My 135i started crapping out on me while driving today

[marvinp]

So I was driving home from work when I noticed that there was this weird rattling while accelerating. I was in 6th gear going 65 mph or so and so I thought maybe I should downshift in 5th. I downshift but it still keeps rattling. I exit the interstate and pull over in a parking lot. I couldn't find anything wrong with the tires or anything. I rev'd the engine a bit and it seemed fine.

So I drive off again and the rattle becomes constant and the "Service Engine Soon" light comes out. I thought: "Oh wow, great." I was close to the dealer, so I drove the car there. While idle at the deal, there was this loud rattling sound coming from the engine.

My SA didn't say anything concrete as to what the cause could be. They were about to close anyway.

They didn't have any BMW loaners, so I got to drive this Dodge "Boring" Journey home. I already miss my 135i. When I got home, I checked the mail and I got this letter from BMW:

BMW has become aware of a potential problem that could affect the durability of the high-pressure fuel pump of certain model year 2008/2009 BMW vehicles equipped with a 3.0 liter engine. We estimate that only a small percentage of vehicles will actually develop a problem. Vehicles affected may have the Service Engine Soon lamp illuminated. Also, the affected vehicles may experience an extended engine starting time ("long crank"), or reduced engine performance when the high-pressure fuel pump malfunctions.

Nice coincidence there. For those wondering, my car had 9,800 miles and I have never had a long crank or any sort of engine issues. I don't have any mods. This came out of the blue. I'm pretty sure it's the fuel pump, but who knows. My SA said something about injectors or whatever that could also be the cause. I'll know tomorrow around noon. On the bright side, I should be getting that software update that came out. I'm looking forward to that

[jibaholic101]

my condolences

[PROJEKM1]

Your rattle could be the wastegate accuator(s)...

[Judge]

Originally Posted by marvinp

They didn't have any BMW loaners, so I got to drive this Dodge "Boring" Journey home.

You don't appreciate the 328i until you get stuck with something from the back of the lot at Enterprise.

[jeremyc74]

This could be the coil problem that some owners have experienced, but it's also entirely possible it's the fuel pump.

[themyst]

LOL that happened to me once, I was driving a base 300C from Enterprise for 3 days, then they put me into a 328i afterward... let's just say I will NEVER complain about any BMW loaner again!

To the OP: That's terrible. I hope they get you back on the road ASAP!

[ianc]

Where was the rattle coming from?

Let us know what the problem was when you find out...

ianc

[marvinp]

Just spoke to my SA at the dealership. She said that the car did throw a few error codes but nothing that would directly point to the fuel pump or any other problem (so I'm kinda guessing they don't have a clue what the problem is). She said that they will upgrade the software and go for a test drive to see if that fixes the problem. If it doesn't, then I guess they will have to continue investigating. I may have my car back tomorrow. If not, then I will have to spend the weekend without my baby

If I don't get it back tomorrow then I will ask them if I can get a BMW loaner. They said they were supposed to have some available tomorrow. This Dodge Journey is killing me.

[BimmerLearner]

Car been starting ok lately?

[marvinp]

Originally Posted by BimmerLearner

Car been starting ok lately?

Yeah, the car has been starting fine. I've never had a long crank.

[Robert]

If its not the pump its the coil. I had similar experience and replacement of the pump mitigated the issue for awhile until it happened again. Good luck! Every time I see a 1 on the road I miss it so much but as soon I am reminded of this and cracked 3rd light, I feel a little bit better.

[marvinp]

Originally Posted by Robert

If its not the pump its the coil. I had similar experience and replacement of the pump mitigated the issue for awhile until it happened again. Good luck! Every time I see a 1 on the road I miss it so much but as soon I am reminded of this and cracked 3rd light, I feel a little bit better.

Oh ok. What's the coil and what does it do?

[jeremyc74]

Originally Posted by marvinp

Oh ok. What's the coil and what does it do?

It sits on top of the spark plug, and it takes the 13.5VDC from the vehicle's electrical system and on command from the ECU it converts it into a high voltage pulse that's feed to the spark plug, creating the spark that ignites the fuel in the cylinder.

[marvinp]

Originally Posted by jeremyc74

It sits on top of the spark plug, and it takes the 13.5VDC from the vehicle's electrical system and on command from the ECU it converts it into a high voltage pulse that's feed to the spark plug, creating the spark that ignites the fuel in the cylinder.

Oh ok. I see. Something that just came to my mind is the fact that sometimes, I would notice slight vibrations from the car while waiting at lights. It didn't happen all the time, just some times and it felt like the car was shaking slightly. I just thought it was in my head or something. Couldn't this mean that if the coils were going bad and not properly feeding the spark plugs, that cylinders would misfire causing these slight shakes I was experiencing? I'll call BMW to see if they checked the coils and spark plugs. My guess they would check something like that first, but who knows.

[DBFIU]

I dont see how a coil could cause a rattling noise, its a solid state device.

Unless the coil is misfiring and causing the engine to vibrate, but again that isnt a rattle, more like a bad vibration.

It might be your wastegate.

[marvinp]

Got a call from the dealer. They said that after the update, the car runs fine. They are letting it sit for a few hours so the computer goes into sleep mode and then they will take it for another test drive. I asked them what the cause was and they said it could be a number of issues but that there is a software update to fix it in 90% of the cases. Seems to me like they don't know exactly what went wrong. I'm going to ask them for the update version #.

[larryn]

90% of the cases? What's the problem that a reflash helps for 90% of the cases? I've never heard of anything even remotely like your story on this board.


Hmmmmmm

[nordique14]

funny that Toyota classifies software problems as mechanical issues and BMW classifies mechanical problems as software issues.

[2snail]

ill just leave this here

[Lionel Hutz]

Originally Posted by marvinp

Got a call from the dealer. They said that after the update, the car runs fine. They are letting it sit for a few hours so the computer goes into sleep mode and then they will take it for another test drive. I asked them what the cause was and they said it could be a number of issues but that there is a software update to fix it in 90% of the cases. Seems to me like they don't know exactly what went wrong. I'm going to ask them for the update version #.

I came across this same kind of attitude the last couple times mine was in the shop. It stuns me that BMW is trying to bandaid what are clearly hardware problems with a software reflash.

[Robert]

Originally Posted by 2snail

ill just leave this here

hahahahahahah

[BahamaBart]

So driving to work I get the engine light, vibration and a decrease in pose. I take to the dealer and thus advise that it's mis-firing in one cylinder. BMW asks the deLer to move the plugs and injectors around and to recreate the problem. Nothing, so I get the car back. I drive 100 miles a day and at 50 miles I get a maintence light. Took right back to dealer. BMW approved new plugs ! Dealer says this is all we can do. Just keep bringing it back and it will get fixed eventually.