[23hallkorr]

I have a 2016 328i with 95k miles on it. When I first got it in Febuary I had a drivetrain malfunction a couple times, brought it into the dealership and they said it was just some glitch with the computer system. It has happened a couple times since then, but recently, I got a new job that has more of a commute so I am driving a lot more, and it is happening a lot more… maybe 2-3 times out of 5 days a week. When it happens it shows symptoms for maybe 30 seconds before just being sluggish then popping up. I pull over and restart the whole car and it goes away and I drive home like normal. Today, my car was being weird, when I would press the gas it would try to go forward but wouldn't, like kind of shaking but very softly, then of course the malfunction popped up, I pulled over, restarted, and was fine. Should I take it in again?

[Billfitz]

Get an OBD diagnostic and repair tool. Even freeware like bimmer-tool Lite will reveal most error codes.

[23hallkorr]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

Get an OBD diagnostic and repair tool. Even freeware like bimmer-tool Lite will reveal most error codes.

I though that didn't do anything because it's not a check engine light? And it will only show up if I do it while the malfunction is happening.

[Billfitz]

There are hundreds of errors that won't cause the check engine light to come on. Error codes are typically saved in iDrive until they're cleared.

[socalr53]

ISTA+/Rheingold diagnostics are the way to go

My car had a catastrophic engine failure. The console error message was pretty much the same as what you were getting - "drivetrain malfunction" , but when I hooked up to my laptop and read the codes through ISTA+, it gave a lot of BMW specific errors codes which were all pointing to cylinder#3 misfire, in my case , which it turn because of no compression in cylinder#3

[socalr53]

Please note, it is not my intention to scare you. I was just sharing this just one scenario.

I have had "drivetrain malfunction" few years ago when the car was in factory warranty and that time it was just a faulty spark plug.

Car was shaking badly , I had to pull over and tow it to the dealer. it never went away after a restart

[Bfgrhth]

7654ggy67

[jsouth]

That "Drivetrain Malfunction" error message is VERY non-specific. In my case, the turbo wastegate arm needed a small 5 minute adjustment. Independent shop charged me only a half hour labor to diagnose and repair it. My scan tool (Foxwell 510) was useless in this case.

[Bfgrhth]

655yhy5r

[jsouth]

Originally Posted by Rgyjil

I had this exact same problem. The shop that replaced the turbo didn't properly adjust the arm. Dealership first thought it was an injector, plug or coil issue, but nope - finally they realized that it was the preceding turbo replacement that had been effed up.

Very similar to mine. The wastegate arm needed adjustment due to wear. I have 167k miles - problem occurred at about 155k. The error messages, even on my Foxwell NT510, were completely vague.