[chrisbin]

Viv - thanks for info.....sorry if I came across impatient....might be something to do with the frustration of having a car that BMW can't get right.....

I'll go away and keep quiet in the corner now....

[vivekk]

Originally Posted by chrisbin

Viv - thanks for info.....sorry if I came across impatient....might be something to do with the frustration of having a car that BMW can't get right.....

I'll go away and keep quiet in the corner now....

I'd feel the same, if I were in your position, Chris.

Tony is doing his best & will continue to do so. Hopefully, something will be sorted out to put a smile back on your face.

All the best.

Viv

[chrisbin]

Originally Posted by vivekk

I'd feel the same, if I were in your position, Chris.

Tony is doing his best & will continue to do so. Hopefully, something will be sorted out to put a smile back on your face.

All the best.

Viv

Thanks for that....we will live in hope....!!

I think I've cleared enough of my desk to resume battle with BMW today....so will be calling customer services......watch this space!

[chrisbin]

I've now made 2 calls to BMW today and asked for the person dealing with the case - each time he's not been available but will call back.......its now 2 hours since the 2nd call........

This really is pathetic!!!

[Bumps]

Originally Posted by yatesey

hi bumps........hows urs running these days? ok? or not?...mine-about to be reinspected by BMW senior engineer tomorrow!

Yatesy, I almost daren't say it, but it's running well

It still has the slight stutter at 1500 and 2000rpm on a light throttle. Does yours just do that, or is it worse?

My issue now is that mine, though probably livable (though not acceptable), may be better than some and worse than others. Don't know. Better than Colsen's, certainly. Difficult to know whether to kick up a fuss or not.

[alpini]

well, my car had given me bother by not starting quickly enough about every 3 weeks! when i pressed the start/stop button, the engine would turn for a good 3 seconds before starting. worried about this, i contacted dealer who took it in.

now, i have to say that until i drove the courtesy car (an ED 320d saloon), i had never noticed that my car did not show the optimum gear thing on the display! i never realised that i should've had it!So the dealer rang and said that had looked at the car and that there had been a problem with the software in the 'central control unit'. they now had it fixed and lo and behold when the car was returned to me, there was the optimum gear thing showing on the dash display!! finally we were united!

so at least i know that they actually did update some software. and no bother with the car since (fingers crossed)!

[COLSEN]

Originally Posted by chrisbin

I've now made 2 calls to BMW today and asked for the person dealing with the case - each time he's not been available but will call back.......its now 2 hours since the 2nd call........

This really is pathetic!!!

Did you receive your calls back? or are they trying to pretend there's nothing wrong?

[yatesey]

Originally Posted by Bumps

Yatesy, I almost daren't say it, but it's running well

It still has the slight stutter at 1500 and 2000rpm on a light throttle. Does yours just do that, or is it worse?

My issue now is that mine, though probably livable (though not acceptable), may be better than some and worse than others. Don't know. Better than Colsen's, certainly. Difficult to know whether to kick up a fuss or not.

good for u.....but the stutter IS my problem!..always has been there..other than that the cars been fine!,...trouble is its there every time im at 30 mph around town.....so not so good for a £36k car!..im waitng for a call after a senior BMW engineer tested mine yesterday...ill let u know

[chrisbin]

Originally Posted by COLSEN

Did you receive your calls back? or are they trying to pretend there's nothing wrong?

No! I called a third time and finally got to speak to someone

My intention was to make it clear to them that I wanted the car fixed this time, wanted a suitable vehicle while they worked on it and that I would expect written confirmation of their work at the end.......Finally I also needed to tell them that the replacement for the missing diagnostic cover was completely the wrong part!

I was told that they would sort out the diagnostic cover - in fairness the chap on the phone knew exactly the part it shoudl have been....however, the rest has to be done with the dealer.....who I left a message with last night...guess what? No call back......so I called again this morning....no call back yet........

I fully expect that, once I finally speak to the person at the dealer, they will say they cannot supply a car, or want to charge me for it....blah blah...so it will then have to go back to Customer Service etc etc.....


But maybe I will be proved wrong...........

Finally got response....booked in for.....May 6th!! First slot available with c.car.....ho hum...

[COLSEN]

After 6 weeks I finally got my car back today!
I'd almost forgotten how good she looks!!

I was told that the problem has gone whereby you couldn't drive for 2 mins at any speed without the thing feeling as if it was going to blow up, but I did get told there is sometimes a very slight judder in 4th gear but the car is fine to drive (hence why I've got it back) and they have forwarded the info onto BMW in Germany...
We'll see what happens but I must say... I can't believe how good it feels to drive since I got it back! I did a 40 mile trip straight away from the dealers and wooow I think it may be driving like it's supposed to have been for the last 18k!!
Well, we'll have to wait and see how long it lasts for I guess & See what BMW Germany say

[FieldingMellish]

Originally Posted by COLSEN

After 6 weeks I finally got my car back today!
I'd almost forgotten how good she looks!!

