misfire but recovered, how bad can it be?

[pwais]

Dear Forum,

90k+ mile 1M here. For the very first time it misfired when scooting just above 5,000rpm on a downhill on-ramp The CEL flashed and the motor felt and sounded like a 4-cylinder for about 20-30minutes after the event as I babied it home. E.g. could feel lots of vibration through the shifter, and power was way down. Then right as I got home, the problem un-did itself, hurray! The 1-2 bad cylinders came back, sound went normal, vibration normal. I re-started the car and no big CEL light.

Today it does though show the "car on lift" yellow light on start, tho I tried to pull ODB trouble codes and my app doesn't find any.

Anybody with similar experience? I hear maybe it needs new spark plugs? or maybe it was just cold (it was indeed 50F and windy at the time). If the motor feels fine now, did I probably get away with no damage? It just had a $1500 regular service (oil change, brake bleed etc) so not sure that includes checking the sparks...

[PRTSB1M]

Use a BMW specific app that can properly pull the trouble codes.

[blue135]

Sounds like the situation I am facing with my N54 135i). Has happened multiple times - 1 time about 4 months ago. Moved a coil and the problem did not reoccur. Then this weekend - Three different times. Each time accelerating hard and it happened about 4500-5000 rpm. Each time code was set (P052B). Turned off ignition and restarted. Roughness went away but code was set. Anybody got a solution for us.

[pwais]

ah yes I've read elsewhere it can be a coil problem, pardon maybe not sparks.

herm is there a free iOS BMW-specific app for bluetooth-based ODB dongle? maybe I need to reset my own app somehow to get the codes, I swear it's pulled codes from this car a couple years ago

[iDontRemember]

Pull your coils & plugs and closely inspect them. The insulation can deteriorate leading to misfires. And they coils and plugs would both show evidence of this. The coils useful life can be impacted by your environment; heat, moisture, salinity in the air, etc.

[PRTSB1M]

Originally Posted by pwais

ah yes I've read elsewhere it can be a coil problem, pardon maybe not sparks.

herm is there a free iOS BMW-specific app for bluetooth-based ODB dongle? maybe I need to reset my own app somehow to get the codes, I swear it's pulled codes from this car a couple years ago

Free and BMW don't usually go together. Any OBDII reader can pull generic OBDII trouble codes, but most likely will not pull manufacturer specific diagnostic codes. Carly and Bimmerlink are two that should work with most bluetooth dongles.

[pwais]

Alright, probably needs new coils and plugs. Car is almost 13 years old after all!

"Free and BMW don't usually go together" LOL alright. Thanks for the name drops, lemme try