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2006 X3 Shudders under acceleration at 3k rpm

69K views 89 replies 32 participants last post by  dukedkt442 
#1 ·
My 2006 is starting to feel a little strange under acceleration. At about 3000-3200 rpm my car seems to shudder up and down and not accelerate evenly. At first it was on hills that I noticed the problem, but now I notice the same on the freeway going accelerating from 60 mph. I thought it was in my head but now passengers are asking what is wrong with my car... any ideas? Help is appreciated!
 
#2 ·
What grade and brand of fuel are you using? When and what was the most recent service performed on the vehicle?

It may be a simple, normal case of the torque converter locking up at speed so although the revs momentarily decrease, the vehicle is still gaining speed.
 
#3 ·
TCC Shudder?

If it is, very often nothing but a fluid change is required to fix it.

http://www.shoupsauto.com/Tips.htm

It's what I would do first.... and do fluid and filter not just fluid..... Any reputable indy shop http://www.bimrs.org/ can do this for you. I would steer clear of tranny rebuilders and quick lube places. Trust me on this....

If it ends up being something else you're out a relatively small amount and the fluid and filter change is good for it anyway. You will also be able to see what's in the pan.
 
#9 ·
Normal operation of an automatic transmission.

An ATF flush might smooth things out, and at 60k miles, wouldn't be a bad idea if you plan to keep the vehicle for awhile.
 
#12 · (Edited)
My 2005 3.0 with 60K miles does the exact same thing, and does not throw a CEL code.

I forced the car to stay in open loop by disconnecting the 02 sensor, and the problem totally went away.

Replaced 02 sensors (easy DIY) and that did not help.

I cleaned the MAF VERY carefully with cleaner and a q-tip that improved the situation somewhat.

I paid an hour diagnostic at the local dealership and asked them to diagnose the problem, result is the MAF is going bad, but not bad enough yet to throw a code.

I have not replaced the MAF, I'll purchase online and replace myself soon. not sure if I want to go OE or re-manufactured from Cardone, as these are very expensive parts :mad:

Hope this helps,
 
#13 ·
I have a 2005 X3 with 78,000 miles with a similar problem. I would describe it as a misfire during acceleration above 3000 RPM. I had my local BMW dealer take a look at it and they determined that it was a high content of ethanol in my fuel (18%). I have no idea how I got a tank full of 18% ethanol??
Five tanks later and the problem still exists?? The dealer confirmed no fault codes, but I think there is something else wrong? Do you think I have the same problem, a MAF sensor?

Jeff
 
#14 ·
Shuddering X3 at highway speeds

I am having this issue as well with my son's 2006. I too am noticing a shudder-stutter at highway speeds. If I take my foot off the accelerator it stops but as long as I keep my foot on the gas at around 60mph or above the engines hesitates and stutters almost like it is running out of gas. There is also a vibration. The problem is intermittent day to day.
 
#16 ·
I am having this issue as well with my son's 2006. I too am noticing a shudder-stutter at highway speeds. If I take my foot off the accelerator it stops but as long as I keep my foot on the gas at around 60mph or above the engines hesitates and stutters almost like it is running out of gas. There is also a vibration. The problem is intermittent day to day.
Sounds very much like a restricted fuel filter. You might try holding the engine RPM's in neutral and see if the engine stumbles at the same RPM as on the road. If it does it's not driveline related and may very well be the filter.

Which is in the tank:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=PC93&mospid=49511&btnr=16_0570&hg=16&fg=15
 
#15 ·
Have you checked the tread depth on the tyres, I had a similar problem when the front tyres were new and the rears were well worn. It was OK at constant speed, but I kept getting jerkiness when accelerating, severity varied on different road surfaces. Had it at BMW dealers, they could find nothing in the fault codes. Sent it to BMW themselves. In the meantime I changed the rear tyres and the problem went away!
 
#19 ·
Problem solved. I had 2 of the 3 O2 sensors replaced.
 
#24 ·
So are O² sensors something that one should simply replace when it goes bad or there are noticeable symptoms? (Poor accel, fuel economy). My X3 runs fine and gets mostly highway driving but its near the 100.000mi mark. Drives like new. But the Service Booklet suggests 100k is the point to replace the sensors, which don't look too easy to get to.
 
#25 · (Edited)
I am having the shudder you guys are talking about, but only occasionally. So I might just go ahead and change all 3 of them, I do the work myself, so it helps a lot. But those O2 sensors must cost a lot.........

Edit: After looking on bimmerspecialist, there is 4 O2 sensors, and quiet expensive each, lol, so i'll wait until the shudder is more frequent or pop a CEL, i'm almost at 100 000KM, so I might try with new sparkplug first......
 
#27 ·
I think that would be an unnecessary expense to replace. When my '04 did it, I think I was around the 35K mark on the odometer. It was only "one" bad O2 sensor.

After having that one replaced under warranty - I never experienced the problem again and traded it in with 98K miles on it and over four years of driving.

If you want to pop the CEL - go full throttle the next time you feel the stutter and hold it for a bit. At least that is what triggered mine.
 
#29 ·
My 2004 X3 first stumbled about three weeks ago

and after reading this thread I took it in to the dealer today together with a printout of all the relevant comments. They took it out for a test drive and analyzed the accumulated codes. Nothing was found that might have caused the problem, so they cleared all the codes and took it for another test drive. The stumbling persisted but nothing showed on the codes.

I suggested they consider replacing the oxygen sensors as the symptoms were identical to those reported in this thread (stumbling at ~3000 rpm under acceleration.) The SA said there was no evidence to support replacing any of them and that doing so would only be a guess and probably an unnecessary expense.

He recommended that I fill the tank with premium gasoline and avoid certain suppliers whose fuel has been suspect (too much ethanol or dirty fuel). Then drive for about two weeks and return for an appointment when they will analyze the codes and do further tests if necessary. He listed a number of possible causes that would need to be checked if no related codes showed up.

Any comments from the experts on this site?
 
#32 ·
Thanks, for keeping us up to date. I'm sorry that you have been so long without your X3, but I trust you have been provided a decent substitute.

Since you are ahead of me in finding a resolution to the problem I hope you will continue to keep us in the picture. My X3 is out of warranty so all the tests, etc. are out of pocket for me. It would be great if your dealer and BMW find an answer before I have to take mine in again.
 
#34 ·
The suspect suppliers are a few service stations in the immediate area. One is part of a locally owned chain and a couple are linked to a national oil company. However, I would not want to name them as I might be accused of passing on information which I cannot personally verify.
 
#37 ·
I finally got around to replacing the MAF and so far my "shudder" is 95% fixed. I still feel a hint of shudder when accelerating under load under certain conditions, but so far happy with the results...

I ran with one of the 02 sensors unplugged for about two months (forcing open loop) and never had the shudder.

Anyone else have an update?
 
#38 ·
Well, at long last I got a fault code for the stumble around 2800 - 3000 rpm; 2960 which the Peake manual indicates is a fault with "PreCat 02 sensor, Bank 1". I assume this should be replaced (It seems to have resolved the problem for Sonoman707). Could someone explain how a faulty sensor might cause this problem?
 
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