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BMW 323i rough idle, no power!!!

208K views 84 replies 38 participants last post by  jfoj 
#1 ·
Hey, I need some help if I can get some. I have a 99' BMW 323i.

And, here is the problem: When I turn it on in the morning or whenever it's off more than 2 hours, doesn't have to be in the morning; it will shake and theres a popping/cracking noise under the hood somewhere. Can't figure it out.

It think it's a misfire, because it accelerates on its own a little bit when in Park.

However, here's another thing: When I'm at a stop light, or slow traffic, it will begun to rough idle and it won't perform as expected. When I release the brake, and press on the gas, there is no power. The pedal is all the way down, and it only goes to 20 MPH. Which is weird. Now, this happens every other day..

Sometimes, it runs smooth, and sometimes this happens: which what I said above.

I replaced the O2 sensors, but I don't know what I can do to fix it...Please Help!!!:eek::woot::tsk::yikes:
 
#46 · (Edited)
As far as i know if the car performs better with MAF unplugged that means that u either have bad maf or vacuum leak. Dude at firestone gave me a list of what can cause 1188 and 1189.
1. Leaking CCV
2. Dirty Fuel Injectors - (i actually bought today chevron techron fuel system cleaner, heard a lot of good stuff about this cleaner and it's gonna be first time i'm using it :) )
3. Weak MAF
4. Leaking Unmetered Air.

Also MAF reading should be 3.5-5.0 g/s at idle. my reading was 4.27g/s
And fuel pressure test reading was 55 (i believe it's normal)

Hope that helps. Dont remember if i asked u, did u take a look at your lower boot?
 
#52 ·
Might be you oil separator very similar symptoms to my car and also could be your crank positioning sensor my car would cut off even after the change it was smooth i aksed a tech while i worked at the bmw dealer he said the cyclone separator wich they call it always goes out on e46 but mainly in cold conditions
 
#54 ·
Easy way to narrow down misfire issue!!! Hope this helps people. Good luck

pop the hood and get a glass of water about half full. Take the water with a napkin so it doesnt slide and set it on the drivers side of the engine. Remove the cover to expose the coils and and spark plugs. start your engine and note the movement of the water. if all is working you should have no significant movement of water in the glass. Now,,,one at a time remove the coil wire from one cylinder at a time and watch the water. if the movement of the water gets worse then the coil and spark plug are working properly. do this to all cylinders till you get one that doesn't change the movement of the water. when that happens, shut off the engine and remove a good coil and place it into the cylinder that made no change to the water movement. turn engine back on and repeat the wire removal precess with the two cylinders that you swapped coils in. if the known good coil works in the original dead cylinder spot it's not the plug or an internal issue. When you take the wire off the suspected dead coil and you get no change in movement of water then you have a bad coil. Simply replace the bad coils or coils and reset error codes. Hope that helps.
 
#83 ·
Can feul mixtureor air leaks cause transmission to fal

can the air leaks lead to transmission
YES IT CAN! I have been reading this thread because my 2000 323i all of the sudden started running really rough and my transmission light would come on and it would shift up and down really hard! So I saw on here some one had said that when the disconnected their MAF Mass air flow sensor the car ran better. So being that I have had three cars with bad MAF sensors I decided to go out and start the car and disconnect the MAF plug. When I did this the car stopped shaking and started to idle smoothly. When I went in to turn off the car I noticed that when I unplugged the MAF it threw the trans in default. SOOOO. I took the MAF away from the breather box and intake tube and looky what I found! The guy I bought the car from had wrapped black tape around the front side of the MAF to try to make up for a lost seal from the breather box to the MAF. He had wrapped it so tight that it had from the heat started pulling its self off of the flang and down across the MAF intake grill There were three strips of tape hindering air from passing strait through the MAF. So..... I removed the tape. Took the MAF in the house and sloshed it in some hot soapy water to clean the sensor probes. Rinsed it blew it out re installed it and not only did my feul mixture problem go away but my transmission problem went away also..... SOOO It just goes to show you that IT CAN BE ANY NUMBER OF THINGS CAUSING MANY CODES..................
 
#57 ·
when you guys talk about the lower intake boot, are you talking about the flexible elow behind the mass air flow sensor? I have changed it along with both cam position sensors, new plugs, replaced one coil,(cracked, but seemed to be working),? i am still gettin both upstream O2 sensor codes? Vacuum hoses dont seem to be leaking, but plan on checking CCV next. Engine ran fine after above changes, but has developed the same symptoms again? Loss of power and lhp mode pulling a big hill? Engine runs better with MAF unplugged???? DUH!!! Help??? I need 4 cars running...down to 1...lol
 
#58 · (Edited)
Yes that is the lower intake boot, You may need a New MAF Sensor and New coil boots and a New O2 sensor, The CCV on mine was cracked even though I put on new hoses I couldn't see the crack, I would recommend buying a new CCV. I had to put the top hose on then feed it up to replace it, It just takes all day to do it (4 to 5 hours). you have to remove the circular metal flap valve also ( I just let it hang and dangle out of the way) and I had to break out the old CCV, I broke it in two but I could still see the crack after I pulled it out, I saw it on youtube to see how to do it. go to www.ecstuning.com or www.partsgeek.com. I feel so much better after 4 tries (every week a new code) but then I started with 13 codes then down to none after doing the work, Oh yeah, you should erase the codes then drive the car for 70 miles so the car computer can reset. good luck..
 
