[snowghost]

Originally Posted by BMWbill

My car is always much faster after I wash it.

Chuck Yeager and a squadron mate used to wax their combat jet's wings to get some extra speed.

[ScottCullen]

I don't know if this is normal but my car doesn't see to get up to temperature likeit used to. It's been around 25-30 degrees Celsius here and the temp just stays around 95-100 degrees. Haven't had a limp mode in maybe 5k and I've been driving it fairly hard

[F30.M]

Originally Posted by ScottCullen

I don't know if this is normal but my car doesn't see to get up to temperature likeit used to. It's been around 25-30 degrees Celsius here and the temp just stays around 95-100 degrees. Haven't had a limp mode in maybe 5k and I've been driving it fairly hard

Driving hard is not a requirement for limp mode, it occurs randomly. Regarding the temperature, that seems normal to me.

[ScottCullen]

In the past I would get a reduced power mode, fan on max, but revs are not restricted. I could almost replicate it if I went for a long spirited drive...so maybe not a total "limp" mode.

[Sal335i]

I have a automatic sport 335i, I had the same issue. I turned off the car & it was normal after that, I had this issue twice, my car is only 3 months old.

[bones]

thanks BMW! another one today!

[snowghost]

Originally Posted by bones

thanks BMW! another one today!

Start documenting it with the dealer.

[daberlin]

1st Limp Mode to Dealership Trip Report - Part 1

Upfront disclaimer -

After 9 months I'm still loving my F30 335i. I've added some great mods to the car and it really hauls ass when you put the pedal down. So if you are reading this, don't expect to read a whiny bitch gram as I'm not unhappy with my car, but want to see if BMW has addressed this issue. Like most of you, I've been a bit bothered by the odd rattle and high pitched buzzing noise, but overall I'm still thrilled with the car. I'm reporting here to simply help folks who may need to have this similar problem addressed and to collaborate on how different dealerships are addressing the problem.

Stats - 2013 SA Build F30 M Sport 335i, MPPK and Akrapovic Exhaust. 4000 miles. Two Limp modes have occurred since new. One after a few months of ownership, and one two weeks ago. In both cases I had no idea that something was wrong as I received no engine warning (such as a check engine light), no high speed fan, nothing. In the first instance, I simply kept driving and kept to normal speed under significantly reduced acceleration. On the second instance, I pulled over to the side of the road, turned the car off, and restarted. Like has been reported by others, car immediately returned to non-limp mode capability. The only other instance of something strange was after a few months of ownership, when I pulled into the garage one day after a short drive and turned the car off, the fan turned on and was spinning unusually fast.

Dealership Visit.

Dropped car off at Valencia BMW this morning. SA that I worked with the first time I visited Valencia four months ago for the TSB on the low rev vibration (640114) and drain grommet (510514) was long gone, so I dealt with a new guy. Seemed nice enough, asked a few reasonable questions, gave me a loaner (POS), and I was off. However, it was interesting to note, that when codes were run on the car, SA said there was a 'DSC' fault that was detected. Anyone know what this? I don't have the code value.

Just received a call back this afternoon that they will be replacing the fan in the car (as has been reported by others), and will be recoding the DME with updated software. I will print out the dealer report when I pick up the car tomorrow.

[BMWbill]

Originally Posted by daberlin

there was a 'DSC' fault that was detected. Anyone know what this? I don't have the code value.

Just received a call back this afternoon that they will be replacing the fan in the car (as has been reported by others), and will be recoding the DME with updated software. I will print out the dealer report when I pick up the car tomorrow.

Sounds like your car at least "remembered" an error code. Whatever sensor tripped my car to go into limp mode was too quick to get recorded into my computer. There must be many conditions and sensors that can trip the car into limp mode. Someone suggested recently here that my dealership was wrong to tell me there is no fix for this but more than ever I am convinced he was giving me a refreshing truth rather than the typical response to tell the customer a distinct problem was addressed by a distinct solution. Resetting the computer is all he could do and it will fix nothing. Changing a fan will fix nothing. I mean, sure if some have an older car and there is a new fan, by all means have it changed but when limp mode triggers one thing we all seem to have in common is our cars are on the highway when no fan is being used since no can can blow as fast as the wind coming through our grill.

