XSeries-forum

Hi,
Friend of mine has a 56 plate E53 3.0d with manual box & he's had a problem with what he decribes as a 'misfire or hesitance' when accelarating hard, driving normally it is fine. He's had it into a local garage ( not BMW specialist ) & they said no fault codes showed up but they think it may be a problem with the flywheel ?
Anyone had similar problems or know whether the flywheel can be a problem on these cars ?
Thanks in advance.
Phil.

A number of problems this could be... too many to list properly and would be expensive to explore them all...

High Pressure Fuel Pump can cause this symptom if it is on its way out. There are a number of pumps which at low revs might provide enough fuel, however when you put your foot down or the boost pressure of the turbo means the engine requires more fuel, the High Pressure Fuel Pump might not be getting the fuel to the engine - which is what causes the hesitant feeling.

MAF (Mass Air Flow) Meter might need replacing as it may be potentially giving the wrong information to the ECU and therefore also giving a hesitant feeling. You can unplug this to test. If the car runs ok all the way through the rev range like this then you might have found the fault!


Turks.

Thanks Turks, i'll mention these points to him.
I spoke again with him this morning & the garage are saying they think it's the flywheel as there is a 'clunk' when you turn off the engine. They say they have a dual mass flywheel that fails ? Anyone has issues with the flywheel ?
Cheers, Phil

Never heard of them having a Dual Mass Flywheel but they may well have - I don't know everything... but then I haven't heard of fly wheel problems before either. The 3.0d unit is one of BMW's most popular engines so you would have thought there would be more reports on this if this flywheel was a problem... and if so, you'd have thought that by 56 Plate the problem would have been rectified. Sorry if I sound sceptical...

Mondeo's, Focus, Transit Connect etc all have Dual Mass Flywheel and are renowned for them needing replacement.

I would get a second opinion before you shell out hundreds on something that is prefectly fine and doesn't cure the problem.

P.S I got a clunk on my 3.0d when I turned off the engine... it was an engine mount. It also felt like it was missfiring but it was just that the engine mount was so bad that it was letting the engine vibrate.


Turks.

Hi Turks,
I'm a bit sceptical which I why I posted the question.
I can't understand if the flywheel is causing the problem why there is no fault code showing ?
That's interesting about your engine mount, I'll get him to check that out.
The garage he's taken it to are not BMW specialists which is where i'd have taken it.
Any more thoughts / info would be appreciated.
Many thanks, Phil.

sorry to hear abt your problems, dual mass fw. have a compound I think between them? may be they have become off centre if this is the case,,

they dont like being put under load, by this I mean ,run in the wrong gear, when you should have changed down etc

mine dissintergrated sized solid, took the bendix out on starter morter, and cracked my gearbox, with good will it cost me £3k
started of with a tinkle sound, like keys rattle, only under load, then the big bang,
this was on audi a4 tdi 2.0ltr

so any questions on dual mass, what so ever, in your head, question it

good luck

Like I have said previously... I have never heard of the Flywheel on the 3.0d Unit ever being a DMF. If anyone can confirm then that would be great... I know that some of the 4 Cylinder BMW Diesels have DMF.

Also, i'm not sure if the Flywheel would give the feeling of hesitance on hard accelleration? It might Vibrate but thats about all? Sure its not just the clutch slipping?

Would like to know what this is once the problem has been identified properly and fixed!


Turks.

Hi again,

Well he's had the flywheel & clutch replaced & after an initial test drive he thought the hesitance had gone but it is still there, although the flywheel was faulty apparently.
I've told him of the other issues mentioned above so he's going to check these out too.
Will keep you informed.

Phil.

Hi, just an update on this problem.
Turns out it was down to tyres ! His X5 had two new (ish) tyres on opposite corners when he bought it & the others where fairly well worn so he bought two new ones to replace, none of them the same make baut all the same size. Turns out although they ae the same size on paper the circumference is different & this has knackered something in the transmission ! He's had the faulty part replaced & new matching tyres all round & the fault has gone.
I knew you shouldn't have different sizes & ideally the same make, at least on each axle but wouldn't have thought having 4 new albeit different make tyres would cause such an expensive fault.
So if you have a hesitance or 'mis-fire' check your tyres. Hopefully this may help someone in the future.
Regards, Phil.

Thanks for update. Seems like a "cheap" upgrade of tyres worked out very expensive in the end ...

was he called tim

[quote=""shadrack""]was he called tim[/quote]

'Was' he called Tim, as far as I know he is still called Tim
Don't tell me you know this waster as well ?
Phil

yeh i do, i read this post and thought of him cos ive never heard of another one with dual mass flywheel issue, and there isnt many manuals! he rang me this morn to warn me not to use odd tyres and after that chew hes had i wont be!!

[quote=""shadrack""]yeh i do, i read this post and thought of him cos ive never heard of another one with dual mass flywheel issue, and there isnt many manuals! he rang me this morn to warn me not to use odd tyres and after that chew hes had i wont be!![/quote]

Small world !
Didn't think he had any other friends
Phil.