BMW shuttering while driving uphill?

[Ralph III]

Hello All,
I couldn't find anywhere else to post this, so maybe you can help.

Anyhow, my daughter complained that her 2007 530xi (260k miles) was shaking when she started the motor yesterday. So, I drove the car yesterday and then I drove it to work this morning. The car ran perfectly fine, until my drive home this afternoon. The car indeed began to shutter as I was driving uphill in some hilly areas. Once it leveled out or I was going downhill, the car was perfectly smooth. I took the same route as my morning commute but I didn't notice anything this morning. It was quite noticeable this afternoon however.

I serviced the transmission (fluid, new mechatronic solenoids, etc), a few months ago, so it's not a transmission issue. The car has ran fantastic since servicing it which is the second time that I've done such.

Anyhow, the shuttering feels similar to an unbalanced tire. Could this be a strut or motor mount issue that shows itself under a strain (driving uphill)? There are no service messages or codes, btw.


God Bless,
Ralph

[Opie55]

I think the list of possible causes for any odd issue increases exponentially when you have a car with 260K miles. When it is shuddering does it feel like it is losing any power? Does it feel like it's running rough at all? If the engine seems to be running fine, then it could very well be external to the engine. And no codes is another clue, but what were you reading codes with? A scanner for BMW codes or just an OBDII scanner?

BTW, if you want to post this in the correct forum, there is a dropdown menu under the 5 series at the top of the page. Click on the E60.

[Ralph III]

Originally Posted by Opie55

I think the list of possible causes for any odd issue increases exponentially when you have a car with 260K miles. When it is shuddering does it feel like it is losing any power? Does it feel like it's running rough at all? If the engine seems to be running fine, then it could very well be external to the engine. And no codes is another clue, but what were you reading codes with? A scanner for BMW codes or just an OBDII scanner?

BTW, if you want to post this in the correct forum, there is a dropdown menu under the 5 series at the top of the page. Click on the E60.

Thanks for the reply. The motor and transmission are performing fine. I drove it again tonight and the shuttering occurs while accelerating. It's most pronounced while going uphill and it doesn't matter what selection (Auto, Sport, Manual) nor the gear it's in. I have a computer with ISTA+ that I diagnose our BMW's with.

Ralph

P.S. I tried the drop down menu and it will not let me select the 5 series forum?

[Luftpost]

Hello Ralph,

Not exactly sure from your description if it is motor or transmission related.....however some of the symptoms do lean me towards a bad ignition coil. The symptoms of a bad coil can be intermittent, may not immediately cause a CEL, and certainly cause it to run rough, particularly under load.

If they have not been replaced, and certainly with that mileage, it is entirely possible. It is an easy and relatively inexpensive fix. If you pursue this route, it would be best to have the spark plugs replaced as well. There are plenty of YouTube videos out there on how to do this. They may even describe the problem which you may find is similar to your daughters.

Hope you get it sorted out.

L

[rorz12]

Originally Posted by Ralph III

Hello All,
I couldn't find anywhere else to post this, so maybe you can help.

Anyhow, my daughter complained that her 2007 530xi (260k miles) was shaking when she started the motor yesterday. So, I drove the car yesterday and then I drove it to work this morning. The car ran perfectly fine, until my drive home this afternoon. The car indeed began to shutter as I was driving uphill in some hilly areas. Once it leveled out or I was going downhill, the car was perfectly smooth. I took the same route as my morning commute but I didn't notice anything this morning. It was quite noticeable this afternoon however.

I serviced the transmission (fluid, new mechatronic solenoids, etc), a few months ago, so it's not a transmission issue. The car has ran fantastic since servicing it which is the second time that I've done such.

Anyhow, the shuttering feels similar to an unbalanced tire. Could this be a strut or motor mount issue that shows itself under a strain (driving uphill)? There are no service messages or codes, btw.


God Bless,
Ralph

If you have something like Bimmerlink on your phone and a Bluetooth/WiFi OBD adapter, easiest way to see if the shuttering is engine related is by adding the "Misfire detection counter" for all your cylinders then run the dashboard live while driving up/downhill when the car is shuttering. If it records misfires then you've found your problem. Mind you, if the shuttering isn't strong enough it might not pick up a misfire even though you do need new spark plugs or coils.

[arucano]

Have you checked the center bearing of the driveshaft? This can cause vibration under heavy load. Can you correlate the vibration to a particular frequency i.e. Engine RPM or road speed. Does the vibration stay the same if you go to a different gear? This information would be helpful in answering your question.

[Ralph III]

Update......

So, after driving the car quite a bit more and with the shuddering becoming more pronounced; I concluded this was indeed a miss of some sort and most likely a fuel injector.

Anyhow, the car finally threw a code on Monday saying I indeed had an issue with the #6 fuel injector. So, I will be replacing all of the injectors this weekend. I replaced the coils/plugs a while back but I never had to replace the injectors until now. I can't complain given it has 260k miles on it.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Ralph

[Ralph III]

So, I installed the new injectors this morning and the car is running good again.

Ralph

[SWFLf10]

Originally Posted by Ralph III

So, I installed the new injectors this morning and the car is running good again.

Ralph

Glad to hear you got it sorted out fairly quickly and easily. I’ll be doing injectors on my 535i soon.

[Ralph III]

Originally Posted by SWFLf10

Glad to hear you got it sorted out fairly quickly and easily. I’ll be doing injectors on my 535i soon.

Thanks!

Just in case you run into the same challenge. Our 530xi was a little different then what was demonstrated on YouTube with other e60's. There is a bracket that covers the back of the fuel rail. So, it makes it impossible to remove the two rear bolts with your fingers. Anyhow, I put some chewing gum on the end of my socket and removed the bolts safely with that. Other than it being a little finicky with clips and all, it was quite an easy job.

God Bless,
Ralph