F10 'drivetrain malfunction' error message & pulling
Discussion
'Reduced power, full performance not accessible. Take to BMW Service Centre' or words roughly relating to that.
How many of you have had this? As an internet search reveals it's quite common.
I've owned the car for a month, 700 miles and seen it twice. (2010 535d) Engine needs to be switched off and restarted and the problem goes away. It usually comes about when starting the car, idling for about a minute (faffing with satnav or waiting for passenger) and then it feels like a cylinder has dropped out - rough running and the error message.
My car also pulls to the left, which appears to be something else that people complain about. All new tyres although still on the crappy runflats.
It's booked in at BMW next week and under warranty so I'm not hugely concerned but I'm guessing it's either the HPFP, injectors, sensor failure or software. Hoping the tracking is just out as the wheels had recently been rebalanced with the new tyres.
How many of you have had this? As an internet search reveals it's quite common.
I've owned the car for a month, 700 miles and seen it twice. (2010 535d) Engine needs to be switched off and restarted and the problem goes away. It usually comes about when starting the car, idling for about a minute (faffing with satnav or waiting for passenger) and then it feels like a cylinder has dropped out - rough running and the error message.
My car also pulls to the left, which appears to be something else that people complain about. All new tyres although still on the crappy runflats.
It's booked in at BMW next week and under warranty so I'm not hugely concerned but I'm guessing it's either the HPFP, injectors, sensor failure or software. Hoping the tracking is just out as the wheels had recently been rebalanced with the new tyres.
Edited by The Stiglet on Tuesday 5th April 13:27
The plot thickens.
Car been in at my local dealer rather than the one I bought it from. Says tyre pressures all out, engine oil overfilled (enough to recommend decanting a bit) windscreen wiper hose perished and leaking plus two drivetrain error codes logged in the system. These apparently pertain to the vacuum system, where of course they see no obvious issues and a vacuum test supports that.
"Experienced" driver been out in car to say it runs sweet and now isn't pulling compared to a standard F10 model. However, now that they believe the codes are checked and no fault found - they are at a loss as to what to do. I asked the very helpful service manager to check the previous history on the computer. Sure enough, in December the car was first recorded as having warranty work - new inlet manifold and electric fan. Barely a month later, new high pressure fuel pump and some sort of associated module.
Service manager was surprised! This was 200 miles and a month before I bought it. He told me to phone up the dealer that did the work and then the dealer that sold me the car.
Dealer who did the work - girl was very helpful but after consultation with manager, could not provide me with extra information as to the nature of the original problem without proof of ownership in person. No chance that's happening so I asked a few probing questions and essentially received an answer that it was the same problem I was having. Told me to call the original selling dealer.
Who was surprised!
After consultation with his manager, now wants me to get my local dealer to phone him and explain the issues. They agree that this fault is unacceptable but don't understand why my dealer cannot further test under warranty. When I explained that the ECU was saying that there wasn't a problem now, so nothing further to test, he seemed confused.
So, I'm going with injectors if the vacuum issue just hasn't been properly diagnosed.
Not particularly happy.
Car been in at my local dealer rather than the one I bought it from. Says tyre pressures all out, engine oil overfilled (enough to recommend decanting a bit) windscreen wiper hose perished and leaking plus two drivetrain error codes logged in the system. These apparently pertain to the vacuum system, where of course they see no obvious issues and a vacuum test supports that.
"Experienced" driver been out in car to say it runs sweet and now isn't pulling compared to a standard F10 model. However, now that they believe the codes are checked and no fault found - they are at a loss as to what to do. I asked the very helpful service manager to check the previous history on the computer. Sure enough, in December the car was first recorded as having warranty work - new inlet manifold and electric fan. Barely a month later, new high pressure fuel pump and some sort of associated module.
Service manager was surprised! This was 200 miles and a month before I bought it. He told me to phone up the dealer that did the work and then the dealer that sold me the car.
