NZ_InFerno

Big thanks to KwS for coming round and doing quite a few tests, narrows down the faulting components considerably.

Will definitely try that out. Have also given the car a good clean in a couple of places that I hadn't got to yet, cup holder and air vents. Cup holder had some sugary beverage spilled inside which my detailing spray cleaned up nicely. Air vents had faded in the sun, gave them a couple of coats of trim treatment and they're looking much better.

Yeah they drop to idle or in-gear equivalent. Something I had been looking at was pulling it out and checking the sensor. I had priced up a replacement pedal or sensor too which isn't too bad. Just wanting to see if anyone has come across a similar fault and can point me in the right direction or cause, as I'm not really sure what it could be ?‍♂️

That has been replaced recently. How do I do those things?

Got a 2006 Manual 130i with the following issue: When changing gear, mostly from a cold start, and shifting into second, the accelerator totally stops responding. It doesn't rev at all or accelerate. It has also cut out on other occasions on the motorway at 100kmh between 5th/6th which is super sketchy ?. Have been smashing the accelerator and no response on a few occasions. I've been driving it every day to work out this issue. If I turn the car off and on again, after it happens, its fine and can drive it for a half hour or more with no issues and it doesn't pop back up. Today it happened again, and popping the clutch in and out the accelerator came back so seems like something going on with the clutch or gearbox. Previously when it's happened I've changed gears but still had no accelerator response. Just sits at 1000 rpm in 2nd or higher rpms in higher gears. It seems very odd that it kills the accelerator totally though, any ideas what the fault or cause could be?

Took out both Solenoids on Thursday and cleaned them with degreaser. Cars been running fine since getting it back, this didn't seem to make any difference but will see how it goes. These were BMW Solenoids too, so might be originals. But unfortunately another problem I was having, which I thought was part of the engine issue, has been made more obvious. When changing gear, mostly from a cold start, and shifting into second, the accelerator totally stops responding. It has also cut out on the motorway at 100kmh between 5th/6th which is super sketchy ?. Have been smashing the accelerator and no response on a few occasions. Since getting it back I've been driving it every day to work out this issue. It has does it once at motorway speeds but mostly its at the start of a drive and then if I turn the car off and on again its fine and can drive it for a half hour or more with no issues. Today it did it again, and popping the clutch in and out the accelerator came back so seems like something going on with the clutch or gearbox. Previously I've changed gears but still no accelerator response. Just sits at 1000 rpm in 2nd or higher rpms in higher gears. It seems very odd that it kills the accelerator totally though, any ideas what it could be? Other than this, it has driven fine and I've taken it on a few drives with no other issues lol.

All good. They fold open, I was surprised when I discovered it as I thought they would pop out. The strip they're on slides out afaik so not a big deal to replace just a pain.

I've swapped Solenoids over before so it's not a big deal, pretty easy to access.

Well the black 4 door does have new Solenoids, guess I can pillage from that lol. Nah they can't be removed. All one piece in that rail.

Well that's depressing news, guess I'm ordering Solenoids. I don't think they tested vanos, I don't have a sheet on it. Talked to the garage owner a fair bit and if it goes again they'll be fixing it on their dime.

Car was dead and wouldn't start. It didn't throw a sensor code until after they'd done the timing and other things and had it running fine for a week. They knew something was faulty but there were no obvious indicators from what they told me, they suspected cam sensor but didn't want to do it without a code showing. Then it popped up. Definitely agree it was weird them doing the timing, but I honestly don't know a lot about cams/timing etc to judge if that was the issue that was causing it not to start or original fault. They also did other work on it, cleaning and inspecting plus going through the electrical loom. So it's had a fair amount of diagnosing/testing done while no codes were being thrown, that wasn't charged for.

