Drivetrain Malfunction... Again!

[BillCB]

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you, neversummer!
Good luck,
Bill

[neversummer78]

Originally Posted by BillCB

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you, neversummer!
Good luck,
Bill

Thank you!

[BMWMilan]

Originally Posted by neversummer78

Thanks ipsedixit, hopefully that I can finally start doing something fun to it rather getting it fixed.

neversummer78, if you decide to get a new exhaust, can you either PM me or post it. I'm interested. Thanks.

[neversummer78]

Originally Posted by ipsedixit

neversummer78, if you decide to get a new exhaust, can you either PM me or post it. I'm interested. Thanks.

Ipsedixit, definitely! I'm hoping that Akrapovic will make one with carbon fiber tips for this model. Sadly, only M6 is getting it at the moment.

[wzj519]

Originally Posted by neversummer78

Ipsedixit, definitely! I'm hoping that Akrapovic will make one with carbon fiber tips for this model. Sadly, only M6 is getting it at the moment.

Yes, I am also looking for some exhaust upgrade for my 650GC.
Hopefully, Akrapovic will release something soon. Really admire the sound and quality of Akrapovic.

[RiverRunner]

Residue from Octane Boost, wow, good to know, that will cause problems in many areas if you had to continue using that long term!

[neversummer78]

Originally Posted by PackerFan

Residue from Octane Boost, wow, good to know, that will cause problems in many areas if you had to continue using that long term!

It is sad that we can't get more than 91 octane here.

[Samurai of 2day]

Originally Posted by neversummer78

Again this afternoon! I was doing 107 MPH, Sport Mode and ding!

Well fellas, looks like I have fell victim to this unfortunate 6er illness.

Last night was the first time I got this same malfuntion error on my car. I am currently at 13,500 miles, on a 2013 650i GC with XDrive.

It happened about 5 minutes before I pulled up to my door, so I turned it off and haven't started her back up since. Fortunately, I was able to take the bike out and leave my limping car to heal... I hope.

Right before the warning chime kicked in and the warning popped up on the iDrive screen, I felt the car doing a slight stuttering motion when I gave it a little gas. At first I thought maybe I was just being a little light footed, but when it happened everytime I stepped on the gas, I got a little apprehensive.

So now that I have yet another problem with this car, what is the next step for me? I will read the rest on this thread now that I am experiencing the same problem you all have faced, but I just wanted to get this off my chest within the little time I have before I have to get back to work, and reading 5 pages worth of gripes, complaints and then finally solutions would have taken me longer than I have at the moment.

You guys always have good advice and problem solving solutions, especially since you have dealt with this problem already, so I always appreciate the feedback!

[neversummer78]

Originally Posted by Samurai of 2day

Well fellas, looks like I have fell victim to this unfortunate 6er illness.

Last night was the first time I got this same malfuntion error on my car. I am currently at 13,500 miles, on a 2013 650i GC with XDrive.

It happened about 5 minutes before I pulled up to my door, so I turned it off and haven't started her back up since. Fortunately, I was able to take the bike out and leave my limping car to heal... I hope.

Right before the warning chime kicked in and the warning popped up on the iDrive screen, I felt the car doing a slight stuttering motion when I gave it a little gas. At first I thought maybe I was just being a little light footed, but when it happened everytime I stepped on the gas, I got a little apprehensive.

So now that I have yet another problem with this car, what is the next step for me? I will read the rest on this thread now that I am experiencing the same problem you all have faced, but I just wanted to get this off my chest within the little time I have before I have to get back to work, and reading 5 pages worth of gripes, complaints and then finally solutions would have taken me longer than I have at the moment.

You guys always have good advice and problem solving solutions, especially since you have dealt with this problem already, so I always appreciate the feedback!

Let me give you a quick summary of what happened and how I got it fixed. I took mine to a few dealers but they all couldn't fix the problem since it was intermittent. Instead, they took it out for joyride and did nothing to it. I called BMW NA which took a while before they finally take it seriously and updated my ECU and gave it an oil change. The paperworks wouldn't say in detail on what was done, but my SA told me verbally that they updated my ECU with new software. I didn't have problem since. By the way, it is important to keep all your paperworks organized and document all your problems on videos and photos to get their attention. Good luck!

[southern6er22]

I've had the drivetrain malfunction with the shuddering sensation 3 times now. I've now had both banks of fuel injectors replaced about 12 to 18 months between when the banks were replaced. I'm hoping that now that they're all new I won't have any more problems. We'll see...

What you described sounds a lot like my previous incidents. Good luck!

