[marlin2911]

Does anyone experience sort of a rough idle and the transmission being jumpy after a cold start on their 328? I notice that the car shifts overly hard and feels jumpy but it goes away after like a minute of driving and never comes back unless you leave the car off for several hours.

[ADM]

Forgive me it I do not mention the "warm up" mode that most speak about before pulling out of the driveway, but my comment is more directed at if you notice any difference when you do this due to the outside temperature: 60+ vs. 40+, vs. below 30?

Just a thought...

[marlin2911]

I actually notice it more now that the Temps are warming up... It's worse at 50-60 than it was at 20-30

[mge92]

I normally give my X3 with the same engine a min or two to let the oil circulate and it maybe jerky at first especially in cold weather but once it warms up a lil especially the transmission fluid ... it becomes as smooth as butter. It also helps if you take it easy for the first mile when it warms up.

[kppanic]

Originally Posted by marlin2911

Does anyone experience sort of a rough idle and the transmission being jumpy after a cold start on their 328? I notice that the car shifts overly hard and feels jumpy but it goes away after like a minute of driving and never comes back unless you leave the car off for several hours.

Exact same thing to my 2012 328i. Started happening during these colder winter months here in Toronto. On the first cold startup of the day it when I press on the start button it almost fails to start (i.e. struggles). It will idle very roughly, sometimes engine dipping below 600rpm and you can feel the shudder or the car struggling and the rpm shoots back up again. Then if I drive right away without doing a 30-45sec warmup the car jerks forward, until the engine begins to get warm.

It doesn't happen again until the next very cold start.

[jtuds]

If I get in the gas too early after a cold start it might stutter once but then It's fine after that.

[elevenmonkeys]

but in the car manual, it says just drive off at a lower speed, there's no need for warming up the car. I wonder if that's true?

[fecurtis]

Every car I've ever owned does that when the engine and transmission are cold. The car idles higher when it's cold because the car will throw more fuel into the cylinders to ease the start up process. Perfectly normal. This is why fuel economy is worse in colder climates.

Just gotta give it a few minutes to warm up, in the meantime just drive easy and keep the RPM's low.

[ingenieur]

Originally Posted by fecurtis

Every car I've ever owned does that when the engine and transmission are cold. The car idles higher when it's cold because the car will throw more fuel into the cylinders to ease the start up process. Perfectly normal. This is why fuel economy is worse in colder climates.

Just gotta give it a few minutes to warm up, in the meantime just drive easy and keep the RPM's low.

I do not agree...

The reason is that most engine starts have a catalyst heating phase in order to to meet the mandated "CSERS" standards - anyone can go to the ARB website to read the regulations.

To achieve the emission requirements and also retain desired driveability performance (smooth running) is to walk a fine line.

If you remember the carburetor cars with various choke mechanisms? We all just dealt with it right?

That is why with today's complex engine management systems it is possible to get in - start up and drive away - initial upshifts (AT) will be initially at a higher RPM but the transition is over after within a few km or so.

The performance and fuel economy specs. being achieved on the latest engines, while obviously still meeting the current and future stringent emission and CAFE standards, has brought some amazing digital technology into the automotive sector.

This ol' timer enjoys both worlds.