BimmerFest BMW Forum banner

2004 X3 Jerking

9K views 22 replies 11 participants last post by  FensterB 
#1 ·
Hi guys, I have a 2004 X3 that I have owned for about 15 months now. I bought it at a dealer as a CPO with 36k miles. It now has 55k.
Ok, after a few months I noticed my car would kinda jerk several times when i would let off the gas going about 40mph in drive or 30mph in sport mode. The dealer checked it out and replaced the fluid in the transfer case. Well that didnt fix anything. They then replaced the transfer case, after about a week i noticed it again. The dealer had me come in and drive the tech around to recreate the jerk while he had his scan tool attached. I got the car to do it for 2 city blocks straight. The tech said his scanner didnt see a problem but would send the data off to bmw to look at. Well they said to reprogram the computer....didnt help. Changed the computer...no help. Replaced the transmission.....didnt fix it. Regional tech came out and told the dealer to replace the injectors, coils and wires....thanks for the parts but still not fixed..Im about done with bmw..anyone have any input on my problem.

Just a sidenote. The car will do it several times when you dont look for it. Its not so easy to make it jerk on demand, tho i can with a few miles of driving. The dealer has been chasing this for over 9 months now. I live over 100 miles from the dealer this is getting old.
 
#2 ·
My wife's 2.5 (2004) is doing the exact same thing. As hers still has the CPO it's been on my to do list for the dealership and look forward to hearing how this gets resolved. I guess the good news is you have a lot of new parts which is not a bad thing.
Will keep an eye on your post for the resolution.
cheers
Stephan
 
#3 ·
Lets make a Club

Nice to see somebody else with the same issue. According to the dealer this is something they have never seen nor heard about before. I mean I'm sorry you have this problem but happy I have somebody to tell that understands. This Friday, the 14th, the dealer is coming down to my house to have me take them for a ride and show them, again, it still does it. They might think its fixed and i am just stringing them along. I will post that afternoon when the big test drive the the 100th time is over. They said they will bring me a loaner so they can take mine back with them if they feel its needed. LOL..they didnt fix anything so I told them to make sure they brought something.
Take care, Steve K
 
#5 ·
Yes..another clubmember

Sorry to hear that your 545 has this issue. I tried to ignore it but it became a painful memory each time I wrote out the payment at the end of the month. Its not scary or dangerous, just very annoying to me. My friends old Kia Sophia that cost him like $6k new can shift and drive smooth as hell, why cant my bmw shift like a Kia..lol
 
#8 ·
I suppose I'm lucky I rarely drive in 40 mph areas

Sorry to hear that your 545 has this issue. I tried to ignore it but it became a painful memory each time I wrote out the payment at the end of the month. Its not scary or dangerous, just very annoying to me. My friends old Kia Sophia that cost him like $6k new can shift and drive smooth as hell, why cant my bmw shift like a Kia..lol
 
#9 ·
My X3 is a 2004
Flambeaux, You'd had to be here longer to understand why he is saying that. Is not referring to you or your probblem...no worries.

X3ml, I guess Vatkens just don't come to the X3 forum anymore.
 
#12 ·
Update

Well the service manager drove down for a whole day ridealong, which was great that I didn't have to drive the 100+ miles to the dealer. He wanted to see if the problem really did exist still after the last visit. It took me about 15 miles of driving before I could recreate the problem. But once I did, I could make my car jerk for 3 city blocks. He tried unplugging the O2 sensors but that didnt work. He agreed it is a strange problem that has them stumped. He left the loaner car( 09 535ix) and took my x3 back to try one more time with the regional eng. He told me he would bring the car back fixed or come up with some compensation for the issue.
Guess I will wait and see what goes on from here.
 
#14 ·
No idea how "hard" your car is bucking, but it is very very slightly noticeable on my X3 at around 60km/h (40mph), usually in Drive. The torque converter is trying to lock up but the speed is too slow. I bet that if you accelerate to 45-50mph then let off, the problem disappears because the speed is sufficient for the converter to lockup.
 
#15 ·
It is not the torque converter as that and the trans have been changed and monitored while it was jerking. It will do it at 30mph in Sport mode and it is more than a little bump. It only does it while you are in decel. I know its not a safety issue and I know it isnt going to get me stuck out on the road. Point is, you pay good money for a quality car and you should expect it to operate correctly.
 
#18 ·
No clue

Well as the story goes. The dealer has hit a wall. They have tried several things over the last 2 weeks and cant get to the bottom of it. I suggested they replace the engine and body... So, I am waiting to hear from the dealer as to the next plan. They can recreate the problem everytime they drive it. I know they are frustrated over the whole thing. I will post any new actions.
 
#19 ·
Thanks for the update, Flem! Always wonder what will happen or how much they will charge you if you don't have CPO. May be you can just give them the car and say: "just write-off the charges". With my luck, as soon as the factory warranty runs out on my X3, I am sure this is going to happen to me too. How's your loaner drives?
 
#20 ·
Hi guys, I have a 2004 X3 that I have owned for about 15 months now. I bought it at a dealer as a CPO with 36k miles. It now has 55k.
Ok, after a few months I noticed my car would kinda jerk several times when i would let off the gas going about 40mph in drive or 30mph in sport mode. The dealer checked it out and replaced the fluid in the transfer case. Well that didnt fix anything. They then replaced the transfer case, after about a week i noticed it again. The dealer had me come in and drive the tech around to recreate the jerk while he had his scan tool attached. I got the car to do it for 2 city blocks straight. The tech said his scanner didnt see a problem but would send the data off to bmw to look at. Well they said to reprogram the computer....didnt help. Changed the computer...no help. Replaced the transmission.....didnt fix it. Regional tech came out and told the dealer to replace the injectors, coils and wires....thanks for the parts but still not fixed..Im about done with bmw..anyone have any input on my problem.

Just a sidenote. The car will do it several times when you dont look for it. Its not so easy to make it jerk on demand, tho i can with a few miles of driving. The dealer has been chasing this for over 9 months now. I live over 100 miles from the dealer this is getting old.
Hello,

It sounds as if you have an interesting problem.

When you say jerk, does it feel as if the hood of the car wants to come back towards you? If it was a horse, it is as if its front legs are coming off the ground and it is tipping back for just a second? It's hard to explain but that is what I get intermittently at 30-35 mph.

Hard to recreate for anyone as I have no idea when it will happen or why it does.
 
#21 ·
Hey Guys, I was hoping to resurrect this thread. Was there any resolution to this? My wife and I bought an 04 X3 about 3 months ago and when I drive it, I notice a similar issue. It mostly happens in the 30-40 mph range, and strangely seems like it happens when I am coasting/decelerating downhill. When I describe the issue as "jerking" what I am feeling is a slight jerking, but I also see the RPMs fluctuate really quickly within 100-200 rpms of what it is coasting it..... so if it was coasting at 1000RPM, I see the needle go from 900 - 1100 really quickly a few times.

Any ideas whats going on?

Other than that the car drives great and it doesnt feel like the transmission is "broken". It is just "acting funny"
 
#23 ·
Thanks so much for the info. I notice that I have the bouncing RPM stick when slowing down, and I get like a strange hard shift when going slow. Do you experience the hard shift too? its mostly when going really slow, like 0 to 5 miles per hour. it is definitely very noticeable.

Me and my wife picked this car up used for a great price, but it looks like I am looking at some issues. I just had a coolant leak and now I think I am looking at a rear main seal replacement :\
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top