Car dies sometimes... - BMW Forum

97alpineM3 · 01-30-2007, 09:56 PM

While moving... driving down the road... the engine just cuts..

And.. if I drive it somewhere... and let her get warm.. then turn her off... say run into the store to grab something.. and come back out... it takes an act of congress to get her started again.

A budy of mine said something to do with a possible cracked distributor cap...

Any clue guys?

Thanks,

Les

Starmavin · 01-30-2007, 11:14 PM

What year and model? A small list of what it could be: Fuel pump, coil, coolant sensor, DME or the relays powering them. A cracked distributor cap would leak spark under load and would cause a misfire, not make a hard start condition.

Ivan · 01-31-2007, 12:33 AM

i assume hes talking about the e30

97alpineM3 · 01-31-2007, 07:41 AM

Umm the e30... hense the topic in the e30 forum...

Yea... its hard to start when warm... but starts right up when cold for a while...

Les

gotKRAUT · 01-31-2007, 05:21 PM

dude you have more problems with your E30 than anyone i swear LOL

ldsbeaker · 01-31-2007, 07:56 PM

srsly, Les.

I had similar problems, and it turned out to be a bad spark plug wire.
My car died on me in the hospital parking lot last week. It was weird. She didn't want to start back immediately, I had to keep her above 1500RPM in order to keep her running. Like I said, weird.
I think it has something to do with the cold.

p.s. What are you doing for the Super Bowl?

BMWJNKY · 01-31-2007, 09:36 PM

Try a new Main/DME relay. About $20 for a new one from the dealer. I don't remember the whole part number but it ends in 004 and the relay cover is white plastic.

97alpineM3 · 01-31-2007, 10:54 PM

I'm flying to P' cola Friday.... so.. probably flying back to NC during the superboal... boring... I know.. .whatever... I dont watch NFL.

Les

dirtyjerz · 02-01-2007, 01:29 AM

my first thought was to check your intake and exhaust cam sensors. If your car is dying on you when you are driving, it is possible that your sensors are sending mixed signals to your car... basically telling your car that it is not getting gas when it really is....causing it to die. If your car will start just fine when it is cold, but it takes 'congress' to start it up again after its warm I would check to see if it is your sensors.

Numark318i · 02-01-2007, 12:46 PM

so my 318 is having similar issues.

meaning it has to be caused by a similar part/problem?

If i drive her hard sometimes she wont start back up. Other then the timing chain rattling a little everythign else is fine. i replalced some vacuum hoses, so no leaks. Temp gauge sensor(the on in the block) was replaced.

BMWJNKY · 02-02-2007, 01:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dirtyjerz

my first thought was to check your intake and exhaust cam sensors. If your car is dying on you when you are driving, it is possible that your sensors are sending mixed signals to your car... basically telling your car that it is not getting gas when it really is....causing it to die. If your car will start just fine when it is cold, but it takes 'congress' to start it up again after its warm I would check to see if it is your sensors.

M20 engines are single cam and don't have a position sensor.

Starmavin · 02-02-2007, 07:24 PM

Test the coolant temp sensor. Also check your motors main cannon plug just under the intake manifold for corrosion.