8.5R Gremlins

[Jay Psi]

5 minutes ago, Booth11 said:

On the subject of stop start not kicking in, although I am in the habit of disabling it every journey, I decided a while back to stop doing that to see how often it would kick in. It’s been weeks now and it’s not kicked in at all, so imagine my surprise when I stopped at a junction today and the engine cut out.  For a split second I thought there was something wrong with the car and then I realised it was the stop start.   IT’S ALIVE!  😂

When I had it on (for exactly two journeys on pickup day), it did seem to be sluggish. I want to say my Fiesta (Mk6 Titanium X) was quicker to restart, and it would turn off at every light.

 

In the Golf, there seemed to be a delay in a similar way to Auto-Hold before engaging. Perhaps they are linked?

[Booth11]

14 minutes ago, Jay Psi said:

Thanks - seeing others on here mention it so often definitely softened the blow. I would have been bricking it without the prior knowledge. To answer the questions:

1. Cold start - car last driven ~80 hours prior
2. No purchases/downloads from the VW shop - this thread warned me away from that!
3. Viofo A329S 2ch - I was concerned about battery drain, hence the highest setting for minimum voltage
4. Permanent live to battery via fuse box, for parking recording as you surmised

I didn't have as many warnings as others who have posted about it. I reckon ~5 separate lights and a couple of warnings. Should it happen again I'll try to take note of them.

Sorry to hear you’ve experienced the dreaded bongfest Jay, hopefully a one off.

 

Im always suspicious of dashcams hard wired into the fuse box (without an independent battery back up supply) as I’ve had different dashcams hardwired in on two previous golf’s and both cars had the battery die early on in the cars life.  I’ve always suspected the dashcam was to blame even though it had voltage protection on.  

[Booth11]

1 minute ago, Jay Psi said:

When I had it on (for exactly two journeys on pickup day), it did seem to be sluggish. I want to say my Fiesta (Mk6 Titanium X) was quicker to restart, and it would turn off at every light.

 

In the Golf, there seemed to be a delay in a similar way to Auto-Hold before engaging. Perhaps they are linked?

I always have found stop start sluggish on my last 3 golfs which is part of the reason I hate it and disable it each journey (I coded it off permanently on my mk7R but that can’t be done on the mk8/8.5s unfortunately).  
 

I don’t have any issue with notable delays on autohold but maybe I’m just too used to it.  

[Jay Psi]

25 minutes ago, Booth11 said:

Sorry to hear you’ve experienced the dreaded bongfest Jay, hopefully a one off.

 

Im always suspicious of dashcams hard wired into the fuse box (without an independent battery back up supply) as I’ve had different dashcams hardwired in on two previous golf’s and both cars had the battery die early on in the cars life.  I’ve always suspected the dashcam was to blame even though it had voltage protection on.  

Thanks. As I said earlier, reading about how often it happened was good mental preparation, +1 for the forum!

 

I discussed this with the fitter when I got the dashcam installed. I'll weigh up the potential annoyance of reconfiguring the settings (assuming they all reset if the battery fails) and the price of a new battery over the inconvenience and cost of going for what is basically another dashcam fitting.

 

21 minutes ago, Booth11 said:

I always have found stop start sluggish on my last 3 golfs which is part of the reason I hate it and disable it each journey (I coded it off permanently on my mk7R but that can’t be done on the mk8/8.5s unfortunately).  
 

I don’t have any issue with notable delays on autohold but maybe I’m just too used to it.  

This is my first Auto-Hold and my first automatic car, so I'm still used to engaging the gears and handbrake manually. In reality, the ~0.3 seconds Auto-Hold takes to engage is the same time it would take to crank the handbrake anyway. I just feel somewhat obsolete while the car "drives" for me!

[Rossdh91]

I despise stop start. There is zero place for it on a performance car, or any turbocharged vehicle IMO. I have it pinned to the top of my screen so I can just tap it off and do it every time I get in the car. 

[Booth11]

1 hour ago, Jay Psi said:

This is my first Auto-Hold and my first automatic car, so I'm still used to engaging the gears and handbrake manually. In reality, the ~0.3 seconds Auto-Hold takes to engage is the same time it would take to crank the handbrake anyway. I just feel somewhat obsolete while the car "drives" for me!

I think the paddle issue is part of a conspiracy to wrestle that last bit of driver independence from us in an effort to make us merely passengers in the driver seat.  😄

[blizzard60]

16 hours ago, TheJetMan said:

Now have an "Error - Airbag" warning come up on the dash every time I start the car with a yellow airbag warning light to accompany it.... Final straw for me and VW. First the paddle issue, now this. M135 order put in. 

I’m genuinely so sorry @TheJetMan that really really sucks.

 

I’ve kinda lost sight of Bimmers in the last 5 years as their prices here in Canada are crazy. I’ll look up what a 135i in the UK gets you these days as now I’m a bit interested.

 

Will you struggle through with your R until the 135i arrives? What sort of timeline are you looking at? I’m sure you are more than fed up, but I’d be interested to know why the hell the airbag light came on.

 

Any way, sorry again for the hassle your new R has caused you and best wishes.

[AHG]

20 hours ago, Jay Psi said:

As I said earlier, reading about how often it happened was good mental preparation, +1 for the forum!

