URGENT: Z4M Engine Problem. Car was Towed.

Kgolf31 · 07-25-2011, 08:26 PM

I was shifting into 2nd gear on a freshly started engine. Drove about 5 minutes prior.

Came out of first at 3000 rpm and put it into 2nd, gently went into 2nd and pressed on the gas and the CEL light came on.

The engine instantly shuttered and was very rough after it went into gear. I tried to give it gas and get to a side street and the fuel was cutting out and it was extremely difficult to accelerate (because the car was shuttering so much and it was cutting out the fuel, I think).

I coasted to a side road and turned the car off. Turned it back on and the CEL light didn't come back on, but the car was idling extremely rough at 1200 RPM and was shaking the whole car.

Under the assumption that it wasn't ever going to get better, I called Roadside Assistance and had it towed.

What of happened? It was under normal diving conditions, not pushing the car or anything. It's sitting at BMW right now

Blind32 · 07-25-2011, 08:58 PM

Good luck. Hope it is nothing major.

prodigal_m · 07-25-2011, 09:03 PM

I recently had a similar experience...it was a faulty coil pack fixed under warranty (otherwise it would have been around $60 bucks.) It's really not all that uncommon.

Finnegan · 07-25-2011, 09:04 PM

It could be a lot of relatively minor things, but there's no way to really tell from here. We'd need to see the codes, and that's what the dealer is going to pull. I have my fingers crossed it's something small. You did the right thing to stop, cycle the ignition, and try again and finally having it towed. Like you said, these thing do not get better on their own. Keep us posted.

jnfedup · 07-25-2011, 09:10 PM

This happened to my car a few months back as well. The dealer said it was a sensor of some sort. Car was at the dealer for a day and it cost me nothing because of the warranty.

inTgr8r · 07-25-2011, 09:13 PM

Hope it's something simple, good luck with it.

Kgolf31 · 07-25-2011, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jnfedup

This happened to my car a few months back as well. The dealer said it was a sensor of some sort. Car was at the dealer for a day and it cost me nothing because of the warranty.

Crank Position Sensor?

thekurgan · 07-25-2011, 09:25 PM

Sounds sensor-related

idlook2 · 07-25-2011, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prodigal_m

I recently had a similar experience...it was a faulty coil pack fixed under warranty (otherwise it would have been around $60 bucks.) It's really not all that uncommon.

Had the same experience in my dad's E46 M3. Sounded like a diesel, lost lots of power, and it was a choppy reving motor. Took advantage of the roadside assistance while it had 49,95x miles, just within warranty. It turned out the be a coil pack too. Sounded like it was not the most rare problem the dealerships seen.

The bill was covered but like prodigal said, it was just under $100 for the coil pack.

O-cha · 07-26-2011, 09:49 AM

Ignition coil (quit calling them coil packs, that's not really appropriate for pencil coils) or sensor. Car wouldn't just idle rough from a larger failure without you knowing something serious was wrong from some very weird sounds.

krnnerdboy · 07-26-2011, 09:57 AM

Could it possibly be a limp mode? My car encountered this when my low battery was causing all kinds of symptoms. I just pulled the battery for a min and restarted. This happened a handful of times until I replaced the battery.

Z4-VILLA · 07-26-2011, 09:57 AM

its something simple....youll see... these engines can take it all

FDJon · 07-26-2011, 03:19 PM

Sounds like my car after I forgot to plug back in the TPS sensor after an oil change..

Let us know what they find! good luck..

Kgolf31 · 07-26-2011, 06:23 PM

Ignition Coil in Cylinder #3.

Replaced and I have the car back already. Thanks Guys!

zubydafa · 07-26-2011, 06:25 PM

phew. at least it wasn't some foreign issue.

inTgr8r · 07-26-2011, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kgolf31

Ignition Coil in Cylinder #3.

Replaced and I have the car back already. Thanks Guys!

That's great

thekurgan · 07-26-2011, 11:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kgolf31

Ignition Coil in Cylinder #3.

Replaced and I have the car back already. Thanks Guys!

Hey, which part # did you get? I'm curious as there have apparently been 3 different coil part numbers listed. The latest are Bosch.

