BMW X5 - 4.8is - Car Shudders when starting

Hi
I have a 2004 BMW X5 - 4.8is - it started having a strange problem. When I start the car after a while it does one or two things.

1. When the car starts all of a sudden the engine revs up as though someone stepped on the accelerator - even though it is still in Parked mode, just started the engine and no foot on the gas pedal.
2. When the car starts, it has a back and forth movement as thought it is ready to charge on a race track - Like you are sitting behind the wheel of a 800 hp car with Nitro boosters and the car is ready to be rip through the race track.

The second symptom happened yesterday and it was very rough - then the "Service Engine Soon" light came on. The car has only 59,000 Miles on it. The service is not due as per the service indicator light. It has all the 4 lights and the engine oil and changes were done recently.

I would like to know what could be the problem and how much it is going to cost to fix this. I don't want to take it to the shop yet - I want to get some guesstimate before I get an heart attack at the dealership to fix this.

Please advise.
Thanks
Laxmi

Originally Posted by laxmig

Hi
I have a 2004 BMW X5 - 4.8is - it started having a strange problem. When I start the car after a while it does one or two things.

1. When the car starts all of a sudden the engine revs up as though someone stepped on the accelerator - even though it is still in Parked mode, just started the engine and no foot on the gas pedal.
2. When the car starts, it has a back and forth movement as thought it is ready to charge on a race track - Like you are sitting behind the wheel of a 800 hp car with Nitro boosters and the car is ready to be rip through the race track.

The second symptom happened yesterday and it was very rough - then the "Service Engine Soon" light came on. The car has only 59,000 Miles on it. The service is not due as per the service indicator light. It has all the 4 lights and the engine oil and changes were done recently.

I would like to know what could be the problem and how much it is going to cost to fix this. I don't want to take it to the shop yet - I want to get some guesstimate before I get an heart attack at the dealership to fix this.

Please advise.
Thanks
Laxmi

I'd take it to dealer or BMW independent shop; hard to say until you got code read.
Too many things can go wrong, how high the rev on start?

First thing get yourself a OBD2 code reader, is the only way to know what code your engine is trying to tell you. Look at your MAF sensor near your intake box its might be dirty.

With BMW's the "Service engine soon" indicator is the equivilant of the "Check Engine light". Based on your discription, it sounds like a missfire. The previous post is good advice. You can get a OBDII reader pretty cheaply on the internet. However, if you are not inclined, you should just take it to a shop. Indy shops should scan the OBDII for a reasonable rate. If the service engine soon light is flashing, your are potentially causing harm to your car. If it is indeed a misfire, it could be associated with coil packs, MAS, O2 sensors (before the cat) or a number of other things. get the OBDII scanned and you'll know

Originally Posted by HPIA4v2

I'd take it to dealer or BMW independent shop; hard to say until you got code read.
Too many things can go wrong, how high the rev on start?

The rev is too high. I think if I am not mistaken it is close to the Redline.