Make that +100

I waited 15 months for my 8R reading about all the gremlins here

When it came nothing surprised me and I was calm and knew what to do

A big part of my positive car ownership experience

is owed to this amazing forum and it’s awesome members

 

21 hours ago, Booth11 said:

On the subject of stop start not kicking in, although I am in the habit of disabling it every journey, I decided a while back to stop doing that to see how often it would kick in. It’s been weeks now and it’s not kicked in at all, so imagine my surprise when I stopped at a junction today and the engine cut out.  For a split second I thought there was something wrong with the car and then I realised it was the stop start.   IT’S ALIVE!  😂

 

I have a friend with a 8.5GTI who went to have diagnostics done because the start stop wasn’t working (he though the battery was the issue) and apparently his battery is fine and there are a list of updates for different parts of the software to deal with it. My advice to him was “don’t do it” as the car runs perfectly and with zero issues, and not having start/stop is not a downside to anyone, really.

 

But if someone is interested you may want to report it as a problem and book the car in for diagnostics, and see what updates they get for it (after they test battery and see it ok).

[TheJetMan]

22 hours ago, Booth11 said:

Sorry to hear this @TheJetMan, but understandable.  I do hope you have a much better experience with the 135i and put the issues of the R behind you.  

Thanks Rebecca! ☺️

[TheJetMan]

22 hours ago, Msportman said:

Have you test driven the latest M135i ?

Nope! Went straight to order! I know it’s not going to be as fast as the R but I’m looking for something with a better build quality.

[TheJetMan]

6 hours ago, blizzard60 said:

I’m genuinely so sorry @TheJetMan that really really sucks.

 

I’ve kinda lost sight of Bimmers in the last 5 years as their prices here in Canada are crazy. I’ll look up what a 135i in the UK gets you these days as now I’m a bit interested.

 

Will you struggle through with your R until the 135i arrives? What sort of timeline are you looking at? I’m sure you are more than fed up, but I’d be interested to know why the hell the airbag light came on.

 

Any way, sorry again for the hassle your new R has caused you and best wishes.

Yeah I’ll keep the R until my new BMW M135 arrives in December! And thanks for your kind words! The R has a fantastic community behind it and when it works, it’s a cracking car! Just disappointed with the build quality and the number of issues I’m having even though it’s only 6 months old! 

[MJC1216]

3 hours ago, TheJetMan said:

Nope! Went straight to order! I know it’s not going to be as fast as the R but I’m looking for something with a better build quality.

 

It would have been my first choice if i was getting another hot hatch as there was no way i was buying a Mk8 with all the gremlins and it seems the Mk 8.5 has fewer but i can understand your frustration.

 

I test drove the previous generation of M135 and the biggest issue for me was the gearbox but the latest model has reverted to a 7 speed DCT which should make it a nicer experience.

 

Hope you enjoy it and let us know how you get on...i am no longer in the market for a hot hatch as my circumstances have changed. 

[nn7man]

Just to provide a bit of balance... I have had zero issues with my Jan 25 R, no bongfests, no flappy paddle issues, no warning lights, nada. My only fault has been a rear light cluster, replaced under warranty.

 

People only post on a gremlin thread when they've had one. 67 pages is some going so maybe there's something out there. Maybe I've been lucky, but can't help thinking that some of this is battery related. Mine is on charge every night until it's used again and has never missed a beat when I set off with 13.5 -14.0 V. I even get stop/start.

[blizzard60]

6 hours ago, nn7man said:

Just to provide a bit of balance... I have had zero issues with my Jan 25 R, no bongfests, no flappy paddle issues, no warning lights, nada. My only fault has been a rear light cluster, replaced under warranty.

 

People only post on a gremlin thread when they've had one. 67 pages is some going so maybe there's something out there. Maybe I've been lucky, but can't help thinking that some of this is battery related. Mine is on charge every night until it's used again and has never missed a beat when I set off with 13.5 -14.0 V. I even get stop/start.

You are a brave, brave person! Not sure if you ride bikes, but that’s like the one person that’s like “I never get flats so I don’t ride with a spare tube”, then the next time they go out, the get 5 flats and have to borrow tubes, levers and pumps from everyone else!! I am PRAYING for your car you don’t just jinx it 🤣

 

Jokes aside, you raise very good points, and I agree with you, wholeheartedly. That doesn’t take away from the frustration I’d be feeling in @TheJetMan‘s case and we all have our limit.

[Msportman]

On 29/07/2025 at 16:54, MJC1216 said:

 

It would have been my first choice if i was getting another hot hatch as there was no way i was buying a Mk8 with all the gremlins and it seems the Mk 8.5 has fewer but i can understand your frustration.

 

I test drove the previous generation of M135 and the biggest issue for me was the gearbox but the latest model has reverted to a 7 speed DCT which should make it a nicer experience.

 

Hope you enjoy it and let us know how you get on...i am no longer in the market for a hot hatch as my circumstances have changed. 

Had a M235i on loan recently whilst wife’s iX1 was in for an update. I agree the box wasn’t as quick as the VAG DSG.

Nicer interior ….a M135 I in a good spec would be a great change.