JCz04Bimmer · 07-27-2011, 07:38 AM

Coils are notorious failure points and, for whatever reason, the constantly shuffling lineup of OEM's never seem to be very reliable. Bremi is the other manufacturer and for a while those were seen as very finicky. Bosch is preferred but far from reliable.

I had a coil fail 2 years ago. Then again a year ago. And then again a few months ago. They even replaced all 6 when I had the issue a year ago. Just part of the routine! (I know a few who keep spares in their car because it's a pretty easy swap. If you have a code reader, you can identify the offending cylinder, swap out the coil, clear the codes and be up and running pretty quickly.)

gcochard · 07-27-2011, 03:54 PM

Do you drive your car in the rain at all?

I'm in sunny CA and I want to know if I should expect this.

tekmoe · 07-27-2011, 05:02 PM

Some of you guys were right on the money. Must be a pretty common issue. Good to know it's not hard to fix.

Glad to see you got your car back and all is well. Happy motoring!

Kgolf31 · 07-27-2011, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cliffhopper

Do you drive your car in the rain at all?

I'm in sunny CA and I want to know if I should expect this.

It was a 90*F Day

Nikki · 07-27-2011, 06:43 PM

Glad to hear it wasn't anything major and you're back on the road.

07-25-2011, 08:26 PM	#1
Kgolf31 Brigadier General 460 Rep 4,531 Posts Drives: 2007 Z4MC, 2012 128i Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Ohio iTrader: (4)	URGENT: Z4M Engine Problem. Car was Towed. I was shifting into 2nd gear on a freshly started engine. Drove about 5 minutes prior. Came out of first at 3000 rpm and put it into 2nd, gently went into 2nd and pressed on the gas and the CEL light came on. The engine instantly shuttered and was very rough after it went into gear. I tried to give it gas and get to a side street and the fuel was cutting out and it was extremely difficult to accelerate (because the car was shuttering so much and it was cutting out the fuel, I think). I coasted to a side road and turned the car off. Turned it back on and the CEL light didn't come back on, but the car was idling extremely rough at 1200 RPM and was shaking the whole car. Under the assumption that it wasn't ever going to get better, I called Roadside Assistance and had it towed. What of happened? It was under normal diving conditions, not pushing the car or anything. It's sitting at BMW right now
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07-25-2011, 08:58 PM	#2
Blind32 Certified Adrenaline Junkie 43 Rep 1,325 Posts Drives: '07 Z4MC Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Dallas TX iTrader: (2)	Good luck. Hope it is nothing major.
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07-25-2011, 09:04 PM	#4
Finnegan Dog Listener 703 Rep 7,850 Posts Drives: Z4M/. Z3M, E36/46 M3 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Teaching the dog to slalom iTrader: (22)	It could be a lot of relatively minor things, but there's no way to really tell from here. We'd need to see the codes, and that's what the dealer is going to pull. I have my fingers crossed it's something small. You did the right thing to stop, cycle the ignition, and try again and finally having it towed. Like you said, these thing do not get better on their own. Keep us posted.
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07-25-2011, 09:10 PM	#5
jnfedup Enlisted Member 1 Rep 32 Posts Drives: 2007 M coupe Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: San Diego iTrader: (1)	This happened to my car a few months back as well. The dealer said it was a sensor of some sort. Car was at the dealer for a day and it cost me nothing because of the warranty.
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07-25-2011, 09:13 PM	#6
inTgr8r Lieutenant General 2432 Rep 11,667 Posts Drives: M2 Comp Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Toronto iTrader: (10)	Hope it's something simple, good luck with it. __________________ '21 M2C Hockenheim Silver '18 718 Cayman S Lava Orange (sold) '13 E92 M3 Santorini Blue (sold) '07 Z4 M Coupe Alpine White (sold)
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07-25-2011, 09:03 PM	#3
prodigal_m Member 15 Rep 178 Posts Drives: 2018 Estoril Blue/Black F31 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: SE Wisconsin iTrader: (1)	I recently had a similar experience...it was a faulty coil pack fixed under warranty (otherwise it would have been around $60 bucks.) It's really not all that uncommon.
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07-25-2011, 09:25 PM	#8
