I have recently removed and cracked open my air flow meter in an attempt to fix rich running (having checked everything else), and I am left with two questions:
1. Is the AFM set at the factory to run with the minimum spring tension possible (i.e. one notch further anticlockwise on the toothed wheel and the vane no longer goes back to its stop properly)? Unfortunately my car appears to have suffered modification at the hands of some right egits in the past so I wouldn't be at all surprised if someone has done this in an attempt to richen the mixture as much as possible (no O2 sensor to correct it on my car!).
If this minimum tension setting is indeed wrong I'd be tempted to acquire a CO meter to set the AFM up correctly again. However, I have a second option that leads to question two:
2. It appears that the stock AFM is no longer available from the dealer network (BMW# 13.62.1.286.615/Bosch 0 280 202 082). Instead they offer a 'Mass Air Flow Sensor', BMW# 13.62.7.547.977. My question is: has anyone ever seen this particular part? Am I interpreting this correctly in thinking that this is an OEM drop-in replacement that upgrades from the vane-type air measurement to a hot wire type? Just for reference, the EPC suggests that this part is only used in this application, as an AFM replacement on M20 engined cars (various E30s, Z1 and some E34 525is).
As I'm not keen on modifying a MAF from a different car to work with my E30, this may represent a simple yet effective performance upgrade, though no doubt an expensive one
Anyway, any comments or suggestions would be most appreciated...
Cheers!
