Idle Problem on my 98 318ti. Please help!

[mt3ch]

The 318ti in my household is a 1998 Auto w/ 69K miles.

Ok...the scenario is at idle the car drops revvvvvs almost to the point of stalling, but the revs kick back up right before it does. Also when car is in neutral the revs stay up and then drop. When the AC is on the revs go up and usually everything is fine, but there is an ocassional drop when idling yet again. Car is fine when accelerating and decelerating and there is no hesitiation. Problem is just @ IDLE.

If anyone is familiar with this scenario, please post.

Thanks in advance!

Justin

[1996 328ti]

And the CEL is not on?

If the CE light was on I'd say it could be the MAF or Idle Control Valve.

BTW- Please use your personal photo gallery for pictures. Then you can link to your photo.

[chadder007]

Hmm....I have a 95' model Manual that does the same thing. It just does it at random too.

[BlackM42]

I would also probably suggest the idle control valve. My e30 once was doing what you're describing, so I blasted the ICV with a ton of carb cleaner- fixed it right up.
Maybe vacuum leaks, too...check the rubber intake boot connecting the TB to AFM. (MAF? sorry, I'm OBDI)
Good luck!


Fraser

[ElementalFiend]

Mine is an automatic and also does this.. has done it since I've had it. I just always assumed it was normal.. i'm guessing its not?

[schussey]

mine does this as well, I have plans to slam the ICV with carb cleaner

[J!m]

Here's a thought for you guys to chew on...

I have my secondary air pump disconnected, as it does not fit under the hood at the moment (which causes the CEL, but that's another story...), and the idle at cold start is very nice, but when I add throttle, it will nearly stall, like the intake is choked of...

So, perhaps the cheezy plastic secondary air hose has a hole or crack in it. If the pump is there and working, it will not trip the light. However if the air is not getting in there when the ECU is thinking it is getting in there, this may cause poor idle and 'hunting'.

[ElementalFiend]

hmm, i'll go give my hoses the once or twice over. Thanks for the thought!

[Turbo-ti]

Like BlackM42 says try cleaning the idle valve. When you take it off kinda shake it back and forth if you feel the valve moving back and forth in the valve itself its working. If it doesnt its probably stuck. Also cheak for vacuum leaks around the intake and throttle body..

[tastade]

My 95 manual stalled on me yesterday afternoon. It was doing that same thing, it would idle at 800 or so like usual and dip down. Then it did it a couple times and just stalled. It stalled three times in a row. The rest of the day it was fine.

Outside temp was probably about 85 and I had just driven about 10 miles, parked, went into a store for about 10 minutes, came back out, restarted it, and then it started acting up. After about 5 minutes it was runnin fine again. It almost felt like vapor lock or something.

I am thinking it might have been the cheap gas I used. I never use ethanol, but the only mid grade fuel (89 octane) that they have here in Iowa is ethanol, and I didn't feel like paying the extra for the premium that day (the book recommends 89, but I am forced to buy the 91 since it is not ethanol). Not to mention I was buying generic gas instead of my usual BP. Anyone else had problems running ethanol in the summer? Or know what else this might be? I will look into that valve and make sure it is working freely.

The 318ti in my household is a 1998 Auto w/ 69K miles.

Ok...the scenario is at idle the car drops revvvvvs almost to the point of stalling, but the revs kick back up right before it does. Also when car is in neutral the revs stay up and then drop. When the AC is on the revs go up and usually everything is fine, but there is an ocassional drop when idling yet again. Car is fine when accelerating and decelerating and there is no hesitiation. Problem is just @ IDLE.

If anyone is familiar with this scenario, please post.

Thanks in advance!

Justin

[318tibimmer]

1st - I always put good gas in my ti (91 oct), 2nd I had a problem like the ones that your having, I hooked up the computer and saw that the O2 sensors were not cross counting like they were suposed to (no mater what they would just read a constant voltage, no change). I went and got the 2 O2 sensors form BMW and put them in, now my ti does much better. every once in blue moon it will do the little dip in RPM thing but the O2's fixed it.

[riker]

yeah mine started doing that after i tried shifting from 3rd gear to 4th gear at full rpms and mis-shifted to 2nd instead (not sure if it actually went in gear, but it grinded like hell) Was about a block from my house, right when I parked, the car stalled. Left it over night, in the mornign same deal, started it up .. really really rough idle and the car just stalled. Checked the oil, it was way below the line, so filled that up, ran the car now it didn't stall but idled really rough. Left the car for about a week, my dad took it to bmw to see what could be the problem, and on the way there it just started acting normal, and drives fine today. It still does the dipping idle at random times, my driveway is kind of inclined, I notice it sometimes when I start up on the incline when the car is already warm. Cold starts are usually ok. I'm not sure what it is, but I need to get the car tuned up ... haven't done a thing since I got it except for oil changes.

[James]

I had the same problem until I've changed the air intake boot. It was cracked in few places which I guess was letting a lot more air enter then it should have. Since that repair, no more idle problem.

[ddiorio1313]

CAM SENSOR! I just had the same problem after getting and inspection 2 done. It ran fine for maybe 15 miles then...kurplunk. It Died. I managed to get it to the mechanic thinking it was something he did. We hooked it up and sure enough it was something else. The Cam Sensor had craped out. It was 114 for parts and shipping. and 147 for labor. I guess part of the sensor is located under the manifold, so he had to take that off to replace it. Sucks, but so far it has been running okay. Oh Yah my check engine light didn't come on until about 6 or 10 stalls later....

