My E30 318 auto keeps dying!

Mon Dec 29, 2014 7:17 pm

** CALLING ALL ZONERS**

My e30 is beginning to break my little heart.
** ive even contemplated selling it!

shhhhh!**

I have changed.

Oil and filter,
Spark plugs,
the coil and king post lead,
coolant temperature sensor.

The car has a catastrohpic stopping issue. it'll just die when driving. You'll be cruising along and then suddenly NOPE! No coughing or spluttering. No lurching/warning nothing! doesn't make a difference under load or slowing down, it just seems to happen when it feels like it! When coming to start it again. Sometimes it'll start as normal. Sometimes i can start it by simply MASHING THE THROTTLE whilst coasting. Sometimes it'll take a couple of times to catch and then occasionally its an RAC cos it's gone flat job.

To me it feels electrical, but my inputs worth nothing else it'll be fixed!

I'm currently in the process of ripping the after market alarm out (not that I use it...) and then we'll see what happens.

I just need some more ideas!

I know somewhere out there knows!

Cheers,
Dan.

Mon Dec 29, 2014 7:45 pm

What year 318 is it, and is it a 318 or 318i (that's REALLY important)

What does the rev counter do when it dies? Fall slowly as the engine dies, or just cut out completely like someone's yanked the cable out of it?

Tue Dec 30, 2014 9:19 am

Its a 1988 318i. Sorry probably should of been a little more specific there.

To be honest with you, I think it's done both in the past. Most of the time it just drops like its been disconnected though.

This is my first auto box car and it confuses me. Sometimes, it feels like the engine and gearbox completely disconnect and other times it's like they haven't but I don't understand why or how it would do that. What I do know though is that putting into neutral to restart it whilst coasting is bad.

I've read that the DME relay could be a culprit. Is there a way of testing this?

Tue Dec 30, 2014 9:38 am

There's lots of things that could be the culprit, which is why knowing the symptoms is pretty crucial. It may well be the DME relay, but it could also be a failing CPS, something to do with the autobox inhibitor connection, or simply a loose earth somewhere.

Next time it cuts out, try bridging the DME relay with a piece of wire:

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/inde ... ME#Testing