[FNV]

Has anyone started their car up on a cold day only to have the engine light go on (the half full engine light)?
It goes into limp mode and I can't accelarate, it's like driving on 3 cylinders.

I took to the dealer last winter and they said that the throttle body was frozen so they cleaned it up and it was good to go.

This week I had the same problem again and all they did was reset the codes, but did not fix the problem. They said it should be ok now.


Has anyone had this problem????

[darkphantom]

weird....what are the temps around your place?

[cn555ic]

Ottawa...temps have to be sometimes below 0 degrees, I would imagine..

[FNV]

It started happening when it was -36, however lately it even did it at -9.
degrees
What bugs me is that I'm the only one that has this problem so I don't think it's the cold weather causing this.

[MMOTION]

My 06 330xi has the same problem. When temps fall below -10 degrees celcius, the light always goes on which is kinda annoying. Brought this up numerous times at the dealer, and they said its normal under extreme cold temps. When i do a "check diagnostics" through the i-drive, systems always check ok.

It was -16 degrees celcius this morning and to no surprise, the CEL came on. Kinda annoying but im used to it now.

[JaysBlueE92]

do you keep your car outside in those temps, or garaged?

[blom330]

I have had same issue with throttle - only at extreme temps (-27C...close to same in F). Took car to dealership and they ran full engine check - and said throttle was 'frosen' therefore automatic system put engine on half power and deactivated cruise. not sure what to do with it next time...better wait some warmer time or build a garage. BTW I have engine block heater which I usually turn on 60-90minutes before cold start.

[MMOTION]

Originally Posted by JaysBlueE92

do you keep your car outside in those temps, or garaged?

nope. my cars are always garaged.

[woodpecka]

After 4 days at -20C, I got the same symptoms including the limp mode. I brought the car straight to the dealer and they identified a throtle actuator faulty. They proposed to replace the throttle body at 900$ but I refused. I have another one at home I can install if needed.

Since I'm back from dealer, I have no issue and put the car in garage. I suspect a frozen throttle issue so no need to replace the part.

Any comments guy?

[stormtrooper7]

This is the single most annoying thing about these cars (or some of them anyway)! I can't drive it due to limp mode, all because the damn throttle body, or whatever, is frozen!

[David0ff]

montreal here, never happened, fingers crossed
08 323

[woodpecka]

Originally Posted by woodpecka

After 4 days at -20C, I got the same symptoms including the limp mode. I brought the car straight to the dealer and they identified a throtle actuator faulty. They proposed to replace the throttle body at 900$ but I refused. I have another one at home I can install if needed.

Since I'm back from dealer, I have no issue and put the car in garage. I suspect a frozen throttle issue so no need to replace the part.

Any comments guy?

Note: I have no issue since 1 year.

This car doesn't handle this situation well. BMW should fix the software.

[PlzCalmDown]

Original post is years ago. But if anyone is still having this issue. I'm in Calgary and winters can get down to -40C sometimes. If your car is lagging. First thing you guys should check is your battery. If it's old, might not have enough cold cranks, or not storing enough power. If the battery is low. The vehicle does everything it can to start the vehicle, but a monitoring chip will not provide full power to the vehicle to ensure it can get you home (even if it is a slow drive) safely. This happened to my 06 330xi last winter one time. It was due to my battery. Got it replaced immediately, no issues since. If you check up on the fault codes it lists battery issues when the check engine light comes on as well. So if anyone is still reading this post, have the battery checked before you jump to throttle body conclusions. Cheers.

[woodpecka]

Originally Posted by wquon

Original post is years ago. But if anyone is still having this issue. I'm in Calgary and winters can get down to -40C sometimes. If your car is lagging. First thing you guys should check is your battery. If it's old, might not have enough cold cranks, or not storing enough power. If the battery is low. The vehicle does everything it can to start the vehicle, but a monitoring chip will not provide full power to the vehicle to ensure it can get you home (even if it is a slow drive) safely. This happened to my 06 330xi last winter one time. It was due to my battery. Got it replaced immediately, no issues since. If you check up on the fault codes it lists battery issues when the check engine light comes on as well. So if anyone is still reading this post, have the battery checked before you jump to throttle body conclusions. Cheers.

My battery was new.
It really was a frozen throttle body.

[stormtrooper7]

My battery is new as well. It was the first thing I changed when warnin lights came on.

[cband]

I am having these exact issues on my 330xi 2006... weather around -20 to -45 F. Just put in brand new $200 dollar battery with 950 cca. Anyone find a solution or a fix? Once I get my car warm and clear the codes... it goes away but I don't have time to use INPA every morning. Should i take the throttle body apart and clean it? I get half engine light and DSC 4x4 brake limp mode all at the same time.

[Stream]

Hello from Syberia! We often have -25...-30 here and I also have the same problem.
I'm with some other guy from bmw-club Russia had some experiments and here are results:

- throttle body made of alu and throttle flap made of steel. We tried frosting throttle body to -40 and it looks like in this condition it is possible, that aluminium body became a little tight for steel flap, so it can't move until warming up to -25..-20.
- new thottle body doesn't fix problem. (Old throttle body was almost clean, and no changes after cleaning, so we tried new throttle body).
- we both have 325i 05 model year with n52b25 engine (with 2 DISA intake manifold). In 2006 BMW changed intake manifold to new revision with another crankcase separator. So we suggest this is tha main reason of our problem.

[stormtrooper7]

Originally Posted by cband

I am having these exact issues on my 330xi 2006... weather around -20 to -45 F. Just put in brand new $200 dollar battery with 950 cca. Anyone find a solution or a fix? Once I get my car warm and clear the codes... it goes away but I don't have time to use INPA every morning. Should i take the throttle body apart and clean it? I get half engine light and DSC 4x4 brake limp mode all at the same time.

The only solution I found to work is to let the car warm up for 5 minutes or so before you leave. Also, I replaced both my VANOS solenoids. But I can't say for sure that that helped.

[J-Spec Dan]

there was about a week here in chicago where my car sat outside during the day in -20C weather and started up without any issues. she did take a few extra slow cranks to get going though. my e90 sits in a heated garage at night so i don't have this issue in the morning.

new battery 01/2013, original alternator and starter.

[cband]

Just to chime in... my car threw 2cfb and 2d09 errors. Car was in limp mode and I needed to get home. Used INPA to clear codes, problem went away. Instantly when I clutched and waited for a red light and car went to idle the error came back. So I had my laptop on my seat and recleared the codes, and quickly took off on the green light. As long as I never let the car idle at the lowest RPMs the error wouldn't come back. Lucky for me I was able to cruise home with the exception of 3 stoplights.

Going to clean my throttle body this weekend.

[Three_thirty_I]

Find this to be the most odd problem. Luckily where I am it never gets this cold!

[woodpecka]

Originally Posted by cband

Just to chime in... my car threw 2cfb and 2d09 errors. Car was in limp mode and I needed to get home. Used INPA to clear codes, problem went away. Instantly when I clutched and waited for a red light and car went to idle the error came back. So I had my laptop on my seat and recleared the codes, and quickly took off on the green light. As long as I never let the car idle at the lowest RPMs the error wouldn't come back. Lucky for me I was able to cruise home with the exception of 3 stoplights.

Going to clean my throttle body this weekend.

If you can bring your car in a heated garage, this can fix a frozen throttle body.