[adam_c]

Hi Everyone,

New here, I've read many posts on this forum and some of them sound similar to what I'm experiencing but nothing really matches 100%

Backstory, recently picked up an 07 e92 328i with 160,000 KM, had it inspected prior to purchase and everything came back great. Well now for the past couple weeks on startup, the car will shake, and not a little shake it's very noticeable. I've spoken with a few other people who have or have had BMW's and they said they haven't experienced this before.

The car will start and hover around 1000rpm then slowly decrease and that's when the shaking starts, almost feels like a side to side movement. If I hold the revs above 1000 it doesn't occur but if I let them drop then it comes back. Once I start driving the car, the shaking stops. The RPM's don't bounce around or fluctuate like I've seen other people experience when idling

This only seems to occur when it's a cold start or if the car has sat for a few hours, if I stop the car after a period of driving and start again there's no shaking. There's nothing noticeable under acceleration or during normal stop and go traffic

As a start, I've ordered new NGK spark plugs as I can't get the recommended ones locally

Thanks for taking the time to read

[BimmerNugget]

Change plugs, and coils, clean out the MAF sensor.

Is the car throwing any codes? SES light or CEL on?

[adam_c]

No codes or ses at all

[GMe90]

Originally Posted by adam_c

Hi Everyone,

New here, I've read many posts on this forum and some of them sound similar to what I'm experiencing but nothing really matches 100%

Backstory, recently picked up an 07 e92 328i with 160,000 KM, had it inspected prior to purchase and everything came back great. Well now for the past couple weeks on startup, the car will shake, and not a little shake it's very noticeable. I've spoken with a few other people who have or have had BMW's and they said they haven't experienced this before.

The car will start and hover around 1000rpm then slowly decrease and that's when the shaking starts, almost feels like a side to side movement. If I hold the revs above 1000 it doesn't occur but if I let them drop then it comes back. Once I start driving the car, the shaking stops. The RPM's don't bounce around or fluctuate like I've seen other people experience when idling

This only seems to occur when it's a cold start or if the car has sat for a few hours, if I stop the car after a period of driving and start again there's no shaking. There's nothing noticeable under acceleration or during normal stop and go traffic

As a start, I've ordered new NGK spark plugs as I can't get the recommended ones locally

Thanks for taking the time to read

You need to change the coils.

[BimmerNugget]

Originally Posted by adam_c

No codes or ses at all

Change the coils too, grab a can of CRC MAF sensor cleaner and blast clean the shit out of the MAF sensor. Then start it up and test drive it.

[adam_c]

Alright thanks guys, was hoping to avoid the coils but may as well if the engine is apart to do the spark plugs

Also another note, no issues starting the car

[david in germany]

I am going to bet changing your coils and plugs will do nothing for you. The symptoms you have described fit the description of leaky injectors.
Cold rough start in the morning or after sitting for a while. Yes
Car smooth out after revving a little or running for a minute or two. yes

Get an OBD2 code reader before you buy anything else. When you run the diagnostic you will have a misfire on one of the cylinders. Swap that coil with the coil from another cylinder and then clear the codes. The next time you experience the issue, check the error codes again and most likely it will be the original cylinder again.

If you have BMW change out the injector change them all at the same time. This is just preventative but it will save you the money later if another fails.

[adam_c]

Thanks David, yes that’s exactly the symptoms being experienced

I’ve ordered a obd2 from amazon

[CoffeeBean]

Originally Posted by david in germany

The symptoms you have described fit the description of leaky injectors.

He has the N52, not direct injected.

[tlow98]

HOW do you know not throwing codes? Get BMW specific code scanner or you’re just wasting time.

Sounds like could be vanos solenoids.

Even light misfires throw codes when it’s a coil/spark plug

[TemjinX2]

i would do coils and spark plugs. i agree with coffeebean, the n52 isn't known for leaky injectors.

Probably start with cleaning the MAF first, since its the cheapest. Given your mileages new plugs and coils will help with your mpg and performance anyways.

[GoRomeo]

if you havent replaced the coils and plugs yeah its a good step, but you could have just dumped a bottle of Techron fuel injector cleaner to start...

[lowrydr310]

I just went through a similar issue with a similar car (06 325i with the same N52 engine). My car would sometimes start up fine idling around 1000 RPMs and then after it warmed up the RPMs would drop and it would shake violently with the side to side shaking you describe.

If you don't have any record of the plugs or coils ever being changed, then I highly recommend starting there and replacing them first, that way you can easily rule those out if it ends up being some other issue. However, those symptoms sound exactly like bad coils and/or plugs.