Dealer who did the work - girl was very helpful but after consultation with manager, could not provide me with extra information as to the nature of the original problem without proof of ownership in person. No chance that's happening so I asked a few probing questions and essentially received an answer that it was the same problem I was having. Told me to call the original selling dealer.
Who was surprised!
After consultation with his manager, now wants me to get my local dealer to phone him and explain the issues. They agree that this fault is unacceptable but don't understand why my dealer cannot further test under warranty. When I explained that the ECU was saying that there wasn't a problem now, so nothing further to test, he seemed confused.
So, I'm going with injectors if the vacuum issue just hasn't been properly diagnosed.
Not particularly happy.
TimboCD1 said:
Had this on my 2013 530d and it was the EGR valve - known issue & apparently the design has been changed.
Mine was all sorted under warranty as I am sure yours will be.
Hope it's nowt more serious
Mine was all sorted under warranty as I am sure yours will be.
Hope it's nowt more serious
Were the symptoms exactly the same? And did the fault code point to the EGR?
So they've had it for over a week without being able to find any faults in the car apart from uneven running when cold. Master tech spent 9 hrs with it on Friday, as well as driving it around for three days and finally diagnosed two injectors that need replacing.
These are due in from Germany today so let's see if it cures the problem.
These are due in from Germany today so let's see if it cures the problem.
Update
The two new injectors went in and made no difference. So they replaced all the injectors and it made a mild difference. The problem remains!
The master tech is the only one working on the car and is still trying to ascertain the issue. One of the service guys said to me that BMW have authorised him to throw the proverbial kitchen sink at the problem and have an open chequebook on the warranty claim. As reassuring as that sounds, I haven't had a car for three weeks and needed it this weekend.
I'm due to catch up with the sales manager again today but I've started making exploratory remarks about swapping it for something else or getting my money back.
The two new injectors went in and made no difference. So they replaced all the injectors and it made a mild difference. The problem remains!
The master tech is the only one working on the car and is still trying to ascertain the issue. One of the service guys said to me that BMW have authorised him to throw the proverbial kitchen sink at the problem and have an open chequebook on the warranty claim. As reassuring as that sounds, I haven't had a car for three weeks and needed it this weekend.
I'm due to catch up with the sales manager again today but I've started making exploratory remarks about swapping it for something else or getting my money back.
thatsprettyshady said:
vsonix said:
So wait, there's no courtesy car been offered? That's a bit lax innit?
This. A courtesy car should be provided without a second thought, especially where the car has been traded with a known fault which is poor form. thatsprettyshady said:
good call under the circumstances, my only suggestion would be that nothing motivates the dealership to get the car sorted than a demo vehicle tied up long term.
Is this something that I could expect to be delivered to me? They are 50 miles away and I'm going to struggle to get over there due to work commitments.TimboCD1 said:
Had this on my 2013 530d and it was the EGR valve - known issue & apparently the design has been changed.
Mine was all sorted under warranty as I am sure yours will be.
Hope it's nowt more serious
Well, well, well....Mine was all sorted under warranty as I am sure yours will be.
Hope it's nowt more serious
Got a call yesterday from the techie, who had noticed that the EGR valve was stuck wide open. They replaced the valve and retested this morning and the problem has gone!
When I reminded them that I said to check the EGR valve first when I dropped the car in, based on your feedback, they told me not to trust the internet
4 weeks later, I hope to pick the car up on Saturday
edit: £3,000 for the injectors
They even dropped the gearbox to replace a perished seal. Edited by The Stiglet on Thursday 5th May 16:58
TimboCD1 said:
What a bunch of useless.......
Glad it's sorted now and hope it's a permanent solution - I never saw the issue again.
I would now be looking for some serious good will gestures to compensate for their
incompetence.
Hope you can now get back to enjoying it
ETA - Sorry I missed your earlier request for info - it was roadside assist that diagnosed & fixed mine.
