Drivetrain malfunction BMW is an easy to repair issue that occurs in the drivetrain system of your car. If you’re experiencing a loss of power steering and/or engine power, it may be due to a faulty transmission or clutch.
What does Drivetrain Malfunction mean?
A drivetrain malfunction is a message or signal that comes onto your BMW’s dashboard when the car’s Engine Control Module – ECM detects that something has gone wrong with either transmission or engine. The Engine Control Module, sometimes referred to as Digital Motor Electronics – DME, and Engine Control Unit – ECU is essentially the same thing and acts as an integrated computer system for your BMW. In order to prevent damage from occurring, once a drivetrain malfunction message appears on the dashboard of your BMW it immediately limits maximum torque output in an attempt to keep you safe behind wheels.
BMW Drivetrain Malfunction Causes
It is not a secret that the transmission fluid in your vehicle plays one of the most important roles in its performance. As you know, it helps with lubricating and cooling different parts inside your car’s transmission system. But what happens if said fluid leaks? Well, aside from leading to more serious problems later on down the line (considering how important it is), as pointed out by All BMW Parts, this can also lead to BMW 528i drivetrain malfunction. In fact, when an excessive amount of transmission oil seeps into certain areas within your vehicle’s drivetrain system; wherein it should not be present at all such as steering wheels and engine blocks; then there are high chances that the problem may occur. There are many reasons why transaxle fluids can leak or even overheat including worn seals, improper gaskets or clamps, and failed hoses among others.
Symptoms of Malfunctioning Drivetrain
BMWs use a series of electronic sensors to monitor the health of your engine and transmission components. When any faults are detected by these sensors, you may see a code displayed in the instrument cluster or iDrive screen. This warning light is called TEC (Transmission Electronic Control). When this light comes on, it’s time for an inspection from your trusted BMW technician. There can be various symptoms behind the wheel that indicate drivetrain issues: Check engine (CE) light display iDrive screen display Drivetrain error message Rough idling Constant vibration Engine cuts off when the gear is engaged What causes errors? While there are several possibilities for what could cause drivetrain malfunctions, two major problems arise more often than others: Transmission fluid degradation – Your BMW transmission requires regular maintenance to keep it running efficiently. One part of preventative maintenance includes changing out older transmission fluids with new ones to help reduce friction within its internal parts and increase efficiency over time. Low fluid levels – Another common reason that could cause
Damaged fuel Injectors
If the fuel injectors are damaged, even if there is proper electrical operation, the engine will not have sufficient power to drive through a drivetrain. This can be caused by an improperly timed or mechanical failure of the camshaft and crankshaft causing loss of compression in one or more cylinders. If this occurs it could cause issues with the timing belt, spark plugs, coils, etc…
Faulty spark plugs
A defective spark plug can hinder the efficiency of your BMW’s drivetrain. Faulty or worn-out spark plugs may result in different malfunctions in cars, including engine misfire, rough idling, engine refusal to start and others. The remedy to this challenge would be to replace all the spark plugs in your BMW with a new set.
High-pressure/faulty fuel pump
- This is because a faulty fuel pump cannot supply the required quantity of fuel to power the car’s engine for proper acceleration.
Faulty ignition coil
- Ensure to swap the coils in that particular cylinder with another to see if the problem persists.
- A cylinder misfire indicates that the ignition coil attached to that cylinder is bad.
Clogged catalytic converter
- Hence, once it leaks, it is detrimental to overall performance and can damage other components. Check Using the Dipstick Checking using the dipstick is one of the easiest ways to determine if the transmission fluid is leaking.
- It cools and lubricates your vehicle’s transmission.
- This problem is common with high mileage cars with a clogged catalytic converter that hinders the exhaust gases from releasing appropriating.
Low octane/low-quality fuel
- If you realize that you have filled your car’s fuel tank with low-quality octane gasoline, ensure to add an octane booster immediately to step up the fuel quality for the car.
How Do You Diagnose and Fix Drivetrain Problems?
- Diagnosing a drivetrain malfunction in BMW 535i or any other modern BMW car is pretty easy with an OBD II Scanner.
- If you are contemplating how to fix drivetrain malfunction in BMW, it would be helpful to first restart the car’s engine before proceeding with an OBD II scan.
Restart the BMW engine
- Step 2: Turn off the car’s ignition and remove the car key Step 3: Allow the car to stay for at least 5 to 7 minutes and restart the engine.
Properly inspect the BMW engine
- In some cases, an engine restart can get rid of the drivetrain malfunction message on the iDrive screen due to the BMW drivetrain malfunction reset performed by the engine restart.
- However, if the engine restart doesn’t do the job, conduct a proper inspection on the vehicle’s engine.
- Step 1: Park safely and turn off the BMW’s ignition.
Read the drivetrain malfunction error code with an OBD II Scanner
- Turn on the OBD II scanner and choose BMW code.
- Read the code and consult the manual to know what it means.
- Act accordingly depending on the problem.
- A malfunction in a BMW1 series drivetrain indicates that there is a problem with the vehicle’s automatic transmission or its transaxle.
- And so the fix requires immediate action.
- A drivetrain malfunction is problematic in any car, irrespective of the brand or model.
Final Words
- A drivetrain malfunction on BMW can be very frustrating if you do not know the cause and how to fix the problem.
- On the contrary, you now know what to do if a similar challenge occurs to your BMW car.
- If you have someone battling with this same problem at the moment, why not refer them to read this article?
What should I do when my drivetrain is malfunctioning on a BMW .
- First, you will want to make sure that your car is off and then gently open the hood. Make sure that you park in an area with plenty of room as well as ample parking space. Be sure not to allow anyone else to get into the car while you are working on it, including any pets or children.Once inside, take out the gas cap and place it somewhere safe so it doesn’t accidentally spill like oil does. Now remove any debris from underneath the vehicle such as leaves, twigs or other debris. It could be worth taking a look at your tires too since they may have been affected by something sticking under them causing them to drag along the roadways which can damage your drivetrain components over time.Important things to look for include failure of your transmission fluid reservoir cap; if this has leaked out then immediately start up the engine and check for leaks coming from around where you started removing items from under the vehicle itself; if this has also expanded a little bit then there is probably nothing major wrong with your transmission however given that we don’t know what caused this leak its best to change everything just in case something more serious had happened (you never know).As long as no one was walking around under it when all of these pieces were removed then there shouldn’t be anything wrong but if you see any kind of visible damage or cracks please contact us immediately so we can pinpoint exactly
How Much Does It Cost to Repair a BMW Drivetrain
- If you do it yourself, you might make the issue worse. The specific BMW drivetrain malfunction repair cost depends on many things, such as the model of your vehicle, location, and the mechanic doing the job.
