E46 325Ci (M54B25) shutting off engine while driving
Discussion
Yesterday I drove home after work and got stuck in traffic on the motorway. Then this strange thing happens, where the engine would just shut down when I engage the clutch pedal (its the manual 5 speed) and the revs fall back. It's almost like the rpms fall back too much, as to a state where it can not recover and just shuts down. After that, I tried pulling up full gas to see if there were other symptoms, and it appeared some power was missing, it was clearly not accelerating as quickly as it used too. Still, it could hear no odd sounds from the engine bay (I mean, when its limping on less than 6 cylinders it can be heard quite clearly) and I had no error lights on the dash.
I had a similar issue on my old Peugeot 106, and I never found out what it was due to there being multiple reasons why it could happen. Still, its quite annoying and even dangerous when the engine shuts off regularly in traffic or at the red light when engaging the clutch pedal so I really want to solve this issue before doing any other work on the car (i have quite some projects with it on the side). The car has no other serious issues, it's using some oil (~1L per 1500kms) but not too much for its 192000 miles and this particular engine.
Internet tells me so many different things, that I am really looking for some advice on what the most likely causes are for this particular car. The E46 with gasoline 6-cylinder is not uncommon, so my bet is there are some drivers here who will have a clue
Thanks in advance!
I had a similar issue on my old Peugeot 106, and I never found out what it was due to there being multiple reasons why it could happen. Still, its quite annoying and even dangerous when the engine shuts off regularly in traffic or at the red light when engaging the clutch pedal so I really want to solve this issue before doing any other work on the car (i have quite some projects with it on the side). The car has no other serious issues, it's using some oil (~1L per 1500kms) but not too much for its 192000 miles and this particular engine.
Internet tells me so many different things, that I am really looking for some advice on what the most likely causes are for this particular car. The E46 with gasoline 6-cylinder is not uncommon, so my bet is there are some drivers here who will have a clue
Thanks in advance!
Edited by mpc007 on Thursday 15th November 23:14
Based on my issues I'd say it sounds like cam position sensors - check the vid in my posts here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=17...
Mine was an auto but the symptoms sound identical.
Mine was an auto but the symptoms sound identical.
Edited by Funk on Thursday 15th November 23:29
^ very likely the intake or exhaust cam sensor but don't rule out the crank sensor. A diagnostics kit will be able to tell you for certain.
Buy GENUINE BMW sensors, I cannot stress this enough as the ebay/GSF type one are simply no good. They are about a 3rd of the price but i replaced the cam and crank sensors on a 5 series with the similar m52 2.5L engine. The first non gen crank sensor failed after a 2 months, I got 4 months from another before the familiar symptoms started developing including random cut out and taking 2-3 more turns before starting. Then the cam sensor failed. Conceding defeat I gave my local BMW dealer (cotswold) a call an had a new cam and crank sensor for £120 which is what id spent on multiple fakes. The car instantly ran considerably better than it had done , more lively power delivery , better mpg an rock steady idle.
Buy GENUINE BMW sensors, I cannot stress this enough as the ebay/GSF type one are simply no good. They are about a 3rd of the price but i replaced the cam and crank sensors on a 5 series with the similar m52 2.5L engine. The first non gen crank sensor failed after a 2 months, I got 4 months from another before the familiar symptoms started developing including random cut out and taking 2-3 more turns before starting. Then the cam sensor failed. Conceding defeat I gave my local BMW dealer (cotswold) a call an had a new cam and crank sensor for £120 which is what id spent on multiple fakes. The car instantly ran considerably better than it had done , more lively power delivery , better mpg an rock steady idle.
aka_kerrly said:
^ very likely the intake or exhaust cam sensor but don't rule out the crank sensor. A diagnostics kit will be able to tell you for certain.
Buy GENUINE BMW sensors, I cannot stress this enough as the ebay/GSF type one are simply no good. They are about a 3rd of the price but i replaced the cam and crank sensors on a 5 series with the similar m52 2.5L engine. The first non gen crank sensor failed after a 2 months, I got 4 months from another before the familiar symptoms started developing including random cut out and taking 2-3 more turns before starting. Then the cam sensor failed. Conceding defeat I gave my local BMW dealer (cotswold) a call an had a new cam and crank sensor for £120 which is what id spent on multiple fakes. The car instantly ran considerably better than it had done , more lively power delivery , better mpg an rock steady idle.
Agreed. Buy genuine ones (goes for anything electrical on BMWs really).Buy GENUINE BMW sensors, I cannot stress this enough as the ebay/GSF type one are simply no good. They are about a 3rd of the price but i replaced the cam and crank sensors on a 5 series with the similar m52 2.5L engine. The first non gen crank sensor failed after a 2 months, I got 4 months from another before the familiar symptoms started developing including random cut out and taking 2-3 more turns before starting. Then the cam sensor failed. Conceding defeat I gave my local BMW dealer (cotswold) a call an had a new cam and crank sensor for £120 which is what id spent on multiple fakes. The car instantly ran considerably better than it had done , more lively power delivery , better mpg an rock steady idle.
I used Febi camshaft sensors with success - they seem to repackage OEM Siemens units. The giveaway sign was the ground off BMW stamp. No issues whatsoever - it's two years now. Best to read out the DME error log before randomly throwing money at it - there are two sensors... P.S. Do not buy Delphi camshaft sensors as they do not work.
Edited by dmarkovina on Friday 16th November 00:59
Gassing Station | BMW General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff