[bvanderhaar]

Today I was merging onto the highway and I had to give my e90 a little extra gas to fit with traffic. While doing this, my automatic downshifted but where I normally feel a boost my car shuddered - almost like it was about to stall. The SES light lit up. It slowly got up to speed, however the engine felt shaky at lower RPMs (2K or less). Once I exited the highway, the car would shake worse at low RPMs while getting started at a stop. After a few miles the shuddering stopped and the SES light went off and all seemed to be well again. While I'm not an extreme DIY/automotive guy - I am slowly learning more about cars and am interested in the cause and any negative effects of this experience on my car. I appreciate any information the experts around here can provide.


Car info
2008 E90 sedan 328xi, 82K miles

[CWarrior]

Scan for codes, and post them. If you can't drive to an auto part store that offers free OBD2 scans, will start you in the right direction of tracking it down. Without more information it would be pure speculation.

[BashShah]

Also recommend investing in a code scanner.
It will pay for itself within your second use.
I have an old DIS system on my laptop with a USB to OBDII cable.
Works up to 2010 vehicles.

I wanted DIS, cause it was an original BMW diagnostic tool.

But I am sure for an 08 any good one will do fine.

DN

[bvanderhaar]

I just ordered an inexpensive scan tool from amazon so I can just check codes at home. I'll update the topic once I find the code.

I drove a couple more times and my car seems fine for now - although no heavy acceleration. Thanks for the tip on getting the code.

[DetectiveLoki]

Sounds like you need new sparkplugs

[bvanderhaar]

Since a spark plug job looks decently easy - and the parts are inexpensive - I'm planning on doing this anyway.

From reading, it'll be good to check the coils during the spark plug job. And at least the scan tool I ordered may be able to tell me the cylinder number to look closer at the coils or tell me if it's the Vanos solenoid, cam sensor, or the oil sensor (forgot the exact name). All which seem to be issues with our E90s.

[bvanderhaar]

OK, my cheap scan tool doesn't read error history. The SES light is gone...is there an inexpensive (under $50) tool to read error history? I was trying to avoid buying the $100 USB coding cable...

[KeepRidingDirty]

I bought my D-Can cable off ebay for $30 and INPA was free. Can't beat that

[bvanderhaar]

Do you have a link for the ebay cable you bought? I heard some can have quality issues....

[KeepRidingDirty]

I got this one

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/170835259404?...84.m1439.l2649

Works great for me. He raised his prices by like 20$ though. Its now listed as 49$. I'm sure you can get cheaper ones though. I just bought from this guy because he was in Canada and needed a cable quickly to code an injector.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by bvanderhaar

OK, my cheap scan tool doesn't read error history. The SES light is gone...is there an inexpensive (under $50) tool to read error history? I was trying to avoid buying the $100 USB coding cable...

Okay, I'm not sure what tool you bought, but if you get a real OBDII scan tool it will definitely read trouble codes stored in the ECU. The OBDII system is a standard and part of the standard is to read trouble codes stored in the ECU even after the SES light has reset. You can go to almost any auto parts store, or Sears, and get a $50 ACTRON OBDII reader. I have a $50 ACTRON reader I keep at my office and I have a $250 ACTRON scan tool. Both read stored codes.

You may have got some bad gas with high water content and got a momentary misfire in one or several cylinders. I'd get the car read with a OBDII reader or scan tool. If it was a misfire then throw some fuel conditioner in it to get rid of any water in the fuel and fill the tank with fresh gasoline.

[bvanderhaar]

I took a gamble on a $22 cable from eBay that will take a while since it ships from Hong Kong.

Thanks for the advice on the fuel - I put techron in with my latest fill up; I always use BP E93. The techron seemed to help, but I've been driving a little less spirited as well until I feel confident it was a fluke.

Starting a couple months ago my car would shudder sometimes when shifting gears at low RPMs, especially when I would increase the throttle while already traveling in 1-2K RPM - the automatic would attempt a down shift and the car would shake trying to get in gear. This wouldn't happen if I started out from a stop at higher RPMs. I'm not sure if this is related at all - and I can't say this is very common - it's only happened a few times since the initial experience. No SES light.

[Efthreeoh]

If you get a real OBDII reader like the one I've mentioned, you can keep it in the car. It needs no smart phone, nor computer to run; just plug it in and read codes. Very simple.

[bvanderhaar]

I swapped the spark plugs Wednesday and all my time since then driving I haven't experienced any of the hiccups I've prevously described in this thread. Thanks for everyone's help

[ReeferCheefer]

I had the same thing happen to my 07 335i coupe a few days ago. I was driving about 80mph, seen a opponent approaching, downshifted to 4th and ses light came on. Car started shaking a bit and i just rode it out for a few miles and it went away. 2 days later same scenario but i was at my exit when it happened, i stopped at a red light and went to drive and the shaking was 5x as violent. turned the car on and off and it went away. looks like ill be replacing the plugs. its time anyways at 62k miles. Although now i think the fuct up the waste gate valve since im getting a loud rattle like the ones i seen on youtube. I bought the car with a intake on it already and im debating on taking it in the get it warrantied at BMW because of the mod. I read that it voids warranty if there are mods done to the turbo or waste gate which there aren't but i know dealers will try to use anything to get out of doing warranty work. Plus id like to get the HPFP warrantied out for the newer one before i hit the 80k mark, any suggestions?

[GoRomeo]

Originally Posted by bvanderhaar

I swapped the spark plugs Wednesday and all my time since then driving I haven't experienced any of the hiccups I've prevously described in this thread. Thanks for everyone's help

Check your coils. Remove engine plastic cover and unplug one coil at a time with the car on. If you notice a change when unplugged is a good coil. If you dont, it means you have a bad coil. I did this a couple of weeks ago.