BMW e46 318i se auto

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MickB3
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BMW e46 318i se auto

Post by MickB3 » Tue Nov 06, 2012 11:21 am

A friend of mine has the following problem, he has had it to 2 garages with no luck :( . One has suggested a sticking valve?
Anyone have any idea's?

When the car is started from cold it runs awful,ie missing spluttering sometimes cuts out, lack of power,wont pull properly.
After 10-15 mins when the engine is warm the car runs ok.
(sometimes turning the engine off and restarting makes it better)
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Post by shaziman » Tue Nov 06, 2012 2:57 pm

Sounds more like an air-flow metre problem as if its not working correctly with the cold start valve, it will run lumpy and stall.

If its a sticky valve, then they could do a leak down test whilst turning the crank just past TDC and it should show pressure for longer, i suppose?
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Post by Charles » Wed Nov 07, 2012 1:01 am

You don't say how many miles the car has done but your friend might consider replacing the fuel filter.

If this is gunked up then from cold the car will struggle to draw ample fuel through (putting the fuel pump under presure too). After a while, the flow is enough to clear some of the crud but when left for w while, it will block up again.

Not an expensive item and easy to change. I should know as I had similar symptoms on cold start-up and discovered the original 9 year old filter was in place which, after 200k miles, had clearly exceeded its "lifetime".
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Post by ali » Wed Nov 07, 2012 1:32 am

I had a similar problem on my old 330i. Turned out to be a split in the 90 degree rubber boot on the inlet manifold. £15 at the dealers plus 2 jubilee clips and it was sorted. Had the same happen with my old E30 325 cab and current E30 328i all with split inlet manifold boots causing awfull cold start and idling problems
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Post by MickB3 » Sun Nov 11, 2012 10:57 am

Cheers Guys, we will investigate all your thoughts 8)
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Post by MickB3 » Sun Nov 18, 2012 2:37 pm

Hi again
I have now drove this car and it is missing all the time (even when warm)
under 2 thousand revs above 2 thousand and it runs fine?
Cannot find any leaks but need to investigate more.

What about the air flow meter could this give these symptoms
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Post by ali » Sun Nov 18, 2012 10:31 pm

I'd check the MAF and also the coil packs.
First off all you need to get it on a decent diagnostic machine to see what codes are being thrown up
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