Engine misfires/knocking, aka "Drivetrain Malfunction"

[sycd]

Sounds very familiar, I think someone else here had the same issue and it couldn't be solved. His car was ultimately lemoned. Sorry I don't have a link, might want to search for it.

Like some others I would also recommend running with stock intake from now on if this gets escalated, at least they won't be able to use it as an excuse to not do a proper investigation.

Good luck!

[Fast4d]

got drivetrain malfunction today.

in 7th gear manual mode put some load on it as I was accelerating at 80mph.

engine stuttered and got the message. I continued to drive and engine behaved normally. used JB4 to oull codes but none founded. drove another 200 miles home even tried full throttle no issues.

[IMrMark]

Originally Posted by Fast4d

got drivetrain malfunction today.

in 7th gear manual mode put some load on it as I was accelerating at 80mph.

engine stuttered and got the message. I continued to drive and engine behaved normally. used JB4 to oull codes but none founded. drove another 200 miles home even tried full throttle no issues.

I'll be taking the car in this week if all goes according to schedule, but I had an incident with a valet last night and so I may be putting her in the body shop as well lol will update thread if I get anything good from the techs regarding the videos and the two codes.

it never ends

[S65V8]

Originally Posted by IMrMark

Anyway, that's my long ass story. I'm hoping you guys might have some ideas, or some experience, or heard of someone with similar things - or, even better (really) that I'm just totally crazy, it's completely normal, and that I have nothing to worry about. The misfires/drivetrain malfunction makes me feel like there is something to worry about, but I'm not married to "being right" - I know I'm not the expert, I didn't work with the ///M team in designing the engine, and I don't know everyone's experience. I'm hoping to learn though, and I'm hoping that anything I might learn might really help me (and the dealership) figure out what's going on (if anything).

for those who took the time to finish reading this.... come see me, I'll share some beer

Question, when did you first use launch control on the car?

[IMrMark]

Originally Posted by SROC5

Question, when did you first use launch control on the car?

Can't tell if joke

[S65V8]

Originally Posted by IMrMark

Can't tell if joke

lol, bmw states, if the car uses LC before 3100 miles it could have adverse affects later...so curious if you launched it prior to 3100

[SakhirM4]

Originally Posted by SROC5

lol, bmw states, if the car uses LC before 3100 miles it could have adverse affects later...so curious if you launched it prior to 3100

He doesn't have LC - he has a 6MT

[S65V8]

Originally Posted by SakhirM4

He doesn't have LC - he has a 6MT

im on a roll today!

[SakhirM4]

Originally Posted by SROC5

im on a roll today!

[IMrMark]

Originally Posted by SROC5

im on a roll today!

oh hahaha I gotcha

the only launch control I have is my left foot...... but no launching type activities here, she gets babied. Maybe that's my problem

[IMrMark]

Originally Posted by ///F80M3

Did the dealer check the plugs/coils? Sounds like your running lean. Any exhaust mods? Dp's? U might also have water in the gas tank.

Ah, missed this post man - they claimed to have done all sorts of things at the time. I tried to compensate for possible lean run, but no dice. No mods under the hood at this time at all.

[IMrMark]

Latest update on this, as the journey continues!

Dropped the car off finally for the next round, along with CBS maintenance, and went over everything with the tech. Got lucky this go around, the guy also drives an M4 so he was right away able to relate and see where things might be off. It was at least nice to not feel crazy for once going into dealer shop. Car was put back to stock (the Arma intake removed) after the last visit, and the problem had not been resolved (pretty much as expected). Showed him the videos and let him know it had happened a couple times since then.

Got a call this morning and he let me know that they hadn't gotten the car to repeat the problem (also expected haha) but that they were going to take the steps to escalate to an engineering resource with BMWNA to try and get some ideas. Thank God I was able to get those videos or else I'm not sure how much luck I'd be having really. But yeah, they seem to actually be getting through it, so hopefully something will come of it. If I hear anything in the next day or so, will post up and share with the class.

[pesh]

I have a 2015 M4 Convertible and just started experiencing the same thing you described for the first time. The car is maybe 1 year old and has less than 5000 miles on it. Its with the dealership here in Austin, TX. I'm eager to see what they find.

At first glance, my Service Advisor suggested it could be the quality of gas i use. I've been using Costco Premium for the last 10+ years on 2009 M3 vert, 2014 X5, and now 2015 M4 vert.

Seems like there are more than a few reported incidents of this malfunction to make me think there may be a legitimate engineering issue...

[IMrMark]

Originally Posted by pesh

I have a 2015 M4 Convertible and just started experiencing the same thing you described for the first time. The car is maybe 1 year old and has less than 5000 miles on it. Its with the dealership here in Austin, TX. I'm eager to see what they find.

At first glance, my Service Advisor suggested it could be the quality of gas i use. I've been using Costco Premium for the last 10+ years on 2009 M3 vert, 2014 X5, and now 2015 M4 vert.

Seems like there are more than a few reported incidents of this malfunction to make me think there may be a legitimate engineering issue...

Ah, sorry to hear man. Yeah, I heard the same quality of gas issue from one dealer earlier on, but I tried a number of different things as well to eliminate it. Couldn't seem to find the magic needed to confidently resolve things on my own though, and problem came back so I returned to my usual routine. Dealership on Friday reported they did a gas sample, along with a bunch of other elimination type tests, and all seemed to come back clean.

Some news from the dealership: BMWNA is sending down a tech to the dealership today to take another look and give them a fresh set of eyes. Don't really know if this is a guy from the port service center or one of those regional reps that have been mentioned here and there. One thing that has been mentioned as being on the list was a replacement of the exhaust to try and finally address the dreaded over-rattle. It feels like they are waiting for the guy/girl to come take a look regarding the drivetrain malfunction before they start actually doing anything, even if work they know they are keen on doing is unrelated to whatever the larger problem is. I'm thinking I'll hear more this afternoon, so I'll make sure to post any feedback I get on my particular situation. Hopefully something useful for others comes out of this (well, that and I get my car back in full working form ).

[RMDZidane]

I don't know if this pertains to f80's but on some vehicles there can be problems with exhaust pieces rattling up near the turbo/downpipe or against something at just the right frequency which causes the knock sensor to pick it up and throw all kinds of fits as it retards timing and throws fuel to 'save' the engine ....just a thought

I haven't had this problem but just in case I have a whole box of Torco Accelerator to help diagnose possible fuel quality questions

[V1.47fan]

No JB4 for me, i want to enjoy this car and not turn it into an ongoing science project with constantly troubleshooting problems like in my old 11sec 335i.

[pesh]

I'm currently in Germany on business travel but my wife picked up my car from dealership and the issue was cited as faulty fuel injector #2. It was replaced, oil changed, and car returned.

[sittingmongoose]

It sounds like a broken crank hub. It breaks on every single f80 so that's definitely what happened to you.

[sittingmongoose]

Just to clarify I was being an asshole because I'm tired of seeing the crank hub issue pop up

[ItsaGoose]

Any updates on the diagnosis?

[gily]

I had similar issues, they drained gas tank as they thought it was bad gas but issue persisted, they replaced spark plugs and the same issue, they replaced the EDM and an oxigen sensor and issue was fixed (after about a month of troubleshooting)

[mark5092]

Originally Posted by sittingmongoose

Just to clarify I was being an asshole because I'm tired of seeing the crank hub issue pop up

👍🏽