Love the car, few niggles to resolve

[DTP1980]

So I’ve had my 2014 LCI for a few months. It has 40k miles on it. Full service history. Absolutely love it and its Jekyll and Hyde personality. Only change so far, disconnected the sound generator. Plans are afoot, but before then.....

First thing, the DCT has an occasional habit of not engaging the clutch correctly. I’ll try to leave a junction and it’ll rev to 1500 and not move. Release the throttle and it’ll dump the clutch just above 1k, so it lurches. No faults announced in the car. Anyone else experienced this?

Second, the iDrive screen flickers a bit, and 3 times now has completely shut down and rebooted during use. Seems like a loose plug. Anyone had this too?

I’ve also noticed that I can hear, what i’m pretty sure, are the injectors. Only happens when idling, accelerating and holding speed. Same noise level always, sounds like very faint tapping. Doesn’t do it when coasting down to just above idle, hence my assumption. We in the U.K. don’t have the fuel injector problems experienced in the US as the fuel quality we have is very high, but i’ve never experienced this with any of my other petrol BMWs, and didn’t have it with my M3. If it’s a characteristic, i’m happy to live with it. Again, no faults showing. Anyone else notice this with their own?

And, lastly, the same thing I have experienced with every BMW with adaptive suspension - they bloody ‘knock’ over rough roads until it’s been driven a while. When I say rough roads, I mean British roads, which are the devil’s work due to political incompetence and terrible road builders. Basically the only response i’ve had when I have raised the knocking issue is shrugged shoulders and ‘they all do that’ or ‘I can’t hear it’, because all BMW technicians are apparently deaf.

It’s booked in 6th June anyway but i’d be interested in hearing anyone’s else’s experience. It’s under warranty.

[Proftinkerpot]

I picked up my 2014 lci M5 2 weeks ago. It's got 14k miles on it and so far my only issue is a little rattle in the from passenger door. The car is amazing. The issue you describe with the DCT does it happen in efficient or sport or both? I do find in sport mode, it can be aggressive even if you are just pulling out of a junction or joining a roundabout and if you throttle gently it almost kangaroos as it's expecting you to give it the beans. I.getting the hang of it and love how the car handles. It's solid and surefooted and feels in a different league to my 335d which wasn't a bad car by any stretch.
The idrive issue occured maybe 3 times during the 4 years I had the 335d. I never had a flicker but it shut itself down and rebooted for no obvious reason.
The knocking could be a suspension setting but worth getting it checked. I find the M5 ride is superb coming from a 3 series on run flats especially the early Bridgestone tyres until I moved it onto Goodyear Eagle F1s which are much better. Is your car running 20" wheels? And what tyres ? Michelin or Pirelli? I have the Michelin's and they are really impressive.

[Spinny02]

Originally Posted by DTP1980

So I've had my 2014 LCI for a few months. It has 40k miles on it. Full service history. Absolutely love it and its Jekyll and Hyde personality. Only change so far, disconnected the sound generator. Plans are afoot, but before then.....

First thing, the DCT has an occasional habit of not engaging the clutch correctly. I'll try to leave a junction and it'll rev to 1500 and not move. Release the throttle and it'll dump the clutch just above 1k, so it lurches. No faults announced in the car. Anyone else experienced this?

Second, the iDrive screen flickers a bit, and 3 times now has completely shut down and rebooted during use. Seems like a loose plug. Anyone had this too?

I've also noticed that I can hear, what i'm pretty sure, are the injectors. Only happens when idling, accelerating and holding speed. Same noise level always, sounds like very faint tapping. Doesn't do it when coasting down to just above idle, hence my assumption. We in the U.K. don't have the fuel injector problems experienced in the US as the fuel quality we have is very high, but i've never experienced this with any of my other petrol BMWs, and didn't have it with my M3. If it's a characteristic, i'm happy to live with it. Again, no faults showing. Anyone else notice this with their own?

And, lastly, the same thing I have experienced with every BMW with adaptive suspension - they bloody 'knock' over rough roads until it's been driven a while. When I say rough roads, I mean British roads, which are the devil's work due to political incompetence and terrible road builders. Basically the only response i've had when I have raised the knocking issue is shrugged shoulders and 'they all do that' or 'I can't hear it', because all BMW technicians are apparently deaf.

It's booked in 6th June anyway but i'd be interested in hearing anyone's else's experience. It's under warranty.

I have a 14' w/ no screen flicker. I have not see anyone else mention this over the past few years. It should be checked out.

[TLK]

My E60 CCC screen flickered just before the HU (not the screen actually) died altogether, and I ended up finding a shop on the web that repairs them, so they swapped me with another already repaired unit. I don't think you're going to find loose connectors, because they all have locks on them, so I'd say it's got a fault and it may get worse and fail in the future.

[DTP1980]

Originally Posted by Proftinkerpot

The idrive issue occured maybe 3 times during the 4 years I had the 335d. I never had a flicker but it shut itself down and rebooted for no obvious reason.
The knocking could be a suspension setting but worth getting it checked. I find the M5 ride is superb coming from a 3 series on run flats especially the early Bridgestone tyres until I moved it onto Goodyear Eagle F1s which are much better. Is your car running 20" wheels? And what tyres ? Michelin or Pirelli? I have the Michelin's and they are really impressive.

Yes, it”s on 20” and MPSS. I find the ride firm but tolerable, and the handling is excellent. A little bouncy sometimes is my only complaint. Have the comfort seats too which are simply outstanding. I have always dumped run-flats for Michelin’s, and I look forwards to swapping the MPSSs for 4S, which are a wonderful step up in all aspects.

We experienced iDrive crashes on a ‘16 435d we had. Never had the chance to get it checked out.

