[moldcad]

OK, thanks guys. Just one remark, if you don't mind: this behavior - although logical and more desired to that of the cars I drove in the past, like the (semi) automatic 330i SMG, and am driving now (DSG Golf R) - is NOT the only possible, and happens to be opposite to my experience (from both the past and from the current Golf R). So - with my 44 years of driving experience - I wouldn't call my concern "over-worrying". Especially with the modern technology failing so often, plus my error I'm still ashamed of (getting so preoccupied with setting-up additional devices, and forgetting about the proper warm-up before flooring it )... And as I said elsewhere - it's ironic that those "additional devices" (my Android phone with an app showing all temperatures - of the coolant, engine oil and transmission oil) I needed to avoid just that: putting too much revs/load on a not fully warmed-up engine...

[moldcad]

Originally Posted by nike001

Haven't you ever watched drifting? They bounce their cars off their limiters all day long.

I used to drift a lot myself in cheap, manual RWD cars like the Fiat 125/132 I mentioned earlier. I agree that it's all so easy to over-rev the engine - especially on really slippery surface like snow or gravel. But if "they bounce their cars off their limiters all the time" it means to me they are poor drivers.

I do drift my M235i occasionally, but if I tell you its price here in Poland is some 10x higher than of the cars I used for sport when I was young - I hope you'll understand that having it just 4 months, I never "bounced off the limiter" until yesterday... Not to mention that to keep a Fiat 132 in nice long drift at some 120 km/h required almost full throttle (though still constantly modulated, of course), while with all the torque from the M235i 3-3,5k rpm is quite enough for controlled power slide off a curve or two ...

[Zooks527]

You know, there's a fair chance the hard cycling the fake engine noise (sorry, "Active Sound") on and off makes the perceived stutter sound much worse than it is for real.

[moldcad]

Yeah, it's certainly possible... I must admit that with all my 44 years of driving more traditional cars, I don't fully trust some aspect of modern technology (especially electronics) - I for the life of me would never go with any of those "driver's aids" keeping your car within the lane, braking (or accelerating) in accordance of the surrounding traffic flow, parking the car for you, etc. Call me old-fashioned, but at my 60 years of age I doubt it will ever change!

[MrBucket]

Originally Posted by moldcad

Thanks for the answer, and again sorry for the long post in far-from-good English. In spite of my complicated description, you understood perfectly my question - and basing on your answer I have a further question:

- does the rev limiter make any specific, additional noise, as your answer would suggest? If so, it must have been just that, and knowing it for sure would calm me down completely, so please confirm

PS. Oh, and there are no fault codes; if I was worried about a possible "damage" I only meant a long-term one.

Only thing that happens is the engine cuts fuel and it bounces off the soft limiter they have set. 60c is 140f which while not up to operating temperature is not cold either. When I drive the RS4 which has a much higher strung engine than these N55, it has a little message in the gauge cluster not to exceed 7,000 RPM until the engine warms up past 140f. These engines also seem to operate around similar temperatures too from what I've seen (I love my P3 vent gauge). So I really wouldn't worry about it.

[allthatisntnow]

Sometimes as an unavoidable requirement to your own safety you'll need to floor the car to get out of trouble. This event won't wait for your engine to be up to operating temperature. Wouldn't sweat it as long as its not a regular occurrence, these things aren't made of glass. They've had an awful lot of engineering hours put into them and with synthetic oils and low friction coatings available today its not going to lead to the disaster of yesteryear.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying its ok to do, i have mechanical sympathy on par with the best of us, just saying a one off certainly isn't the end of the world.

[moldcad]

I'm baking up this old thread of mine, because I started getting very similar noises from my engine without revving it high enough for the rev limiter to kick-in, and for no other apparent reason. Sometimes when I'm at WOT, accelerating as hard as possible - those dry snaps/knocks of high frequency (sorry - my limited English doesn't allow me to use a right word or better description for this kind of noise) already at some 5k rpm! I'm really worried now - it never lasts for long, as either the gear is changed by my AT (effectively lowering rpm), or I back off on the gas a little... I'm not saying it's exactly the same noise as the rev limiter's "burr", but it's loud and definitely doesn't sound healthy to me. And yet - no error codes, power is still there as usual...

What could it be? Thanks for any suggestions

Piotr

PS. Of course, it doesn't happen always when reaching some 5k rpm under WOT - otherwise I'd have take the car in long ago, of course. Could it be symptoms of knocking combustion after I was unlucky enough to fill up with a low-quality gas (the probability of fuel not meeting specs is now much lower here in PL than it used to be, but it still happens)? Or another theory (sorry if absurd - I realize it's a loooong shot): a "preemptive" rev limiter in action (this idea comes from the fact that - accelerating at WOT - the rear tires are on the verge of losing grip which would inevitably lead to momentary peak rpm exceeding the max allowed)? I have no idea, and please don't get me wrong: I do long trips driving aggressively most of the time, and everything is OK 99% of time, but this remaining 1% - when the scary sound happens - is enough for me to fear the worst happening to my engine... My M235i is a keeper - at 65, I don't think I'll be able to get a new car which would exceed my 2-er in nimbleness and performance. Also, with over 46 years of driving experience and quite a number of cars before this one, I'm an experienced driver (even if rather enthusiastic most of the time) - so I do oil changes twice as often as the BMW Service Plan requires in my country; I never ever rev the engine before it gets warm enough, etc. If I turn to you guys with this request for your opinion is just because - with no codes stored - I can imagine some silly mechanic at my dealership driving my car like crazy in order to reproduce the suspicious noise, which is definitely something I'd rather avoid...

PPS. Oh, I just remembered: I do have the Racechip installed, but - after the initial period of testing its settings (while measuring their relative influence on the motor performance with apps like the Torque Pro and Dash-command) - I backed off 2 notches from the most aggressive settings I had ever used, and left it like this. Could some excessive charge from my turbo generate noises like this with its release valve?

[bimmerfile]

Originally Posted by moldcad

Yeah, it's certainly possible... I must admit that with all my 44 years of driving more traditional cars, I don't fully trust some aspect of modern technology (especially electronics) - I for the life of me would never go with any of those "driver's aids" keeping your car within the lane, braking (or accelerating) in accordance of the surrounding traffic flow, parking the car for you, etc. Call me old-fashioned, but at my 60 years of age I doubt it will ever change!

You are wise not to over-trust technology. Many of us here (including myself) have spent most of our careers in the tech field and it's a well known fact that exactly 50% of all people working in the technology field are below average.

[moldcad]

Originally Posted by moldcad

Or another theory (sorry if absurd - I realize it's a loooong shot): a "preemptive" rev limiter in action (this idea comes from the fact that - accelerating at WOT - the rear tires are on the verge of losing grip which would inevitably lead to momentary peak rpm exceeding the max allowed)?

Actually, when I think of it again, this "theory" is not quite absurd at all... The oil in my engine wasn't fully warmed up yet (the noise at some 5k rpm happened at just some 5 minutes after a cold start), so it would have been nice if the rev limiter was automatically set a little lower - either by the ECU, or my Racechip. Is everyone absolutely positive it is not what might have happened?

Piotr

[BillD1953]

I've left the shifter in the M1 position on the X3M40i on more than one occassion.
Rev limiter and ZF8 took care of any issue.

[USA-RET]

If you've ever watch a F1 race when the guys are entering and leaving the pit lane, they engage a rev limiter to avoid a stop and go penalty for pit lane speeding. Engine sounds terrible and you'd swear something is drastically wrong...Rattatatatatatatata as the car goes along. Likely what happened to you. Should be no problem..but I wouldn't want to be routinely testing it.