nzhaystack

Hey All,

Recently done an oil change and fuel filter change. Also changed Fuel pump relay and AFM within the last 6 months and all has been good until about last week. The car has been causing me starting troubles and will run like absolute crap when its cold, it takes about 30 seconds to start and almost catches then dies again. Once its going a puff of black smoke comes out and rpm sits at about 300 then fluctuates to about 500 and back down again. Whilst looking in the engine bay whilst this is happening i noticed the rubber fuel hose moves then the car rpm drops then picks back up again. Im not saying that its a fuel problem for sure it just seems a little ironic. Also when driving on a cold engine and putting the foot down it jolts and struggles to find power. This has been ongoing for about a week now and it really quite annoying.

Something i cannot work out however is the car runs flawlessly when the engine is at normal temp, there is no sludging, plenty of power and no jolting. This leads me to suspect that it is not a fuel problem.

Could someone please help me on this? Any other info you may need i can give you.

Cheers

Mitch

Changed the fuel filter on my e30 yesterday and it starts within 1 - 2 seconds now. Used to take a good 5-7 seconds to start and now it is almost instant. I would say it might just be the original one as it is rusty as hell and has bosch stamped on the side of it. If so it done a good job to last 295000 km. Could someone please tell me if i will be expecting any better efficiency with a new fuel filter? I currently get 450km to a 50l tank of 95. All around town driving taking it moderatly. Cheers

i dont know what your talking about mitch

i will have to break into the shed and steal and burn that civic. i know the secret way to get in lolz

Always keen to get another japenese car off the road. I will give you matches, fuel whatever you need to make it happen!

German like every other beemer match? good to hear you got it sorted. Can't believe this guy lives in my old house lol

lol he was thrilled to rip back those curtains in the garage to reveal a powered by bmw and the M\\ on the wall. On the downside his flatmate has a honda civic now living in the garage riced up to the max.

I have a mate of mine who has recently brought an 88" 320i auto. Its got 200000km on the clock and whilst driving it sometime last week he said the trans gave up and left him with reverse and park. I had a look at it and the shifter itself felt jammed in the front 2 sections (P and R) would simply not move down to Drive etc. Its from Germany and looks to be in pretty good condition with regular servicing etc. Any suggestions as to what could be going on here? I can get some more information if required.

Cheers

Mitch

What about the Blueberry bush? Was it ok?

Blueberry bush was ok, car smells a bit of blueberry and stole one of the branches off it. lol

ahhh being a bulletproof 16 year old!! taking on a corner at 120km on a standard e30. awesome!!

check control rods and suspension bits. have had bent a control arm before, causing a pull to one side. buckled rims cant be fixed by just re balancing. you will either need to get it professionally fixed or scrap it.

You got it, im a complete f**kwit haha. I have checked the control arms and they all seem to be ok. The front right rim is buckled a little however is only a bottletop so no real issues here as i am planning on some new wheels anytime soon.

Hey Guys,

Cheers for all the rerplys. I will take it in and get it all checked out just to be 100% sure its allgood

Mitchell

hello people.

last night whilst taking a corner at speed my i slipped and loss traction causing a fishtail out of control into a curb at about 120k. The wheels smashed up and my head hit the sunroof, the car then slid onto the grass and into a blueberry bush. I had a friend of mine tow me out and i drove the car from there to my house. Everything felt supprisingly normal. The only thing i noticed is a slight judder and a merge to the left when im driving in a straight line. In that case i would say that my wheels neeed balancing etc?

I checked control arms, power steering rack and tie rod ends etc and cant seem to see anything out of the ordinary. The oil pan took a bit of a scraping but nothing to serious.

Any suggestions on what to do from now would be much appreciated

Cheers

Mitch

The panels are all still straightish, They are scratched up real bad and the front bumper has been pushed back a little but apart from that its fine.

hello people.

last night whilst taking a corner at speed my i slipped and loss traction causing a fishtail out of control into a curb at about 120k. The wheels smashed up and my head hit the sunroof, the car then slid onto the grass and into a blueberry bush. I had a friend of mine tow me out and i drove the car from there to my house. Everything felt supprisingly normal. The only thing i noticed is a slight judder and a merge to the left when im driving in a straight line. In that case i would say that my wheels neeed balancing etc?

I checked control arms, power steering rack and tie rod ends etc and cant seem to see anything out of the ordinary. The oil pan took a bit of a scraping but nothing to serious.

Any suggestions on what to do from now would be much appreciated

Cheers

Mitch

First issue is water getting into the car, the only part of the car that is wet is the passanger footwell and the rear seat left footwell and this fulls up with water when it rains. Door rubber looks ok and so does sunroof rubber but perhaps it might need replacing?

Second issue is a squeky belt of some sort, the belt only squeks when the engine is cold, when the car has just gone through a puddle or when im decelarate and rpm goes over 3k. I had a look at the belts and are pretty loose just not sure on how to tighten them as there is no visible tensioner. I also thought it could be the Viscous van coupling as my father had the same issue replaced his fan coupling and problem was solved?

Lastly is the motor itself is going through oil like crazy! I plan to one day put a m20b25 in there but for now just need it to go, i know the rings/valve stems are f**ked and wondered if that engine stop burn oil treatment would be a good solution for the next 5000km or so.

Cheers

Mitch

Hey,

Interested in Any interior items that you may have available, i am wanting to modify interior of e30 and need leather seats, black/grey carpet and black door cards. Recaro seats would be mint but normal seats are fine

PM me, wellington area only!