[Samurai of 2day]

Originally Posted by neversummer78

Let me give you a quick summary of what happened and how I got it fixed. I took mine to a few dealers but they all couldn't fix the problem since it was intermittent. Instead, they took it out for joyride and did nothing to it. I called BMW NA which took a while before they finally take it seriously and updated my ECU and gave it an oil change. The paperworks wouldn't say in detail on what was done, but my SA told me verbally that they updated my ECU with new software. I didn't have problem since. By the way, it is important to keep all your paperworks organized and document all your problems on videos and photos to get their attention. Good luck!

Thanks for the rundown. I finally had a chance to go through all the posts in This thread, and I can see you went though an entire ordeal to get your car performing the way it's supposed to. I commend your patience and determination.

Like you, I think the GC is an amazing machine, and really enjoy being behind the wheel... at least when it's doing what we expect it to do. I can get really frustrating when we have to visit the service center every 6 weeks or so for a car that is not even 2 years old yet.

I definitely keep all of my service paperwork in order, but it is good advice to take pics or video of any issues that seem to come and go... that way we don't have to worry about strangers racking up miles in the name of "recreating the problem" to perform joyriding, er 'diagnosis.

You say you haven't had any more recurring drivetrain malfuntions since the performed the ECU Software update. How long ago did they do that for you? Also, from your experience, do you think it would be dangerous or cause major damage if I drive the car for about 150 miles with the drivetrain malfuntion?

Now I have to make adjustments to my already busy schedule to see if they can do the same update for me. It's supposed to rain tomorrow so no bike for me. I am going to have to risk driving the car because there is no way I can make it to the Service Center until Friday the earliest.

[neversummer78]

Originally Posted by Samurai of 2day

Thanks for the rundown. I finally had a chance to go through all the posts in This thread, and I can see you went though an entire ordeal to get your car performing the way it's supposed to. I commend your patience and determination.

Like you, I think the GC is an amazing machine, and really enjoy being behind the wheel... at least when it's doing what we expect it to do. I can get really frustrating when we have to visit the service center every 6 weeks or so for a car that is not even 2 years old yet.

I definitely keep all of my service paperwork in order, but it is good advice to take pics or video of any issues that seem to come and go... that way we don't have to worry about strangers racking up miles in the name of "recreating the problem" to perform joyriding, er 'diagnosis.

You say you haven't had any more recurring drivetrain malfuntions since the performed the ECU Software update. How long ago did they do that for you? Also, from your experience, do you think it would be dangerous or cause major damage if I drive the car for about 150 miles with the drivetrain malfuntion?

Now I have to make adjustments to my already busy schedule to see if they can do the same update for me. It's supposed to rain tomorrow so no bike for me. I am going to have to risk driving the car because there is no way I can make it to the Service Center until Friday the earliest.

Thanks Samurai, it certainly did test my patience.

I got my car back on 10/8/13, with 6,168 miles. It has 9,039 miles when I dropped it off at the body shop this afternoon. It has been only about 3000 miles since the repair, but I can tell you that the fix seems reliable base on my past experiences. I had drivetrain malfunction error so frequently that I could almost replicate it on demand. I sort of know at what rpm and speed the error will reappear, and I can be doing all that now and it wouldn't give me that error. Before the last repair, it would also occasionally give drivetrain malfunction error when I start up the car in the morning.

Personally, I don't think it would be dangerous or cause major damage if you immediately try to pull over and restart the car. The problem went away every time when I restart the car. I drove it for a few thousands miles with multiple visits to different dealers before they finally fix it. It seems to perform well even after two airbags went off, lol.

You can get free BMW loaner, so you don't have to be down without a car. They gave me 528i for a week while updating my ECU. But, I chose to wait for my car on my last oil change because I hate it when they take it out for joyride.

By the way, I don't think they will automatically update ECU for you. I think they will do a lot of stupid tests on your car and will never take your advice on updating ECU if you were to tell them. Frankly, it could be something else ranging from bad injector to whatever, but updating ECU is how they fixed my car. What I'm trying to say is that you will most likely have to revisit the dealership many times before they finally fix it, so make sure they have nice loaner ready for you when you drop off your car. Best of luck!

[m34SPD]

Originally Posted by neversummer78

I just got low engine oil error today at roughly 6100 miles. This is probably 4th time since I own the car. I think I won 2013 worst BMW of the year.

How did you break in the car?

[neversummer78]

Originally Posted by MMG640

How did you break in the car?

I never go above 4k rpm during the first 3k miles.

[m34SPD]

I did a hard break in the first day I got it, and after. I only had to put one quart of oil in around 4K miles, and now I am at 7K miles. SA said it is common because the turbo consumes some oil initially. But I have the N55 motor, not sure if those are known to burn oil.

