[Phipsibear42]

Hey Guys, Anybody have this issue with a pulsing idle? I have a 2011 335xi with Active Autowerke Charge Pipe, FMIC, Strut Brace, BMS OCC and DP, and Cobb V3 Stage 2+ Aggressive tune on my car.

I thought the pulsing was caused by running the tune with the stock plastic charge pipe so I swapped it out with the AA CP but it's still present.

Any suggestions?

[marCOCOpuffs]

I thought this issue is common on cold starts?

[dsb335]

Are the RPM's going up and down or is it something you feel when holding the steering wheel?

[SRT14PimPin07]

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=798567

I had made a thread about this in the past. Basically there is no real solution. It comes and goes on it's own. I'm not gonna lie though, when I removed my JB4 it went away. But I put it back anyways cuz I want it.

[Phipsibear42]

yea; the car's at the dealer right now for "rough idle" lol and I will see what they say. I hope they get some sort of code so they have to re-flash the car and update the software. I think that may help.

It's not an unbearable problem, but with a car that cost almost $50k, you would think that it can be fixed lol

[Phipsibear42]

Originally Posted by SRT14PimPin07

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=798567

I had made a thread about this in the past. Basically there is no real solution. It comes and goes on it's own. I'm not gonna lie though, when I removed my JB4 it went away. But I put it back anyways cuz I want it.

That really sux man, I was hoping to have the dlr fix it. The car just hit 40K miles, and so I want to see what I can have replaced under warranty lol

I will keep you posted on what they say / do.

[Phipsibear42]

Originally Posted by marCOCOpuffs

I thought this issue is common on cold starts?

It is common on cold starts, but this happens every time I drive the car. Regardless of cold start or not. But what's trippy is that it's not always consistent; sometimes it's more severe causing the car to lurch / jerk and then other times you can't even notice it.

[Phipsibear42]

Originally Posted by mdintx

Are the RPM's going up and down or is it something you feel when holding the steering wheel?

You hardly notice any fluctuation in the RPM on the guage, maybe +/- 1 line on the guage from the standard 600 rpm idle. But you definitely feel and hear the pulsing / surging RPM's.

[SflBimmer8484]

My 435 does it and the car literally shakes.

[eyim1988]

Originally Posted by Andrew@ActiveAutowerke

My 435 does it and the car literally shakes.

its a common problem lol. I just deal with it now..My f30 will most likely do the same thing,

[adamryi]

Same here, especially on warm starts the rpms will +- 100 for about 30 seconds. The rental 328i I have right now is doing the same. Guess its normal?

[dsb335]

Originally Posted by Phipsibear42

You hardly notice any fluctuation in the RPM on the guage, maybe +/- 1 line on the guage from the standard 600 rpm idle. But you definitely feel and hear the pulsing / surging RPM's.

On my car, it will shudder maybe once or twice a month when I'm stopped and the car is at idle. It does this even when I've been driving for 30+ miles. My car is stock and I've noticed this on another 335i I test drove.

Also, there's a subtle pulse that I can feel in the steering wheel at idle. It's constant. But if you're not paying attention, you won't feel it.

[Phipsibear42]

Yea, I guess I will have to just deal with it then. I'm getting the car back today, and they said they loaded the latest software on the car and with the tune they can't fully diagnose the issue.... That's BS in my opinion, just feel the car run and the problem is clear.

Oh well, atleast the X5M, Xterra, or my Pathfinder don't have that problem lol

Thanks for the feedback guys, and I will be sure to post back on here if I do find anything to fix this issue... I will definitaly take the car backto the dlr around 60k and have them replace the dual scroll turbo lol

[Jdub679]

I wonder if this idle issue is the sound I've been hearing on cold starts. I mean, if it's normal, I'm satisfied. Was just always curious what it was.

Have to admit it's more noticeable now that I can hear the idle clearer with my BMW PE.

[JETmn]

My car is totally stock and on cold starts it will go between 1,500 rpm down to 600 for the first 30 seconds or so, especially now that the temps have dropped. My car stickered for over $58k and I agree it is totally unacceptable. I wouldn't find it acceptable on a Hyundai! BMW amazes me sometimes, it is like they allow us to buy one of their cars and they are doing us a favor and we should be happy we got what we did. They need to learn how to treat a customer better.

