E39 Couple At Low Rpm ?

[fanless]

Hi,

I own a E39 (523i, 1998, 260.000 Km). I bought this car in yr 2000. I had in the past different car brands; Renault, Simca, Fiat, VW ... This is my second BMW and probably the less reliable car I ever had. The car was always serviced by official BMW garages according to service leds. Well, today I have the feeling that the engine has much less power at low rotational speeds. The car has no couple under 3000 rpm, sometimes a "hole" around 5500 rpm.
Also strange, when the car is parked on a "climbing surface", the engine is hard to start and runs badly; have the feeling that it runs on 4 or 5 cylinders. I went to the garage and they didn't notice anything, but to begin the troubleshooting, the spark plugs were changed ( but the problem remains).

Was changed in the past :

the gas pump 3 yrs ago
the catalytic converter two yrs ago

Because BMW labor force is so expensive and my almost empty wallet, I would like to ear from enlightened people some advices or some easy checks I would be able to do myself before giving away the car (and my savings) to the garage.

Thanks in advance

[///M Power]

Heres a simple question, is your check engine light on?

[fanless]

No, I don't see any alarm on the dashboard.

Some other infos :

When the engine is hard to start, it smell gas.
The problem seems intermittent. Sometimes, the couple (or torque, don't know what word I should use) is almost as usual, sometimes it's painful to use the car.
Almost sure that the situation is better when cold and rainy, worst when its hot and sunny.
Isn't it any sensor that would be affected when the car doesn't stay on a horizontal surface ?

Thanks so far

[paulicus]

Originally posted by fanless@Jul 27 2005, 10:28 AM
Hi,

I own a E39 (523i, 1998, 260.000 Km). I bought this car in yr 2000. I had in the past different car brands; Renault, Simca, Fiat, VW ... This is my second BMW and probably the less reliable car I ever had. The car was always serviced by official BMW garages according to service leds. Well, today I have the feeling that the engine has much less power at low rotational speeds. The car has no couple under 3000 rpm, sometimes a "hole" around 5500 rpm.
Also strange, when the car is parked on a "climbing surface", the engine is hard to start and runs badly; have the feeling that it runs on 4 or 5 cylinders. I went to the garage and they didn't notice anything, but to begin the troubleshooting, the spark plugs were changed ( but the problem remains).

Was changed in the past :

the gas pump 3 yrs ago
the catalytic converter two yrs ago

Because BMW labor force is so expensive and my almost empty wallet, I would like to ear from enlightened people some advices or some easy checks I would be able to do myself before giving away the car (and my savings) to the garage.

Thanks in advance

[snapback]365438[/snapback]

This sounds like the camshaft sensor playing up, does the car suffer from a lumpy idle, hesitation when accelerating, poor performance?

My car had these symptoms, dealer replaced the sensor, normal operation resumed.

[fanless]

> does the car suffer from a lumpy idle ?
No, idle is normal
> hesitation when accelerating ?
Not at usual rpms (1000-5000), but sometimes around 5500 rpm.
> poor performance?
Yes, for example at 1500 rpm, second gear engaged, the acceleration is almost null. I don't feel hesitation, ... nothing special, just that the car doesn't react as it did in the past when you push down the throttle pedal.
Seems that 3000 rpm is the minimum I should stay to keep some response from the car.

Thanks for the tip