Delayed Engagement?

[Lainey]

Does anyone in here have the following problem with their 2004 325 XI?

In the morning, after pulling out of the driveway, and switching to Drive from Reverse, the car does not move forward, even after giving it gas. I would have to wait at least a minute before it even moves forward. It is worse when it's colder out. Sometimes, I would need to press the gas pedal down all the way in order for it to budge at all. Then it jerks forward a couple times.

I notified the dealer about this and they said that BMW is aware of this problem. They are calling the problem as "delayed engagement". However, BMW does not have a fix for this yet, but when they come up with a solution, they will do a recall on all these cars. Is anyone else experiencing this problem also?

[GreenDragon]

That does not sound good at all. Sounds life threatening almost. Quick suggestions would be to maybe let the car warm up a bit in the driveway before pulling out, possibly until the needle on the tach comes to a rest under 1200rpm. Other than that, I can't help.

[AssassinGT]

I concur with that, you should indeed let the car warm up. The parts are most likely way to cold to move, and when you freeze somthing and quickly heat it, by anotherwords usage it could be very damaging to that part. So therefor, there might be some sort of Computer lock to keep you from damaging whichever part it has to do with. I'm not even sure if this even exists but it's just a theory to go along with.

[whitebeemer328]

hey skip drive and got to 3rd or first let me know

[BMWPro77]

Hey Lainey, I have the reason and the correction for you. I just had a customer who bought a 2004 325Xi from me and had the same problem. He actually came on Monday and had it fixed. For 2004 BMW's tranny supplier ZF (Owned by GM) decided to cut costs and go to a smaller clutch pack in the automatic transmissions. Because of this customers are getting the slower engagement which is getting complaints. The customer I sold came out of a 2001 so he noticed it right away. He had the same EXACT symptoms you have. The Exact same conditions and everything. Call your local BMW Center where you purchased the car and speak to someone in service. My sevice department was able to reproduce the symptoms and unfortunately it took 3 weeks to get a special BMW technician here from BMW North America to install the old style clutch pack to rectify the problem. Bottom line, BMW is aware of this so you shouldn't have a problem getting this rectified through your BMW Center. The car actually will roll before it engages into drive. Try it and if you have a problem E-mail me and I'll try to help you out. Good luck and I hope this helps you. Have a nice holiday! :lol:

[Lainey]

BMWPro77, thanks for the info. I saw your other message in the Northeast forum about you knowing friends at DeSimone BMW in New Jersey. The one in Marlton, NJ? That is actually where I got my BMW. They told me earlier this week that they don't have a fix to my problem :|

[EXtech]

I would have to interject here by saying I disagree with the clutch pack theory. I could see where that would come into play if the symptoms were under load or after heavy driving (increased heat) and because the surface area of the new clutch pack is smaller, it is not able to withstand the heat and power. With the symptoms happening in the morning when first leaving with the trans fluid still cold, I would have to say there is a valve body issue or a fluid pressure problem. Now this could lead to a failed clutch pack. I could see that the clutch pack does need an upgrade but I think there is an underlying issue that some regional BMW NA master tech is covering up for now. Knowing ZF's history and the problems that they have had, my opinion is that there is a culprit elsewhere. Just my two cents.