This M5 is my 14th BMW. So these are almost familiar issues. Shame really. The Audi’s i’ve had have all been trouble free, but they are just so boring!

[wesleyan92]

Originally Posted by DTP1980

...the DCT has an occasional habit of not engaging the clutch correctly. I’ll try to leave a junction and it’ll rev to 1500 and not move. Release the throttle and it’ll dump the clutch just above 1k, so it lurches. No faults announced in the car. Anyone else experienced this?

Second, the iDrive screen flickers a bit, and 3 times now has completely shut down and rebooted during use. Seems like a loose plug. Anyone had this too....

I’ve also noticed that I can hear, what i’m pretty sure, are the injectors. Only happens when idling, accelerating and holding speed. Same noise level always, sounds like very faint tapping. Doesn’t do it when coasting down to just above idle, hence my assumption.

- The DCT issue for me happens only when i have the car on the most aggressive shift mode - it is more my issue of not being able to handle the beast, I figure.

- My iDrive does not flicker but has experienced 5 complete re-boots since I bought the car in 2016 (yes, I keep count). It is occasional enough that I don't want my worthless service department to F around with the dash and head unit

- As for the injector noise, I hear my turbos whine when I step on the gas. Does not sound obtrusive but I have never gotten used to it - keep thinking something is going to explode.

[TLK]

Your DCT shouldn't do this. It's not your settings or your driving. I always drive in S3 and have never seen this.

[Fast400]

Originally Posted by TLK

Your DCT shouldn't do this. It's not your settings or your driving. I always drive in S3 and have never seen this.

LOL...you won't see it in S3.
I'm guessing this is happening in S1. Depending on how you drive the Transmission adapts over time. When I first got mine I couldn't quite get the gaspedal right either ....launch or putt putt, but after a few weeks it settled.

If the issue continues, I'd make sure fluid level is good and maybe have an adaptation done.

[TLK]

S1-S3 is manual shifting. There's no adaptation with this, only (maybe) with D1-D3.

In the D auto modes, it doesn't always shift to 1 at a stop, so you pull away in 2 instead, which is more likely to be your feeling of variable good launch or "putt putt". Starting in 2 from a stop works better in a real automatic transmission, but in DCT it doesn't feel right, is slow and has a lot of slip of the clutch to prevent stalling.

You can reset adaptation if you search it up, both without any tools or in ISTA+.

[DTP1980]

Thanks all.

Interesting to see others seeing regular non user initiated reboots on the iDrive. We’ll see what BMW say.

No comments on the injectors either. With a smooth road, HVAC turned low or off, it can be readily heard, and my best description is that it sounds like someone using a jackhammer in the distance.

The DCT issue Is in general day to day use, like in town. The reality is that it’s too crowded, roads too busy to use the car in sport all the time. Not enough room for error. I live quite rurally too. Be assured, it gets used thoroughly when the conditions are right.

Last night I gave it a 200 mile hard run into the Welsh valleys when most people were off the roads. Used the transmission in either S2 or 3 depending on the road condition, but mainly manual. It behaved just fine. I have noticed in S2 and 3, as mentioned above, that a gentle launch from standstill can give a kangaroo type effect. Brilliant way of making passengers feel sick instantly. But no slipping, no hesitation and again even at WOT and redlining, no faults given.

I can already anticipate where this conversation with the service department is going to go, can’t you?!

[DTP1980]

So, further to my thread.

Gearbox settings have been reset so i have to try that for a week. Didn't expect anything else at this stage.

iDrive completely melted down the other day. The screen was flashing on and off for around 15 minutes, and reset itself, whilst all the time flashing. Diagnosed as a faulty screen, which is good because the screen face was also delaminating. So this should get fixed next week.

Some progress at least....

[Pikey Motorsports]

I get a very fast tut tut tut noise under light acceleration at low speed goes if I let off throttle maybe what you are experiencing?

[DTP1980]

Ok, so screen replaced and iDrive totally updated. I’ll report any future failure.

Transmission was fully reset last week. In the meantime I have covered around 500 miles. Adaptations set in and it was failing to slip the clutch in gently from either standing starts or downshifts. So problem not solved with a reset.

So last night the TCU was allegedly updated to the latest version. However, I was told that because my Acrive Sound was disconnected they couldn’t verify complete diagnostics. They have reconnected, but apparently have “ordered the latest software for the active sound”, which they will install when available and complete the tests.

Was anyone aware of different versions for active sound? And why do yo think it would get in the way of diagnostics?

Anyway, i’ll need time to let the ‘box adapt and go from there. My current feeling is that it feels better without the auto adaptations.

[SP330]

If I'm in sport or sport plus in D2, my car occasionally gives me nothing and then WHAM brings on the power. My wife hates me for it and thinks I'm doing it on purpose.

I never paid attention to the gear I was in when it happened but I'm assuming its second gear. I've been driving more aggressively lately and I think the transmission got used to it and the lurch hasn't occurred since.

[DTP1980]

Just a continuation now...

The iDrive seems fixed. No repeats of the issues.

However, a fault with the car-to-BMW head office comms system (whatever it’s called) was discovered (i thought t was just a characteristic that it was slow to transfer data). So that unit has to be replaced.

Also, there is a fault with the noise actuator, so a software update is due for that too. Can’t imagine it’ll sound an better afterwards, so who cares.

The transmission was fully updated to the latest TCU version. Feels a lot better in most circumstances, but still ‘dumps’ the clutch in occasionally and randomly, most notably now on slow speed down-shifts (not noted before). Dealer has therefore agreed to replace the transmission oil and filters as a last swipe at the cherry before we go down major parts replacements (such as the mechatronics). Car has 41k miles.

I haven’t addressed the (assumed) injector noises nor the knocking suspension yet. Just dealing with the major grievances first.