I'll bet my M-sport steering wheel that there is no fix for this. Last night a random sensor blipped on the highway and informed me to drive carefully and a logo came on my dash of a car. Never saw it and I took a picture in case it pops up again but this is now the 4th or 5th different random sensor error in 4000 miles that my car has. Some of these random errors are going to relate to the engine so they will trip the limp mode safety system on. There will never be a single fix that stops a dozen different sensors all over the car from randomly tripping.

[snowghost]

Still no Limp for me after the DME flash and new fan back in April.

[BMWbill]

Originally Posted by snowghost

Still no Limp for me after the DME flash and new fan back in April.

Fingers are crossed for you!
There was no new fan part# for my January 2015 build, but they did give me the standard DME flash. The trouble is that an intermittant error like this can pop up at any time or maybe never again. ANd if it doesn't pop up for a year, who knows what helped or increased the odds? We would need a pool of thousands of F30's to experiment with.

[Jerich0]

Just happened to me in a 2015 M235i... exactly as you guys describe it... so there is no FIX yet? should I wait? Mind you I have ER catless dp, intercooler and chargepipe... So I am not very keen on going to the dealer...

JC

[Jerich0]

Originally Posted by RPM90

Man, this is refreakindiculous.
BMW still hasn't fixed this issue.

I've had this problem for a while now.
Haven't had an episode for a few months, but then it's been really cold so I haven't had much need for high power.
But, over most of the winter I drove to work and back with my oil temp gauge not even getting up to the mid point between the minimum and 250, even after a long 60 minute drive.

Just yesterday I had another episode and experienced a BIG loss of power.
I was on the highway for about 12 miles at around 70-80.
Got off on my exit and as I'm headed to a drive thru fan goes into hyperspeed mode.
I knew what it was. Oil temp right before that was a touch below 250F.
Fan dropped the temp below the mid point while at the drive through.
I got back on the road and big power loss.
Kept driving back onto the highway will low power. A minute later power is back.
Got back to work. As I get off the highway fan goes wild again, power loss back.
Pulled into my parking spot, shut the engine and power off, waited 1 second, fired it back up, all is normal.
Just like everyone else, all it takes is a power reboot and all is normal.

The way they are working this is very much like the HPFP issue when I had my 135i.
Keep trying things by throwing crap on the wall and seeing what sticks.
Then test what sticks and see if that's the cause and fix it.
So far nothing seems to be sticking to the proverbial wall.

I've already had it with my crappy performing sport AT, and now I come back to find that this issue hasn't even been fixed.
I'm ready to trade in my 335i Msport a year early and get into an M235i.
But, I'm starting to rethink if I even want to get a BMW at all.

I'm heading over the 2 series site to see if the 235i is also experiencing this issue.

LOL `15 M235i here build 5/14 had this problem today at 1,000 miles... first time apparently.

[foggy2015msport]

I have a 2015 335i M Sport with fog lights on order. Is this issue still prevalent on model year 2015 cars? Is it only an issue for M Sports without the fog lights?

[snowghost]

Ever since the software upgrade and new fan installed last April, all has been good. Any more Limp Modes out there post the new flash?

[steelerfan]

Wow... over the past 2 days I read all 60 pages of this thread.

I purchased a used 2013 335i M-Sport w/ 6MT back on 9/13/14 w/ 14K. Drove to Atlanta to purchase the car b/c it was color (ext + int), MSport w/ a manual... a rare find these days.

For the 1st time, on Mon 11/24 I experienced a sudden loss of power from roughly 2500RPM to 400RPM. I could press the pedal all the way to the floor & the car had no more power. I came up to a stop light after 15 minutes of driving (was just at a stop light less than 1/2 of a mile, in fact I was in stop & go traffic the entire morning up to that point), I was in the middle lane needing to get over into the turning lane rather quickly. I released the clutch & was going to to get on the car to zoom by this truck & get in the turning lane & all the sudden my car had no power at all. My car didn't accelerate anymore if i pressed the gas pedal to the floor. I had no lights on my dash, my fan didn't make any noise that was out of the ordinary... just had no power. It seemed to pick back up once i got to past 3500 or so RPM's... was just very difficult to get to that point. I was in comfort mode, i'm in comfort mode 99% of the time.

