may be. I really want to get it fixed!

Hmm .. are you saying they didn't find the shaking? Could it be that the problem is intermittent or only when the X is warmed up? After picking it up from the dealer, did it do it right away so you could show them?

Did they notice the shaking and attribute it to age? If so, That sounds like BS to me.

I feel like I just got ripped off. I showed the shaking to the service advisor. He felt it and said "wow" that is definitely not normal. I asked how much to find the problem. He said $125.00 to diagnose. Now I'm out $125.00 with the service advisor and the service manager saying they feel the shaking but do not know what it is. Also, if I want to pay for 4-5 hours labor they can look into it further :( No thanks! It is not an intermittent problem though. It does it every time, all the time.

Bet you it's a vacuum leak... It sounds like it's starving for air and that (to me) usually means some kind of a vacuum leak.

Look around all the hoses and check for anything obvious...

You could also go hi-tech, and buy a can of a special dye and the matching glasses and black light.. When you put the dye in and let it circulate, you put on the glasses and turn on the black light and you'll be able to find the spray..

But start off by checking all the hoses and boots that are associated with fuel/air mix, and see if you can't find a cracked hose (sometimes they split at the clamp which makes it very hard to see )

Of course it could be the on board computer sending a bad signal.. Have you tried going to Autozone ? They will lend you their scanner and if there are any stored codes, the person behind the counter should be able to look into a manual and give you some input. Could be a MAF, or an O2 sensor, and if so the autozone scanner will get you in the right direction.

Good luck

ed

More bad news. I dropped the car off again to hopefully finally get this vibrating solved. I ended up spending another $1,000.00 and I still have the same problem. Mechanic found engine fan cracked in multiple places with a bad fan clutch. He said he saw no problems with ony of the hoses and boots, idle control valve, motor mounts, etc. as previously discussed. I replaced both items as I was told that this should fix the vibration because this oculd make the motor "out of balance" I was also told that I had a bad DISA valve and that this could contribute to the vibrating also. I just had all 3 parts (disa valve, fan clutch, fan) replaced this afternoon. I just picked up my car and.....same exact vibration! I am at the point now that I am about to sell the car because I have now replaced the following in the last couple months:

1. motor mounts
2. transmission mounts
3. disa valve
4. fan clutch
5. engine fan

I have also had my car to the BMW dealer 2 times, and to (2) seperate independent german car shops, spent about $3,000.00 and none of them can seem to find the problem. I have no fault codes and no check engine light,etc. This is EXTREMELY frustrating and I am at the point where I am about to give up on this:( I don't know what to do at this point.

Take the vehicle to who installed the mounts. Have them loosen the mounts, start the vehicle place it in gear for a few moments then tighten down the mounts. This will help the mounts find their spot. (Old mechanics trick.)

Thank you!
 

Thanks. My shop was closed today, but I am going to take it there on Monday morning and ask them to do this. When I have them do this, should the car be up on the rack when they start the car and tighten the mounts, or should the car be on the ground?
Also, since I also had them replace my transmission mount, should I have them do this process with the transmission mounts also?

Do all three mounts at the same time. This can be perfromed while the vehicle is in the air. They will have to have sombody in the vehicle while it is in the air. Hope this works for you. Some times it does sometimes not. Good luck!

what engine rpm is the car idling at when in gear? if you step on the accelerator lightly with your foot on the brake does the vibration go away? your problem could possibly be transmission/converter related.

Yeah,.. sounds like trans or torque converter to me. Not very impressed with my 4.8is' auto trans so far... But it's the first auto I've driven regularly in 6+ years.

Who knows, maybe flashing the trans comp will do something. It's free and worth a shot.

Engine is idiling at practically the same rpm's when in gear as in park. If I put it in gear and foot on the brake & give it gas, the vibrating does go away, but I have to give it a pretty decent amount of gas 500+rpm's.

I have it at the garage right now and am following THK's advice. I asked them to loosen up all the motor & transmission mounts and let the engine run, and them tighten them back up. Hopefully this solves the problem. I will let you guys know today when I get the car back.

have you been using the correct grade of fuel? many times when a car requires premium, and folks cut corners and put regular in...similar symptoms can occur.

Techron?
 

Someone in my office had the exact problem. He purchased a bottle of "Techron" made by Chevron. It is supposed to be some kind of engine cleaner. The same chemical they put in Chevron gasoliine, but this wold be in a much higher concentration. He said after using a bottle of this his shaking went away! I just bought a bottle of the stuff and I am going to try it. I figure after all the time & money I have spent so far another $8.00 is worth a try. I will let you all know how it goes. Anyone used this stuff before?

No, I have never used premium
 

Freddy,
No, I have actually never put anything other than regular in the car since I purchased it (over 100,000 miles ago). I've owned a couple m3's and a few 3-series in the past and I have never once used premium fuel. Always used regular with no problems. I was once told by a BMW mechanic that premium grade fuel is a complete waste. I'm not arguing with other people's opinions, but from my past experience I've never had a problem running regular. Maybe I will fill up with premium today and see if that solves the problem. If it does I will change my opinion.

Dlh1228, I take it that loosening up the motor moutns while running did not work out. Sorry for the suggestion!

The only difference between regular and premium is flash point with premium having a slower combustion process. Been running regular in my vehicle too with no problem.

Another thought occured to me, being an OBDII vehicle ask your tech to hook up a scanner and check for misfire from what cylinder. (I don't know if BMW's have this option in OBDII). Might be worth asking him. He may of already done this.

Not mounts
 

I had the shop loosen all of the motor mounts and transmission mount and let the motor run, then re-tighten. No luck again :(. I then tried a bottle of "techron" and also tried premium fuel. Still no luck. I am taking the car back to the shop again on Monday. The head guy himself is going to take a look at it. I really hope that he can find the problem. It will be my last try.

It sounds more and more like a fuel mixture problem.. Something tells me it's ECU related. Either that or something in the fuel lines are causing it to lose pressure, it shakes...you give it more fuel, it stops shaking..

I've actually seen (in my former Lexus) Techron do more harm then good... FWIW.

But I also believe that higher octane fuel is what BMW says to put in the vehicle. Assuming they arent getting some "kickback" from the oil companies, there must be a good reason..even though the engine is smart enough to retard the timing on it's own to avoid backfires.

I don't know if this helps BUT here is a link from E46 Fanatics regarding a shaking engine with similiar problems...His turned out to be something called an "adjuster unit".

His thread is quite detailed with photos, so here you go: Rough Idle Fixed! Adjuster Unit Culprit - E46Fanatics

HTH
ed

Inspect the front axles. I had a bad cv joint on the right side and experieced this vibration.

Think thats the DISA Valve

Bump. Hey OP, did you ever find a solution to this problem? I'm experiencing the same problem with mt 2001 X5 3.0i (~150k miles).

I've had a lot done to the car lately and none of it has fixed vibration. (no vacuum leaks, new 02 sensors, fixed tranny mounts)

Hi I'm new on this site, I have a e53 3.0i 2001 and have exactly the same problem, only vibrates when in gear stationary, just read an earlier post; (vibration fixed update) he had play in front drive shaft, he changed it and no problem since. hope this helps i have yet to check mine.

I had a similar issue a few years ago. I used to always get fuel at the station by my house and I always put premium in but I had the shaking, but usually on start up. I took it to the dealer and they told me to make sure I was using the proper grade fuel. I told them I was and they said to try switching stations/brands. So I switched to Shell and have never had an issue since.