Print Page | Close Window

E60 hesitation - torque convertor?

Printed From: Bavarian-Board.co.uk - BMW Owners Discussion Forum
Category: Technical & Model Specific Forums
Forum Name: BMW 5 Series
Forum Discription: This forum will deal with any issues on the BMW 5 Series (E12, E28, E34, E39, E60 & E61)
URL: http://www.bavarian-board.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=45984
Printed Date: 29-March-2024 at 11:49


Topic: E60 hesitation - torque convertor?
Posted By: Andrew Rolland
Subject: E60 hesitation - torque convertor?
Date Posted: 24-November-2009 at 08:39

Guys

I've got a very small and very ocasional slight hesitation in my engine. I am assuming it's the engine after convincing myself it's not the autobox.

Edit (11.12.09) I think it is the transmission; the torque convertor lock up clutch.

Light throttle about 1,500 to 2,000 rpm and only happens between 30 mph and 40 mph.  The engine rpms fall then rise back and there is a bit of an annoying jerk thru the car.

No engine warning lights are on the dash.

I am thinking another http://www.bavarian-board.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=44938&PN=6&TPN=1 - air fault i.e. engine is getting a bit lean momentarily. Edit (11.12.09) Not convinced that's the fault now.

Any thoughts? Appart from plugs, coils, cam/crank sensors, MAF etc.

I know deep down that I am not going to find out whats wrong till it is plugged into a diagnostic machine but has anyone else experienced something similar? Edit (11.12.09) if it is mechanical it won't show up as a fault code!

Andrew



-------------
Be exclusive and drive a Petrol 5 Series!

Current
'13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto

Previous
'04 04 E60 545i SE Auto
'03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen)
'98 S E39 523i SE Auto



Replies:
Posted By: Dergside
Date Posted: 24-November-2009 at 15:02
As I read your first comments, before I saw your conclusion, I was thinking along the lines of an air leak too.  After that, coil packs.

-------------
Now: BMW 523i SE '00, 318i SE - e91 '07, 325i Coupe '93.

Prev:
e46 328i SE Touring, 330Ci, 318Ci.
e39 523i SE.
e36 325i Coupe *2, 323i SE, 316iSE.
e30 325iSE 2dr, 320i Conv, 320i 2dr, 316i.


Posted By: Andrew Rolland
Date Posted: 24-November-2009 at 17:55

Thanks Dergside.

It's not at the stage of I can't drive the car, more of a minor annoyance.  I'll see what other symptoms I get.

Andrew



-------------
Be exclusive and drive a Petrol 5 Series!

Current
'13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto

Previous
'04 04 E60 545i SE Auto
'03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen)
'98 S E39 523i SE Auto


Posted By: Dergside
Date Posted: 24-November-2009 at 19:22
BTW - re. air leak, check the air bellows on the inlet side carefully.  They are flexible and I've had a couple of occurrences of them splitting slightly, but enough to give somewhat similar symptoms.

-------------
Now: BMW 523i SE '00, 318i SE - e91 '07, 325i Coupe '93.

Prev:
e46 328i SE Touring, 330Ci, 318Ci.
e39 523i SE.
e36 325i Coupe *2, 323i SE, 316iSE.
e30 325iSE 2dr, 320i Conv, 320i 2dr, 316i.


Posted By: Andrew Rolland
Date Posted: 25-November-2009 at 08:22

Thanks again for that. 

It was on my to inspect list.  Not sure when I'll get round to doing that though.

I will add that it only happens when engine is fully up to temp and that it is at very low engine rpms, i.e. 1,000 to 1,500 and not the rpms stated above. 

Happened again last night but effect was much less, don't know if this was due to the air con being on?

Andrew



-------------
Be exclusive and drive a Petrol 5 Series!

Current
'13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto

Previous
'04 04 E60 545i SE Auto
'03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen)
'98 S E39 523i SE Auto


Posted By: Andrew Rolland
Date Posted: 11-December-2009 at 17:47

A small update.

Fault happened again today for the first time since posting the above 2.5 weeks ago.

I am now fairly well convinced that it is the torque convertor lock up clutch.

It's like the car is trying to change gear or engage the torque convertor lock up but not managing successfuly to do either.

What makes me think that it's the torque convertor lock up clutch (TCC to save the typing!) is that at the road speed when the fault happens 30-40 mph the autobox will be in 4th or 5th gear under light throttle when the TCC will want to be kicking in to give you better mpg and reduce engine rpms.  The TTC will only kick in when hot which is always the case.