[Jdub679]

Originally Posted by JETmn

My car is totally stock and on cold starts it will go between 1,500 rpm down to 600 for the first 30 seconds or so, especially now that the temps have dropped. My car stickered for over $58k and I agree it is totally unacceptable. I wouldn't find it acceptable on a Hyundai! BMW amazes me sometimes, it is like they allow us to buy one of their cars and they are doing us a favor and we should be happy we got what we did. They need to learn how to treat a customer better.

Yea, mine is nothing like this. Maybe because I live in California and the temps don't go as low. I HEAR idle searching, but I don't SEE much going on with the rpm needle.

Honestly, for the longest time, I thought some mechanical flap somewhere in the exhaust was opening and closing. But this was just conjecture.

[Phipsibear42]

OK, got the car back and it seems to be better. They updated the softward on the DME and cleaned out the throtle body and so we will see how it runs till I need my 45k service / oil change.

I missed it lol I had a 328i loaner with the 4cyl turbo. It's peppy, but nowhere near the 335

[SRT14PimPin07]

Originally Posted by Phipsibear42

That really sux man, I was hoping to have the dlr fix it. The car just hit 40K miles, and so I want to see what I can have replaced under warranty lol

I will keep you posted on what they say / do.

Yeah please do so!

[BavarianBullet]

Surging idles are as old as efi itself. It just means the idle control loop cant properly handle a given situation and goes through a detection and overcompensation cycle until the engine warms etc and it falls back into a range it can handle.

On older cars it was often bad/clogged egr equipment that caused it but on newer cars numerous more things can cause it. Im not the expert but particularly the DBW throttle body can cause it.

I changed the O2 sensors on my wife's 03 camry v6 and pulled the battery during troubleshooting to clear adaptations. After that the car couldn't hold an idle. Just started and died right away. Tried the Camry forums and some guys said clean the tb. Ok. Cleaned it up (somewhat dirty after 80k) and the car started and idled pretty well immediately. TB wasn't that dirty but I guess it was enough.

My 2011 335xi did the surging idle thing on cold starts only when the heater/AC was on, primarily when outside temps were cold and the engine was stone cold. Probably something as simple as a small voltage drop or load on the engine by alternator when HVAC was on. Turning off HVAC immediately fixed it for me so if the car started surging on startup, I just turned off HVAC for the first minute or so and dealt with it that way. Didn't bother me much.

It did it on my 11 both stock and with the jb4 and chargepipe w/meth, so I think it was just an ecu programming thing. Revised ecu versions should fix that at some point.

[wwc310]

Had this issue on a stock n55. Took it I'm to the dealer and they replaced the HPFP and upgraded the dme. Problem solved

[Knobi]

Glad you got it fixed
Now silly question here, has the dealership given you any problems regarding your car having FBO? or you just have a really cool SA :

[Phipsibear42]

Originally Posted by BavarianBullet

Surging idles are as old as efi itself. It just means the idle control loop cant properly handle a given situation and goes through a detection and overcompensation cycle until the engine warms etc and it falls back into a range it can handle.

On older cars it was often bad/clogged egr equipment that caused it but on newer cars numerous more things can cause it. Im not the expert but particularly the DBW throttle body can cause it.

I changed the O2 sensors on my wife's 03 camry v6 and pulled the battery during troubleshooting to clear adaptations. After that the car couldn't hold an idle. Just started and died right away. Tried the Camry forums and some guys said clean the tb. Ok. Cleaned it up (somewhat dirty after 80k) and the car started and idled pretty well immediately. TB wasn't that dirty but I guess it was enough.

My 2011 335xi did the surging idle thing on cold starts only when the heater/AC was on, primarily when outside temps were cold and the engine was stone cold. Probably something as simple as a small voltage drop or load on the engine by alternator when HVAC was on. Turning off HVAC immediately fixed it for me so if the car started surging on startup, I just turned off HVAC for the first minute or so and dealt with it that way. Didn't bother me much.

It did it on my 11 both stock and with the jb4 and chargepipe w/meth, so I think it was just an ecu programming thing. Revised ecu versions should fix that at some point.

Thanks for the info, and you are right that it's worse with the HVAC systems on. But irrespective it's still noticible with them off. I will be doing the carbon cleaning service on the car and also replacing plugs.