I was told that the problem has gone whereby you couldn't drive for 2 mins at any speed without the thing feeling as if it was going to blow up, but I did get told there is sometimes a very slight judder in 4th gear but the car is fine to drive (hence why I've got it back) and they have forwarded the info onto BMW in Germany...
We'll see what happens but I must say... I can't believe how good it feels to drive since I got it back! I did a 40 mile trip straight away from the dealers and wooow I think it may be driving like it's supposed to have been for the last 18k!!
Well, we'll have to wait and see how long it lasts for I guess & See what BMW Germany say

That's great! Did they tell you how they fixed it?

[yatesey]

well....BMW engineer test drove it and ....felt the hesitation at 30mph but...admitted they dont know how to fix it!!!!!!....so like COLSEN..its been refered to BMW Germany.......(surely they already know the problem!!...but hey!)

...enough's enough!!....theyve had ample time to fix this (6 months) so its time for the legal boys to sort it...."sale of good act" etc...ill let u know

[chrisbin]

So...some good and bad news today....

When booking mine they advised that they would send an engineer out with me before I leave the car with them.....I said fair enough....but can't help thinking whats the point...its not as if the problem hasn't been identified already (globally).....

yatesy - will be very interested to know how you get on.....

[Chris320]

Hi all,

I've just purchased a 320i ED saloon on a 57 plate with 1300 miles on it. After driving it for a day I have noticed a few things that may be related to the points raised in this thread...

1. There appears to be a slight "judder" in the revs when slowly accelerating between 1500 and 2000rpm.

2. The throttle response seems a bit "nothing, nothing, nothing and then something". Almost as though there's a dead spot between say 10% and 20% throttle position. You notice this when you pull away in first gear because the car moves off from a standstill but then seems to loose power or "bogs down" until you've given it a fare bit more throttle.

3. Generally speaking this new 170hp ED engine doesn't seem to have 170hp. Maybe it's just that my previous cars were a Civic type-R and a 300hp Subaru Impreza STi but still the 320i doesn't really seem quite like 170hp in my opinion. You just don't get any sense of urgency when you plant your foot.

Like I say, i've only had the 320 for 5 minutes so maybe it's just a matter of getting used to it but still if there are issues I want them sorting!!

Cheers!

Chris.

[FieldingMellish]

Originally Posted by Chris320

Hi all,

I've just purchased a 320i ED saloon on a 57 plate with 1300 miles on it. After driving it for a day I have noticed a few things that may be related to the points raised in this thread...

1. There appears to be a slight "judder" in the revs when slowly accelerating between 1500 and 2000rpm.

2. The throttle response seems a bit "nothing, nothing, nothing and then something". Almost as though there's a dead spot between say 10% and 20% throttle position. You notice this when you pull away in first gear because the car moves off from a standstill but then seems to loose power or "bogs down" until you've given it a fare bit more throttle.

3. Generally speaking this new 170hp ED engine doesn't seem to have 170hp. Maybe it's just that my previous cars were a Civic type-R and a 300hp Subaru Impreza STi but still the 320i doesn't really seem quite like 170hp in my opinion. You just don't get any sense of urgency when you plant your foot.

Like I say, i've only had the 320 for 5 minutes so maybe it's just a matter of getting used to it but still if there are issues I want them sorting!!

Cheers!

Chris.

Hi

I just bought an ED 318i M Sport, and I know teh judder you mean, and that sense of 'when is power going to come in... when.... when.... ok, now!'

The 'judder' seems to me similar to the stutter you get in any car if you have held onto the gear to long and really should shift down. But it comes in all the time, not just when you are slowing down. And when it happens as you are actually slowing, it can be even worse, eg. I was coasting downhill to a busy junction near my home, in 2nd gear, and the car stalled at about 17 mph.

Another factor is that you often get this sort of jerky power delivery, and it would be easy to tell yourself it's because you are not used to driving the car yet, but it persists and I have had teh car 3 weeks now and I hardly ever have had a smooth transition from static through 1st and 2nd to 3rd gear. Second gear is just a series of jerks!

I dunno if it's related or not, but my gear stick vibrates noticeably, particularly when the car is idle. The car also sounds like a diesel.

For a car that (in my case) costs 25K list, and is only 6 months old, this is surely unacceptable? I have booked it into my local dealers next week. I'll be interested to hear what they have to say.

[Chris320]

Hi,

My gearstick only vibrates slightly. No more than I would expect it to anyway. That may well be a specific issues with your car or maybe the 318? I know other people on here have mentioned it before.

