2001 320Ci - Stuttering / Jerky when pulling away :-(
Discussion
I'm now starting to run out of ideas on my car now.
For 6 months i've been having the same problem, when pulling away from a standstill as you get to about 1500rpm the revs will drop slightly then pick up again meaning you can't help but have a bit of a jerky / stuttering type pull away and the same thing happens as you change into 2nd gear, as you let the clutch out and increase the revs they will occasionally drop and pick up so again you again have a stuttering kind of pull away.
I took the MAF sensor off at the weekend and cleaned it all with Electrical contact cleaner but to be honest it was very clean and still looked new so this hasn't made any difference.
In Dec the car had both the Cam timing sensors changed as it wouldn't start one morning - When they did this they also put a can of Octane booster in the fuel as they felt the car seemed a little Flat.
For a few weeks it seemed better but quickly went back to this as it is now.
Anyone have any other suggestions?
Two garages have run diagnostic checks on the car and can't find any issues.
For 6 months i've been having the same problem, when pulling away from a standstill as you get to about 1500rpm the revs will drop slightly then pick up again meaning you can't help but have a bit of a jerky / stuttering type pull away and the same thing happens as you change into 2nd gear, as you let the clutch out and increase the revs they will occasionally drop and pick up so again you again have a stuttering kind of pull away.
I took the MAF sensor off at the weekend and cleaned it all with Electrical contact cleaner but to be honest it was very clean and still looked new so this hasn't made any difference.
In Dec the car had both the Cam timing sensors changed as it wouldn't start one morning - When they did this they also put a can of Octane booster in the fuel as they felt the car seemed a little Flat.
For a few weeks it seemed better but quickly went back to this as it is now.
Anyone have any other suggestions?
Two garages have run diagnostic checks on the car and can't find any issues.
Just thinking to myself about this....
Would it be worth changing or at least cleaning the Spark plugs? I've just been thinking and talking to a guy at work about it. As the car did it's first 45k miles living in Central London i expect they could be rather filthy? I had the recent oil service done but also changed the Air filter myself to find the original one still on the car (2001) so that was really dirty as you can imagine.
It just made me think that there's probably no way they would have changed the plugs if they've not even done the filter??
Would it be worth changing or at least cleaning the Spark plugs? I've just been thinking and talking to a guy at work about it. As the car did it's first 45k miles living in Central London i expect they could be rather filthy? I had the recent oil service done but also changed the Air filter myself to find the original one still on the car (2001) so that was really dirty as you can imagine.
It just made me think that there's probably no way they would have changed the plugs if they've not even done the filter??
I've ordered a MAF sensor so hopefully that will help - At least i will know if it's the problem or not.
The car was under BMW Warranty until August 2008 and has had FULL BMW Service history so although it now sounds like it's "neglected" this will only be down to the BMW Service schedule as the car is such low mileage.
If you actually read it the car wasn't actually due an Air Filter over the last 7 years or so due to the low miles but this seems completely stupid to me when it's the cheapest part you can change and only takes 1 minute.
When i changed the Air Filter the one on the car had a date stamp of 2001 on the side so i am only assuming it's never been changed and also from looking through the service book it doesn't seem that it was due anyway.
I took all the Spark plugs out and they're perfect, i've cleaned them up anyway but there's obviously not an issue there as the car was still the same afterwards.
Next step is to see if the new MAF works.
The car was under BMW Warranty until August 2008 and has had FULL BMW Service history so although it now sounds like it's "neglected" this will only be down to the BMW Service schedule as the car is such low mileage.
If you actually read it the car wasn't actually due an Air Filter over the last 7 years or so due to the low miles but this seems completely stupid to me when it's the cheapest part you can change and only takes 1 minute.
When i changed the Air Filter the one on the car had a date stamp of 2001 on the side so i am only assuming it's never been changed and also from looking through the service book it doesn't seem that it was due anyway.
I took all the Spark plugs out and they're perfect, i've cleaned them up anyway but there's obviously not an issue there as the car was still the same afterwards.
Next step is to see if the new MAF works.
We have a 2001 320i touring with similar symptoms (although not quite as severe). The thing is that our car has always had a tendancy to be a bit jerky when pulling off since we bought it in 2002. BMW have always said that 'it drives like a 320i should'. Very helpfull but certainly not a cure..!!
Not a BMW, but our main car (a Skoda Octavia vRS estate) is having a similar problem. The jerkiness is bearable, but not much fun especially when cold. Consensus appears to be MAF related for that car too, but it's due for a timing belt change with water pump so I might go the whole hog and get this inspected at the same time...
Good luck with the problem...
Good luck with the problem...
I have just taken ownership of a Z4 3.0L. Now I know the engine is a little different, but it is not THAT different. I had a nasty hestitation under 2,000rpm. I knew an inlet flap needed changing, so had this done, and the plugs (60k on the clock). Car quieter and fruitier now. Didn't solve hesitation though. In the end it was a coil pack on the way out (didn't throw up a fault code). Replaced and no problems since.
I personally did everything to my car from misfiring spark plugs to my whole exhaust system than all of a sudden it clicked in that let me try to disconnect the plug in for the mas airflow sensor and I drove it for about 15 minutes and no hesitation no stutter. Finally I changed this piece and the car ridden like a new car ever since.
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