(2 door coupe e30)

Cheers

Mitchell

I've just encountered a similar problem. My e30 will stall when you engage the clutch or if you put the car into neutral. Seems like it doesn't stall until it's warmed up though. Also if I have the car in a low gear (eg 2nd) and let it slow down without the brakes on, it will not get to the idle revs and continue to move forward it just keeps slowing and stalls.

I heard somewhere about a small piece graphite contact that wears out, I think it had something to do with the AFM?

On the right track?

EDIT: Although I should mention it always starts straight away again, in fact I often just perform a rolling start.

I may be able to help you on this one seeing as though i have encounted 99% of all e30 common problems with mine. The idle cutout problem i had was also the problem my father had with his 635csi and both cases were caused by a faulty fuel relay. However even when my relay was good my car still done this and after replacing the AFM i was sweet. So my reccomendation that worked for me is to replace AFM and fuel relay, also another member on here suggested to pop off the back seat, unscrew the fuel inspection plate and tighten the positive and negative clips that give power to the fuel pump as these are proned to comeing loose at random times causing cutouts. Everything is worth a go buddy

if it is a 7 pin open it and resolder -cheapest

I thought about doing this but knew i would stuff it up. i brought a new one which will be here tommorow, i will let you know how it goes

New Fuel pump relay will be here on friday, i will keep everyone posted on how it goes

The fuel pump relay as suggested looks to be the cause, instead of making the usual sound when turning the key to on all i can hear is the relay flicking on and off.

Does the ivc hum when the key is in the on position? (when the cars not starting)

Had the same problem on an e30 i had. It turned out to be a loose connection in the fuse box, gave the fuse box a tap and it would come back to life

Had a good listen to it just now, usually when i turn the key it makes a vvvvvwwwvv noise hard to describe but it sounds as though its coming from the fuel pump to prime the system or something. And now i am not getting that noise at all. I dont think it is the fuel pump itself as the car wouldnt exactly run. Am i on the right track here?

Try a new fuel pump relay.

Is there any way of testing the relay before a replace? where abouts is the fuel pump relay?

You seem to have more problems than your average E30!

Is everything plugged in, ICV been cleaned recently, battery condition?

Yup sure do AFM is plugged in, however the 5 pin AFM plug ( the cord) is missing the middle pin. Not sure if its supposed to be missing or if my one has fell out. If someone could also tell me this would be much appreciated. ICV was cleaned with clean a carb about 1 month ago, Battery is a euro heavy duty one which was new at start of year. Suggestions on the internet say a blocked fuel filter could be causing this. Sound likely?

Cheers

Mitch

My car seems to have a problem with the AFM. The first time this happened e30 wouldnt start and if it started it would barely run i replaced the AFM and went flawlessly. Today when i came to a stop my car just died and after numerous attemps i wasnt able to start it. It seems as though that when i thrash it then turn it off, then start it back up within like 1m it will crank over for ages but nothing. If i leave it to cool off for about 3-5m it works flawlessly. For example, problem happened today and cut out when i was turning out of a street, tried 3 or 4 times to start it then called my dad for a tow, just as he was leaving i gave it one more go and it started.

Air filter is in ok cond

Fuel filter cond is unknown

All other vaccum leads etc are fine

Fuel pump is getting power and havent had a problem with it

Any Suggesitons much appreciated as usual :D

Cheers

Mitch

arhh ok, not sure what the sender unit is, and do i really need to replace the gauge..

Sender unit is the temprature probe which sends info to gauge, you probably dont need to. I think i was just paranoid and wanted to replace everything to ensure a dead accurate reading which i now have. Your call man.

Hi everyone, I was advised to come here to ask few questions from old school.

I recently bought a bmw 316 e21.

I drove from CHCH to AKL. All sweet apart from not much brakes and handles like a boat.

Anyways.

The temperture gauge goes to upto 3/4 in town and bit more than half on high way.

it never overheated tho. Even at steep hills etc.

water is full, there is NO Coolant in it.

so what is the problem?

Old school people suggested to replace the thermostat and add coolant to fix the slightly over heating issue

Also, what's the best replacement for the suspension, would E30 suspension fit E21?

Hey, I had similar problems with my e30 temprature gauge and exactly the same symtoms as you. I replaced thermostat, coolant, sender unit and the gauge and now get an accurate clean reading. Well worth it! I done the job for about $100-120. Not sure on your suspension quesiotn but thought i might as well suggest what worked for me with your temprature gauge problem.

Hope it goes well

Hey,

I filled up Wilfred today to the brim and then got back in wilfred started it up and drove off, now everytime i turn the key to on it shows this amount of fuel and doesnt seem to be decreasing. Is this time for a new fuel gauge and sender unit?

After the piece of the exhaust that wraps around the two pipes then bolts to the gearbox, sorry for the vague description but someone should know what i mean. its like 1/2 way down the e30 stock exhaust system and is a metal clamp if you like that goes around the two exhausts then bolts to the gearbox.

Exhaust info:

Stock

e30 320i

Need this one asap!!

Cheers

Mitch

did you check the fuel pressure regulator ?? pull the vac line off and see if there is fuel coming out there.

also how old and worn are the spark plugs , have you check or replace/cleaned the air filter .

whats the condition of the dizzy cap and rotor how much wear in those??

Was flat out today and real busy, however replaced my plugs when brought car so they are pretty new.

Now fuel pressure reguator is fuel free, the one on the right of the photo is the one i checked. The fuel line that looks to go to the top part of the inlet manifold with thing in the middle am i supposed to check that as well?:

http://www.bimmersport.co.nz/forums/upload.../photo-6508.jpg

Air filter is in ok condition, will most likely change it with next oil change