E46 B3 Saloon 2002 Torque Converter and Steering Wheel Judder

[E46330]

Hi there ,
I am getting codes on my OBD reader that my idle valve is permanently jammed closed. I was just wondering if anyone has an idea if this is a specific alpina part or the standard BMW 330i part would fit. I’ve got the part number for the BMW part which is 13411744713 , I cannot find anything similar in the E46 Alpina parts catalogue , so just wanted to make sure before I purchase it.


Thanks for any help

[Henry]

It’s not an uncommon problem, take it off and clean it with carb cleaner. Spray the cleaner in shake and repeat till no more gunge comes out.

[E46330]

It’s not an uncommon problem, take it off and clean it with carb cleaner. Spray the cleaner in shake and repeat till no more gunge comes out.

Thank you for your advice , I shall clean it out and put the bugger back and see what happens

Off topic here , but any ideas if the throttle body on these vehicles ever have issues ? My garage says I need a new one and no one seems to be able to tell if it’s an alpina or BMW part

Thank you in advance

[Bob]

There a 3 different Motordrosselklappe’s listed in the parts catalogue, two of which have ALPINA specific part numbers. You should be able to find the number on your original easily enough and compare.

[E46330]

There a 3 different Motordrosselklappe’s listed in the parts catalogue, two of which have ALPINA specific part numbers. You should be able to find the number on your original easily enough and compare.

Not sure if I can attach videos to this forum , but I’ve had the mechanic pull it out and there is not a single part number on there apart from VDO which is an aftermarket company , from the video he’s sent me , it appears to be the part number 13 54 1 435 959 which comes in the catalogue as “ Drosselklappenstutzen” and translates to throttle body , when I’ve put that into google the first parts company that comes up and sell it stocks a VDO part , Sytner and BMW haven’t been able to tell me much either as they can’t confirm either way if it’s the BMW or Alpina part. Sytner did say they can send an enquiry form to Alpina directly and see which part my car was manufactured with originally so I think I’ll bite the bullet and wait for them to respond

https://m.autodoc.co.uk/car-parts/oem/13541435959

I cannot tell you how grateful I am this forum exists , you guys are absolute wizards and I’d love to buy you all a drink at a meet one day in the future. Thank you so much for all your assistance , any advice is always appreciated as I love learning about these cars so feel free to make me feel stupid ! Haha

[Yad3100]

Off topic here , but any ideas if the throttle body on these vehicles ever have issues ? My garage says I need a new one and no one seems to be able to tell if it’s an alpina or BMW part

Have they told you what the issue is. The only thing in my mind that would warrant replacement is failure of the butterfly bearing. I had the throttle body for my 325 rebuilt, all new bearings, machined central shaft with bigger bore and new butterfly. It only cost £120 and the car run much better with a bit more torque. I will look and see if I can find the contact as this would be less expensive than full replacement.

[Rav]

@E46330 - Please post a few pictures when you clean your idle valve. I would like to give this a go on my car. Not that anything is wrong with my car, but for preventative reasons. It would be good to have a how to guide.

[Henry]

This is a pic of idle control valve and how clean the interior is.

[E46330]

Thank you everyone for your help on this , so I went to the garage and just told the guy to give the car back to me (not my regular garage but a local one) , he had no idea what he was talking about. Told me my throttle body was aftermarket and had no part numbers on it. I’ve taken it home and took it off myself and lo and behold it is an original BMW part with the numbers on. I also read the codes and it is saying the throttle position valve is permanently jammed and from research that is built into the throttle body , please do correct me if I am wrong.

The idle valve I’m going to clean with some carb cleaner and use again don’t think that should need replacing.

I have also developed a rattle from the exhaust , it is the right pipe where the flanges from the manifold meet , it is physically moving as if some welds have undone or a clamp is missing , to replace its £1900 for the exhaust as the cat is attached to it. Is this something anyone has experienced before ? Is it worth undoing the flange checking the gasket and looking inside ? Or just take it to an exhaust specialist ?

[E46330]

Another update. I’ve taken the car to my regular garage for the exhaust , he said a couple of welds will fix it , but he’ll look inside to be sure anyway.

I’ve ordered the throttle body from BMW , it’s coming from Germany as per usual with anything these cars seem to need.


Will update once I’ve got it back and let you guys know how she’s driving

[hap]

Pls can you add some pics of where your rattle from exhaust is coming from and also where it will be welded, even better would be some during the exhaust repair. I think a few b3 have rattling cats so be interesting to see the repair rather than buying another and see what is foreign debris causing it. The exhaust does look like 2 pieces welded near the steel brace bar just after the cats Thanks

[E46330]

Pls can you add some pics of where your rattle from exhaust is coming from and also where it will be welded, even better would be some during the exhaust repair. I think a few b3 have rattling cats so be interesting to see the repair rather than buying another and see what is foreign debris causing it. The exhaust does look like 2 pieces welded near the steel brace bar just after the cats Thanks

This is the best pictures I’ve managed to get of it since it’s such an awkward angle , my mechanic is saying an exhaust specialist is going to be my best bet.

One of the bolts on the flange has snapped off and the welds seem to have undone as this is where the rattle comes from. The red arrow and the red line point to where the movement is coming from

[hap]

Thanks for that

[E46330]

Bit of a side note. I’ve been looking for a hose for the bellows for this car for a little while now and managed to find the correct part number and everything for it now.

It is part number 10 in the diagram the one ending in 781. I got this information from Alpina parts department directly in Germany. Just thought this may be useful on here for someone in the future because I couldn’t find it in the parts catalogue or realoem.

[E46330]

Update on the exhaust. Got the car back from an exhaust specialist and he said it wasn’t leaking it was just rattling so he’s welded all the way around the pipe and the rattle is completely gone and everything in that respect is now fine ! The snapped bolt isn’t causing any harm and the flange is sealed perfectly so that was left alone. Finally.

However on the way home , on the motorway , I’ve experienced two issues , one which is a big problem I imagine , which is when I floored the accelerator into the kick down the car completely bugged out and went into limp mode as if the TC slipped ? Turning it on and off again did not fix the issue , it has done this once before and turning it off was enough. This time no , it kept in limp mode and the RPM is bouncing around violently , the car is lurching forward hard even under braking , I’ve got a Carly reader and it says
“Converter clutch slip too high”
“Symptom GLUE/Hydraulic pressure/ Duty hyrdaulic unit”

The car is at 123k miles now , so I’m guessing the borrowed time I had with this box is over now and is probably due a full rebuild/recondition , hoping a TC and service is enough and the solenoids, hydraulics and such don’t need doing.

I’ve rang Mackie Transmissions (only ZF box authorised dealer/remanufacturer in Scotland) in Glasgow and they can see the car on the 9th of Sep. Has anyone else had this problem before ?

The other problem which I’m thinking isn’t as serious , is at high speed and going over bumpy/uneven surfaces the steering wheel judders and shakes , not while braking , not when accelerating. If the tarmac is smooth , then no vibrations , but any uneven surface at high speed and a nasty shaking comes through the steering wheel which can even be heard. I know the drivers side front shock is weeping so that’s one thing I’ve narrowed it to , is there any other parts that could cause this ? Tie rod ends , bushings or wishbones ? These are my other (cheaper) thoughts.

Any further help will be highly appreciated , I’m starting to feel like the car is in a divorce and I share joint custody with the garage. I’m dying for the end of the road of these incessant repairs ! But old cars need things replaced I did know this …