thekurgan Bad Lieutenant 233 Rep 3,517 Posts Drives: E90M3 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Sacramento iTrader: (0) Garage List 2008 BMW M3 [0.00]	Sounds sensor-related __________________ 02 E39M5 \| TiAg/Schwartz \| Tubi Rumore \| Ultimate Ti Pedals \| E60 SSK \| Jim Blanton 3.45 40/100% \| Coby Alcantara \| StrongStrut STB
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07-26-2011, 09:49 AM	#10
O-cha Brigadier General 218 Rep 4,726 Posts Drives: Mcoupe Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: In front of you iTrader: (2)	Ignition coil (quit calling them coil packs, that's not really appropriate for pencil coils) or sensor. Car wouldn't just idle rough from a larger failure without you knowing something serious was wrong from some very weird sounds. __________________
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07-26-2011, 09:57 AM	#11
krnnerdboy Colonel 190 Rep 2,431 Posts Drives: v10 m6 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: so cal iTrader: (10)	Could it possibly be a limp mode? My car encountered this when my low battery was causing all kinds of symptoms. I just pulled the battery for a min and restarted. This happened a handful of times until I replaced the battery. __________________ F80 m3, 997 gt3, 14 ram ctd, f15 x5, drz400sm Gone:z4m, boss 302, c6 z06, m6,z3m
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07-26-2011, 09:57 AM	#12
Z4-VILLA Banned 111 Rep 2,460 Posts Drives: Z4M Hardtop Roadster Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Classified iTrader: (0)	its something simple....youll see... these engines can take it all
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07-26-2011, 03:19 PM	#13
FDJon New Member 0 Rep 16 Posts Drives: 07 E86 M Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Berlin, Germany iTrader: (0)	Sounds like my car after I forgot to plug back in the TPS sensor after an oil change.. Let us know what they find! good luck.. __________________ 02 LSB E46 M3 (sold!) 93 RX7 07 E86 M Coupe
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07-26-2011, 06:23 PM	#14
Kgolf31 Brigadier General 460 Rep 4,531 Posts Drives: 2007 Z4MC, 2012 128i Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Ohio iTrader: (4)	Ignition Coil in Cylinder #3. Replaced and I have the car back already. Thanks Guys!
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07-26-2011, 06:25 PM	#15
zubydafa tosser 31 Rep 988 Posts Drives: '07 Z4MC Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Allentown, PA iTrader: (0)	phew. at least it wasn't some foreign issue.
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07-27-2011, 07:38 AM	#18
JCz04Bimmer Captain 32 Rep 606 Posts Drives: 06 Z4MC Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: New York City iTrader: (2)	Coils are notorious failure points and, for whatever reason, the constantly shuffling lineup of OEM's never seem to be very reliable. Bremi is the other manufacturer and for a while those were seen as very finicky. Bosch is preferred but far from reliable. I had a coil fail 2 years ago. Then again a year ago. And then again a few months ago. They even replaced all 6 when I had the issue a year ago. Just part of the routine! (I know a few who keep spares in their car because it's a pretty easy swap. If you have a code reader, you can identify the offending cylinder, swap out the coil, clear the codes and be up and running pretty quickly.) __________________ \|www.onehotlap.com\|Real People\|Real Cars\|
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07-27-2011, 03:54 PM	#19
gcochard Captain 24 Rep 784 Posts Drives: 2011.5 E90 M3 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: South OC iTrader: (2) Garage List 2011 BMW M3 [0.00]	Do you drive your car in the rain at all? I'm in sunny CA and I want to know if I should expect this. __________________
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07-27-2011, 05:02 PM	#20
tekmoe Captain 55 Rep 844 Posts Drives: ///M Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Texas iTrader: (0)	Some of you guys were right on the money. Must be a pretty common issue. Good to know it's not hard to fix. Glad to see you got your car back and all is well. Happy motoring!
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07-27-2011, 06:43 PM	#22
Nikki Major General 990 Rep 6,381 Posts Drives: Sepang Z4MC Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: LA iTrader: (9)	Glad to hear it wasn't anything major and you're back on the road. __________________ Nikki
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