When coils begin to fail, they may not necessarily throw a code right away. In my case I had several coils starting to go bad intermittently and when I got the misfire codes it was difficult to diagnose exactly which one was bad since I had about three different ones intermittently failing. I ended up replacing all six coils ($20 for Bosch, $27 for Delphi which are apparently better but I'm cheap so I stuck with Bosch) and six spark plugs (NGK Iridium LFR6AIX-11) and it resolved my issues. If you're doing the work yourself, just make sure the electrical connectors are seated on the coils properly. Don't rely on just the lever on top of the coil to pull the connector in, push the connector in all the way as you push the lever down.

[david in germany]

Originally Posted by CoffeeBean

He has the N52, not direct injected.

Good call, mine happened on my n43 118i (direct injection).

I would like to recall my bet.

[adam_c]

Thanks everyone for the responses, glad we can rule out the injectors for now

Perhaps since I'm not used to BMW vehicles, they can throw codes without generating CEL?

[GoRomeo]

Originally Posted by adam_c

Thanks everyone for the responses, glad we can rule out the injectors for now

Perhaps since I'm not used to BMW vehicles, they can throw codes without generating CEL?

yes they are called "shadow codes"...

[gT-BMW]

i had a similar issue mine was the 02 sensors. I just keept resetting adaption values in inpa and eventually it went away.

idle issues would sometimes come back but i have several things i have to replace to fix it like like ccv hoses and 2 new 02 sensors 1 vanos solenoid and fuel tank vent valve just so i can pump gas without the damn fuel nozzle shutting down on me every 2 secs.

[BimmerNugget]

Originally Posted by adam_c

Thanks David, yes that’s exactly the symptoms being experienced

I’ve ordered a obd2 from amazon

Return that OBD2 reader to Amazon, it's useless for our cars. Get a BMW specific scanner such as the Foxwell NT510 for BMW or the newer NT520 for BMW. If you're tight on cash and are only looking to read BMW specific codes, get a Creator C310 for BMW. The Creator is a little cheaper, does the same code reading as the NT510/520 but it doesn't have other features like battery registration and airbag reset.

[tlow98]

Originally Posted by adam_c

Thanks everyone for the responses, glad we can rule out the injectors for now

Perhaps since I'm not used to BMW vehicles, they can throw codes without generating CEL?

Yes, lots of them. Without a BMW specific scanner, you are wasting money and time.

Despite what a lot of people are saying in here the coils in these cars are pretty good. It's normally a waste of money to replace them all 'just because'. They mostly fail in high load situations which is not what you are describing. Their failure mode does vary, however, so the only way to really move forward without guessing is to get a BMW specific scanner.

There are lots of them, Carly, Foxwell, etc..

If you are handy with a computer and programming there are also DIY solutions that mimic BMW software called ISTA.

The most reliable way to fix your car is to start with a code scanner.

[adam_c]

I checked out ISTA and seems straight forward, to confirm before I order the cable from bimmergeeks, can it pick up these shadow codes?

[caldep]

Originally Posted by lowrydr310

I just went through a similar issue with a similar car (06 325i with the same N52 engine). My car would sometimes start up fine idling around 1000 RPMs and then after it warmed up the RPMs would drop and it would shake violently with the side to side shaking you describe.

If you don't have any record of the plugs or coils ever being changed, then I highly recommend starting there and replacing them first, that way you can easily rule those out if it ends up being some other issue. However, those symptoms sound exactly like bad coils and/or plugs.

When coils begin to fail, they may not necessarily throw a code right away. In my case I had several coils starting to go bad intermittently and when I got the misfire codes it was difficult to diagnose exactly which one was bad since I had about three different ones intermittently failing. I ended up replacing all six coils ($20 for Bosch, $27 for Delphi which are apparently better but I'm cheap so I stuck with Bosch) and six spark plugs (NGK Iridium LFR6AIX-11) and it resolved my issues. If you're doing the work yourself, just make sure the electrical connectors are seated on the coils properly. Don't rely on just the lever on top of the coil to pull the connector in, push the connector in all the way as you push the lever down.

I just went through the same thing on my 2006 325xi. I chose to change all of the coils with the plugs because there was no record of the coils being charged, although the plugs only had 60k miles on them.
my problem cleared up immediately after installing the new coils.

I think I could have gotten by with changing just the offending coil but figured it may be time as the car has 163k miles. I purchased the car last year. Symptom wise there are a few differences. The shake on my engine did not clear up even after idling for several minutes. Also the engine revved very sluggishly and rough at all speeds. But if you can diagnose the problem before acting that is the best approach, and one I would normally take. However I had been planning to replace the coils and plugs for some time anyway, so I felt I had nothing to lose.

[tlow98]

Originally Posted by adam_c

I checked out ISTA and seems straight forward, to confirm before I order the cable from bimmergeeks, can it pick up these shadow codes?

Yes, check this out for some FAQs, etc..

http://blog.uobdii.com/inpa-vs-ista-...r-inpa-easier/