Picked it up and there was no hunting on cold start up. Throttle response definitely felt sharper - fuel consumption was also noticeably better. There was a little bit of a lumpy spike when I started the car yesterday and put on the AC but it was only a few seconds and it was very hot so I'm not holding that against it yet! I think I'll test a little bit more this week to be sure but hopefully that's it cured.Glad it's sorted now and hope it's a permanent solution - I never saw the issue again.
I would now be looking for some serious good will gestures to compensate for their
incompetence.
Hope you can now get back to enjoying it
ETA - Sorry I missed your earlier request for info - it was roadside assist that diagnosed & fixed mine.
Edited by TimboCD1 on Thursday 5th May 20:37
Thanks for the lead!
I've 'officially' rejected the car in an email and asked either for my money back or for a suitable replacement vehicle. Unfortunately, It will be hard to get a similar spec with all the options plus folding seats etc. Apparently the manager has raised the issue with senior management and the regional tech director (UK?) for BMW. Waiting on feedback now.
Dropped the car in with them today. They obviously want to try and fix it before throwing in the towel. They have given me a loan car and promised to pay for my daily on-street parking in the meantime.
Spoke to the technician not long ago, he says that the fault code is pointing to the smaller turbo but that there are no obvious issues with performance. Will need to investigate further but could be one of 400 possible issues! When he put the key into the computer to read some statistics, I noticed that the drivetrain issue had been logged at least 15 times in 2013. I know it has been happening before I bought the car as recently as Dec 2015 and early 2016. Is anyone here capable of pulling the full history of the vehicle?
I've really had enough with it and want something else.
Spoke to the technician not long ago, he says that the fault code is pointing to the smaller turbo but that there are no obvious issues with performance. Will need to investigate further but could be one of 400 possible issues! When he put the key into the computer to read some statistics, I noticed that the drivetrain issue had been logged at least 15 times in 2013. I know it has been happening before I bought the car as recently as Dec 2015 and early 2016. Is anyone here capable of pulling the full history of the vehicle?
I've really had enough with it and want something else.
Helicopter123 said:
Sounds like the previous owner gave up on it. I would get rid if you can.
Spoken to the techie again today. They've found that some of the vacuum hoses have been rubbing together close to some heat shielding. They can't see any obvious cuts but it's possible that the hoses are getting pinched now and again or even that there are some hairline cracks when cold.They have also found some fouled electrical wiring that has been shorting against the heat shield, which they can trace to the current fault code.
I asked them to read the car's whole history to me and it's never had any warranty work until December last year. The fault codes re Drivetrain errors in 2013 show no warranty work and he mentioned that this can be related to the driver's door and boot open codes all at the same time. Seems like Drivetrain error can mean anything!
I was just getting excited about an F30 335i I'd seen too...
The Drivetrain error warning came back last weekend and with less than 8 weeks before SWMBO gives birth, plus a long drive to Bordeaux in early September, I rejected the car.
They tried to do me a deal on their other stock but nothing matched up. They had a newer 535d with adaptive drive but it had bodywork history due to a collision and the panel gaps didn't look right around the lights. The driver's seat also had rips with less than 40k miles so they agreed to give me my money back.
Before I left, I tried an LCI E70 X5 30d and actually really liked it. It was a bit poverty spec but I was impressed enough by the engine with the 8 speed box that I went hunting for a 40d in the dealer network...
And bought one yesterday
Looking forward to picking it up on the 20th after some bits and pieces get done. I was very happy to negotiate a 2 year AUC warranty into the deal after all of this!
They tried to do me a deal on their other stock but nothing matched up. They had a newer 535d with adaptive drive but it had bodywork history due to a collision and the panel gaps didn't look right around the lights. The driver's seat also had rips with less than 40k miles so they agreed to give me my money back.
Before I left, I tried an LCI E70 X5 30d and actually really liked it. It was a bit poverty spec but I was impressed enough by the engine with the 8 speed box that I went hunting for a 40d in the dealer network...
And bought one yesterday
Looking forward to picking it up on the 20th after some bits and pieces get done. I was very happy to negotiate a 2 year AUC warranty into the deal after all of this!
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