I have no other symptoms of this at any other road speed which is what is confusing me.  It's fine when you give it the beans, fine at motorway speeds, there is no slip at speed when hitting an incline like classic friction clutch failure in a manual car.

It is of course still intermittent and no doubt will behave itself on a test drive at a tranny specialist! 

Anyone got any thoughts?

Andrew



-------------
Be exclusive and drive a Petrol 5 Series!

Current
'13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto

Previous
'04 04 E60 545i SE Auto
'03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen)
'98 S E39 523i SE Auto


Posted By: Dergside
Date Posted: 11-December-2009 at 18:32

Given that there is so much electronic frippery on the e60, is there any software or ECU code updates for the transmission on these?  you are probably more aware than most about minding the transmission carefully so it might be worth starting in the electronic rather than the mechanical space.

That might be a dealer question for a proper answer



-------------
Now: BMW 523i SE '00, 318i SE - e91 '07, 325i Coupe '93.

Prev:
e46 328i SE Touring, 330Ci, 318Ci.
e39 523i SE.
e36 325i Coupe *2, 323i SE, 316iSE.
e30 325iSE 2dr, 320i Conv, 320i 2dr, 316i.


Posted By: Andrew Rolland
Date Posted: 13-December-2009 at 11:57

Drove it twice on Friday night after posting the above and of course it was as smooth and powerful as normal and behaved!

I've spoken to a transmission specialist who said he would need to drive it to find out.

He did mention a couple of things he has received service info on from ZF (who make the box) but nothing relating to this.  He said the best thing to do is to monitor it.  If it becomes more common bring it in.

It does sound electronic to me, i.e. the 'box is telling something to engage when it shouldn't or disengage when it shouldn't.

BMW dealers won't know anything about the autobox but yes they would have heard of service info from ZF also.

 



-------------
Be exclusive and drive a Petrol 5 Series!

Current
'13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto

Previous
'04 04 E60 545i SE Auto
'03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen)
'98 S E39 523i SE Auto


Posted By: Grizzle_E60
Date Posted: 13-December-2009 at 12:15
I had the same thing happen in my E60 its done 39k, it was booked into the
dealers 2 weeks ago for two days of softare upgrades on the engine and
gearbox and its completely changed the car so much smoother and
responsive, of course it was done under warranty at £75 per hour


-------------
BMW E60 525d M Sport- LCI rear lights - Carbon badges all round - 172 alloys wrapped in Falken FK452 - LED side repeaters - Tints -Black Kidney Grills Remapped @ E-maps and a big smile


Posted By: 540 V8
Date Posted: 15-December-2009 at 20:00

It's worth a stap Andrew. As there are more and more electronics and control units on vehicles nowadays and given control units are just like our home PC's, it's becoming more common for these control units to need 'flashware' updates. I get to see most of the technical bulletins at my place and in the last 6 months, I have seen at least 3 relating to various vehicles and systems. A lot of them are usually preventative where they have found a pattern of faults on a small number of vehicles and they roll out updates to vehicles within the scope. Most are usually carried out during routine service before any problems are noticed but sometimes problems manifest themselves before this can happen.

Might be worth a call to your local dealer. Hope you sort it

Mike



-------------

Current:E34 540i Touring 6 speed manual(Mpower bodykit & suspension)& Chrysler Voyager 3.3 V6 auto
Previous:E34 530iSE AC Schnitzer suspension.
E28 525e auto-Standard


Posted By: Andrew Rolland
Date Posted: 16-December-2009 at 10:34

Cheers guys.

I'll make some enquiries at Fairbairns.  Will probably be over the Crimbo period.

Grizzle_E60, how long was it actually plugged into the computer for?

I had an issue with my eyebrow lights not coming on. Car was re-programmed within 2-3 hours.  That was under warranty though, I'm out of warranty now of course!

It was of course faultless this morning!

Andrew



-------------
Be exclusive and drive a Petrol 5 Series!

Current
'13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto

Previous
'04 04 E60 545i SE Auto
'03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen)
'98 S E39 523i SE Auto


Posted By: Johnny conway
Date Posted: 22-December-2009 at 00:13

Hi andrew, had a little kick at speed some time ago in my e39. Turned out to be the MAf Sensor according to the Main Dealer on that occasion.

worth checking it out. good luck!.

j



-------------
Brucie


Posted By: Andrew Rolland
Date Posted: 22-December-2009 at 08:03

cheers for that John

Car hasn't gone anywhere for nearly a week on the account that one of my rims is more sort of http://www.bavarian-board.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=46096&PN=1 - square shaped!



