back with more bmw woes

x in the city

yes folks,

that 316i has been at it again. last friday a routine trip to the bmw garage for door clips turned into my last trip in said car. its now awaiting a diagnostic check, must to the dissapointment of my bank account.

this is what happens

i pull into forecourt, wait about 20 mins to get my clips, notice im blocking a new 1 series tryin to leave the glass doors, and start up.....it stalls.....and has a very bad idle, i mean a crazy idle.

i start again and it stalls. i eventually keep the throttle down and drive out, very bad it seems.

when i meet traffic (and slow down) hello...it stalls again.

great going huh. so i manage to turn around, and pull into a layby. after few failed attempts to start it.

kept cutting out, its back to the bmw garage, i couldnt possibly risk driving it back to my gaff in such a state so its awaiting a diagnostic check.

he mentioned the AFM. considering i replaced the lambda and IAV already, its seems that maybe the air meter is bust.

it seems that whatever was wrong with it up to now, finally gave the ghost and packed in.

i cant afford to lose loads on this car, so say the diagnosatic check says, ok you need x and y to get it going. where can i get 2nd hand parts anyone know? or would that be a bad thing?

its a M43 engine, and not ancient by any means, i should also mention i put on a k and n filter, but this should have little relevance and the same problem was noticed before and after this was installed.

id like some constructive answers

528i

The K & N filter has a lot of relevance since they allow more containments thru (in the pursuit of more air flow) than a standard oem filter, this allows dirt & debris to build up over time on the air flow meter ultimately affecting its signal an thus the cars overall running & performance.

I've had two replaced on my car at a cost of roughly €800, but you can try cleaning it with electrical contact cleaner first to see if things improve, or maybe disconnecting it altogether to see if the car runs normally (on a default value with less power) to pinpoint the problem and see if it is actually the MAF meter that's the problem.

Seth Brundle

the K&N should not have caused any problem at this stage - actually I rarely come across engine problems caused by using a K&N

mike65

Hows your water temp sensor (engine temp), if they pack up starting and idling/low revs is tricky.

Mike.