[eurekaiv]

Hi everyone, first post and soo glad I found you all! My '98 Manual does the EXACT same thing the origianl poster described and my first TI, a 96' manual did as well. That car had the Idle Control valve replaced under warranty and if I remember correctly they said there was a service bulletin for a "rough idle" on the 96 model year. Unfortunately I had no luck getting the dealer to duplicate and repair the same problem on my '98 while it was still under the CPO warranty. I havn't ever worried about getting it fixed since I've got so used to it I can tell when it's about to stall and blip the gas to get it going again.

[jobimmer]

you need to change your idle air control valve its either dirty or just bad.

[Kaliimc]

Hi everyone, first post and soo glad I found you all! My '98 Manual does the EXACT same thing the origianl poster described and my first TI, a 96' manual did as well. That car had the Idle Control valve replaced under warranty and if I remember correctly they said there was a service bulletin for a "rough idle" on the 96 model year. Unfortunately I had no luck getting the dealer to duplicate and repair the same problem on my '98 while it was still under the CPO warranty. I havn't ever worried about getting it fixed since I've got so used to it I can tell when it's about to stall and blip the gas to get it going again.

Bringing this post out from the dead. I have a question about this service bulletin. My car is a 1996 base model ti auto trans.

A local BMW mechanic told me that my car idle is a little rough because of the camshaft or crankshaft being out of sync, (too advanced or retarted), do not recall which he said but he did say there was a SB on it. Could this be the same thing, or related? could he have been attempting to pull my leg just to make easy money? He told me that to correct the situation it would cost about $500-$600.

Could it just be the ICV? My car still has less than 38,000 miles on it. The idle is not bad but there is a noticeable movement when sitting at a red light. Slight shimmy or shake. Does this sound normal for the 4 banger? Keeping in mind I also own a 2001 V8 540ia, and 2005 325ia which are pretty smooth!

I don't think the dealership would take a '96 in for a SB, would they? I'll call them tomorrow, see what those boys got to say! If true, I could probably get it done for free since I've already spent thousands in that place with the 540, and most of the BMW of Honolulu service folks know me at least by sight.

Thoughts anyone?

[Kaliimc]

^^^

Found the below information from this website:

www.nhtsa.dot.gov


Technical Service Bulletin #1:
Make : BMW Model : 318TI Year : 1996
Manufacturer : BAYERISCHE MOTOREN WERKE
Service Bulletin Num : 12 15 96
Date of Bulletin: FEB 01, 1997
NHTSA Item Number: 52259
Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION:MODULE
Summary:
M44 MISFIRE FAULTS 50, 51, 52 OR 53. *TW

Technical Service Bulletin #2:
Make : BMW Model : 318TI Year : 1996
Manufacturer : BAYERISCHE MOTOREN WERKE
Service Bulletin Num : 12 15 96
Date of Bulletin: NOV 01, 1997
NHTSA Item Number: 6089811
Component: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL:CRUISE CONTROL
Summary:
ROUGH IDLE

[mohaughn]

It has been my experience that the 4 cylinders don't idle as well as any of the I6 engines... If your idle is hunting, or the car actually stalls I would be concerned about it... If it just moves around slightly, or is a bit rough sitting at a stop light with the AC on I would call it normal.

There are a few different service notices about ICV and different tuning available from BMW to correct any of the weird idle issues. At this point, out of warranty I'm not sure I would pay to have it corrected unless it makes the car undriveable.

[ddiorio1313]

Kaliimc,

I had to have my cam shaft sensor replaced and that fixed the problem. But my car was not only idling rough it would stall out completey during driving even. The prices for the parts and labor from my local mechanic in a previous post to this thread... I think it was around $300-$350 total... Also, I would look inside your air intake box and see if there is a bunch of sound baffling in there, if so tear it out and remove all of it. That stuff deteriated in my air box and got sucked into my intake which ruined the mass air sensor, once that was replaced with parts and labor it added up to a ton of money... I think within the 2 months all that happened on my car I spent somewhere around 1900.00 on serive that included inspection 2 and some other stuff but about 600 or so was just from the camshaft sensor and mass flow air sensor...

[Kaliimc]

Thanks for your inputs guys. I am going to call the dealership to see if they will excel in customer service and do the TSB's for free(not likely).

The idle is not bad, it is steady and nowhere near stalling, so if the dealership says I gotta pay, I'll just live with the idle.

Thanks again! :rockon:

[Kaliimc]

^^^

I take back what I said in the above post. Called BMW of Honolulu and they checked the VIN number of the car, then said the campaign is still open, bring the car in, no charge. So I scheduled for Monday. I'm shocked! This car is close to 12 years old now and BMW NA will still cover this. I like it!!!:biggrin:

This must be a good omen. Happy Aloha Friday everyone! Now if only the UH Warriors can remain unbeaten this weekend!

[Kaliimc]

The UH Warriors barely scraped by New Mexico State 50-13 Saturday so it was a good weekend on that note.

Had the TI at the dealership today for the Service Bulletin but it was not for a rough idle. That bulletin must be over now. The car had both oxygen sensors replaced and the DME reprogrammed. FREE!:biggrin: BMW of Honolulu prices on O2 sensors was a little shy of $500 when I asked a couple of weeks ago. :eek: A bonus is that the dealership has new, good looking women working there! Wow!!! I think the car needs new parts, need to go back ASAP. . .

Car still runs rough but based on the air leak sound I hear from the CCVV area, I can tell I need to tighten it down some after "attempting" to remove the stubborn bastard. Never did get it all the way out. I ran out of time so had to abort the mission.