-------------
Be exclusive and drive a Petrol 5 Series!

Current
'13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto

Previous
'04 04 E60 545i SE Auto
'03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen)
'98 S E39 523i SE Auto


Posted By: Grizzle_E60
Date Posted: 22-December-2009 at 11:47
Originally posted by Andrew Rolland Andrew Rolland wrote:

Cheers guys.


I'll make some enquiries at Fairbairns.  Will probably be over the
Crimbo period.


Grizzle_E60, how long was it actually plugged into the computer for?


I had an issue with my eyebrow lights not coming on. Car was re-
programmed within 2-3 hours.  That was under warranty though, I'm out
of warranty now of course!


It was of course faultless this morning!


Andrew


eh well they said the gearbox is all day so i dropped it off about 9:30am i
called at 4pm to see if everything was ok the gearbox SW was fine but
they started the engine around 3:30-4 i imagine and they said it crashed
due to an error with the file from Germany and it would be left overnight
to programme it was ready at 2ish next day could be well over 12hrs but i
really cant be certain how long it was the dealers after all lol.

-------------
BMW E60 525d M Sport- LCI rear lights - Carbon badges all round - 172 alloys wrapped in Falken FK452 - LED side repeaters - Tints -Black Kidney Grills Remapped @ E-maps and a big smile


Posted By: Andrew Rolland
Date Posted: 29-June-2010 at 08:27

This little niggle has now happened 3 days running now, after being faultless for 2 months, when it only happened in one day.

Car needs an oil serice so I'm going to book it in at my local BMW dealer. 

I have narrowed down when the fault happens

fully up to temp,
very light throttle,
between 1,200 rpms and 1,500 rpms,
between 30 mph and 40 mph,
in manual mode and auto mode,
cruise control or on the right foot,

I'm fairly sure it is either a fault with the 5th to 6th gearshift or the 5th gear torque converter lock up clutch activation.

Question is, will the BMW dealer be able to tell me if the car needs any form of software upgrade to the autobox when its in for a service?



-------------
Be exclusive and drive a Petrol 5 Series!

Current
'13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto

Previous
'04 04 E60 545i SE Auto
'03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen)
'98 S E39 523i SE Auto


Posted By: Nigel
Date Posted: 29-June-2010 at 09:22

I assume it's a ZF ....

If so, drop them an email, I haven't been there for a while, any problems drop me a line and I'll ring them and find you a contact to talk to

http://www.bavarian-board.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=43712&PN=1 - http://www.bavarian-board.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=43712&am p;PN=1



-------------
Best Wishes

Nigel



Posted By: Andrew Rolland
Date Posted: 29-June-2010 at 13:17

Cheers Nigel.

Yes it is a ZF box.  I've spoken to the local transmission guy and he couldn't put a finger on it but every avenue is worth exploring.

Andrew



-------------
Be exclusive and drive a Petrol 5 Series!

Current
'13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto

Previous
'04 04 E60 545i SE Auto
'03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen)
'98 S E39 523i SE Auto


Posted By: Andrew Rolland
Date Posted: 29-June-2010 at 14:05

E-mail sent to Tom at ZF.

Will wait and see.



-------------
Be exclusive and drive a Petrol 5 Series!

Current
'13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto

Previous
'04 04 E60 545i SE Auto
'03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen)
'98 S E39 523i SE Auto


Posted By: Andrew Rolland
Date Posted: 29-June-2010 at 18:48

I have done a bit more digging on this on t'interweb.

Since then I have carried out a transmission reset "turn ignition on, hold down throttle for for than 25 seconds then start car".  Made a difference to the shifts of the 'box, much smoother but the judder/hesitation was still there.

I was playing with on the way home, and I got it to miss behave in 5th gear in manual mode.  Then it hit me.  If I am in manual mode and in 5th gear it cannot be the shift from 5th to 6th, so it must be a fault with the torque converter lock up clutch engaging in 5th gear.

Armed with that I'll make some enquiries with BMW and transmission specialist.

Andrew



-------------
Be exclusive and drive a Petrol 5 Series!

