[LaserDizzle]

I just picked up a 2013 328i xDrive F30 with the N20. Occasionally on a cold start if I immediately (within 10 sec) put the car in drive and start to drive away the car will stutter and almost stall out. I haven't had it completely stall, but my automatic reaction has been to release the throttle. The car will then recover and drive normally afterwards.

If I let the car idle for ~30 seconds before engaging drive and pulling away I don't experience the issue.

Dealer claims this is normal behavior. However I've never had another of my cars including BMW's, and full out built engines do anything like this.

Does anyone else experience anything like this? Or has anyone had this and remedied it?

[CHCCubs]

I think it might be normal. There have been a few occasions that I have almost immediately (right after starting the car), put it in reverse and pulled it out of my garage and found that it runs pretty rough as I backed it out.

[mge92]

I have experienced this. It happened when it was really cold when I had the Dinan tune but could not be replicated by the dealer so they could not fix it. The car revved up to 1300 rpm like it normally does and then dropped to 700 rpm then surged to 1400 rpm. It was shaking and felt like it was going to stall. The second time it happened it actually stalled out. Have you experienced it when the engine starts to shake? ... Have not fixed it yet since I have since changed to another tune but I would ask the dealer to hold the car for two days without starting the car on cold days and wait for you to come to the dealership to startup the engine with you ... Let me know how it goes!

[KGB_123_99]

You may have the case of a 4-banger

[Z4C_luvver]

I'd try resetting the ECU. Just unplug the negative terminal for 10mins or so. Just remember not to close the trunk.....

[LaserDizzle]

Mge92 I haven't experienced the issue as severe as yours. But it sounds like I'm having similar behavior to a lesser degree.

I talked to a friend of mine that runs a performance and repair shop. They work on lots of Europeans and he said the N20s just do this. He believes it's a result of the tune and related to emissions requirements. Basically, they richen the mixture up to heat the cat as fast as possible, if you throttle up from there it's just too much fuel for the mix, so it bogs or stalls. Come to think of it, it does feel a lot like an old 4 barrel carb when the big butterfly's open under heavy throttle at low Rpms, or in the case of a poorly tuned carb. I find that acceptable in an old carb motor.

However, with fly by wire throttle, and modern fuel control, I can't believe Bmw can't figure out how to get the mixture right. This is gonna sound bad because everything else about the motor and car I love, but come on if a Honda did this at startup they'd have people up in arms. I'm not saying I'd ever buy one, but you get my point.

[mge92]

Originally Posted by LaserDizzle

Mge92 I haven't experienced the issue as severe as yours. But it sounds like I'm having similar behavior to a lesser degree.

I talked to a friend of mine that runs a performance and repair shop. They work on lots of Europeans and he said the N20s just do this. He believes it's a result of the tune and related to emissions requirements. Basically, they richen the mixture up to heat the cat as fast as possible, if you throttle up from there it's just too much fuel for the mix, so it bogs or stalls. Come to think of it, it does feel a lot like an old 4 barrel carb when the big butterfly's open under heavy throttle at low Rpms, or in the case of a poorly tuned carb. I find that acceptable in an old carb motor.

However, with fly by wire throttle, and modern fuel control, I can't believe Bmw can't figure out how to get the mixture right. This is gonna sound bad because everything else about the motor and car I love, but come on if a Honda did this at startup they'd have people up in arms. I'm not saying I'd ever buy one, but you get my point.

Hey LaserDizzle I appreciate the feedback. It only happened twice when the weather was very cold in the NE USA so it was in the low negative celsius. It was just on startup for some reason. Now the issue is the engine shakes on start up a little now that I did a catless dp and a new flash tune but it goes away if I give it a little gas when I start it up for about 10 seconds and then the car acts normally.

[TBolts10]

Mine does this pretty regularly and always has. I wouldn't worry too much, its just the nature of a 4 banger imo.

[TomDenmark]

My 320i "always" starts immediately and perfect, also on ASS.

BUT twice I have experience very rough idle and stall over several attempts before it would go back to normal.
In my case this is not related to the tune, because it happened both before and after I installed.

I don't think it is normal for the n20 what the OP is describing.

[lens]

It happens to my N55 as well when I just installed my CAI. Goes away after a minute of idling.

[therealm3]

I have a 335 with a similar issue. Mine will start rough and die anywhere from 1-4 times but it only happens when it is cold. after driving for awhile its fine. the issue just started about 3 weeks ago and the car was solid up till that point. The dealer has replaced MAF and throttle plus tested the battery. still happens. searching around the forum now to see if others have similar issues and figured I would throw my 2 cents in.

[PelotonToPodium]

I have a 2015 328i (N26), ~16k miles. Though I wouldn't consider it a "stall", the vehicle does drive a bit rough and jerky (almost like the car is confused which gear to stay in) for the first couple hundred feet upon a cold-start + near immediate take off. Had my dealer look at everything and was told this is "normal" behavior. Sure it's a bit annoying and makes me look a little dumb in the parking lot, but the issue goes away within 30 seconds. Seems like other owners experience this normality as well.

[mge92]

UPDATE: So the stuttering and stall-out vanished after a while which was weird but I guess these cars have their bad days LOL

[poutima]

Hi,

I have the same symptoms in my car, I usually warm up my car after start 30 seconds to 1 minute. On cold weather without preheating my car doesn't take revs properly. This takes about 30 seconds and then car works properly.

My local Finnish BMW-service said that this happens because cat is being heated. This is related to low emissions with cold engine.

Sorry for my bad english.

[ferbmw]

Have the same issue with a F30 330 sportline 2016. New engine B48 with the same symptoms. Jerky or stall when cold. It doesn´t happen everyday and it didn´t happen when the car was new. Now it has 13.000 kms ( 8000 miles aprox ). If you press the acelerator pedal it is like has no reaction or the car jerks.
After a few seconds everything is back to normal and no more issues during the trip.

[BunkerJ]

Your car takes 30 seconds to warm up the cats, so it's normal for it shoot up and if you start driving, for it get low sometimes. I've had the same situation where I'd drive in the morning, leave Auto S/S on and it'd almost stall on ignition again. Went away, so likely just bad gas. You'll be fine.

[Diegov209]

Lets your car warm up for a cool minute 5 minutes I usually do if not I had a boost leak check the chargepipes see if they are all good. I had the same problem a while back with cold starts and it was just the chargepipes

[geddylee]

My 435i just started doing the same thing the last two days. It's been warm where I am but the car stalls after the initial start. Anyone with any ideas as to what this could be?

[BunkerJ]

Originally Posted by geddylee

My 435i just started doing the same thing the last two days. It's been warm where I am but the car stalls after the initial start. Anyone with any ideas as to what this could be?

Run through that tank of gas and report back if you still have it. I had it happen on one tank of gas once, so I ruled it as a bad tank.

[ferbmw]

Solved the issue ( I guess ); I made a reset of the enginee through an OBDii scanner, made a drive cycle to check / restablish readness ( all of them in green color ) and up to now, no more issues. I did it a week ago. Will see......

[drewkelly]

Originally Posted by ferbmw

Solved the issue ( I guess ); I made a reset of the enginee through an OBDii scanner, made a drive cycle to check / restablish readness ( all of them in green color ) and up to now, no more issues. I did it a week ago. Will see......

Can I perform a similar reset by removing the battery terminal or do I need an OBD device?

[ferbmw]

Originally Posted by drewkelly

Can I perform a similar reset by removing the battery terminal or do I need an OBD device?

I think removing the battey terminals will reset all the memory of the car, radio, etc... so I would recomend to do it with an OBDII scanner or through ISTA.