N55 / DCT Poll: Please help!

[weeeee]

Yes, with latest software or Cobb map I have these issues (2011 135i dct)

[Stock4Evr]

I have a 2012 but do not know the version of S/W bring new or old.

[Ganque]

Hi everyone!
I've been having the same problem with my car almost since I bought it.

Car: 2013 135i N55 with DCT (no PPK)

Symptoms:
- Engine Stuttering
- Jerkiness Stalling with A/C
- Car jumps forward when coming to a stop... it kinda feels like when doing a "heel-toe" downshift from 2nd gear to 1st gear including a knock noise from the engine fighting to keep it running on very low RPMs.
- The car started to have these issues since stock at around 8000 miles.

Current mods on my car:
- JB4 with ISO mod and JB4 connect kit
- BMS Intake
- Helix FMIC
- Megan Racing Downpipe
- Mid resonator deleted
- COBB Chargepipe

Actions already taken to attempt to fix the issue:
- Took the car to the dealer for a software update (Mentioned the SIB 12 15 14)...... Didn't fix it
- Did a DCT adaptations reset via Tool32 on a K+DCAN cable.... Didn't fix it
- Did a Throttle Adaptations reset (regular pedal procedure)...... Didn't fix it
- Updated my JB4 firmware to the latest version and switched to Map 5.... Didn't fix it
- Regular oil change on the N55 engine.... Didn't fix it
- Scanned the car for old codes... No codes saved



I'm lost now guys, Every single thread on any forum suggest to bring the car to the dealership and mention the SIB 12 15 14... but this DID NOT fix my issue. Summer is coming and hot weather is increasing... A/C must be turned on almost all the time.
The car feels awful when coming to a stop and jumps forward like it's about to launch hard...
One notorius symptoms is that the car does this only when the DCT and N55 engine achieve the regular temperature conditions. It does not do it on cold transmission temps.

PLEASE HELP!

[VRG_135]

Originally Posted by Scoobs

I was having these issues. BMW Aust diagnosed it as the HPFP. Replaced it, and no more problems since. They also updated the software at the same time. So can't be 100% sure if the fix was the pump or the software

I would bet $100 it was the software. I had coils replaces, & that had 0 impact on the problem. When SIB 12-14-15 was installed (at my suggestion, dealer rep was clueless) problem was completely cured.

One thing you HAVE to do when you take it to the dealer is to make sure your AC is on MAX, and have the mechanic (not service rep) ride with you.

[zx10guy]

We'll see what happens when I take my car in for routine service. I had the common throttle lag issues which were improved but not eliminated when I had the PPK installed. But over the past few weeks, my car has developed a nasty lurch/jump at slow speeds with fluctuating RPMs. When the car acts up, it can be really bad to the point of being extremely dangerous. Especially since I'm driving through DC Metro stop and go rush hours traffic. I even experienced a situation where the trans seemed to be in neutral as I tried hitting the gas and the car was rolling backwards.

The above symptoms seem to occur with hot ambient air temps along with the engine being thoroughly hot.

[Ganque]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

We'll see what happens when I take my car in for routine service. I had the common throttle lag issues which were improved but not eliminated when I had the PPK installed. But over the past few weeks, my car has developed a nasty lurch/jump at slow speeds with fluctuating RPMs. When the car acts up, it can be really bad to the point of being extremely dangerous. Especially since I'm driving through DC Metro stop and go rush hours traffic. I even experienced a situation where the trans seemed to be in neutral as I tried hitting the gas and the car was rolling backwards.

The above symptoms seem to occur with hot ambient air temps along with the engine being thoroughly hot.

Exactly! I'm on the same boat... And that's exactly what I noticed as well, the car does it on hot ambient air temps combined with hot transmission temps (mostly due to traffic and AC on).

Looks like PPK won't fix this as you mentioned you already have it installed.
Also the SIB 12 15 14 doesn't fix it either...

I've been posting my issue on every single forum and no one has really a concrete answer on the fix for this. this is getting so annoying.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

We'll see what happens when I take my car in for routine service. I had the common throttle lag issues which were improved but not eliminated when I had the PPK installed. But over the past few weeks, my car has developed a nasty lurch/jump at slow speeds with fluctuating RPMs. When the car acts up, it can be really bad to the point of being extremely dangerous. Especially since I'm driving through DC Metro stop and go rush hours traffic. I even experienced a situation where the trans seemed to be in neutral as I tried hitting the gas and the car was rolling backwards.

