X5 4.8is Shaking on cold start?
 

I'm having some issues with my X5 that is really starting to worry me.

I bought my X5 4.8is in February, and here in Sweden we have pretty cold weather during the winter, and it's now starting to get below 0 degrees celsius.

About two weeks after the purchase of the car, the whole car started shaking really bad during a coldstart one morning. No enginelights were lit or anything, just shaking like it misfired or something. Got even worse when i tried to put a gear in. I then turned the car off and back on, and voilá, no shaking at all.

After that incident, i went to a local mechanic who read the codes and it had gotten 2 errorcodes (misfire on cyl. 6 and 8). So i decided to change the two cylinders coils and also changed all the sparkplugs to new Bosch original plugs. After that, i've been driving without any problems for about 8 months and 20000km.

So yesterday the problem came back again as i was starting the car after a frosty night. Did the same thing again, i turned it off and then started it again. Worked this time also. I have not yet read the errorcodes, but i'm pretty sure it's the same thing again because of the symptoms.

There has to be a reason for this to be happening. I really don't think the change of the coils were neccessary to begin with. I do know my battery isn't that good, but it has always started without any problems. Could the battery have anything to do with it? It's a OEM battery, probably as old as the car (2005).

Any idea of what it could be? It's really freaking me out!

There are multiple reasons for the shaking/misfiring. You could search 'intermediate levers' and spend about 2 days reading about people's problems.....or it could be an air leak in the intake....or the 02 sensor. Pretty soon, mine will start shaking again with others and you'll see more posts from us in the US.

Okey, so this is a common issue on the X5's?
I spoke to a mechanic at a local dealer about this after the first time it happened and he told me they hade a 745i that stood there for the same reason. He talked about some kind of sensors inside the engine. He told me it would cost me like $6000 to have them replaced. How many levers are there in the engine? Don't understand how it's figured out on RealOEM. I know there are levers both on intake and outlet, but how many per side?

I will read other threads but how can i check the intake for possible leaks?

Had same issue last night. I have a 2006 X5 4.4i. 29k miles, no issues at all. Last winter (my first with the X5) I drove up to VT weekly. I started it daily in weather below 10* F. and had not a single starting issue. Similar cold weather this year (although not as bad) and haven't had any issues.

Yesterday was the first one. Air temp was only 44* F. and it did the rough start, shaking, sounded like a low voltage issue. It reset my radio present, clock, trip odometer, etc. Check engine light came on.

I waited about a min, shut the car, off, and restarted. Everything was normal. No engine lights, no rough start, nothing.

Is this intermediate levers? I've been search this forum like crazy to read up.

Yep, it's real weird. Last winter I had shaking and CEL a bunch of times.....this winter, it has only happened once when it was in the 40's. Restart and it was fine. Some people do find cracks in tubing that lead to this....I actually think that's my problem.

What tubing?

that you'll have to search for.....i think it's the intake tubing that cracks

Thanks for the help. Its actually great info as I purchased the car from the original owner, who lived in Texas, and I have noticed some of the plastics on the car showing unusually high fading/wear. Guessing due to the heat/sun in Texas. Perhaps engine components, such as rubber hoses, have had increased wear as well.

I've had this same problem with my BMW x5 4.4 with 66,000 miles. I already replaced 8 coils, changed the mass airflow sensor, and after spending $1400, its back in the shop with the same problem. Now they are cleaning up the injection system...Same thing..misfires, shaking (not always), just some days, and when it shakes real hard, check engine comes on. Its terrible, nobody can tell me what is wrong..replacing one part after another...

Irish,

may people post to have the dealer/indy do a smoke test. It checks for air leaks. See if your place thinks that is an option.

Read up on it here first...

Hi Irisha

Thanks for the note. Please keep us all update. I've read a ton of this site, but it all seems like the same thing. Anything from a small air leak to a massive $8k repair bill. No one has a concrete answer on what it is.

My money is on intermediate levers. Had mine fixed under CPO. Symptoms were only present on a cold start (temps in the teens, 20's), car would shake bad (misfiring), service engine soon light flashes (indicating misfiring), and finally the light stayed on. It took the dealer 3 days to test and get the bad levers code. They had to wait for a cold start and get the codes while the car was doing it for them to approve the CPO repair.

I posted an update in BMW x5 2005 4.4 unknown problem

Same exact symptoms..mirror copy..how much did u pay to fix the intermediate levers?

$50, price was not listed (CPO covered item). The SA mentioned it costing as much as $5000 out of warranty. Yikes, yeah I know. The SA did say that it does not harm the engine and turning off and on again is a way around it. He also joked that I should keep it in the garage at night.

And so the shaking have started again...
As if i didn't have enough problems with the f*cking car (My Air Ride suspension broke last week, both front air springs have exploded). It'll cost me about $3000 to fix if my insurrance don't cover it. So not only is the damn thing shaking when coldstarting in colder temperatures, but it's not even possible to drive it since it has not suspension anymore.

Is there a DIY on the lever issue? Exactly what parts are neccessary to replace when doing this job? I read in another thread somewhere that it's recommended to change other stuff too?

I have a friend that's a really good mechanic that wouldn't take much to do this for me, but i would appreciate if anyone could tell me the part numbers of the stuff i need. When i went into RealOEM this popped up:

05 INTERMEDIATE LEVER "1" 16 11377516895 $55.08

05 INTERMEDIATE LEVER "2" 16 11377514012 $55.08

05 INTERMEDIATE LEVER "3" 16 11377514013 $55.08

05 INTERMEDIATE LEVER "4" 16 11377514014 $55.08

05 INTERMEDIATE LEVER "5" 16 11377514015 $55.08


What does "1" "2" "3" "4" and "5" mean? Which ones should i get?

I agree with CTSportX5 - it sounds like Intermediate Levers. Even in our (relatively) mild UK winters, this problem arises. My dealer replaced the ignition coils initially (as the codes indicated misfires) but this did not solve the problem. They eventually traced the fault to the Levers but tried to say they were "within tolerances". I fired off a letter to BMW's UK HQ saying that it was ridiculous that a £60k car (mine has a lot of extras) should misfire when it was very cold and that there was clearly a fault with the quality of the levers. They offered to pay for the parts but not labour - my dealer offered 10% off the labour charge. In the end, I managed to persuade my aftermarket warranty company to cover most of the labour charges. However, I have to say that I don't think the problem has been totally cured! I have read that it doesn't cause any harm to the engine but it surely must do as it must put extra stress on the crankshaft, etc. I'm afraid it's a very common problem with the V8s.
I have posted o n this several times before but as the V8 versions are not common over here, the usual apathy reigned and it wasn't really followed up.
Why don't you speak to the Swedish BMW HQ?