Here is where it gets dangerous (and quite frankly makes me angry when i see people on here say do nothing b/c the dealer doesn't have a fix & your wasting your time having them throw parts at it, etc... you obviously haven't had this put you in harms way yet). Not everyone can just pull over, cut the car off/on & be done with it.. that's a very naive position.

I was trying to merge onto a 65mph highway that I could only manage to get up to 45mphs & the exit lane was running out. I had a car behind me all over my a$$ b/c i wasn't accelerating like i was getting on a highway. An 18 wheeler was trying to slow down to let me speed up & get on the highway, i ran out of lane to get on the highway, had to almost stop & then had no lane to get up to speed. Talk about dangerous. Meanwhile everyone is honking the horn at me, i almost caused a very serious accident.

I drove another 30 minutes to my destination, which was in a very busy part of town. Had to cross over 6 lanes of traffic on the off-ramp of this exit to get in the far left turning lane & couldn't get out of my own way. It's a very dangerous situation. I have a kid on the way in 2 months, this is not acceptable.

From what I have gathered this happens to some people while accelerating (i believe snowghost was trying to pass on a two lane road & all the sudden the problem happened) but I have seen a lot of people say it was when they stopped at a stop sign or stop light. My 2013 doesn't remember my A.S.S setting like my 2014 X3 does so i'm constantly turning that d@mn thing off.

I called the dealer & made an appointment (not until 12/11, I require a loaner) so will curious what they find.

As anyone had the problem come back AFTER they had the 850w Fan + DME software update? I haven't seen anyone with that combo come back & say they have had the problem again after that specific fix.

I live off a busy road in a development. There are many times that people come flying over this sorta of hidden curve/hill. If i'm pulling left out of my neighborhood, some idiot going way too fast tops that hill & I see them in my rearview mirror as i'm pulling out, i had to get on my car to get up to speed quickly. If i get limp mode & some idiot is flying I'm going to get rear ended. And if my newborn is in the car, i'm going to go ape shit. This is a serious issue that needs to get fixed before someone gets killed. I can't believe 2 years later that isn't a solid fix, i don't care if the issue is random.

[snowghost]

Originally Posted by steelerfan

Wow... over the past 2 days I read all 60 pages of this thread.

I purchased a used 2013 335i M-Sport w/ 6MT back on 9/13/14 w/ 14K. Drove to Atlanta to purchase the car b/c it was color (ext + int), MSport w/ a manual... a rare find these days.

For the 1st time, on Mon 11/24 I experienced a sudden loss of power from roughly 2500RPM to 400RPM. I could press the pedal all the way to the floor & the car had no more power. I came up to a stop light after 15 minutes of driving (was just at a stop light less than 1/2 of a mile, in fact I was in stop & go traffic the entire morning up to that point), I was in the middle lane needing to get over into the turning lane rather quickly. I released the clutch & was going to to get on the car to zoom by this truck & get in the turning lane & all the sudden my car had no power at all. My car didn't accelerate anymore if i pressed the gas pedal to the floor. I had no lights on my dash, my fan didn't make any noise that was out of the ordinary... just had no power. It seemed to pick back up once i got to past 3500 or so RPM's... was just very difficult to get to that point. I was in comfort mode, i'm in comfort mode 99% of the time.

Here is where it gets dangerous (and quite frankly makes me angry when i see people on here say do nothing b/c the dealer doesn't have a fix & your wasting your time having them throw parts at it, etc... you obviously haven't had this put you in harms way yet). Not everyone can just pull over, cut the car off/on & be done with it.. that's a very naive position.

I was trying to merge onto a 65mph highway that I could only manage to get up to 45mphs & the exit lane was running out. I had a car behind me all over my a$$ b/c i wasn't accelerating like i was getting on a highway. An 18 wheeler was trying to slow down to let me speed up & get on the highway, i ran out of lane to get on the highway, had to almost stop & then had no lane to get up to speed. Talk about dangerous. Meanwhile everyone is honking the horn at me, i almost caused a very serious accident.

I drove another 30 minutes to my destination, which was in a very busy part of town. Had to cross over 6 lanes of traffic on the off-ramp of this exit to get in the far left turning lane & couldn't get out of my own way. It's a very dangerous situation. I have a kid on the way in 2 months, this is not acceptable.

