2005 M3 unhappy with cold weather

I have a 2005 M3 with about 50K miles. The car has recently been to the dealer for Inspection II and the following problem. The problem, that is unsolved, occurs on days when the ambient temperature is about

20 deg F or cooler. I'll start the car and let it run for 10 to 15 seconds, back out of the driveway, go about 100 to 150 yards toward the stop sign, during the drive I will reach 2000 to 2500 RPM, push in the clutch and prepare to stop and then the engine will die. I'll restart the engine and continue on my trip and everything operates normally from that point on.

Does anyone have any idea what could be causing the engine to die?

Reply to
The Other Guy, Sr
Loading thread data ...

There is a forum called E46Fanatics, where they discuss this issue. It is not an M3-thing, it happens to almost all cars.

I wonder why you would hit 2,000 to 2,500 in 150 yards on a cold engine. I live 8 houses from the corner and make the 1st/2nd shift in about 100 feet, and the engine speed is barely 1,250.

In any case, your car is supposed to know that Cold Engine Start requires more fuel than is normally needed -- cold engines should run rich. Your issue is similar to the one Grandpa had, the choke is not working. Your car does not have a choke, the computer simply maps more gas -- longer fuel injection timing -- to acheive the same goal. You are describing slow reading by a sensor.

You can have this trouble if the MAF and/or the O2 Sensors are slow. Since these are relatively expensive items -- you can easily replace them at home, so you don't need to take the car in -- then it is common to wait for the Check Engine (SERVICE ENGINE SOON) light to come on before they are replaced. The car has a Diagnostic Port where the performance of the sensors can be seen and monitored, but the scan tools that read this kind of stuff are at the dealership, and the diagnostic charge to pull the data exceeds the value of knowing the data. Basically, I am saying that this is not a fatal event -- your car is in no danger of a melt down because it stalls in cold weather. When the sensor(s) finally fail completely, the car will still run reasonably well, but they will throw a fault code and the Check Engine light will come on.

You can work around this by keeping the engine speed closer to idle for another minute or two. You don't need to sit in the driveway waiting for the engine to warm up, you just need to short shift during the time when the car is still half asleep. Start the car moving, hit the next gear as soon as possible -- anything above 1,250 should be good -- then hit the next gear too if you really need to. The trick on a cold motor is to go as fast as you can while the engine is going as slow as possible.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

Vacuum leaks. Sticking idle control valve. Maybe even a sticky airflow sensor although that's a distant third. Ignition issues are even possible (but still less likely).

I'd clean the idle control valve out (might as well do the throttle while you have the tools and the carb cleaner out too). Then I might go looking for a vacuum leak in the cold.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

No it doesn't. I've never heard of it happening to any cars. It's obviously extraordinarily unusual. Are you drunk, Jeffy?

Because that's about the lowest RPM where you would want to upshift, hot or cold, Jeffy. It's an M3, not a Peterbilt.

Let me guess, Jeffy, you are one of guys who is afraid of letting his engine rev anywhere near redline.

Oh, really? FFS, you are an idiot, Jeffy.

Are you still using mid-grade gasoline in car designed for premium, because you are "dollar driven", Jeffy?

What nonsense. Just get the thing fixed.

Reply to
dizzy

Sorry, I have to hold your hand...

It happens to all BMW cars. It's not an M3 thing. It's a BMW thing.

No, I'm not drunk. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

My car is perfectly happy to shift at 1,500 before the end of my street of

19 homes. I don't care what the car is, in 150 yards, the next thing to do is slow down, so the shift (ESPECIALLY WHEN COLD) can come early or simply not be made because upshifting is a SPEEDING UP process, but at the end of 150 yards the OP needs to be thinking of slowing down. I only have 150 yards to the end of my street, and I sometimes amd coasting around the corner in 3rd, and the car is fine -- not to mention cold.

I don't understand why you're such an idiot, Dizzy.

I nudge Red Line on occasion, but I see no point in hitting it everyday, and certainly not every time I drive my car.

Maybe, but I had an engine with more than 250,000 miles with no major service needed. The question is, why the rough shift? I can't say why the rough shift, but I can say that smoother shifts come earlier, and on a cold engine, then earlier is better if smooth is the goal.

Why the personal attacks?

My car clearly states that it takes 89 octane, which is mid-grade. I don't know where you get the idea that my car takes premium.

Why pay for repairs when a ligher foot on the pedal will cure the issue?

Seriously, Dizzy, you are more full of shit than a Thanksgiving turkey.

Are you out of jail again, or did your boyfriend smuggle in a phone that you post from?

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

I don't thrash mine (735i V8) when cold either. Fortunately mine is garaged, so even if it is -10C outside. Nevertheless it is best not to let the rev's go aboue 2,000rpm until the temperature gauge moves out of the blue.

Using premium rather than regular might help.

Sadly my last BMW (740i) had the nickasil problem and cold starting became a nightmare.

Reply to
R. Mark Clayton

Sorry that you're an idiot.

I stopped reading right there, because it serves no purpose to read Jeffy nonsense, unless I feeel like ridiculing it.

"It happens to all BMW cars." Really? It hasn't happended to mine, in 12 years. Nor have I heard of it happening to anyone else that I know who owns a BMW.

Perhaps you should consider that people looking for help on Internet forums are not a true cross-section of owners, Jeffy.

Reply to
dizzy

Herr Clayton: Surely you must realize that there's a difference between "thrashing" and letting the engine rise above 2000 RPM when cold.

Sure, I'll stay "light on the throttle" when the engine is cold. But wondering why someone would "hit 2,000 to 2,500 in 150 yards on a cold engine" is not something that any reasonable person would do!

Reply to
dizzy

This is the bottom line.

I test-drove a E92 M3, a few months back. It was the most brilliant, awesome machine that I've ever driven. Even cruising the parking lot at 10 MPH was an event. At speed, with the 7-speed automated manual looking for the smallest excuse to drop a gear or two and let the M V8 rev, it was a roller-coaster ride.

By the way, get down on your knees and look underneath one. They are better-built than normal 3-series.

If you're lucky enough to own one of these things, just suck it up and fix it, if there's some problem.

I would seriously consider getting one myself, if it were not for A) I already have a car 80% as good (Supra TT), and B) I'm facing the horrific bills of a kid going to an expensive private college.

Reply to
dizzy

THE OP SAID HIS M3 HAS THIS PROBLEM. IT IS NOT AN M3 ISSUE, IT IS A BMW ISSUE. READ ALL OF THE F---ING WORDS YOU DICKWAD!

Sheesh.

It's never happened to my car(s) either, but the problem that the OP has is not unique to the M cars or the engines used in them. Any of the BMW engines can have this problem. For Christ's f---ing sake, any of the engines used in the 3 Series. What a moron!

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

Alright Dizzy, THINK FOR ONE MINUTE. Don't stress your brain cell, just think for a second...

It's 150 yards from your house to the end of the street. The motor is stone cold. You run it up to 2500rpm between your house and the stop sign, then hit the brakes or the clutch to pull the next gear and then hit the brakes. Really? Why would you even _want_ to do that?

There's no point in hitting that engine speed when the motor is still cold AND the distance from Start to Stop is so short.

You, sir, are one stupid idiot. I happen to live on precisely that street, and I have the chance to do that everytime I leave my driveway, and I can count on one hand the number of times when I have actually done it, and none of them were on a cold engine. None. Not any. There is absolutely no valid reason to treat a car that way unless you give your passengers a barf bag.

So, f*ck you.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.