Ask the Car People.SM


BMW X3 hesitation on acceleration

232 messages,  Last post on Mar 16, 2011 at 6:25 PM

You are in the BMW X3 & X5 Forum.

What is this discussion about? BMW X3, SUV

Messages Page 4 of 24

#30 of 232 Try Adjusting your driving style.. by vsaxena

Jun 01, 2007 (10:36 pm)

I am not sure what the folks who are complaining were driving before they got their X3. People driving V6, especially American cars, are used to flooring it and that is what might be causing th e problem. I have a 2007 X3 and do not face any thing which is unexpected.
 
If you like to floor it, drive it in the sports mode. It will Start in Gear 1 and launch quickly. It will not get into the 6 the gear. You will burn more fuel but the car will feel like a rocket.
 
If you driving on city roads and are concerned about the mileage, drive in the regular mode. However, if you are in the regular mode, do not floor the pedal every time you start. Flooring it enables the kick down and the transmission shifts down.
 
The BMW inline 6 is a smooth engine with a wonderful torque-RPM curve. You do not need to floor it and rev up the engine to get the power. Drive off without flooring it and you will get smooth power delivery and reasonable acceleration for city driving. When you floor it in regular, the car downshifts which takes time (manifests has hesitation) and then launches (which feels like a strong jerk). Dont do it unless you have a traffic related reason to.
 
To truly enjoy the car, try the manual shifting mode. It shifts very quickly and you can control the experience very well. . The adaptive tranny might be worsening the problem since it anticipates that you are going to floor and downshifts sooner. However, I doubt that it is the root cause. If you are careful about the power you apply the car will work fine.

#31 of 232 Re: Try Adjusting your driving style.. [vsaxena] by cincyart

Jun 02, 2007 (6:50 am)

Replying to: vsaxena (Jun 01, 2007 10:36 pm)
Who is talking about flooring it ? Those of us who are unfortunate to have gotten an X3
with this issue are just driving as we always have. When I hop in my wife's Acura, off I go without hesitation, same old method, not flooring it ! My X3 is at the dealer right now for
the SIB 24 08 07 software update on the tranny. I will let you know if it has helped.

#32 of 232 Re: Try Adjusting your driving style.. [cincyart] by vsaxena

Jun 02, 2007 (9:00 pm)

Replying to: cincyart (Jun 02, 2007 6:50 am)
I too have an X3 I picked up in 2007. It is unlikely that our cars have different trannys. I have driven the car on the Autobahns and the roads of New York (130 mph and 10 mph average) and do not have the problem.
 
One thing I realized that th gas pedal of BMWs offer a lot more resistance than other cars. For example, just today my wife commented that our 7 series requires a lot more effort on th gas pedal than an Accord V6 EX! This is because the gas pedal on the 7er has greater senstivity (i.e. shades of gas intensity) and a harder pedal allows for more precise control. This might also mean that if you are new to driving these cars, you might be putting in more effort than you realized simply because the car reacts differently to the pedal.

#33 of 232 Re: Try Adjusting your driving style.. [vsaxena] by miniok

Jun 03, 2007 (1:39 pm)

Replying to: vsaxena (Jun 02, 2007 9:00 pm)
This issue has nothing to do with the gas pedal. What is happening is that the car acts like it has run out of gas at times. Other times it simply shifts with a jolt. You are fortunate tha tyours doesn;t act that way, but many others wish they had never purchased this vehicle.

#34 of 232 Do I smell a rat? by markdi

Jun 03, 2007 (7:54 pm)

Replying to: vsaxena (Jun 02, 2007 9:00 pm)
Adjust your driving style vsaxena? Cmon! I think that something fishy is going on here. Vsaxena sounds like a BMW representative to me!
 
We all know how to drive! I am 42 and all of my previous cars where fine. And yes, one was a BMW. I do not think the accelerator pedal is any different than most cars.
 
The X3 has transmission problems-period.
 
It hesitates from a dead stop, and also while going if you take your foot off the gas, then reapply it, it will sometimes hesitate. Also the downshifting could be quite rough. Mine was in twice already for programming. The first time it seemed okay for 3 days, then got much worse. The second time in...well I just got it back. Seems okay, but I cannot tell yet since I have to wait a week or two.
Dont jump to conclusions on this after you get your service software update done. It takes a few hundred miles to adapt. I already had it hesitate twice. I will let you know. I have my doubts. If it gets bad again, then I will definitely be looking into Lemon Law rights before the third service attempt.
I hope this is fixed!
 
For more of the same topic on hesitation you might want to go to www.bimmerfest.com and take a look at their x3 forum!

#35 of 232 Re: Do I smell a rat? [markdi] by trr1

Jun 04, 2007 (10:24 am)

Replying to: markdi (Jun 03, 2007 7:54 pm)
I agree with you - some folks are lucky, some are not. We are not. My wife was ok with the fix until this weekend. She stepped on the pedal to try and change lanes and the car just was not there for her. She moved it to sport mode and the rpm's shot up before the car kicked in - she could not change lanes. We have about 400 miles on the car since the change. Going back to the dealer - what a disappointment.

#36 of 232 Engine Braking? by friscogolfer

Jun 05, 2007 (10:29 pm)

I finally has a chance to test drive the X3 last week. I ask for a non-sport model and I have my wife and kids with me, so it's only a short drive. I can feel the hesitation and 1 time when I ease up on the gas, the engine brake on me and slow the car way down which completely caught me by surprise. Unless there's a proven fix by BMW, I will not recommend or buy the X3.

#37 of 232 Software fix is NO FIX AT ALL! by markdi

Jun 07, 2007 (6:10 pm)

This car is a big dissappointment. Definitely not up to BMW standards. I just had the car in twice already for software updates on the transmission, and it is only 6 weeks old!
The results this time? Seemed great for 150 miles, then it started again. Today I went to make a left turn when the light turned green. It hesitated so bad that I actually thought that the engine stalled! Not impressive! Where is the REAL fix BMW??? Will it be out before I take my car back under the lemon law? Too bad, because aside from this, when in rare times it does work, it is actually a joy to drive.

#38 of 232 Re: Software fix is NO FIX AT ALL! [markdi] by trr1

Jun 09, 2007 (11:54 am)

Replying to: markdi (Jun 07, 2007 6:10 pm)
My wife just got chills. We just finished typing up a letter to BMW sales/service because we had the fix May 21st and she had the EXACT SAME ISSUE as you this morning - making a left turn, car choked and felt like it was going to stall in the intersection. The car finally lurched forward to avoid being hit. This car is a nightmare. We will be discussing this with BMW first thing Monday morning. Tell everyone you know to stay away from ANY BMW with adaptive transmission for the foreseeable future! Our car was leased from Rallye BMW, Westbury, New York, 11590. They should not be selling this automobile - someone is going to get hurt.

#39 of 232 Re: BMW X3 hesitation on acceleration [trr1] by grazyna

Jun 10, 2007 (8:18 am)

Replying to: trr1 (Jun 01, 2007 5:01 am)
I am thinking of buying the X3 but the transmission problem everyone is talking about has me worried. I spoke with a dealer who said that 2 customers have brought in their X3s for service on the transmission and the service people have just replaced them, saying that BMW won't tell them (service) what exactly is wrong -- just to replace them. Is there any reason to believe that a new "replacement" transmission will have the "fix" (software) that some folks have mentioned? Has anyone seen any BMW explanation for the problem and how/when it will really be fixed?

Messages Page 4 of 24

To POST a message, please Sign In.

Advertisement

Browse by Category

Browse by Vehicle
   View All Vehicles

Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
View All Topics

Edmunds Community

Advertisement