NVADER30 0 Report post Posted April 9, 2008 This has probably been covered before but I'm fairly limited in the time I have to get this posted. This morning when I stopped at a set of lights the car idled fine at 700rpm for about 15 seconds before suddenly dropping revs to almost zero. The revs then surged back up to 1.5k before dropping down to around 700 again. It continued to do this every time I stopped unless the road was sloped. Gearbox is a JATCO auto btw. Anyone heard of this before? The car had the normal e36 idle problem but it has never done this before... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
3 SERIES 93 Report post Posted April 9, 2008 Check out this topis: http://www.bimmersport.co.nz/forums/index....showtopic=15277 Mine does the smae thing. Obviously a common E36 problem! Can anyone else help out? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grant 4 Report post Posted April 9, 2008 I had this with my 328i. Take it to a dealer or decent independent, such as Botany Motor Worx (with a scanner). The issue with my 328i ended up being a faulty cam position sensor - this was picked up by the scanner. Cheers Grant Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NVADER30 0 Report post Posted April 10, 2008 After a lot of searching around it seems like the best place to start is the ICV (Idle Control Valve) so I'll take that out and clean it this weekend and let people know how it goes. Found a good guide as to how to get to the ICV on an M50 Engine here Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
my_e36 43 Report post Posted April 10, 2008 I had a similar problem before, cleaning ICV was no help and eventually changed crank sensor. e36 323i M52 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NVADER30 0 Report post Posted April 10, 2008 Found a crack in the pipe between the Mass Air Flow Sensor and the manifold. Will order a replacement from BMW shortly but I would say that'll be problem solved Cheers for the help all Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
3 SERIES 93 Report post Posted April 10, 2008 Excellent! Let us know if that fixes the problem. If so thats about 3 people now thats had the same problem. Im definatly checking mine over the weekend. Cheers Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites