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View Full Version : Coldweather Problems in your BMW anyone?



digi
01-14-2005, 01:49 PM
Just wondering if people have had problems with their cars so far because of the cold weather IE: Starting it up, other failures?

So far my headlight washers have started leaking, and my fuel injectors started leaking gas on a 2001 325i. Am i the only one ?

kerr
01-14-2005, 04:28 PM
My 540i spent the night at -20ish and started like shit the next day so bad that the check engine light came on. The dealer said that it was probably some frozen fuel and some un burnt gas probably past the sensor. it was a quick reset.Somtimes when i start it it does irratic things like operate the rear sun blind or flash the xenon headlights on and off, im not sure what thats about.:dunno:

Glenn 328is
01-14-2005, 04:48 PM
My battery was too weak to start on Thursday. I bought a new battery today.

I have to slam the door to get it to close properly.

My odometer pixels go in and out depending how warm it is on the inside.

My gas pedal gets ice build up on the bottom which causes it to stick - I reach down and pull it back. Dumb.

Steering wheel squeeks.

The rest is fine.....;)

Kaos
01-14-2005, 05:18 PM
-No heat when Idling.
Heat when driving.

I just replaced my Thermostat and the housing.
Anyone else know what could be wrong??

ACS-e36
01-14-2005, 06:20 PM
i have the heat problem too... its cold at idle but once i start to drive i get heat. had thermostat replaced not too long ago too. i think this is normal

i had problems with my doors last year... all they need is some lube.

my steering wheel squeeks a bit too there a fix for it on bimmerforums.com i plan on doing it when spring rolls around

bol
01-14-2005, 07:56 PM
Mine has been great but on the -31 days I could watch the engine temp drop while sitting at a light with the heat blasting... haha


My 330Ci ate two batteries the first winter that it saw.

cycosis
01-14-2005, 09:23 PM
my battery froze twice

00redLUDE
01-15-2005, 12:52 AM
When the car has been out in the cold for a long time some of the radio display is missing digits until it warms up. Had the radio display replaced and it is still happening? :dunno:

Also, when car is cold and at idle the rev goes up and down sporadically between 1-2g until it warms up. Any ideas? :dunno:

bol
01-15-2005, 01:27 AM
Originally posted by 00redLUDE
When the car has been out in the cold for a long time some of the radio display is missing digits until it warms up. Had the radio display replaced and it is still happening? :dunno:



Any LCD is going to have very slow response when it's cold! It's normal.

lint
01-15-2005, 01:47 AM
Wow. My 82 320 hasn't had any problems at all. Since it was originally a BC car, there's no block heater, and I park it outside. Even when it dropped down to -28, it started with one crank. Although it sounded rough, seeing as it's 15w40 in there, can't really complain, and it heats up nice, although the fan is pretty tempermental until it's warmed up a bit. Just sad to see so many issues with the newer cars.

GT4rally
01-15-2005, 06:01 AM
No problems with my 320i... since it has been busy holding up a snow drift for the past three weeks!

My AWD Celica has taken over trasportation duties until it warms up... a lot. Besides, it's tons more fun in the snow than the Bimmer could ever be.

00redLUDE
01-15-2005, 10:11 AM
Originally posted by bol



Any LCD is going to have very slow response when it's cold! It's normal.

But it's just the radio LCD, none of the other displays have any problems so that's why I brought it to BMW's attention.

QuasarCav
01-15-2005, 10:21 AM
This may sound ghetto (especially for the BMW's) but I had to break down and put cardboard in front of my rad. I was getting no heat at idle and on the highway. Painted it black and sized it into the space. Never would know it's there!

three.eighteen.
01-16-2005, 04:00 AM
its weird how my tercel will start on minus 30 days no problem, but ask a bmw to do it and the results are iffy

j0nblayz
01-16-2005, 01:46 PM
left my car at train station from 8am-9pm on that cold -32 day.. came back to my car, would turn but not catch, kept trying till i killed my battery, got my friend to boost and we kept tryin, it kept turning over but no catch, so i was guessin it was a frozen fuel line or something, so i got it towed to an underground parking lot to defrost the line. Next day start it up, same problem, called my friend whos a mechanic, tells me i probably flooded the sh!t out of the engine since bmw's shoots gas twice when its under -17 when cranking, so i did his lil' trick my leaving the gas pedal depressed for 3-5 hours and turning it for 15sec every hour after that, on my second try the engine started perfect. But weirdly the gearbox warning light came on, and also my airbag light came on, read in the manual when the gearbox transmission light comes on it means that the tranny will be stuck in 4th gear only, i was like WHAT DA.. so i reset the ecu using the disconnecting the battery problem, after that the gearbox light dissappeared but the airbag light stayed on, thinking that i'll just remove the bulb for the airbag light, i guess its a known problem for e36's with the airbag light, guess it always comes on for stupid reason. Well i took my car for a ride after, opened it up on deerfoot, ran like shit first, idling like a$$ then it would go into 4th gear for some reason, i drive a auto, anyways driving around for about 30min-1hour car started to drive fine. Seems to change gears at higher rpm's now, and i seem to gained like 100hp, reseting the ecu game me lot of power i think, but it also feels like my car is stuck in sports mode or something, i drive a '94 325i bmw.. and the no heat when idling and heat when driving i have the same problem, i just got my t-stat replaced too, like 3 months ago.. so i think its a normal thing.. i'm gonna check in to it, join maxbimmmer.com...

shakalaka
01-16-2005, 02:18 PM
Ok, this is what happened with my brothers car. He never drives it in this weather. It has been parked in our garage since like 15 days or something. The reason hes not driving it is because it doesnt have winter tires on it. So last night he notices, the two alarm lights (the one that blink blue, small LED's) stopped blinking. One of them stopped and the other one wasnt blinking anymore. So he tries to start it, doesnt start. We try to boost it still no luck. I have no idea what the problem could be, but he was talking about bringing some extension from Canadian Tire so that he can plug it overnight. As in like a block heater kinda thing. Havent done that yet, as he will be getting the wire today, but I am not too sure if that would work. I am just wondering why wouldnt it even start after the boost!!??