From what I have gathered this happens to some people while accelerating (i believe snowghost was trying to pass on a two lane road & all the sudden the problem happened) but I have seen a lot of people say it was when they stopped at a stop sign or stop light. My 2013 doesn't remember my A.S.S setting like my 2014 X3 does so i'm constantly turning that d@mn thing off.

I called the dealer & made an appointment (not until 12/11, I require a loaner) so will curious what they find.

As anyone had the problem come back AFTER they had the 850w Fan + DME software update? I haven't seen anyone with that combo come back & say they have had the problem again after that specific fix.

I live off a busy road in a development. There are many times that people come flying over this sorta of hidden curve/hill. If i'm pulling left out of my neighborhood, some idiot going way too fast tops that hill & I see them in my rearview mirror as i'm pulling out, i had to get on my car to get up to speed quickly. If i get limp mode & some idiot is flying I'm going to get rear ended. And if my newborn is in the car, i'm going to go ape shit. This is a serious issue that needs to get fixed before someone gets killed. I can't believe 2 years later that isn't a solid fix, i don't care if the issue is random.

All I can say in my particular case, I had upgraded software that disables ASS in Sport and Sport +, a new fan and have not had Limp Mode since the repair last April (10k miles ago).

Good luck, it is very dangerous.

[BMWbill]

Originally Posted by snowghost

All I can say in my particular case, I had upgraded software that disables ASS in Sport and Sport +, a new fan and have not had Limp Mode since the repair last April (10k miles ago).

Good luck, it is very dangerous.

I too felt it was very dangerous as I was accelerating hard because of a short entrance ramp to highway with my family in the far in a rain storm.

I have a newer model which didn't need any updates, and I doubt anything the dealer did when I brought it in reduced my odds of having this fault in the future. So far it hasn't happened, but who knows what triggered the problem originally?
I do get the "chassis warning" fault all the time, which is not dangerous. There is never any record of any of my faults in the computer, which is really what bothers me the most. They say the signal that trips these faults is often a millisecond blip which isn't enough to record a data entry into the error log. That just sucks. I don't see how a better fan would change any of these errors personally. Since I haven't had limp mode again now for more than 9 months, maybe my new car "settled in."

[rwmyo2]

Hi All,

Yesterday, I experienced my first limp mode in my 2014 msport 335i mppk with 11K miles. Could not go over 40 miles per hour. The car went back to normal after restarting. I scanned for faults and did not find any. Is it worth taking it to the dealer given no faults or can they detect codes that we don't see.

Thanks,

Rami

[BMWbill]

Originally Posted by rwmyo2

Hi All,

Yesterday, I experienced my first limp mode in my 2014 msport 335i mppk with 11K miles. Could not go over 40 miles per hour. The car went back to normal after restarting. I scanned for faults and did not find any. Is it worth taking it to the dealer given no faults or can they detect codes that we don't see.

Thanks,

Rami

They will tell you to bring the car in if you call, because they get to bill BMW for a service visit, but I can tell you with 100% assurance that they cannot detect faults that are not recorded by the computer. Which in my case has happened dozens of times. Never yet have any of my errors been recorded. The good news is, for me, it seems my limp mode has not resurfaced for over 9 months. It seems pretty rare. I do get the chassis warning error which is not serious so we just ignore it.

[Buckeyes]

I had my second limp mode yesterday. 2013 335i m sport 14500 miles. Both times I was in comfort mode on the highway for about 30 minutes and then switched to sport+. Oil temp was very low around 190-200 and fan on high but didn't notice the fan until pulling into the garage. I also did start with the a/c off and turned in on during commute and then back to off. So it seems to be a combination of switching driving modes and maybe the AC?

[oonowindoo]

Originally Posted by snowghost

All I can say in my particular case, I had upgraded software that disables ASS in Sport and Sport +, a new fan and have not had Limp Mode since the repair last April (10k miles ago).

Good luck, it is very dangerous.

I have done the ASS Disabled, New fan, new Relay, New DME at beginning of the year.

It was good for about 6-8 months and I got 2 Limp mode in the past 2 months.
At this point, i don't even care anymore.

The most recent limp mode was only 3 days ago, and it was different than all my previous (4-5 times).

I was always sitting at the light when it happened before, this time it happened when i shift from 1st to 2nd and the car just went "Clunk" feel like i released the clutch too fast without giving any gas and limp mode.