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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > BMW E90/E92/E93 3-series General Forums > General E90 Sedan / E91 Wagon / E92 Coupe / E93 Cabrio > I need some help!



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      04-16-2014, 05:58 AM   #1
zachpate
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I need some help!

Hello guys!

I've always wanted to join these forums, but I'm a very busy person, so I never got around to it, I just read when I can. This isn't how I really wanted my first experience on these forums to be like this, but I have a problem with my BMW.

To introduce myself, since I'm joining the forums, I'm 17 years olds, I'm a senior in highschool, and about 5 weeks from graduating and going to college in the fall. I just got a 2007 BMW 328xi with 95,000 miles back in September, and I now have about 96,800.

I've loved my BMW to death, and will never want another brand of vehicle again, and I'm sure you all can agree. But I've recently had some problems, and they kind of go hand and hand.

It only happens one day every 2-3 weeks, and only for the commute to or from school or work from school. It is a high pitched whine, almost sounds like a jet taking off, or just the biggest turbo you can imagine at peak boost. (Lol) On top of that, the idle is very rough while the car is making the whining sound. I've noticed while my car is working perfectly fine, my car idles at around 1000rpms, but during the times it happens, it bounced from 1000rpm to 500(ish)rpm pretty rapidly which causes it to shake the vehicle. But note that this is all just at a red light or just not moving. But while I'm driving during it acting up, (have to go to work to pay for it, and school to learn, of course), the car runs perfectly fine, shy from the whine when I left of the gas. While I'm accelerating, the noise is gone. Then when I get to where I'm going, I park, and panic the whole day, then come out however many hours later, and it's no longer an issue for another couple weeks.


It had been this way until I took it to get serviced. And the problem with this is, I got it used (of course) from Friendship here in my area (large dealership franchise that sells ford and Hyundai among their branches). The car has a 10k mile warranty so me and my parents felt pretty safe with the purchase. I called to get it serviced about a month ago and they were very enthusiastic about making an appointment until I told them it was a BMW. He asked if it was just an oil change or if it was a check engine light as well, and I told him it was both. (The check engine line actually doesn't appear unless it's doing the rough idling and high pitch noise anymore, just at the time it did) He told me that they don't have the equipment to do anything to my vehicle other than an oil change, but they would try.

I took it there, showed them the warranty proof, but wouldn't talk to ME about the problems with the car, they asked my mother because it is in her name until I turn 18 in May. She never drives it, and she's not very interested in cars, she has a new Honda Odyssey (boooooo), and barely knows it's a 6 cylinder. So of course communication was limited between me and the service department due to her having to ask me these questions instead of them asking me.

Anyways, they took my car back for about two hours, and returned it to me and told me something interesting. He told me that the check engine light was due to my gas cap. A few weeks prior to that, I left my car unlocked and a jealous student at my high school took my gas cap, so I went directly after school and purchased an OEM gas cap for the 07 3 series. He said that was the only thing they could find. He managed to turn the light off for headlight (one of the left bulbs went out, so it's like 1/8th of a difference darker than the other.) and I realized once I got home (it was daytime when I left, so I didn't notice) that the bulb wasn't even replaced.

Now the problem is that the rough idle and noise continues to happen once every two or three weeks and now it's worse, the car actually shuts off at low speeds at around 30mph and less. I was taking a right hand turn onto a road that had someone in the other lane trying to turn right out onto the main road, my car turned off in middle of the turn and I come about 1-3 feet from hitting the car because it locked up my steering. It just falls onto it's fake and locked the steering until I put it back into park and start the car again, then I have to take off and keep my rpms high before it shuts up again, rather panicky situation in red light to read light traffic since it isn't a stick shift like my other car,(1998 240sx Kouki). The check engine light is only on right after it does and I'm in drive, as soon as I put it into park and start it, it disappears.

I'm sorry that I had to write an equivalent of a Harry Potter book as my first post, but I'm not sure what to and it seems no one knows what is going on.

I really appreciate you taking the time to read it, and I can't wait to get to know you guys, I've learned a lot from you all already.

Zach.
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      04-18-2014, 08:17 AM   #2
dtwyim
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You should post this in the 3 series forum instead of general BMW forum.
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      04-18-2014, 09:03 AM   #3
Austin 1439
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whistling could be just a vaccum leak, while the rough idle could be a carbon build up or failing injectors,spark plugs or coil packs.
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      04-18-2014, 09:13 AM   #4
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take it back to that dealer . . you have a warranty . . let your mom tell them to take it to a bmw dealer on their dime if they cant fix it at their dealership. IF you don't get satisfaction from the service department have your mom call the GM of the dealership and complain.
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      04-18-2014, 09:14 AM   #5
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Could be coils or plugs but your car should be idling around 600 not 1000. Try some techtron cleaner and make sure you're only using 93 octane gas.

In the mean time you need to get this dealership to fix the problem, it is their problem not yours. Can you post pictures of the warranty agreement?
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      04-18-2014, 09:16 AM   #6
rowingone
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The problem is that this dealership may not be able to read BMW codes . . only emissions codes so they cant diagnose the real problem . .
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      04-18-2014, 09:37 AM   #7
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needs to be checked out. Your first problem is car should be idling around 500-600 not 1000 that is way too high.
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      04-18-2014, 11:06 AM   #8
NormE91
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I agree that the whistling is probably a vacuum leak. The car shutting off is troubling. There was a recall last year for a battery cable problem; I'd call your local BMW dealership, give them your vin number and make sure the recall was done.

Your idle is definitely high, which could be due to a vacuum leak.

Good luck!
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      04-18-2014, 11:30 AM   #9
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To check for a vacuum leak, simply just open the oil filler cap on the valve cover while the engine is running. If the engine makes attempts to keep the idle constant then you probably don't have a vacuum leak. If the engine does not try to keep the idle constant then you do have a vacuum leak, because the engine is constantly trying to maintain idle under a vacuum leak condition.

If it does have a vacuum leak, take it to a BMW independent shop that can perform a smoke test. Most good auto shops have a smoke test machine, which is a tool that adds smoke into the vacuum system and will show if and where the various vacuum circuit of the engine have a leak.

As far as the check engine light, even though it is off, if it came one at one point, the event is stored in the ECU (engine computer) so the Technician can diagnose the problem. If it is a vacuum leak, then the codes are most likely lean mixture codes that go away once the vacuum is restored.
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      04-18-2014, 02:41 PM   #10
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Not sure about any of your other issues, but that X-Drive can definitely be noisy at times.

I had a 328 xi coupe and it sounded like a damn jet airliner almost every day, especially when coasting.

I occasionally missed it during inclement or snowy weather, and especially missed it this past winter- but not any other day of the week.
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