Turbo Lag/Hestitation Software Addressed 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
