E60 N53 LCI - Cold start engine is vibrating badly, rpm drops, HELP!!

[aoch88]

Hey guys, my turn to ask for help My car is a 2007 530i N53 engine and here is what happens:- If I leave my car parked for a few hours (i.e. morning cold start, after work trying to start the car), the engine will vibrate badly when I start it.- I observe that the rpm was alright in the beginning (around 900-1000 rpm) but after 10 secs or so, it drops to 500-600 and this caused the engine to jerk/vibrate.- If I drive for 3-4 mins and when the engine is warm, the car works PERFECTLY fine. I am puzzled as to why it is vibrating only during cold starts?- I have changed the MAF sensor, air filter, High Pressure Fuel Pump, engine oil/filter (since my service is due) but did not help to resolve the issue.I have not had this problem before until few weeks ago. I plugged into the OBD and there are no errors related to this at all. My guess is that the intake might have issues? Not enough air going in during cold starts or something on the throttle body? Please help!Anyone know any workshops in Klang Valley that is well versed with N53 engines? I believe this is specific to N53 because the normal mechanic that I visit have no idea WTF is happening. It seems that this is not common among N52's.Tolonggggg!!!

 

[anaksarawak]

Have you experienced overheating recently?

 

[aoch88]

Have you experienced overheating recently?

No boss, everything is ok when the engine is warmed up Only during it vibrates so badly. Sigh, really don't know WTF is wrong.

 

[Herbert]

Alvin,

N53 engines with iffy piezo electric injectors and fuel pumps are the common failures reported by many. Since you have replaced your fuel pump, the most likely cause could be the injectors.

http://forums.5series.net/e60-discussion-2/n53-fuelling-issues-strike-again-48445/

http://www.bmwland.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=133844

 

[aoch88]

Hi Herbert,

Thanks but if it's the injector, there would be fault codes and misfires. On top of that, it should have abnormal driving behavior at all times. However in my case, the problem only happens on a cold start. When the engine is warm, everything seems to be perfectly fine. The N53 is very similar to N54 except it does not have a Turbo and looks like those guys with N54 also have such vibrating issues but I can't seem to find a good solution for it

 

[Herbert]

Well, since you have already replaced the MAF sensor & fuel pump, the next intake system components are the ignition coils & injectors. I would still bet on the injectors as it may have been partially block when the engine is cold.

 

[aoch88]

Well, since you have already replaced the MAF sensor & fuel pump, the next intake system components are the ignition coils & injectors. I would still bet on the injectors as it may have been partially block when the engine is cold.

That's the most expensive part The ignition coil would be much cheaper or it might be the HPFP (again?!)

 

[Herbert]

very unlikely the ignition coil as the scanner would pick up the error of defective coil.

 

[anaksarawak]

Any possibility to clean the injectors? Many product claim it's possible

 

[aoch88]

very unlikely the ignition coil as the scanner would pick up the error of defective coil.

That's exactly the same thing with the injectors. I mean, there would definitely be misfire or fault code but in my case, everything seems ok. I read about clogging intake valves which might also be the issue here. I changed 6 spark plugs and still the same thing

 

[aoch88]

Update:

Here is what I have done/swapped and problem still persist:

1. MAF sensor
2. Clean the throttle body
3. All spark plugs
4. All ignition coils

 

[Algino]

Engine mount maybe ?

 

[aoch88]

Engine mount maybe ?

It's not the engine mount but I have also changed it. The vibration is reduced but still it's there. Now I just left a few parts to try; solenoid valve, O2 sensor, injectors. I'm going crazy!

 

[aidilj]

Could be the O2 sensor. O2 sensor only operates well at high temp, if the sensor heater is broken then it will rely solely on the engine exhaust to heat it up which will take awhile. The O2 sensor and the heater is one component (not sold separately).

But a diagnose will usually report O2 sensor heater failure..

 

[falco]

My personal Experience. It's most likely injectors.

I used to faced same problem, end up ignition coil (1 out of 6) not working and injectors (I changed all).

 

[aoch88]

An update to this thread and my problem. It has finally been resolved and the solution is REPLACE all 6 injectors and ignition coils. The bloody problem is really our Malaysian petrol and from what I have read recently, BH Petrol (Infiniti 2X) would have the least amount of sulphur contents compared to other petrol brands. I am not sure how true this is but that's what Paultan says in his article.

 

[astroboy]

Ouch.. good thing is you don't have valvetronic motor, 1 less potential headache.. I heard the injector not cheap leh.. those diesel boys will all soon face your issue..

There's a valid reason why BMW Malaysia not bringing in this engine.. let's see how the diesel engine cope with our fuel.

Have you tried this? Currently using it on my 7 years old 200k km old Avanza like taking supplement medication.. Can get from ACE Hardware for RM19.90.. :4:

 

[aoch88]

TQ boss and yes, the injectors are RM800+ each excluding labor. I believe the diesel runs on Turbo so they won't have such issues? Previously the government says they will enforce Euro 4 standards but now there's totally no news.
I've never tried these dyno-tabs but is it ok to put them on our BMW's? Just worried it messes up with the injectors more than helping it out, lol

 

[astroboy]

True also.. RM800 each.. dun play play..

 

[lamer2000]

Ouch, sucks u gotta change all the injectors. Our government shud really start implementing Euro 4M. European countries are already going to enforce Euro 6.

Thailand is going to implement Euro 4 soon. Very significant drop in sulphur content for diesel and petrol.

For me, I personally like BHP Petrol and Caltex as the engine is significantly more quiet and less rattle. Shell 95 is the worse.

Btw, just some insight to diesel users. Whatever you do, try to avoid fuel up with Shell diesel.Not good quality, dirty. My company deals with their downstream refinery. BHP gets their diesel from Singapore BP refinery as they dont have own refinery in malaysia. Confirm it conforms to Euro 2M.