[Mtechnique]

Well guys I have a 2015 650 GC with 1400 miles on it careful running in...
Yesterday I got the same error whilst starting the car in my Garage with the shuddering....
Turned the engine off and restarted no shuddering but the message did not go away
The car is in the dealers now.... will keep you posted on the outcome.

[neversummer78]

Originally Posted by Mtechnique

Well guys I have a 2015 650 GC with 1400 miles on it careful running in...
Yesterday I got the same error whilst starting the car in my Garage with the shuddering....
Turned the engine off and restarted no shuddering but the message did not go away
The car is in the dealers now.... will keep you posted on the outcome.

Good luck!

[ctenidae]

I got the error a few times, but always on startup, and cleared after turning it off and restarting.
I burned a lot of oil the first 4,000+/- miles, but none in the past 5,000 or so (just about to break 10K).
I've had one bank of injectors replaced, and expect the second to get done soon- car's starting to idle a little rough, like it did before the 1st bank got done.

It is amazing, with all the computing power in the ECU and various systems, there seems to be enough to screw things up, but not enough to figure out what happened.

[Mtechnique]

OK got the car back all looks good. The message is cleared. Service advised they replaced a faulty exhaust solenoid! . It must be part of emission control plumbing as I have no idea where else there will be a solenoid except on the tail pipes....
I will call the service tech and grill them some more. I picked the car late afternoon and the tech guys had already gone home.

[Samurai of 2day]

Just an update.

I dropped my car off at the service center last week tuesday, so it has been 7 days now that my car has been in for repair for the Drivetrain Malfunction error.

The day I brought the car in, I was told that cylider 5 wans't firing properly, causing the malfuntion I was experiencing.

The serivce center was very accommodating by providing me a rental car since there were no loaner cars available at the time.

I get a call today saying they need to test drive my car, but I will have to reimburse them for gas...

Supposedly, if all goes well wit hthe test drive today and tomorrow, I should be able to pick my car up on Thursday. I will keep you all updated.

[neversummer78]

Originally Posted by Samurai of 2day

Just an update.

I dropped my car off at the service center last week tuesday, so it has been 7 days now that my car has been in for repair for the Drivetrain Malfunction error.

The day I brought the car in, I was told that cylider 5 wans't firing properly, causing the malfuntion I was experiencing.

The serivce center was very accommodating by providing me a rental car since there were no loaner cars available at the time.

I get a call today saying they need to test drive my car, but I will have to reimburse them for gas...

Supposedly, if all goes well wit hthe test drive today and tomorrow, I should be able to pick my car up on Thursday. I will keep you all updated.

You should demand a BMW loaner, and you should not have to reimburse them for gas unless it is going for $50 a gallon in the area. They should go back to BMW NA and get reimburse for gas if they need to do a test drive. Why do you have to pay anything to troubleshoot a car under warranty and a $100k car at that? IMO, you should just take the car back and do the test drive yourself. If there is any problem, then it will be logged in the system. They can see it when you bring it back to them. I used to drive my 6er in SF, and BMW SF was going to charge me for topping off engine oil. I called BMW NA and raised hell. I got free oil change, a 5 series loaner for about a week, and proper fixes for both excessive oil burn and drivetrain malfunction.

[Samurai of 2day]

Originally Posted by neversummer78

You should demand a BMW loaner, and you should not have to reimburse them for gas unless it is going for $50 a gallon in the area. They should go back to BMW NA and get reimburse for gas if they need to do a test drive. Why do you have to pay anything to troubleshoot a car under warranty and a $100k car at that? IMO, you should just take the car back and do the test drive yourself. If there is any problem, then it will be logged in the system. They can see it when you bring it back to them. I used to drive my 6er in SF, and BMW SF was going to charge me for topping off engine oil. I called BMW NA and raised hell. I got free oil change, a 5 series loaner for about a week, and proper fixes for both excessive oil burn and drivetrain malfunction.

I hear you, NeverSummer. In the past, I have always made an appoint to schedule a loaner car, so they always set me up with a nice 3 or 5 series. This time I just stopped by and told them about the malfuntion, so they put me in a rental because there were no laoners available.

As far as the reimbursement for the gas they plan on using during the test drive, I will contest that when I get there face to face. I don't argue with people. Not on the phone, not on the internet, and not in person. Either it is, or it isn't. Simple.

I will deal with them if and when they call me tomorrow to pick up my car finally. Hopefully I can turn in the Crysler minivan i have been stuck in for the past week and a half, lol