Well fellow Bimmers, 1st a little back round. My 2008 E90 335xi was one of the first ones built. My car was ordered around the beginning of July 07. Arrived at BMW, Bel Air, MD. 1 Oct 2007. and was delivered 3 Oct 07. I am new to BMW, but not lux. sport cars. I have owned, 2 Volvo S60 AWD Turbos,(neither had turbo lag that I was aware of), and I sold my 2006 Audi A4 Quattro 3.2 S-line, to buy my current 1st BMW. I had no problems at all until I had Bluetooth / Sat. radio / mirror-seat settings/ being lost. So... I got the newest software that had just came out the day before, according to my SA on 30 Apr 08. As not being member yet of this forum, or BMW CCA. I had not heard the rumors about turbo lag yet. But my SA did confirm then, that it was V29.2.0 installed on BMW. I work in the area of Bel Air BMW, and had gotten to know service, parts, and sales staff quite well, on my many friendly visits. The owner of Bel Air & Towson BMW, had even given me passes to the car shows in Washington DC, and Baltimore, (DC was the best). I'm still waiting for BMW's front strut brace for a 335xi, the strut towers are more vertical that the non AWD's, and the turbos take up to much room under the hood for the brace to fit right now. I'm hoping it will be out soon. I frequently spoke w/ Joe the top service tech in the shop, about what I was experiencing w/ my BMW. He was aware that there was a problem w/ , as he said, "electric throttle hesitation". The next few softwares had been released, and addressed this hesitation, but Joe shared that some of the memos w/ me. A memo f/ BMW in Sept 08, talked about the issue. But there were bugs in these softwares, that had electronic issues, etc. So Joe suggested I wait for a version that didn't have these bug, but addressed the hesitation issue. This bring us up to date. Yesterday, 6 Nov 2008, my car went in for service, and was re flashed w/ V31.1.0. (a copy of the tech sheet was give to me, to confirm this). My passed performance issues were, hesitation, or turbo lag f/ a stop, or low RPM, take offs. Well, my spirited drive home, yesterday was about as hard as I could make it for the new V31.1.0. All combinations of acceleration that I could think of were put to the test. While I am not a mechanic, I can change my oil, spark plugs, brakes, etc. My understanding of the dynamics of the 2 small turbos spooling up on my BMW are not technical, but I know what I feel thru the gas pedal, brake pedal, and steering wheel. I am however a certified EVOC instructor thru the state of MD. I can post lap times w/ the best of them on a road course, and have been at the top of the charts against other EVOC instructors. Enough said. Well I'm pleased to say... THE TURBO LAG/ ELECTRINIC THROTTLE HESITATION IS GONE! My 1 year old BMW is back the way its was when it was new, w/ no electronic bugs f/ BMW either. To those of you who had questions on my previous posts, ie, how do I know what software I have, and how do I know if I have turbo lag. I am only aware of the dealer being connected to their CPU, and telling you what version software you have. As to turbo lag, only the driver knows what they feel thru the seat of their pants. The current BMW software is only available as a download f/ BMW in NJ. The shop doesn't have it on disc yet. So it takes about 4 hr. to install. WARNING, the dealer will only upgrade your BMW if you have some type of software issue that either gives error codes or causing a recognizable symptom on your car. If they run a diagnostic on your car, and nothing is wrong they will tell you your BMW is preforming as it is programed to do. Hence you go home w/ no software upgrade. That did happen to me last month. BMW is still not openly admitting to have a programed turbo lag. I recommend telling your SA the the car sometimes HESITATES f/ a stopped start, ie. stop sign, or red light. Good Luck, dave in Bel Air
Dave- This was very helpful, thanks. Just to make sure I am experiencing the same turbo lag, basically what is happening is when I sit in traffic and pick up speed, then stop, then pick up speed, etc. I sometimes jolt forward and sometimes it takes a second to get things moving. furthermore, at times i see the rpms shoot down from 2,5k to 1k in less then a second. is this similar to what you have experienced? sorry if i am not explaining it very well. do you think i should go to my bmw service tech? i am in nj, and they have always been very helpful.