#81 ·
CCV change

Yes that is the lower intake boot, You may need a New MAF Sensor and New coil boots and a New O2 sensor, The CCV on mine was cracked, I put on new hoseson but I couldn't see the crack, I would recommend buying a new CCV beforehand, Clip all the Hoses first, then feed them up through, It may take all day to do it (4 to 5 hours). you have to remove the Throttle body valve also ( I just let it hang and dangle out of the way) and I had to break out the old CCV, I broke it in two. I could see the crack after I pulled it out, I saw it on youtube to see how to do it. go to www.ecstuning.com or www.partsgeek.com. I feel so much better (every week a new code) but then I started with 13 codes then down to none after doing the work, Oh yeah, If you should erase the codes then drive the car for 70 miles so the car computer can reset. good luck..
:clap::str8pimpi
 
#61 ·
I also agree - it is not the VANOS seals

Had something similar on my '99 328i. I kept on getting codes 1189 and 1188, which mean there is a fuel mixture problem (caused by an air leak) - got worse and had a very rough idle that corrected itself somewhat when warm I examined the rubber intake boots that connect the MAF to the manifold and found that one was ruptured and letting in air. Replaced the ruptured ones and voila! no codes, no rough idle and improved fuel economy. Because the idle is so rough I would start there. If not there, check the plugs and the coils and the electrical to these points. Question - Did anything happen just BEFORE this problem occurred?

Good luck!
 
#62 ·
Help.
Ok this may sound like a stupid thing but my 1999 e46 loads up anytime below 1000 rpm. Plus it acts like this.
sometimes

A. I get a sound like a valve tappet sound and when this is happening the car runs ok at 1000rpm plus but if I let it sit at idle at a light after 15 secs it loads up. Then I have to restart and get it above 1000 rpm.
Also it does sounds a bit like a vacuum lead but...

B. sometimes it doesn't make the valve tappet sound but has very low end power and still will load up at idle.

original error was misfire bank 2, 3

Done Crank, Cam sensor, O2, plugs, two coils on those cycl.

:)
 
#64 ·
I have same issue. did you every get it fixed?
1999 328i with 130k started runing a bit rough at idle, then after a few weeks got worse. Now if let to idle for 10-15 seconds loads up, have to turn engine off and keep RPMs above 1000 to drive. Sometimes in one mode it pings a lot but has power, then sometimes is has no low end, but when punched acts fine and with no pinging.

HELP?

already done O2s, plugs, coils, crank and cam sensors
 
#66 ·
Cleaning the MAF sensor seems to have fixed mine. I just did it yesterday and took it out for a short test drive and it was fine. I was going to go for a longer ride today to confirm it, but I am in white out conditions with no end to the snow in sight so I'm not going anywhere, but it is really easy to do and may fix your problem as well. On mine it was causing a misfire and even funny shifting due to the false signal from the MAF causing the trans to run too high of pressure. After seeing several similar threads I believe this may be a common but overlooked problem.
 
#67 ·
:cry: I bought 320i,6 cylinder,2.2L with 176k..I changed oil,plugs,MAF,lower intake hose which had a crack,fuel,air and oil filter but the car still idles rough or stalls in the morning and when i take out the MAF sensor it shakes very bad but it idles until the tempreture guage is above blue then i can plug back the MAF sensor then it can drive away smoothly like a normal car i do that everytime in the morning or when i park the car for more than 5hrs...Please help i believe in this forum :cry:
 
#70 ·
:thumbsup: Thanks guys am going to take the car to the mechanic this weekend to have my DISA, tempreture sensor checked and clean my ICV and i will let you know guys.... @ ICOLEMAN at times if you post a new thread you get told there are a lot of threads on this issue so i thought i must stick to the nearest thread towards my problem lol ;)
 
#71 ·
It can get expensive trying to figure out what may be wrong with your car if you have to go to a mechanic.

Before you do anything to it, check if your CEL (CHECK ENGINE LIGHT) is on. If it is on, read the engine codes stored. This may help point you in the right direction.
 
#72 ·
:bow: BMWCaptain!!! I have no CEL coming on when key is on key postion1 or 2, Only battry,oil,seatbelt,EML, ASC sign,brake pads,handbrake,seat belt lights come on and they switch off after 3 sec leaving handbrake,battry and oil lights only and when i start the car all the lights go out leaving handbrake light on ...dont give up on me boss :bawling:
 
#73 · (Edited)
My 328i did that 2 months ago. It has done 230k KMs. The problem was when idling for 3 minutes or more, it went very low until 500rpm, then it bounced back and keep on doing this annoying thing.

Acceleration was sometimes slow(crawling actually), not always. Sometimes CEL light came on with the DSC(or ASC I can't remember) light. If they come, they come together that it seems like they are friends.

I did the followings(none of the followings have replaced/done in its life except the plugs):
- replace spark plugs and all six coils (found that not the source of problem)
- clean MAF, replace DISA and upper intake elbow (better but symptom still there, the evil friends still come back occasionally)
- check the CCV hoses ok
- replace lower intake elbow(it does not have crack), clean ICV, throttle body, replace throttle cable(328i still has the metal wire), - problem gone, the evil friends does not come back so far.

When I took out the ICV, it was so dirty that I put it back in and let my garage to do it altogether for ICV, TB cleaning and replace the throttle cable.

I don't know what he did but the throttle feels lighter. Could not be happier.:thumbsup: drive like it was new.
 
#75 ·
Hi Guys i finally took the car to the mechanic and we replaced the whole CCV hoses which were all broken and filled up with oil sludge but the car refused to idle again ,however the other suspect was my fuel pump, after replacing it the car fired up at one shot and came back to life... Thank you for the help
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