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F20 116i cold start - rough idle, hesitant acceleration/loss of power

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14K views 10 replies 9 participants last post by  Claus  
#1 ·
Not sure if these issues are related but bear with me.....

A while ago I noticed my F20 116i was getting noisy on cold start in the mornings and took it to the dealer. They said it was normal.
Then I noticed the car was idling slightly rough directly after a cold start, just for 30 seconds or so. I've also noticed that directly after a cold start when I begin driving there can be some hesitation under acceleration. Only happens within the first minute or so and doesn't happen again until the next cold start.
This morning I pulled out of my road into traffic and admittedly was trying to get out infront of another BMW driver who should have slowed down for a speed bump but didn't meaning I had less time than I thought to get out. I accelerated but half way across the road the car lossed power and felt as though it was about to stall. Foot was hard on the accerlator but nothing really happening. I quickly feathered the clutch and accelerator trying to find a spot that would give me power and eventually found it.
To be honest the issue wasn't my clutch control when pulling away, the engine definitely lost power/hesitated.

Only done 13k miles so wouldn't expect anything to have worn out.

NO ERROR CODES recorded in the log so I'm a bit stuck.......

Has anybody ever had issues like this with an F20.
 
#3 ·
To be honest, mine never caused me any issues until it lost power crossing the road. That made me think it needs to be looked at.

I'll take it to a dealer sooner, but at the moment I'm waiting to get it back. It just had a new steering rack fitted and the dealer has spent the last 3 days trying to get the wheel alignment correct. Initially the steering wheel was crooked. Then the wheel was straight but the car pulled to the right. Yesterday the dealer phoned to say it now pulls to the left.

Needless to say when I get this car back I'll be taking it to a different dealer from now on. Hopefully they'll be able to diagnose the issue at cold start, and I might even ask them to look into the intermittent clutch judder issue that's plagued me for the last 6 months. These issues are a bit too much to take on a car with 13k on the clock.
 
#6 ·
I've only had my f20 118i for 6 weeks but I have also noticed the hesitancy when cold for around a minute. I reckon it's the ECU holding back boost to protect the engine from cold start abuse but would welcome other theories.
 
#8 ·
Has anyone found a cause/solution to this issue yet? My 2014 116i has recently started doing this and I remembered reading this a few months ago.

I've had a couple of recent brown trouser moments as a result of sudden power loss when pulling away first thing in the morning and when leaving the work's car park.

Seems to be exactly as the OP described - loss of power on a cold start, which doesn't return until the next cold start.