I have an 04 M3 with 2.5k miles on it, and from time to time when I start the engine in the morning, or after a long day at work, the engine sputters and the rmp needle jumps up and down like mad.

I called the service center and their response is that it is a known issue, something to do with the engine software.

They told me they would call be back, and that I should just wait a few weeks for their call.

Anyone else have this problem, and is it something that I should be worrying about?

Also, I am getting a lot of black grime sprayed on the side of my car, behind the wheels.

I haven't seen a single car like this.

Does anyone else have this problem?

mine does that too. like the you can hear the RPMs go up and down. like it bounces right?

Yeah, the engine makes a sputtering noise and the rpm meter bounces up and down for a while, until the engine warms up.

It doesn't happen all the time, but happens often enuff to bug me.

Does anyone get the side of their cars sprayed with black grime behind the tires too?

It's normal until the car warms up... it's a race inspired engine, it's not designed to work well when not warm.

The black grime you speak up is probably just brake dust.

After not driving my M3 for more then a week I had the same problem when I cold started it and if I didn't give it gas the engine would stall out. I used to have the same issue on my 5.0 Mustang . :lol:

Yeah, this just started happening to my car a few weeks ago. I have an '04 w/ about 3300 miles on it. I'm bringing my car to the dealer on Wed for the SMG relay service, and I'm going to ask the s/a about it, just for curiosity's sake. I heard it is a pretty-common thing though.

You guys also get brake dust sprayed all over the side of your cars?

Happends to mine every 3rd cold start or so... I freaked the hell out until I asked my other buddywith a brand new one and his did that as well.

You guys also get brake dust sprayed all over the side of your cars?

Never. Do you put lots of dressing your tires?

Alex

sometimes mine just wont bloody start... i actually have to turn off the ignition and start the bitch again... oh well, i love the damn thing.

I'll tell you what really pisses me off, I have managed to run the car out of gas when the trip computer told me that I had 40 miles left to fill up.... thats right 40 fucking miles. Talk about inaccurate. Maybe it is my shark injector, but when my gas lite comes on, if I dont have that bitch at the station in minutes she starts to bark and sputter like she has Torret's syndrome.

Never. Do you put lots of dressing your tires?

Alex

Hmmm...

Could it be the tire dressing?

My office building has a car wash service, and I assume the stuff the guy puts on the tires to make them nice and black is tire dressing.

Could it be the source of the black grime I get on the side of the car?

Hmmm...

Could it be the tire dressing?

My office building has a car wash service, and I assume the stuff the guy puts on the tires to make them nice and black is tire dressing.

Could it be the source of the black grime I get on the side of the car?

Sounds like you need to tell your car wash service to go easy on the tire dressing. When it looks shiny, it's going to be thrown from your tires when you get up to speed.

Alex

sometimes mine just wont bloody start... i actually have to turn off the ignition and start the bitch again... oh well, i love the damn thing.

I'll tell you what really pisses me off, I have managed to run the car out of gas when the trip computer told me that I had 40 miles left to fill up.... thats right 40 fucking miles. Talk about inaccurate. Maybe it is my shark injector, but when my gas lite comes on, if I dont have that bitch at the station in minutes she starts to bark and sputter like she has Torret's syndrome.
Regarding the fuel pump and OBC...

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1380736&postcount=10

There is a great discussion in the June issue of BMW Car magazine on the operation of the VANOS cam shaft control. The essential issue is that when cold the system purposely incorrectly times the camshafts, causing the exhaust to heat up faster helping with emission control. This may cause rough running when the engine is cold. This issue is not normally noticable in other BMWs because they don't have what is basically a race engine in their road going BMW.

I heard it's also true that the cams in startup mode, start in a default position which makes it easier for the engine to start ... but prompts a rough idle condition... this way the cams are stuck in super aggressive in the event of a loss of oil pressure to the system.

sometimes mine just wont bloody start... i actually have to turn off the ignition and start the bitch again... oh well, i love the damn thing.

I'll tell you what really pisses me off, I have managed to run the car out of gas when the trip computer told me that I had 40 miles left to fill up.... thats right 40 fucking miles. Talk about inaccurate. Maybe it is my shark injector, but when my gas lite comes on, if I dont have that bitch at the station in minutes she starts to bark and sputter like she has Torret's syndrome.


Yea, that happened to me the other day as well. I let a buddy test drive my M3 and I ended up having to get a can of gas to put it in just to get to a gas station. It said I had like 33 miles left. I was so pissed.

It could be that your spark plugs needs to be changed/regapped.

yepe mine sputters in the morning... but my e36 m3 did too.. so i have never thought about it..
--brian

Is that occours between the 2000 and 3000 rpms?

How could I fix the problem at 1st start of the day?

You guys also get brake dust sprayed all over the side of your cars?

Are you sure it's not just dirt from the roads you drive on?