Engine Malfunction, Reduced Power

[BimmerE82]

Originally Posted by crystaweizen

110 bucks isnt bad for a diagnostic fee. if the oil was low it will throw a code pretty much saying low oil level but wont cause the car to go into limp. or you can invest in a BMS can tool which utilizes your speedo gauge to give you a code readout. but really 110 is a good investment especially if you have a serious issue.

Free is a lot better than $110.00

[crystaweizen]

Originally Posted by BimmerE82

Free is a lot better than $110.00

ive read somewhere, and dont quote me, that if its a half check engine light it is in limp mode and the light will turn off. however it isnt until you clear the code the the vehicle exits limp in and you return to normal power/boost levels. again thats a foggy recollection of what i read somewhere someone can argue that point if im wrong. so free technically isnjt an option if your vehicle is still in limp mode. youll need to have the code cleared if what im saying is true

[BimmerE82]

Originally Posted by crystaweizen

ive read somewhere, and dont quote me, that if its a half check engine light it is in limp mode and the light will turn off. however it isnt until you clear the code the the vehicle exits limp in and you return to normal power/boost levels. again thats a foggy recollection of what i read somewhere someone can argue that point if im wrong. so free technically isnjt an option if your vehicle is still in limp mode. youll need to have the code cleared if what im saying is true

As I stated before, when I drove home that evening my car was back to normal. No lights on the dash or in the Idrive stating anything abnormal. I even pushed it to 130 mph on a straight section of road to check and I was pleased that my baby was back!

[crystaweizen]

Originally Posted by BimmerE82

As I stated before, when I drove home that evening my car was back to normal. No lights on the dash or in the Idrive stating anything abnormal. I even pushed it to 130 mph on a straight section of road to check and I was pleased that my baby was back!

right once you cycle the key the light will clear but the code is stored though.
i would look into it to at least see what the code was because lots of things start off has half-lights but have serious implications

[BimmerE82]

Originally Posted by crystaweizen

right once you cycle the key the light will clear but the code is stored though.
i would look into it to at least see what the code was because lots of things start off has half-lights but have serious implications

Thanks, I will definitely get the code downloaded to see what the issue was.

[STFU]

Greetings all, I usually lurk but now have a reason to write in. I had a similar situation this morning.

I have a 2009 135i with about 43k miles on it, no mods, manual transmission. I was driving this morning and stopped at a light when my car died, started back up but went seemingly into limp mode as I got a message on the nav screen about a reduction in power but that I should still be able to drive. Kind of in a panic, I shut the car off and tried to restart it a couple times and it would crank but not turn over. Finally it started back up again and the car was fine, no lights and was running normal.

I went about my business as usual wondering what just happened but the car seemed normal. Went to lunch and cars was fine. However, on the drive home the car would periodically lose power, the rpm's would drop momentarily and the car would briefly slow down and all but did not completely die. This happened about 4 times during a 25 mile drive, mostly highway. Also on the drive home, car chimed and my nav screen lit up with a message saying active steering is inactive, you can still drive but be careful and yada yada. This stayed on for about 20 seconds then went away. Didn't feel any difference and the car drove fine.

The car currently does not have any warning light on but now I'm a bit scared to drive it anywhere. I have an appointment at the dealer for the battery cable recall, could this be related? Any other thoughts or ideas would be appreciated.

[ptack]

Could be any number of things - High Pressure Fuel Punp, Vanos Valves, Oxygen Sensor, etc. You'll actually be lucky if it's the fuel pump as that will be replaced for free.

[shah269]

Sigh...engine of the year right?
Makes you wonder if the engine is only good for one year?
And how many of our engines will make it to 100k miles w/o a total rebuild?

[prcsa77]

I currently drive a 09 135i MT with 103k miles (yes shah269, they will make it past 100k) ), and took it up Trailridge Rd over the weekend. The car drove fine all the way up. I parked the car and walked around for a while. When I came back, started the car, I had the "engine malfunction" icon show up. It drove like a NA car, no mis-fires, no rough idle.

So I babied it down to Estes Park and parked it for a while. When I came back from a 30 minute walk, fired it up and the icon was gone. The car drove fine. Could it have been the +12k foot altitude? Haven't pulled codes yet. The car had the hpfp replaced (with the upgraded model#) as well as injectors. Service schedule has been properly followed. I'll repost as soon as have more info.

[pmlzl]

Did you have the car looked at? I have been experiencing the same problems. Going to my mechanic today after work to talk with them!

[BimmerE82]

Has anyone figured out what this mysterious malfunction is yet? It never happened to me again since and the car runs great! Haven't been to the stealership yet......

[prcsa77]

The "engine malfunction" light had starting coming on a more regular basis. This happened mosty while loading the engine at altitute (7k' +), then, just about any time the engine was loaded (4th gear @ 2k RPM, etc).

For a while I thought fuel pumps/injectors; but like 'Pats said, could be anything. No SES light ever came on; just restart and the light was gone. A visit to the dealer (CO's) yielded a 030ff code and some vacuum (turbo) lines cracked due to time/heat cycles.

Power was restored from a slow, but not noticible deterioration. The wastegates are starting to show a little wear (touch of rattle upon cold start) @ 114k mi, but not bad enough to warrant further service at this time.

[n54black135i]

happened to me 2 times, both times my tank was close to e and I did hard pulls. my car has full bolt ons and a tune. turned the car off and back on and we were all good

[BimmerE82]

After dealing with this happening at more regular intervals it was deemed to be the turbos. The dreaded 30FF code "Low Boost Pressure". Waste gate rattle was another tell tale sign of the problem. Looks like after I replaced the fuel injectors, two new turbos are my next big fix. Until I get them replaced the car is drivable but NOT at its full potential.

[luv135i]

Investing in bmw carly and at a minimum the 19$ elm adapter and you can read all of your codes and code your own features for 70$ or less. I have the elm and the official carly adapter and my elm stays in the car at all times so i can read and clear codes no matter where i am.

[ryancappuccino]

This also happened to me and ended up being spark plugs causing coils to misfire.

[BimmerE82]

Originally Posted by ryancappuccino

This also happened to me and ended up being spark plugs causing coils to misfire.

Wish that was the case for me. I had the spark plugs replaced last year along with two new coil packs, Then the misfires started happening last month and the car was in the shop the next day. Dealership told me the plugs were fine but the injectors were bad.......Now the turbos with their dreaded waste gate rattle and failure to properly close. They can't build up enough boost.....FML.

[TehL337]

This just happened to me. Warning went away, but taking it in Monday. /sigh

[C4maro]

07 335i goes into limp on pretty much every drive if I give it some gas. P0327 knock sensor low input couldn't find much about this with n54.

Weird part is once I clear the code I can drive it hard and it's fine.

Also have a code for post cat o2 sensor but that doesn't put it in limp, I need to check on this but I believe it probably isn't too serious being post cat.

Any input would be greatly appreciated