[vahan3x]

Hi all! So, I bought a 2012 F30 328i XDrive a couple of months ago. Since then 4 times I got a "Drivetrain fault" and once "Drivetrain mulfunction" errors and all the times they disappear after 10-15 secs. At BMW official service they couldn't tell me what caused the errors, they changed the transfer case fluid which was very contaminated from their words and said that the error may disappear. That was 4 days ago and today I got "Drivetrain fault" error 5th time, does anyone know what can cause that error and how to fix that? I'll attach a photo of the error, Bimmerlink diagnostics data(only info and error memories, permanent errors are always empty) from a few weeks ago(before the service) and a few days ago(after the service).

P.S. Also at the service they said that they saw an error that said that computer units are not in sync with each other and suggested to update the car software - that would clean all the soft from all the units and download new soft from BMW servers(at least they said so). But that may be dangerous because they suspected that the previous owner might have changed the "brain of the engine"(ECU I guess) and retrofitted it from other car instead of ordering a new clean one from the BMW service. And if so after cleaning the unit - BMW servers will detect that the unit is not on the right car and won't download the soft for it. So if we'll try to update the soft - the car may die and we'll gonna need to order a new unit(which is not cheap and will come to my city at least 1 month).

[CandyRedRC46]

Maybe you'll get lucky and it just needs a new battery and reset...

[vahan3x]

Originally Posted by CandyRedRC46

Maybe you'll get lucky and it just needs a new battery and reset...

How battery replacement can fix powertrain error? And anyway I didn’t notice anything hinting that my battery is not ok. Or the car has any kinds of issues. It performs perfectly. There are only barely noticeable vibrations on 1100~1300 RPMs, but again they’re barely noticeable and the diagnostics showed nothing.

[CandyRedRC46]

Originally Posted by vahan3x

How battery replacement can fix powertrain error? And anyway I didn’t notice anything hinting that my battery is not ok. Or the car has any kinds of issues. It performs perfectly. There are only barely noticeable vibrations on 1100~1300 RPMs, but again they’re barely noticeable and the diagnostics showed nothing.

I had that error pop up a few times and it was traced to a battery in need of replacement. I changed the battery and reset the battery life coding and I have not seen that error since. Its been over a year now...

I am not saying that that could 100% be your issue, but if youre lucky, it could be.