Idle Problem on my 98 318ti. Please help!

[jobimmer]

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

[Kaliimc]

Originally Posted by 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.

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!

[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!!!

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! BMW of Honolulu prices on O2 sensors was a little shy of $500 when I asked a couple of weeks ago. 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.