E30 Zone

Righto, got my first bmw at the weekend and have got a few problems with it. The first and most annoying is on start up and for a few minutes after. If you try to pull away or give it low revs it just cuts out. After 5 mins it fine. Also revs are erratic for about 1 minute. Spoke to a friend of mine today and he thought it could be either or both a temperature sensor (telling the ecu the engine its too cold and giving it more petrol) or the idle control valve. Just wondered if anyone agreed with this or can think of anything else it could be. Cheers, dave.

give the ICV a good clean out with some carb cleaner, i had a similar problem not long ago and was advised to do this and it worked a treat:)

or possible cracked/split hose somewhere?

The 'blue' temperature sensor has to be a prime suspect. If you'd told us what BMW you have, we'd have told you where it is and how to test it.
Another thing to check is that the throttle stop and throttle position switch are set up correctly.

Brianmoooore wrote:The 'blue' temperature sensor has to be a prime suspect. If you'd told us what BMW you have, we'd have told you where it is and how to test it.
Another thing to check is that the throttle stop and throttle position switch are set up correctly.

Haha, sorry forgot to say its a 1989 316i.

Cleaned the ICV, no different. Had a quick look for the blue temperature sensor but couldnt see it. Is it well hidden or am i just being thick??

Very well hidden! It's half way along the cylinder head, just above the joint with the engine block, on the inlet manifold side.

haha, just me being thick then. Thanks

Found time today to change the blue temp sensor but doesnt seem to have made any difference. Nevermind i can live with that.
Another problem i have is that i changed the oil and now have a tappy noise most of the time. It was there before but not quite as much. Ive done 2 oil changes this week and doesnt seem to have helped. On recommendation of the guy in the local spares shop i put in 15/40 mineral oil (cheap stuff). Thats when the tapping got worse. On start up it will be quite loud for about 2 seconds. It then goes for about 10 seconds but comes back gradually and is constant. As it gets warmer it will go for about 5 seconds at a time if i rev upto about 2500 revs, but gradually comes back. When its warmed up on a run its fine most of the time but the tapping will start for about 5 seconds then go for a few minutes then comes back again, etc. After looking online i decided to change the oil again. This time i put in fully synthetic (5/30 i think). This hasnt made any difference. Several different people have said different things that could be wrong including cam, tappets, oil pump, wrong oil or all 4! My thinking (hoping) is that if it was the cam the noise would be there all the time. Any help would be much appreciated.

Ah yeah, forgot to check the throttle stop and position. will do that over the weekend.
Will also get the rocker cover off and have a look/listen.
Cheers guys.

15/40 mineral oil is a big no no. 10/40 semi along the lines of Castol GTX or Magnatec as a minimum.

Have you considered the fuel pump ?

E30-Addict wrote:Have you considered the fuel pump ?

No I hadnt. Ill add it to the list of things to check. This list is getting longer everyday!