I have an appointment at dealer next week and definitely want to be informed before I go. Being a women I feel I will get taken advantage of. So, if I go with my knowledge gun loaded I am hoping for a reasonable outcome.
The problem I have is when it is cold out under 40 degrees, my car starts rough and idles rough until it gets to temperature. My research has concluded it may be cold start. Does this sound right? The repair part of my search has gone from small fixes to very expensive so, I really don’t know what to expect.
I go next Friday the 20th so any help before then I would appreciate.
Thanks. See you sat on the radio!
What year is your BMW, and how many miles?? Have you had a check light turn on??
…and what can you tell us–in detail–about its maintenance over the past 3 years?
Trixie,
A cold start is what you are doing to the car, not an actual problem it is having.
A cold start simply refers to the fact that the vehicle hasn’t been operated in a number of hours.
It could be 95 degrees outside, but if the vehicle hasn’t been operated in 4+ hours, its still considered a “cold start”.
There are a number of causes that could cause the symptoms you are describing.
We are going to need a lot more information about the car in order to give you a bit of education for you to feel truly informed of what the potential causes might be, so that you don’t feel like you will get hoodwinked by your BMW dealer.
BC.
OLDER BMW’s actually had a “cold Start” valve…which was an extra injector that basically acted like a choke…and richened up the cold start mixture…I am betting that your BMW is newer…
We REALLY need to know the Year and Model please…rather helpful… ALSO the state of tune…Maintenance schedule etc…
Have you ever looked under your hood by chance? I wanted you to look at your intake boot…going from the Airbox to the engine…look for cracks…gaping holes…etc… IF you have a major crack or leak or hole…you will have issues… Give it a looksie…THAT is something that you can certainly do yourself.
Let us know
Blackbird
Thanks for some feedback. I actually took it to the dealer and it did exactly what I said it did for them. I have a 2006 BMW x3 M3. I have really never taken it in for anything other than a valve that cracked about a year ago. It is due for the first large maintenance (that I will be doing, since owing the car. I bought in 2009,) in 8k miles. I should have written down what they told me but, they hooked it up Friday to some machine and it did not show anything. But, after letting it sit this weekend there they saw today what it does and said there was oil that leaked onto the sparkplugs and something about a vacuum intake? They are going to fix these and see what happens overnight again. I have no idea if I am getting taken or not. I am so ignorant when it comes to car stuff. I will say I am glad I bought the extended warranty as it so far covers about 1/2 of what I will owe. Any thoughts would be appreciated!!! Thanks!!