1997 318ti going to trash! MISFIRE

[Wantahmr]

I have a 1997 318ti Sport package black. This is the wierdest car. According to anyone i've talked to, its not supposed to have a breather tube with the air intake, but it does. Now keep in mind that all vin numbers match, and no work has been done till recently. My second gear syncro cracked, and any dealership that we talked to said that my car was supposed to have the VF transmission in it, but i had the getrag, vin matching, so i had to get a used tranny from Florida that cost me around 1800 bucks. Thats screwy. Now i am having a problem with my car to where if i give it too much gas too quickly, it bogs down and almost seems to be miss firing or something. I replaced the spark plugs and am about to replace the sparkplug wires and fuel filter, if this doesn't work, any suggestions? Am I being foolish by replacing these? I NEED HELP!!!! Another thing is that the factory wheels on the car are 16's and noone has the same size as factory according to costco or any other tire place i got to, can someone tell me whats up with my car?

[CirrusSR22]

Explain this breather tube a little more. Any pictures of it?

These cars all had Getrag transmissions (S5D 250 G), so the dealerships are wrong. Was $1,800 with labor for the transmission? Just curious really, since used transmissions alone are quite cheap. They are easily found for $500 and less.

Replacing the fuel filter is a good idea, since it's normal maintenance anyways. See if that helps before you get plugs wires.

As for the tires, I'm assuming they are stock 225/50-16. It's VERY odd that nobody can find any. Go to www.tirerack.com. They have 83 different tire models in that size.

[cooljess76]

It sounds like you just got it and you're stuck dealing with someone elses mess. No worries that's why we're here. The intake gets it's air via an insulated duct that goes across the top of the radiator to the passenger side of the engine bay. The other hose goes to the secondary air pump which pumps air to the catalytic converter. Does your car have an aftermarket intake? Also, the bogging down could be a number of things. First check your air filter. If it's clean, check your spark plugs and make sure all of the wires are good. Then check the ASC butterfly valve downsteam of the MAF. It looks like a trottle body but it isn't. It's cable actuated by a solenoid mounted on the strut tower which closes it when the vehicle senses traction loss. Try the fuel filter, maybe even injectors and lastly check your catalytic converter. Have someone press the gas pedal down and feel how much pressure is coming out of the muffler. I had a kinked exhaust pipe on my jeep and it had similar symptoms. Good Luck and let us know what you find. BTW $1800 is way too much for a tranny. Don't go back to those people ever again! That would have been a healthy chunk towards a 6cyl swap or a supercharger.

[mooseheadm5]

Take it to a BMW specialist that knows what the hell they are talking about. I realize this may be hard where you are, but there has to be someone other than the dealer. Those parts you want to replace are normal tune-up parts and should be replaced regularly. However, if that does not fix the problem, you need to find a shop that can scan it and look at the live data to check for problems with the fuel injection (likely culprit is MAF or vacuum leaks or both.)