New to me 2012 X5 35iX, possible shift issue?

[kouks]

Got the wife a replacement for her Suburban that most of the clearcoat has failed on and the engine and trans are nearing death at 180k miles.

However, there appears to be a possible shift issue with the X5, mostly when cold.

When I press the gas the engine revs what appears to be normally, and a split second later the trans engages, not hard at all, just basically wakes up and goes. As the car get warmer this delay is less and less. If I press the gas slowly, it does not happen, seems like everything catches up. The dealer tells me its turbo lag. This is my first turbo car, my other BMWs are basic motors. I can accept turbo lag when its warm, but the delay when its cold seems excessive.

Anyone else out there experience this? Does not seem like BMW would design a car like this.

[peter2772000]

Our X6 has basically the same trait. The throttle response isn't all that great, especially when mashing the pedal. The turbo lag is something you'll notice more once you're rolling and want instant gratification at relatively low rpms.

But even at go-calmly-from-stopped, it feels like there is a delay....or more precisely, more pedal input than that which you'd normally expect. We had an update done which took over half a day to complete. It seems better than before, but not quite where I'd like it to be.

[RyansBMW]

What update did you do? I'm thinking about getting the xHP flash done on mine.

[kouks]

Our X6 has basically the same trait. The throttle response isn't all that great, especially when mashing the pedal. The turbo lag is something you'll notice more once you're rolling and want instant gratification at relatively low rpms.

But even at go-calmly-from-stopped, it feels like there is a delay....or more precisely, more pedal input than that which you'd normally expect. We had an update done which took over half a day to complete. It seems better than before, but not quite where I'd like it to be.

That's exactly the feeling I get. I'm used to instant zip with the older cars, especially the V8 740iL. This things gets going well once it wakes up, but I hate the lag. Let us know what update you did and if it's worth the effort.

Also have a valve cover gasket leak. minor. Thought it was going to be a breeze, then looked up the procedure in the TIS...are you kidding me. This is like a three hour ordeal, at least. Sigh...I love my older Bimmers.

[peter2772000]

So here's the story...

We imported the X6 up from Canada where we have our main residence, that was in November 2015. The X6 had last been to the dealer back in 2014 for a faulty coil pack.
I brought the truck into the BMW dealership in March 2016 to complain about the since-new lag. They checked our file and said they had a few updates to do that had never been performed.
They plugged in the truck and what was supposed to take an hour took long enough that they gave me a loaner and told me to come back the following day.
The truck is definitely better than before, but not as good as a $80k CAN vehicle should be. I can understand the turbo lag, it's the nature of the beast. But not this.

I've read that there's this doohickey you plug into the TPS which gives you a much crisper and immediate throttle response, you might want to look into it if this issue bothers you that much.

[eddieb022000]

im coming from the naturally aspirated v8's and the 4.4 twin turbo is definitely different. i finally got fed up with the lag at stop signs so i did a dinan upgrade for additional 95 hpw (which is insane) and figured the software would provide a smother and better throttle response. hard to tell since i just got it but definitely smoother all around - doesnt have the hard downshift it used to going into a red light when i would coast. the lag in throttle response off the light was just too annoying for me

[kouks]

Couple of mornings ago, on a cold start noticed a puff of what appeared to be oil smoke as my wife started it up. Seemed to be gone as she drove away. The car only has 73k on it and PO was a woman driver and dealer maintained so I assume it was not abused. Could the turbo bearing be going this early? Could also be caused by valve seals, but again, 73k miles is way too early for those to go.