E30 *sudden* death ... need diagnostic help, pls.

[blakersE30]

my '89 E30 has been purring along beautifully.

last nite, i went for a short spin. on return, just befor turning off the engine, it started to idle noticably roughly.

this morning, i started the car, it was idling VERY rough. i also noticed that i was getting blue smoke out the exhaust.

nothing on the diagnostic computer ...

i checked hoses, nothing obvious.

fuel, ok. oil, ok.

fuel pressure (have a gauge mounted) at the pressure regulator, good and normal.

start again. even rougher, can't rev up ... and serious surging down to < 100 rpm has started. stop.

deciding to take the car for a spin around the block, i start again, get 20 yards, and the car stalls.

now, it won't start at all. electronics seems all ok; crank sounds healthy.

just no start.

i've never dealt with such an immediate/rapid failure.

can anyone suggest what the problem may be, or where/how to start looking?

thx,

richard

[scott082]

my car did this too! to this day i still dont know what it was. after 2 days it started and was like nothing happened!! ghead i still drove it to the bmw specialist though and told him what it did. he replaced the coolant temperature sensor, as that may have thrown out the cold start systems. its fine now and hasnt done it again. so yeah .....try leaving it for a couple of days without attempting to start. good luck! :wink

[DANM]

MY 89 325 IC HAS A VERY SIMILAR PROBLEM ONLY MINE HAPPENS WHEN THE ENGINE IS AT OPERATING TEMP AND IF I SHUT IT OFF AND LET IT SIT FOR 15 MIN OR SO IT STARTS FINE BUT WHEN I LEAVE THE DRIVE WAY IT SPUTTERS AND KICKS,IF I JAM THE THROTTLE AND CLEAR THE ENGINE IT RUNS FINE UNTIL THE NEXT TIME I TRY TO START IT HOT, IVE CHECKED ALL THE IGNITION COMPONENTS,FUEL PRESSURE IS GOOD, CLEANED ALL THE PRIMARY CONNECTORS,TESTED THE IDLE SWITCH,TESTED THE IDLE VALVE. I DONT KNOW IF ITS POSSIBLE BUT I THINK I,M GETTING AIR IN THE FUEL RAIL AND ONCE ITS SELF BLED ITS FINE. I,M TRYING TO FIND A LOCAL SHOP TO PURGE MY INJECTORS WITH CLEANER TO VERIFY THIS THEORY.
GOOD LUCK WITH YOURS. ARE YOU CERTAIN ITS BLUE SMOKE AND NOT BLACK FROM BEING TOO RICH

[Bear]

Check the electrical connector on your Idle Control Valve, if it is off or loose, idle fluctuations, stalling, etc will occur.

[witeshark]

Maybe a few spark plugs are fouled used