BMW 318i se wont accelerate-just idles

[kofi2003uk]

hi everyone.
need help with my car. tried to drive my car this morning and found out that the accelerator pedal is stiff. even when i managed to push it down it doesnt rev the engine. the engine just idle.it starts ok but th accelerator has no effect on it at all.
any idea what might be the problem will be very helpful. many thanks

 

[iwaters]

I'm not familar with the set up on your car so I assuming it has a manual throttle linkage (i.e. a throttle cable not drive-by-wire). If that is the case I suspect the thottle cable is caught on something or twisted, it may have snapped and got caught on something else. Otherwise the throttle plate maybe seized. Open the bonnet and find the throttle body (it will be between the air filter box and the inlet manifold, you should see a cable connected to it. Where the cable connects will be some sort of pivot mechanism, see if you can move this by hand when the engine is running. Also check the cable and see if you can see any breakages.

 

[kofi2003uk]

thanks iwater.i am not very good with cars so not sure if its a throtle cable or drive by wire. its an s reg 1999 automatic. i will have a look in the bonet to see if there is anything obvious.

 

[kofi2003uk]

i checked yesterday and there is no cables at all that i can see.the pedal however i completelt stiff.car starts ok but just idles as i said earlier.booked it into garage but any ideas as to what migh be wrong will be appreciated.thanks

 

[iwaters]

Hmm. Hard to say without knowing your particular engine and without looking at it. If there is no cable and it is drive by wire then it could be a problem with the motorised throttle body, a problem with the throttle position sensor or even the air flow meter. It could acutally be a probelm with accelerator pedal (which would explain the stiffness).

Is the engine management warning light illuminated on the dash? If so the garage will be able to scan for an error codes, or you can acutally buy a cheap scanner for less than the garage will charge you for one scan.

 

[kofi2003uk]

thank. there are no warning lights at all. the engine starts and is running fine. i called the garage and they said the will connect a scanner to it. but if there are no warning lights at all then what can the scanner tell them? i guess not much. i am getting worried now. thanks

 

[kofi2003uk]

i suspect its a cable though as its an old car ie 1999 s reg.

 

[iwaters]

Depending on what scanner / software they have they maybe able to detect faults that are present which haven't caused the warning light to come on. Scaning the engine management is the normally the first thing most garages will do as it has the potential to tell them exactly what is wrong without spending ages inspecting and testing components.

I too suspect it is a cable mechanism. I am sure the garage will be able to get to the bottom of it quickly.

 

[kofi2003uk]

thanks iwaters for your help

 

[gblades]

1999 is at the end of the E36 model range so it might help if you can clarify which model you have.

They are all electronic fuel injection but the throttle does operate the air intake flap with the ECU matching the fuel supply. So it could well be a snapped cable or stuck air flap causing the cable to disconnect.

There will be what light look like a motorised throttle but this is just the idle control valve and just controls the idle speed and not related to your problem.

 

[wotan]

Hi cut and paste the link below into the browser, if you enter the last six digits of your VIN number, you will be taken to the relevant parts page for your model of bmw, just look through the diagrams to identifie the parts.

http:www.realoem.com/bmw/


Wotan