BMW 318ci

[craig51]

Hi All,

Ever since I got it, its been playing up, more so in the cold months of winter.

It usualy happens about 1-2 mins into the journey, and if I come to a stop, either red light or to turn right, and then start to go again, the engine will drop right down to 500revs, and idle irractly, almost like its wanting to stall, but not quite. The only way to resolve this, is to switch the engine off, wait 2 secs, then on again, give it a good rev, and away. Like i said, this happens a lot in winter, but also now in the summer, and only the the other day it did it just as I pulled out the drive. I have taken it to BMW, but they couldnt detect anything on their computer and said I would have to leave it overnight. I have also changed to a higher grade fuel, and this has helped slightly

What do you think it it, is it the auto choke???Any one have similar issues.

 

[chapmanbilly]

Hi Craig you don't say what year your car is, but I had a similar problem with a beemer about 8 years ago. Fortunately my mate is an independent BMW service agent and he diagnosed a faulty cold start regulator. Which is much the same as an automatic choke, and also the rotary idle valve was replaced. The problem with taking it to the main dealer is unless they can see the problem on a computer screen they are unlikely to fix the problem. They don't get paid to think for themselves nowadays. Your problem only occurs when you drive the car therefore no chance. Find yourself a small old fashioned garage where the guys fix things by a process of elimination. It certainly doesn't sound like anything too serious.
Good luck.
Willie.

 

[craig51]

Thanks Willie, its a 2002-3 model, but it sounds like it mihgt just be the problem. I know a wee garage that deals with all german makes, so I might pop along to them.

Cheers