Lavished some bits and care on the car today, now that it is back in my possession from the mechanics. For the record it was the variable cam shaft sensor that caused the issue, so that was replaced and the rocker cover gasket as well. Since the car wouldn't start when it was towed to the mechanics they suspected timing chain so checked that out, timing was out so was reset back to stock and all the guides/chain were checked and no issues. Had a lot of labour time spent on the car, diagnosing/testing and fixing. Was charged a fair bit, but could have been a lot more. First thing I tried out was @M3ANs old aerial, car didn't have one when purchased. Fitted on perfectly but looked very odd with the existing aerial base so started unscrewing it off and the screw thread from the aerial broke off inside the base. Managed to remove it from the aerial base on the car with some pliers. So will have a look online for another aerial, currently looks a bit weird ? Also had a good look at the missing tab where I took the roof racks off, think I'll leave it on the backburner for a while as its not doing any harm and I have to purchase the whole strip anyway as you can't buy the tabs for some reason. Next up was something I expected to cost a whole lot more than it did, new plates. Previous ones had damage on the front from being reversed into, and no idea what happened to the rear plate. Anyway cost me $23 for a replacement set, looks much better and nearly hides the front bumper damage from being reversed into. I also had a new set of the euro surrounds lying around so put them on at the same time. Damaged Front Bumper plate above and the fresh plate below Rear plate replacement below also looks much better Next task was something I'd wanted ever since I saw the car, can you spot the difference? ? Luckily I got the colour match spot on, decided to go with the raised centre cap and they look really good. They're also *cough* replicas at 1/5th of the price as genuine Work centre caps are ridiculously expensive. Lastly my Bluetooth USB to 3.5mm receiver was plugged in, connected straight away with my phone and works a treat. Had some assistance for this very difficult install. Also discovered that there has been some headlight upgrades from previous owner, both the daytime running lights aka "Angel Eyes" and the normal beams. She's looking much better now with a lot of the cosmetic stuff taken care of: - roof rack removed - eyebrows removed - new plates - Wheel caps installed - a couple of small missing plastic pieces in the engine bay I still have some things planned out to do to the car. Unfortunately the unexpected mechanical repairs have blown out the car budget, which had a pretty generous allowance for things to go wrong, so will be curtailing future car spending in the mean time while my credit card recovers ? Next step is removing the SuperSprint Exhaust off my black "parts" car, and getting that fitted. Will also be getting an alignment and the wheels touched up, will make a big difference too as it looks like the wheels have curbing on them atm but its stone chips from rocks as the wheels stick out slightly from the guards. These will be happening shortly and dependent on others free time. Two things that were on the car when I purchased it in Dec that I wanted to fix will be on hold. The front bumper, impact damage is much less noticeable with the new plates on and is a relatively minor crack that isn't structural. The head lining is something I want to do but isn't bothering me yet. Its only over the boot space and is not in the way at present. Both can wait. Looking forward to spending a lot more time driving this round, puts a smile on my face. And please no more tows to the mechanic ?

I'm kinda intrigued...

Finally got the car back today from the mechanics, been 6 weeks since it was towed to them. Was a cam sensor that was the culprit, driving home car was running mint. I'd been driving my auto 130i in the meantime and it was surprising how different this is. So much better. Have a few things I'd ordered turn up in the meantime so will chuck them at the car tomorrow.

Dang, I'm likely to need some style 208s soon as well. That's a nice price.

Spoke to the guy working on it, motor is back together and running and now is actually showing a code for vanos/valvetronic. Hurray for Internet sleuthing ? Cam chain and everything else looked good so no worries on that part. Reset lifter/cans as engine was showing poor compression and oil pressure which both came back. He suspects eccentric cam sensor as valvetronic motor has been done recently.

Yeah, thought it was strange that they had "diagnosed/fixed the problem" and hadn't heard from them but as they promised a call later in the day I wasn't too concerned. I've got a lot going on atm so this hasn't been the highest priority. Not paraphrasing, was verbatim from receptionist. I do know that, see above for explanation just got a lot on.

Spoke to the receptionist yesterday, was expecting a call back from the owner but haven't heard. She said the engine was being put back together and it was a timing issue they'd reset it with special tools.

Googled valvetronic and that sounds extremely similar to what I experienced. Going back to mechanic to see what they've come up with.

Yeah I probably should have added that it got worse and worse as I kept trying to start the car and keep it running , eventually it wouldn't even start at all. Going to give them a ring and get an update on it, they've had it a few days now.

Yeah tell me about it, had it for all of 4 days after finally getting the PCV and MAF fixed before it started playing up. It lost power on the motorway, accelerator wasn't responding, no codes thrown. Pulled over and turned it off then started again, accelerator worked so carried on. Same thing happened the next day, so figured it wasn't a glitch and still no codes so something was up so parked it up. Day after that I pulled it out of the driveway to see if it would do it again and it died outside the house, had to push it back into the driveway. Was running really rough and wouldn't hold idle. So checked it wasn't maf or intake related and nothing so got it towed to AVS who had done the pre-purchase check and subsequent work on it.

Had some goodies for the car turn up in the last couple of weeks, which will be fitted sometime in the near future. Unfortunately car is back at the mechanics after breaking down completely and being undriveable. Currently waiting for quote to fix but mechanic suspects timing chain guides, is tearing the engine down to confirm so new timing chain etc needed. Not a happy chap having barely driven the car since purchase, worked out 10.5 hours of driving and just passed a month of ownership.

Yeah Pramod is a guru, he scanned my 130i which was getting the Xmas tree lights and diagnosed low battery charge as the issue. Took time out from his dinner to do it too, great guy.

I was under my new 130i looking around today, and have the same number on the casing 7518405.

Is it cheaper to get another M5 that's already had the work done, where the crankshaft is OK? Or one with lower kms and more life left in it before these faults occur. That's a heck of a fault list ?