Turbo lag: The dreaded V29.2.0 software issue I may be able to shed some light: When we started getting letters about reprogrammed 335i's developing a noticeable turbo lag, I sent a batch to BMW NA asking for a reply we could run in Roundel. I am happy to tell you that NA responded with a solution that I think will please affected members. First of all, these people weren't simply paranoid, there really was a modification meant to address certain "rattle" issues (wastegate, perhaps?), and that affected performance, at least to a degree noticeable to 335i enthusiasts. Even better, BMW will change it back if you don't like it---but they won't have the software to do that until January. Here's their official reply, which will run in the January issue: In an effort to address specific noise concerns, BMW updated the turbocharged engine software on 335i/xi and 535i/xi models built from June 2006 through March 2008. The updated software causes a small amount of increased "turbocharger lag" under certain circumstances and, while not substantial, the lag may be perceptible to the most sensitive BMW drivers. X6, 135i, and 3 Series/5 Series vehicles from March 2008 production onward are not affected. Release of the new software to restore the original turbocharger response is planned for January 2009, and it will be available for vehicles produced from September 2007 through March 2008 when they are brought to an authorized BMW center for a repair which requires a programming update. Clients with vehicles produced from June 2006 through September 2007 may request installation of the January 2009 software update. Clients who get this update should understand that there is a possibility of slightly increased engine noise levels under certain circumstances.-Thomas J. Plucinsky, BMW NA
Hey Dave, I'm waiting for my 135i from Towson, and I have been watching the software issue, as it seems to be similar with the 135i. In addition, and the reason I have been paying attention, the factory alarm for the 1 Series was on freeze waiting for the v31 software. It was released a week or so ago (probably the same time as yours.) The first note I heard about it was from a dealer in GA who was doing the software upgrade just to allow the alarm to be installed. It froze during the upgrade, and the poor guy's car was dead. They gave him a loaner, but they couldn't get it to complete. The solution was for BMW to deliver a copy of the software to the dealership and go from there (download wasn't happening.) Sorry to go a little OT, but it is interesting that the software for both cars is v31 (is it the same for all models with the N54?) and they couldn't get a download to work. My car is still in Bremerhaven, but it was just completed a week or so ago - I'm hoping that mine already has v31 in it when it gets here. Have Fun, Rick - around White Marsh
I have a 335xi with a manufacture date of July 2007. Yesterday I had the high pressure fuel pump replaced and when I got the car back it had noticeable turbo lag which it never had before. The exhaust note is also different and quieter. I notice on the shop invoice that they also performed "PROGRAM PER GW CODE: 80676090". Could this be what has caused the turbo lag and change in exhaust? I have no idea what the GW code is referring to.
hey jack the number you referred to is the software build that you had in your car. the fix for turbo lag was addressed by BMW after months of BMW owner insisting that holding the waste gates open during ideal. so starting off w/ the waste gates open turbo lag was created, just to keep it simple. that number meant you were in need of the software update. and was done by your dealer. if you did have turbo lag now, do to the software concerning the waste gates, your exhaust would be louder. take a look at your January issue of Roundel, page 6 1st letter "BMW NA agrees to fix the 335 (i &xi) Turbo Program" this is what you just got updated to, even though you may NOT have had lag before this repair. to keep up w/ the latest info about my BMW, i subscribe to this forum, and read it daily. http://www.e90post.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=58 . this is the link to the turbo section. as you can read, the very first sticky deals w/ this issue and has been going strong since 06/06/08 w/ thousands of posts. i suggest making this a favorite w/ your computer and do what many others do to stay informed. hope this helps you out. not sure what you might be feeling, but it's not turbo lag. our cars do have an electronic throttle and sometimes there is a slight hesitation, but again no lag. feel free to email me direct if you have more questions, dave spydeputy@comcast.net
Update on my 335xi problems. After having the HPFP installed the car was lacking in power. I took it back to the dealer and they found a vacuum leak. That fixed the leak and the power was back, but now there was a very noticeable lag, especially when taking off from stop. I took it back again and showed them the post from Satch (see above in this thread). The service guy called a mechanic who showed up with BMW bulletin SI B11 13 07 dated February 2009 (available at http://www.bimmerfile.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/bmwn54update.pdf). After looking at my history file they agreed that the reprogramming done at the time the HPFP was installed introduced the lag. (Note: a "passenger occupancy sensor" in the passengers seat was also replaced at that time and may have had something do to with the necessity to reprogram). So they agreed to reprogram again using the info from the bulletin to "reinstall the original waste gate operation". Happy ending - the car functions properly now - plenty of power and no noticeable lag. The mechanic said this was the first car they had "put back". It seems that whenever we take a 335 in for service we may need to tell them we do not want waste gate operation reprogrammed. I think (but don't know for sure) that any of the newer programs will automatically program in the turbo lag unless they override the defaults.
