01 330ci 5spd idling issues

[todostal]

hey guys whats up, im new here and i need some advice/opinions whether any of you have had idling issues with a 330 or other model for that matter...basically is what happens is i will come up to a stop light or stop sign and the engine idle bounces and sometimes it just stalls, i have not brought it to the dealer yet but have heard from other people it can take some time to sort out and fix, i have had the car for about a year and it has been getting progressively worse the past week or so. thanks

[moto]

I have a 2000 328i that was stumbling during
initial start-up last fall and winter. I had just noticed it
while warming the car up last November. It seemed fine
before that time when weather was warm. During storage,
that is when I really noticed the idle would rise and drop
for the first 3 to 5 minutes of starting the car. I've had
no problems with it since. When I had the car in for service
this past June, I had mentioned this to the service tech.
He asked me what grade of gas I was using and if it was
94 octane. Sure enough, I do remember changing to
Sunoco Gold 94 last fall from the 91 octane I was using
all of last spring and summer. He said that he has seen
this on a number of BMW's that use 94 octane. The computer
is trying to adjust for the higher octane. I won't know for
sure until it gets colder if this was a gas issue or just temp.
I would still bring it to the dealer and have them check the
car out.

[peterkulesza]

could be water in the gas tank. try adding a drying additive along with a fuel injector cleaner, maybe it'll help.

[komodo]

There was something I remember reading a long time ago in the FAQ section about symptoms like that when you need to clean your idling pipe (or something like that, I don't remember what it was called). EcianIce posted a thread in this forum a while ago talking about when he turned on his car it was a bit rough, and someone pointed toward that FAQ. Sorry I can't be more help, but maybe this will jog someone's memory.

[bmwarty]

Originally posted by todostal@Aug 15 2004, 10:28 AM
hey guys whats up, im new here and i need some advice/opinions whether any of you have had idling issues with a 330 or other model for that matter...basically is what happens is i will come up to a stop light or stop sign and the engine idle bounces and sometimes it just stalls, i have not brought it to the dealer yet but have heard from other people it can take some time to sort out and fix, i have had the car for about a year and it has been getting progressively worse the past week or so. thanks

[snapback]165575[/snapback]

[bmwarty]

Hey,

I think I have this very same problem. It is driving me crazy. I have a 2001 325i. If I have been in city traffic or at a slow drive-thru lane and the car is hot and I go to accelerate it just barely chugs along and finally stalls. I haven't figured it out yet. Have you had any luck?

[Squirrel]

Originally posted by todostal@Aug 15 2004, 09:28 AM
hey guys whats up, im new here and i need some advice/opinions whether any of you have had idling issues with a 330 or other model for that matter...basically is what happens is i will come up to a stop light or stop sign and the engine idle bounces and sometimes it just stalls, i have not brought it to the dealer yet but have heard from other people it can take some time to sort out and fix, i have had the car for about a year and it has been getting progressively worse the past week or so. thanks

[snapback]165575[/snapback]

First question for you..... Is Your Check Engine Light On?

this same thing happend to my 2001 330ci 5spd and i took it to the dealer and the mass air flow senson was bad. My car only had 34,000 miles on it when it happened. No problems since.

[bmtroubleyou]

Originally posted by todostal@Aug 15 2004, 11:28 AM
hey guys whats up, im new here and i need some advice/opinions whether any of you have had idling issues with a 330 or other model for that matter...basically is what happens is i will come up to a stop light or stop sign and the engine idle bounces and sometimes it just stalls, i have not brought it to the dealer yet but have heard from other people it can take some time to sort out and fix, i have had the car for about a year and it has been getting progressively worse the past week or so. thanks

[snapback]165575[/snapback]

I have 2004 330ci 5 sp. It is doing the same thing. 1st visit to dealer "no fault found", second vist, they reprogrammed the FI system based on the recommendations in a technical service bulletin....1 mile from the dealer same stumbling idle. I think it is a faulty fuel injector...I had the same problem on my 330ZX....went away when I replaced the injectors.

[Specialblend96]

Hey, I had a e36 318i before I purchased my new 330ci, and the same exact problem happened with my 318i. There happened to be a very small tear in my intake manifold which threw off the mass air, oxygen, and the sensor in the catylitic converter. They couldn't find out from the diagnostics machine that the mass air and other sensors where not working (since in they were technically not broken). But the tear in the intake manifold was throwing them off, so during driving the sensors had to constantly adapt to the varying air pressure caused by the tear. And my car would idle very oddly and sometimes stall out when the engine would return to idle or when I was inbetween shifts. This eventually caused all sensors to overwork themseleves, the problem became worse, and consequently they had to be replaced (which cost edclose to $800.00). They realized the tear when they were taking apart the intake to replace the new mass air flow sensor. It was a dumb problem that just happened to slip through the cracks, so to speak. Anyway, I hope that helped and if it happens to be the same thing ,a tear in a plastic manifold, it would be under your warranty is is very cheap regardless.

[Kairos]

Originally posted by Specialblend96@Nov 16 2004, 01:41 AM
Hey, I had a e36 318i before I purchased my new 330ci, and the same exact problem happened with my 318i. There happened to be a very small tear in my intake manifold which threw off the mass air, oxygen, and the sensor in the catylitic converter. They couldn't find out from the diagnostics machine that the mass air and other sensors where not working (since in they were technically not broken). But the tear in the intake manifold was throwing them off, so during driving the sensors had to constantly adapt to the varying air pressure caused by the tear. And my car would idle very oddly and sometimes stall out when the engine would return to idle or when I was inbetween shifts. This eventually caused all sensors to overwork themseleves, the problem became worse, and consequently they had to be replaced (which cost edclose to $800.00). They realized the tear when they were taking apart the intake to replace the new mass air flow sensor. It was a dumb problem that just happened to slip through the cracks, so to speak. Anyway, I hope that helped and if it happens to be the same thing ,a tear in a plastic manifold, it would be under your warranty is is very cheap regardless.

[snapback]231736[/snapback]

First off, I want to say I am a newbie and forgot to introduce that when I posted a few weeks back. This place rocks...I posted a few picks of my old e36 and now e46 2000 328ci (sport et al) in the gallery. Second, I have had this problem on and off over the past two years. It got to the point that I requested and received 2 new transmissions (I worked hard to get a 2001 330ci sport et al) but all this cost me nothing but the frustration of sometimes stalling when at idle. I am wondering if my certified warranty covers what you mention above. I left one of the top 10 BMW centers in the country (Knauz outside Chicago) to a lesser outfit in Minneapolis. So I definitely need all the info possible before turning my black beaut over to their techs. I freek'n love these cars (this is my third) and feel the new design will only make the current run that much better (thats until I see the coupe, I do not like the sedan/saloon). Anyway, once I get set-up with an avitar etc I will post some more pics..no significant mods yet. I did auto-cross and raced whomever wanted a challenge on the highways outside and in downtown Chicago with my '92 325is. The Minnesota back roads are proving to be a fantastic playground

[exjarhead328]

My 2000 328 does the stall thing only in the cold weather. Unfortunately here in New England we get a little of that. When I warm it up I'll sit in it for about a minute and hold the RPM's about 1500, it usually doesn't stall after that. Then when I get back in to go to work I realize I forgot to turn on the heated seats!! DOH!!!