Current
'13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto

Previous
'04 04 E60 545i SE Auto
'03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen)
'98 S E39 523i SE Auto


Posted By: Andrew Rolland
Date Posted: 30-June-2010 at 12:48

Thanks again Nigel, I've got a response from ZF.

They agreed with me that it could be a torque converter lock up clutch problem but they have advised firstly to make sure that the vehicles software is up to date (both the EGS and the DME) and also check that there are no engine related fault codes stored in the DME. ZF also said that BMW dealers are able to run a measures plan that will advise if the control unit require an update.

It's booked in to Harry Fairbairns Giffnock for an Oil Service and a check of the above next week.



-------------
Be exclusive and drive a Petrol 5 Series!

Current
'13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto

Previous
'04 04 E60 545i SE Auto
'03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen)
'98 S E39 523i SE Auto


Posted By: Andrew Rolland
Date Posted: 11-July-2010 at 17:46

Since my last post I carried out another throttle/transmission rest and ofcourse the car hasn't misbehaved since! 

BMW dealer advised that the software did need updating. 

Will report back after collecting car from dealer tomorrow.



-------------
Be exclusive and drive a Petrol 5 Series!

Current
'13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto

Previous
'04 04 E60 545i SE Auto
'03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen)
'98 S E39 523i SE Auto


Posted By: Peter Fenwick
Date Posted: 12-July-2010 at 16:29

Hope all is sorted Andrew.

This is the kind of issue that really puts you off auto boxes.

 



-------------
Entering an age of Austerity and now driving a Focus Diesel.


Posted By: Andrew Rolland
Date Posted: 13-July-2010 at 08:56

BMW confirmed that the autobox didn't need any software updates. 

They did manage to upload a few modules to the car, presumably for the DME. 

They didn't charge me for it as I suspect they had problems getting anything to uploaded to the car as they had it from 8am on Fri till 5pm yesterday (Mon).

Pulled like a train all the way home yesterday and the engine was a bit quieter and smoother after the engine oil change.

It only happened over two days once every 2 months but it hasn't happned since I did a throttle/tranmission reset recently.

I'm happy, it hasn't cost me anything to have investigated and I have peace of mind with it. 

And that's what counts.

Andrew



-------------
Be exclusive and drive a Petrol 5 Series!

Current
'13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto

Previous
'04 04 E60 545i SE Auto
'03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen)
'98 S E39 523i SE Auto


Posted By: Dergside
Date Posted: 13-July-2010 at 10:09

Originally posted by Andrew Rolland Andrew Rolland wrote:

Pulled like a train all the way home yesterday and the engine was a bit quieter and smoother after the engine oil change.

The adaptive settings were probably reset to default during the software loads.  If you noticed it then it probably means your driving style is a bit more relaxed and you should see it adapt to that again over the next couple of weeks.



-------------
Now: BMW 523i SE '00, 318i SE - e91 '07, 325i Coupe '93.

Prev:
e46 328i SE Touring, 330Ci, 318Ci.
e39 523i SE.
e36 325i Coupe *2, 323i SE, 316iSE.
e30 325iSE 2dr, 320i Conv, 320i 2dr, 316i.


Posted By: Andrew Rolland
Date Posted: 13-July-2010 at 11:06

Well it always pulls like a train when you give it some right foot. No noticeable difference when giving it some beans.

I drive like Miss Daisy most of the time so I'm told on other forums if I can get 30mpg out of it....so I must be a fairly relaxed driver.

The engine was smoother and quieter on idle, definately.  Would that be related to better oil now it is veins?  Or a 'new' electronic brainwash?

Since I did the throttle/transmission reset it has driven differently, the shift points of the gearbox are at different rpms and road speeds. This might go to some way as to explain why I haven't felt the slight hessitation.  The gearbox is in a lower gear for longer so it's not shifting into lock up in 5th until over 40mph, the problem was under 40mph before when it was going for a higher gear to early.

Fuel consumption has not changed since I did the reset either so holding the lower gear for longer hasn't made any noticeable difference in juice drunk.

It hasn't addapted to my driving style or changed the shift points in the two weeks since I did the reset.  Will monitor it for longer and let you know.

It's great to have it back, four days without...not good....



-------------
Be exclusive and drive a Petrol 5 Series!

Current
'13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto

Previous
'04 04 E60 545i SE Auto
'03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen)
'98 S E39 523i SE Auto



Print Page | Close Window