BMDUBS
01-16-2005, 11:43 PM
MY GOD! This is terrible! Seems like all the e36's have the same issues...

I also have the heat issue, so I rev the car just a bit over a G when really cold. I also have hit and miss starting when very cold unless the block heater is plugged in. Sometimes I have to crank excessivley to get it to start. Doors are also an issue, I find only after a wash when cold and a good lube on locks and lastches should clear this up. It sucks to hear that quite a few of us are having the same issues and seems to be mostly e36. But hey, if any of you guys get fixes for the heat and start issues please post back for FYI. Better luck!

FiveFreshFish
01-16-2005, 11:57 PM
My heater fan is a bit noisy when it's -25 to -30. Disappears after about 10 minutes of driving when the interior warms up a bit. No other issues.

bol
01-17-2005, 12:37 AM
My car isn't having any troubles except for the heater blower being a little noisy at low speeds when cold.

It warms up quickly though :)


Try the reciculate air option with the A/C on...

It's pretty hard to heat air up when it's -30 outside...

canadian_hustla
01-17-2005, 07:03 PM
I have an 82 733i.. just under 492,000 km's... starts every try, heater doesn't work though (notorious HVAC dillemma).. only the defroster does.

BMW should design their accessories to the same sort of quality as their cars!!!

eikna
01-18-2005, 03:24 PM
my heater still dont warm up well
still havent got the thermostat changedoes anybody have a photo on where its located?

t-im
01-18-2005, 03:30 PM
Originally posted by eikna
my heater still dont warm up well
still havent got the thermostat changedoes anybody have a photo on where its located?

It sounds like you're gonna change it yourself..and if you don't know where it is, I'd advise against that.

j0nblayz
01-18-2005, 04:40 PM
go to maxbimmer.com, ask there or search there, gurantee you will find your answer..

2m0a0x2
01-20-2005, 12:04 AM
Mine squeaks....for about 10 seconds.....even though it's parked inside the garage.....

shakalaka
01-20-2005, 12:09 AM
Well, my bro fixed his car somehow. I dont know what he did, but he was driving it around this morning. lol. I think he bought that block heater cable or something and did something with that, I am not too sure about it though.

Hollywood
01-20-2005, 12:10 AM
I'm soooo glad i never bought a BMW after all this.

Glenn 328is
01-20-2005, 09:14 AM
Originally posted by Hollywood
I'm soooo glad i never bought a BMW after all this.

A couple minor things? Do not let these dissuade you. I will never buy any other car but a BMW. All I tell people I know is - drive one and you will never go back.

Glenn 328is
01-20-2005, 09:16 AM
Originally posted by eikna
my heater still dont warm up well
still havent got the thermostat changedoes anybody have a photo on where its located?

I have no idea how to do it on the 4 cyl, but on my M52, it wasn't hard - took some time, got messy, but that was it. Buy a Bentley's - you won't regret it... and search bf.c, dtmpower.net, etc...

Kaos
01-20-2005, 11:27 AM
Originally posted by Hollywood
I'm soooo glad i never bought a BMW after all this.


If there was a thread about common problems with a caddy's or mercedes.
Im pretty sure there would be just as much problems as well.

three.eighteen.
01-21-2005, 02:12 AM
haha, wow, i guess they all do share the same problems:
-frozen batteries
-extended cold cranks
-my door doesnt close right unless i slam it...i always figured it was a previous owner that probably leaned on the doors to get out of the pretty low car

sync
01-21-2005, 02:21 PM
mine is always parked in the garage at about 7 degrees celcius.

bmwwheelman
01-23-2005, 03:58 AM
it was -27 here last week in bc, never had a problem with my e34, kinda didnt wanna go one morning, but after that everything was happy! i've just got a high idle problem i gotta look into......

m10-power
01-23-2005, 10:49 PM
Never had a problem, 100k km of everyday use in my E36. No need to plug it in and it starts everytime. If not there is something wrong with your battery or connections, perhaps starter. Don't blame the car for those types of things, as for the heater its never been a problem that I've noticed. Perhaps I'm not as big a pussy as some here:D

If the blower fan makes noise pull it out and lube the bearings...:dunno:

CMSTIEN
01-29-2005, 12:56 AM
My 04 330ci sounds like crap when I start up the engine when its below 15 degrees. I have to get it check out when I have time.

Glenn 328is
01-29-2005, 01:09 AM
Originally posted by CMSTIEN
My 04 330ci sounds like crap when I start up the engine when its below 15 degrees. I have to get it check out when I have time.

What do you mean? Below -15C or below +15C? Nothing should be sounding funny on an 04 car...

Start using 100% synthetic oil if you aren't already.

bol
01-29-2005, 11:52 AM
Originally posted by CMSTIEN
My 04 330ci sounds like crap when I start up the engine when its below 15 degrees. I have to get it check out when I have time.


Is it a ZHP? ZHP's have known rough start characteristics(especially in cold weather.) There is an ECU upgrade to fix this.