2011 BMW 5 Series Transmission
I have a 2011 535i and experience jerking at low parking lot speeds. Anyone else have this issue? Does BMW have a fix (software update) for the transmission?
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Good Luck!
Check the spark plugs for air leaks on hoses....check the Slow Idle Control Valve clean it with petrol.....check voltage is proper and it is important to check the Fuel Pressure Regulator (FPR). correction in above mentioned areas can resolve your problem.
I did order the car to spec. Which meant that mine came straight from the German factory.
I have heard that in the past people have experienced driving problems with BMWs from other factories ... specifically the factory in Canada. People who order to spec cars tend to get them made at the German factory and haven't encountered these issues.
Hope everyone gets the problem fixed.
My 550 drives wonderfully. Steering not as stiff as the 3 series, but overall a fantastic ride. I really love this car.
I'm sensing a few different things:
1) a hyper-sensitive accelerator which makes it difficult to start the car slowly, as when in traffic. The car either doesn't move forward or lurches forward because I've given it too much throttle.
2) Feels like the car stays in a low gear, probably 1st, so that when I come off the accelerator it almost bucks back, like a manually transmission kept in 1st and coming off the gas quickly.
3) The engine's idling roughly, exacerbating the roughness when trying get the car moving slowly.
The problem's pretty bad. Made for a very unpleasant hour long commute in traffic.
I contacted the dealer who said bring it in to be checked. Will see what comes back.
1) hit start button once to turn on power (Don't start the engine)
2) then press the accelerator down to the floor for 5 sec
3) then hit start button once to turn off power
4) then remove foot from accelerator
5) then waite for 2 minutes
4) then start the engine like normal and try it out!
I am happy it worked but still cannot comprehend why BMW allowed me to struggle with it. Not sure what is going on with them.
I'm skeptical of this but must acknowledge that over the last month the problem has gotten better. It's hard for me to determine whether it's because I'm getting used to it, learning myself how to drive the car smoother or the transmission learning to be better behaved itself. Who knows.
For what it's worth, I drove a 7 series that exhibited similar jerkiness and lag. Why BMW would design their cars to drive this way is beyond me.
I am curious if you have noticed a difference with your transmssion since your last post on the issue? Thanks.
The transmission reset procedure that I described in an earlier post seemed to wear off after a few weeks. I took it into another dealer and let the foreman drive it. He gave me the same story that BMWconvert got-- trans learns your driving style......
He did give me a few pieces of info:
It is common for BMW to address these issues in future SW releases.
The annoying shift characteristics might be because the trans is programed for mileage when it comes out of the factory - as trans "learns", mileage goes down but trans smooths out.
He recommended that i do not reset the trans again and just let it learn. I must say it is getting better after about 600 miles of stop and go traffic. Good luck everyone.
the dealer was bringing the car to the front, there was apparently a message to take
the vehicle immediately to a dealer. So they asked us to come back a day later to check
that there was no real issue. Turned out that the rear differential was busted. The dealer
was told by BMW corp to not sell the vehicle, nor fix it.
After two weeks, the dealer and BMW corp found another vehicle with similar options (one
extra) and gave it us. The dealer was very nice and put in a lot effort to get a car.
Did anyone have similar problem?
Thanks.
I think paying 50K+ for an upscale sedan we DO have a right to demand our transmissions work as they should, or maybe I just have unrealistic expectations?
How long have you owned the car? How many miles have you driven?
http://blogs.insideline.com/roadtests/2011/04/2011-bmw-528i-throttle-tip-in-insa- nity.html#poll-62
But I only have 1500 miles on it- which version software do you have?
I also got this car from the factory brand new-
Well I drove it another 3500 miles and, if anything, it has just gotten worse. So I brought it in for service this week. At first the technician said they could not find anything wrong with the car. I said look again. The technician still said he could not find anything wrong. Look harder. Then the quality assurance specialist at the dealer drove the car and said it was very noticeable and he could feel his head being jerked back while moderately accelerating from a stop. So now that they confirmed an issue, they could proceed with the warranty work.
The dealer proceeded to "reprogram" my car. This process took 3 hours and did not take the first time, so they had to redo it.
I was skeptical when I picked up my car, but I am very happy to report that the transmission is significantly smoother than before. The car does not slam into gear when starting from a stop and the shifting between the gears is hardly noticeable under moderate acceleration. This is the smoothest my car has performed since I took ownership.
I am back in love with my car again.
If you have this issue I highly recommend you take it in to get "reprogrammed" and insist that they drive it until they acknowledge the problem. You will be much happier for it.
I'll scan the service ticket and provide the specifics of what they did so you can request the same.
Hope this helps.
Or if it's easily reproducible just have someone take a ride with you (if you let them drive they might say they can't reproduce it)
About 200 miles later the car slipped out of 6th gear and then became increasingly difficult to shift (to the point where it was basically un-drivable). I took it in and they said the transmission was bad and there was a hose of some sort that had slipped off of something. They replaced the transmission (another 2 weeks in the shop).
Then just today, about 3800 miles in, the throttle blipped again. It redlines for about 5 seconds and then drops back down to idle. This only happens when shifting, and as soon as the throttle goes down, I push the clutch in. If I push the start stop button, the throttle drops back down.
I actually took a video on my iphone the first time this happened but haven't uploaded it because i didn't want to face hell from BMW and I wanted to give them a chance to fix it. If the video would help I will post it to you tube and you all can take a look.
However, after reading several hundred posts about the problems with the good year run flat tires and how BMW doesn't seem to acknowledge the issue as well as the problem with the transmissions noted above - i am very hesitant about moving forward. in fact, i'm going to sleep on it tonight and will probably request a refund of my downpayment.
are there any other participants who are equally concerned?
Two points, though...
Do you know if the car on which you have made the option payment comes with Goodyears? If not, it's an irrelevant issue.
Secondly, you have first hand experience with the model, and according to you, have no issues.
You would be hard-pressed to find any model that doesn't have some number of transmission complaints, along with just about every other component.
For example, there are a few hundred transmission complaints on the Mini forum, yet the car's production is well over a million. You may see that as a relatively significant number... I don't.
I would say that you would be much better looking at manufacturer/model recalls and number of TSB's than forum complaints, unless there is a highly abnormal number of complaints.
That's my opinion...
Anyhow, I called my sales person today, notifed him and of course, he said bring it in for service etc. I am doing it tomorrow, but I only have 158 miles on the car, and haven't even had it two weeks! The issue is so obvious. I am going to ask him to take the car back and rip up the deal, it's unacceptable to have this issue in a $70k BMW.
I just traded in my 2009 Infiniti FX35 .. what was I thinking ??? Why Infiniti aspires to the be Japanese BMW is beyond me.