My 530i is broken
Discussion
It's an auto with ~117k on it. No warning lights on the dash.
It started fine as I left home yesterday, felt a little hesitant but I put that down to the fact I'd not driven it in a week and had just climbed out of my (very responsive) Elise. Got about a mile up the road and was sitting in traffic when I noticed there was a ~0.5s delay between me putting my foot on the throttle and the car picking up. Once the traffic opened up I put my foot flat and again, the lag in pick up and no power (MPG meter swung right down, is this linked to fuel flow or throttle position?).
I trundled in to a cul-de-sac at 5mph and switched it off. Left it for a couple of minutes and turned it back on. It struggled to life, idled at about 700rpm for a couple of seconds then died. I was able to run it for a few seconds by holding the throttle open as I started the engine but it sounded rough and died as soon as I took my foot off the throttle.
It's at an indie at the moment but they can't find anything wrong with it. I'm worried it's going to reoccur 5 miles down the road
.
Anyone had a similar problem?
It started fine as I left home yesterday, felt a little hesitant but I put that down to the fact I'd not driven it in a week and had just climbed out of my (very responsive) Elise. Got about a mile up the road and was sitting in traffic when I noticed there was a ~0.5s delay between me putting my foot on the throttle and the car picking up. Once the traffic opened up I put my foot flat and again, the lag in pick up and no power (MPG meter swung right down, is this linked to fuel flow or throttle position?).
I trundled in to a cul-de-sac at 5mph and switched it off. Left it for a couple of minutes and turned it back on. It struggled to life, idled at about 700rpm for a couple of seconds then died. I was able to run it for a few seconds by holding the throttle open as I started the engine but it sounded rough and died as soon as I took my foot off the throttle.
It's at an indie at the moment but they can't find anything wrong with it. I'm worried it's going to reoccur 5 miles down the road
.Anyone had a similar problem?
Cheers guys. It went to BMWorx near Aylesbury who have been very good in keeping me updated. Unfortunately they've been completely unable to find anything wrong with it!
It had 'weak mixture' codes logged on both banks, but after clearing these and driving it around for a couple of days they haven't come back. The car is now running fine.
Perhaps it was just lack of use...
I'm picking it up tomorrow, what's the betting it breaks down again within an hour? 
It had 'weak mixture' codes logged on both banks, but after clearing these and driving it around for a couple of days they haven't come back. The car is now running fine.
Perhaps it was just lack of use...
I'm picking it up tomorrow, what's the betting it breaks down again within an hour? Edited by tomtom on Wednesday 23 April 22:21
Sounds like what happened with my 318 a couple of years ago after a week sat outside in damp weather. First time I used it I got five minutes up the road and it cut out as I rolled to a halt in some traffic. Fired it up and as soon as I applied a load is cut out again... repeat a few times before I give up and sit with the engine running for ten minutes after which it works fine and the problem never returns. Feedback I had was that it was probably cold and damp in the engine and the heat from the first combustion created massive condensation which smothered the engine... once the moisture was burned-off - no more problems!
I have a 99 328i w/128K miles and just replaced most of the bits in http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=DT52...
Symptoms were both lambda sensors out of range, rough idle and stumbling. The cause was a cracked diaphram in #1 letting unmetered air into the intake. The hoses all broke when comng out as did the valve itself; they're subject to heat and harden with age and then vibration eventually gets to them. While my car has the earlier 2.8 M52TU engine and yours the later 3.0 M54 engine the parts are virtually identical. About £90 to buy and 3-4 hours to fit.
Symptoms were both lambda sensors out of range, rough idle and stumbling. The cause was a cracked diaphram in #1 letting unmetered air into the intake. The hoses all broke when comng out as did the valve itself; they're subject to heat and harden with age and then vibration eventually gets to them. While my car has the earlier 2.8 M52TU engine and yours the later 3.0 M54 engine the parts are virtually identical. About £90 to buy and 3-4 hours to fit.
FWIW my crankshaft/flywheel position sensor was broken and I had to replace it. The symptom was that the engine wouldn't start at all. Not a glimmer of light. I would guess the camshaft position sensor would fail in the same way, so it sounds like that's not your problem.
My mass air flow meter also failed, and that had similar symptoms - rough running. That sounds like a more likely explanation, but there could be alot of things.
Inlet manifold leaks are responsible for a lot of problems, and are difficult to diagnose - basically anything downstream of the throttle could be responsible. It causes problems with idling more than anything else - shouldn't affect driving under load (throttle open, obviously).
Good luck, Nick
My mass air flow meter also failed, and that had similar symptoms - rough running. That sounds like a more likely explanation, but there could be alot of things.
Inlet manifold leaks are responsible for a lot of problems, and are difficult to diagnose - basically anything downstream of the throttle could be responsible. It causes problems with idling more than anything else - shouldn't affect driving under load (throttle open, obviously).
Good luck, Nick
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