The above symptoms seem to occur with hot ambient air temps along with the engine being thoroughly hot.

Some people say that driving with the gear selector placed in the M/S position (to the left) and the sport button pressed helps. How do you normally drive?

[Ganque]

Originally Posted by Esteban

Some people say that driving with the gear selector placed in the M/S position (to the left) and the sport button pressed helps. How do you normally drive?

I usually drive in Sport mode but the regular Drive function in the gearbox.
However I've tried that as well... no fix. I've tried every single combination in the gearbox settings, JB4 Maps, Manual shifts, nothing...
I really think this is not a Gearbox mechanical issue. Since it is only happening specifically with the AC on and hot ambient temps. It feels more like it is a software issue.

[Esteban]

Different fixes work for different cars it seems. For me, I got PPK back in 2011 and purposely never got a software update after that. Never had any of the issues. Don't know if it's because of PPK or not updating my software. Since you got the latest software and can't go back, I'd say give PPK a try. It's worked for some, maybe it'll work for you. It may not so don't hold me responsible.

[Ganque]

Originally Posted by Esteban

Different fixes work for different cars it seems. For me, I got PPK back in 2011 and purposely never got a software update after that. Never had any of the issues. Don't know if it's because of PPK or not updating my software. Since you got the latest software and can't go back, I'd say give PPK a try. It's worked for some, maybe it'll work for you. It may not so don't hold me responsible.

The problem is that my local dealership quoted the PPK for $1000 USD... which doesn't garantee the fix. I cannot afford that money if I'm not sure that's going to fix it.

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by Esteban

Some people say that driving with the gear selector placed in the M/S position (to the left) and the sport button pressed helps. How do you normally drive?

I do what you've suggested when I'm stuck in stop and go traffic and need to make sure I can squeeze my car into an open spot when passing a slower car/making lane changes.

But most of the time I drive with the trans in D/regular mode. I'm not looking to race anyone or drive in a spirited manner to have fun most of the time. In the rush hour(s) traffic we have here in the DC area with how long I'm stuck in this gridlock having the gear selector to the left and the sport button active will get tiresome quickly with the twitchy throttle and RPMs held high.

The troubling thing is my car never exhibited this behavior until recently. I've had this car since I bought it new from the dealer for 2.5 years now. The PPK was installed a few months after I bought my car so I've had the PPK for a while. I'm not sure why all of a sudden my car would behave this way.

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by Ganque

Exactly! I'm on the same boat... And that's exactly what I noticed as well, the car does it on hot ambient air temps combined with hot transmission temps (mostly due to traffic and AC on).

Looks like PPK won't fix this as you mentioned you already have it installed.
Also the SIB 12 15 14 doesn't fix it either...

I've been posting my issue on every single forum and no one has really a concrete answer on the fix for this. this is getting so annoying.

Well, I'll let you know if the dealer comes up with anything. I'm fairly certain I've not had any software updates done to my DME except the PPK install. So we'll see. I'm only a few hundred miles away from being told by the onboard computer to bring the car in for routine service.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

But most of the time I drive with the trans in D/regular mode.

Yeah, I just can't drive like that, it makes the car feel too average for me. But I'm not stuck in rush hour traffic every day so I totally understand where you're coming from. In that kind of traffic, you almost don't have a choice. Since I work from home I primarily go out for fun drives every day. No bumper to bumper traffic. I hope you have success clearing up your issues.

[Blu3RSX]

My wife was driving yesterday and as we were crossing an intersection, she mentioned pushing down on the accelerator and the car not going anywhere. Meanwhile, a large F150-type truck towing a trailer was barreling down on us. She pushed it down harder and the car finally launched across the intersection amidst some tire squealing drama.

She was quite shaken by the incident especially since our two boys were also in the car. She also said, as we were leaving the house, that there seemed to be more resistance in the accelerator pedal after turning on the A/C and the car wasn't responding to the accelerator pedal but didn't think much of it until it happened a few miles later while we were crossing the intersection.

I was able to do some research on our 2013 135i we've had for a month after trading in our Accord for it.

Apparently, according to the maintenance records, our 135i had a 'Power Kit with FSC 119020' installed on April 11th 2017.

I'm assuming this is the PPK referred to in other posts and also probably explains why it feels faster than it should but it also apparently didn't correct this seemingly common issue.

I experienced this issue once myself a few weeks ago but since this is the first car I've owned with a turbocharger, I dismissed it as turbo lag or being related to the throttle body sensor which is something I addressed in our Accord with a SprintBooster.

It was actually a really nice day out, mid 60's, but my wife's a redhead and is always hot for some reason and is why she turned the A/C on. It wasn't full blast but one click away from being off. This event did kind of damper the rest of the day, as most life-threatening events tend to do.

I don't know if it's software related or not but I guess I can check for vacuum leaks or any loose connections of the sort. I'll also start keeping more detailed records of gas consumption because I've only really filled up at pretty regularly at 2 different gas stations since we've had the car: one by our house and one on my way to work which I try to fill up at more often because it's typically ten cents cheaper per gallon. I did fill up once at a gas station across town a week or so ago but that was only for enough gas so I could fill up more at the station on my work.

Not sure where this issue is coming from but will update as necessary.

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by Blu3RSX

My wife was driving yesterday and as we were crossing an intersection, she mentioned pushing down on the accelerator and the car not going anywhere. Meanwhile, a large F150-type truck towing a trailer was barreling down on us. She pushed it down harder and the car finally launched across the intersection amidst some tire squealing drama.

She was quite shaken by the incident especially since our two boys were also in the car. She also said, as we were leaving the house, that there seemed to be more resistance in the accelerator pedal after turning on the A/C and the car wasn't responding to the accelerator pedal but didn't think much of it until it happened a few miles later while we were crossing the intersection.

I was able to do some research on our 2013 135i we've had for a month after trading in our Accord for it.

Apparently, according to the maintenance records, our 135i had a 'Power Kit with FSC 119020' installed on April 11th 2017.

I'm assuming this is the PPK referred to in other posts and also probably explains why it feels faster than it should but it also apparently didn't correct this seemingly common issue.

I experienced this issue once myself a few weeks ago but since this is the first car I've owned with a turbocharger, I dismissed it as turbo lag or being related to the throttle body sensor which is something I addressed in our Accord with a SprintBooster.

It was actually a really nice day out, mid 60's, but my wife's a redhead and is always hot for some reason and is why she turned the A/C on. It wasn't full blast but one click away from being off. This event did kind of damper the rest of the day, as most life-threatening events tend to do.

I don't know if it's software related or not but I guess I can check for vacuum leaks or any loose connections of the sort. I'll also start keeping more detailed records of gas consumption because I've only really filled up at pretty regularly at 2 different gas stations since we've had the car: one by our house and one on my way to work which I try to fill up at more often because it's typically ten cents cheaper per gallon. I did fill up once at a gas station across town a week or so ago but that was only for enough gas so I could fill up more at the station on my work.

Not sure where this issue is coming from but will update as necessary.

Here's my thread on what the dealer finally did to fix the issue:

https://www.1addicts.com/forums/show....php?t=1402323

And having the A/C on exacerbates the problem.

[SamelCamel]

I replaced my plugs to make sure that wasn't the issue and it actually got worse. The actual "fix" for me with the N55 and DCT was to reset the adaptations through the software and OBD port. You have to reset EVERYTHING and not just the throttle position. I reset the transmission settings as well and you could see the car "reboot" while it was saving and applying the updates. The gauge cluster as well as the infotainment reset when it was applying the settings. Everything has worked well since then.

-Sam

[simp15d]

I have a 09/2013 N55 135i DCT M Sport. It has the rough idling as well with the aircon on.

[1smokehouse]

Been having these same issues with my car since I bought it in 2016. My symptoms were somewhat mild and was more annoying than anything. So I had the SIB update and installed PPK1. It got better, but soon returned. During this time I also installed the BMS intake. Afterwards, I had two "limp mode" situations and got the following codes:

2DCE - Valvetronic System no adjustment possible
2EOF - Valvetronic System deactivated adj fault too frequent

It was 18 months between incidents.

My SA said I eventually need to replace the eccentric shaft actuator.

Then I read that the BMS intake may be exacerbating the problem, so I removed it and put my factory intake back on and the symptoms have reduced significantly. I still get some mild fluctuations in RPM when I come to a stop and an occasional "stumble", but the issues are still there.

So I did some reading on the valvetronic system issues with the N55 and came across the following:

N55 Failing VANOS Solenoid Symptoms:
•Loss of Power and Torque
•Engine hesitation and bogging
•Rough idle, bouncing RPM’s
•Starting issues and potential stalling of vehicle
•Limp mode

https://www.bmwn55tuning.com/n55-common-problems/

So my question, could the real culprit be my eccentric shaft actuator failing?

Looking at replacing it and seeing what happens.

[Moveitsmikey]

No issues. Runs perfect 👌