I know the question that some people have been asking is "Does this problem effect all 320i's (and 318's possibly) or is it just the odd few?"... Well I actually read this thread the day before I picked my car up so I knew what to look out for. As the problem is quite suttle It wouldn't suprise me if this problem DOES affect ALL cars to some extent and in most cases people are just putting up with it or treating it as a "characteristic of the car" and just getting used to living with it. Being an engineer however, I notice these things and know that something is wrong. Also remember that probably only a very small amount of BMW drivers that are experiencing this issue would probably end up posting on this forum so I do expect that this issue is rather more widespread than we're being told.

Oh, and just before I forget I did notice that on the way home yesterday when I was sitting at the lights (with the auto start / stop disabled ) the revs started to dip slightly... Sound familiar??

[COLSEN]

Originally Posted by Chris320

Hi,

My gearstick only vibrates slightly. No more than I would expect it to anyway. That may well be a specific issues with your car or maybe the 318? I know other people on here have mentioned it before.

I know the question that some people have been asking is "Does this problem effect all 320i's (and 318's possibly) or is it just the odd few?"... Well I actually read this thread the day before I picked my car up so I knew what to look out for. As the problem is quite suttle It wouldn't suprise me if this problem DOES affect ALL cars to some extent and in most cases people are just putting up with it or treating it as a "characteristic of the car" and just getting used to living with it. Being an engineer however, I notice these things and know that something is wrong. Also remember that probably only a very small amount of BMW drivers that are experiencing this issue would probably end up posting on this forum so I do expect that this issue is rather more widespread than we're being told.

Oh, and just before I forget I did notice that on the way home yesterday when I was sitting at the lights (with the auto start / stop disabled ) the revs started to dip slightly... Sound familiar??

Hmmm I think you could be right, bearing in mind the 57 plate 318D courtesy car I just gave back was awful with the usual symptoms, I think they have a serious problem with these ED Engines... I think it probably is more widespread but as always are trying to keep it quiet. I must admitt I've had a few tiny coughs between 30 > 40 but nothing like what my car was suffering previously

[Chris320]

Let's just hope that BMW find a fix for this soon because this is a fairly fundamental problem. I bought "the new super efficient engine" for a reason. It was supposed to be more powerful, more fuel efficient and produce less CO2. Well I can't comment on the latter but I certainly have my doubts about the engine power and as for the efficiency I've heard people quoting low 20's MPG!! I got 20 MPG in my 300bhp Impreza! so something must be seriously wrong somewhere.

As it stands what is the "best guess" as far as a reliable fix goes? I know that Trigger2007 has had some sucess and has reported that his car seems much better to drive, seems more powerfull etc. Without going back over the whole of this thread what do we think is likely to be the best fix? Hardware / software or a combination of both?

[COLSEN]

Originally Posted by Chris320

Let's just hope that BMW find a fix for this soon because this is a fairly fundamental problem. I bought "the new super efficient engine" for a reason. It was supposed to be more powerful, more fuel efficient and produce less CO2. Well I can't comment on the latter but I certainly have my doubts about the engine power and as for the efficiency I've heard people quoting low 20's MPG!! I got 20 MPG in my 300bhp Impreza! so something must be seriously wrong somewhere.

As it stands what is the "best guess" as far as a reliable fix goes? I know that Trigger2007 has had some sucess and has reported that his car seems much better to drive, seems more powerfull etc. Without going back over the whole of this thread what do we think is likely to be the best fix? Hardware / software or a combination of both?

I'm pretty sure while mine's been in it's had a software update (or two) and I know it's had 2 replacement cam sensors fitted

[FieldingMellish]

Originally Posted by Chris320

Let's just hope that BMW find a fix for this soon because this is a fairly fundamental problem. I bought "the new super efficient engine" for a reason. It was supposed to be more powerful, more fuel efficient and produce less CO2. Well I can't comment on the latter but I certainly have my doubts about the engine power and as for the efficiency I've heard people quoting low 20's MPG!! I got 20 MPG in my 300bhp Impreza! so something must be seriously wrong somewhere.

As it stands what is the "best guess" as far as a reliable fix goes? I know that Trigger2007 has had some sucess and has reported that his car seems much better to drive, seems more powerfull etc. Without going back over the whole of this thread what do we think is likely to be the best fix? Hardware / software or a combination of both?

Having let my average mpg accumulate for a while, I am looking at 31 mpg over 530 miles or so, a mix of urban, motorway, and b roads.

What gets me is that the car just does not run as smoothly as I expected, in fact it exhibits many of the characteristics of a diesel except or course the torque...

[chrisbin]

E92Fan - thanks for the update!

Currently, since the last work was done on the car, I have an avg mpg of 30.7....stubbornly refusing to get any better than that, whereas previously, same driving same roads, I was up to 32 average....so car still not fixed and mpg worse!

Mine being an auto disguises a lot of the rough running but its still obvious to me....I can only imagine how much worse a manual is...

[Bumps]

Sure I can speak for all in saying thanks for the update Tony and all your efforts, and hope you're feeling better