Here's what happened. Sorry about the long story, however, it's a paste and copy from my first post on a sister site. Am still in the dark on this.
Consulting my Bentley. Car very well maintained and properly serviced.
Thanks for any and all input. I really hate to go into this stuff blind. This is the first time with something like this in 18 years of ownership...Thanks
ANY input or ideas would be helpful. I have this problem and am brainstorming the best way to address it.
>1992 318is 220,000 miles
1. Check Engline Light comes on. According to Bentley the fault code that comes up is O2 Sensor.
2. This makes sense as the in place unit has 110,000 miles on it.
3. Bring it into local NYC shop for replacement. They suggest placing vehicle onto their computer. Say it's important as the code could have multiple means. I say plugs are new, mass airflow sensor has about 60k-70k on it, new air filter (will check this again just in case it's bad), new fuel pump, new fuel filter.
So I tell shop to treat this as a MAINTENANCE MATTER and change the part. thank you very much.
4. Call Manhattan BMW and they say..."Hook the vehicle up to our computer. The code has multiple meanings." I do not do this. Change O2 Sensor and then WAIT TO SEE IF DRIVABILITY IMPROVES.
5. Pre-replacement symptom: Following a few days of severe rain and vehicle parked outside (vehicle unfortunately not in Santa Fe at the moment) in street IT EXHIBITS SYMPTOMS OF ROUGH IDLE.
6. Part replaced. Rough idle eliminated. However, CHECK ENGINE light still on and off. No immediate symptoms.
7. Drive vehicle 7 miles. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ON AND OFF. I rev engine to increase rpms, light goes off...and on again. Then the scary part: I BEGIN TO LOSE POWER...A VERY LITTLE ROUGH THAT GOES AWAY...JUST A LITTLE...SO I REV MOTOR AND MAKE IT TO THE DESTINATION. POWER RETURNS WHEN I REV MOTOR. However, the vehicle is still unpredictable and tends to become sluggish with gas pedal depressed there's a noticeable power loss the comes and then goes away.
I park the car.
Take a trip (visited the bmw werk today in munich)
Call the Santa Fe dealer...whom I do trust and is quite honest...and worth the charges since they get the problem first time out (free plug) when you actually need a complex problem solved.
8. He tells me to hook car up onto a BMW Dealer Computer with Proprietary Software. Says this will pinpoint the issue as dates, repetition of events etc. will be in greater detail than any computer capability of any independent shop.
9. I research dealers in NYC Metro Area and locate one in New Jersey that seems to have excellent customer response.
I refuse to go to BMW Manhattan for even a cup of coffee. Way to Nutty Expensive and the customer reviews suck.
10. Am not inclined to bring vehicle to independent shop because of the proprietary software/diagnosis issue.
SO...HERE I SIT IN MUNICH GERMANY...enjoying my vacation, the WERK is drop dead gorgeous...it is a marketing paradise...children playing with bmws and associated video games etc...all inside a drop dead beautiful piece of splendid building design. Took lots of photos. It's so incredibly attractive that it's impossible to take of bad photograph there.
AND I NEED H-E-L-P.
suggestions about how i'm approaching this
what would you do
look...i could have a faulty fuel pump, i could have a lousy gas filter...even though they're both new. it could be the computer (current computer is 120,000 miles old and the original lasted 100,000 miles, it could be ANYTHING as far as I'm concerned.
However ARE THEIR ANY IDEAS OUT THERE besides what steps I've taken.
