E46 M3 Limp Mode

[lbo99 39]

For the S54 experts out there, my 03.5 E46 M3 (SMG) has gone into limp mode. I've been told by the dealership to replaced and have replaced the ignition coils, spark plugs, egt, all of the O2 sensors, fuel filter, and fuel pump. The car still doesn't let me go past 3k rpm while on load.

The car later let me go past the 3k rpm mark after I replaced a new fuel pump but it wouldn't let me go past the 4.5k mark while on load. The shift lights would craw up to the 4.5k mark like you're hitting the rev limiter. The car drives fine and limp mode would only kick in when I floor the accelerator pedal (while at or near the second click). Would drive fine again after shutting the engine off. No lights on the dash as well. 

I've spent thousands trying to fix this problem and they still couldn't fix it. Would this be anything related to the TPS? Asked them about it a few times but they told me that they couldn't identify any fault codes. 

[KwS 2425]

Sounds like they're applying the scattergun approach instead of diagnosing the issue properly. Are there any recommended indy workshops there that could have a look and pull codes? Its unlikely its going to be in limp mode without codes.

[F10er 65]

2 hours ago, lbo99 said:

For the S54 experts out there, my 03.5 E46 M3 (SMG) has gone into limp mode. I've been told by the dealership to replaced and have replaced the ignition coils, spark plugs, egt, all of the O2 sensors, fuel filter, and fuel pump. The car still doesn't let me go past 3k rpm while on load.

The car later let me go past the 3k rpm mark after I replaced a new fuel pump but it wouldn't let me go past the 4.5k mark while on load. The shift lights would craw up to the 4.5k mark like you're hitting the rev limiter. The car drives fine and limp mode would only kick in when I floor the accelerator pedal (while at or near the second click). Would drive fine again after shutting the engine off. No lights on the dash as well. 

I've spent thousands trying to fix this problem and they still couldn't fix it. Would this be anything related to the TPS? Asked them about it a few times but they told me that they couldn't identify any fault codes. 

That sounds very unusual. So there is no check engine light or fault codes at all when it goes into limp mode? 

[M3AN 4016]

Does it have drive-by-wire? I'm not sure when they introduced it to the M3.

Are you able to read the codes or only when you take it to a shop? You need to fix that first if not. It's highly unlikely the car will be going into such an extreme mode without any codes.

Edited September 28, 2020 by M3AN

[Lubed 55]

Try unplug the air mass sensor then road test. Its easy way of eliminating a component that can cause the fault your experiencing.

[lbo99 39]

Hi guys, I'm sorry for the late reply regarding this topic. The car has yet to be fixed. The car went back in again and they tested the clutch, mass air flow sensor, cats and fluids. They asked to charge me $500 plus for checking those and told me the car has no problem at all and has no fault code, which is unreasonable for me imo as that should be their job in the first place to go through everything and they are now trying to charge me more by telling me nothing is wrong with the car when they didn’t even fix the problem after i've spent so much money with them. They are now suggesting to bring my car to an external dyno and it would be all on my cost. I really don't know what to do anymore, i'm sick of their attitude saying 'we will give you a call asap' but they never intend to give a damn about this issue. I've got this problem with my car since last year and I could say my car probably visit the dealership the most out of all E46 M3 in this country. They never follow up with me unless I kept chasing on them. I've complaint a few times and it's still the same, I'm sick of this. I think the next step would be writing an offical complain to BMW NZ. Any input from you guys would be much appreciated, cheers

 

Edited September 28, 2020 by lbo99

[lbo99 39]

On 8/14/2020 at 6:15 PM, KwS said:

Sounds like they're applying the scattergun approach instead of diagnosing the issue properly. Are there any recommended indy workshops there that could have a look and pull codes? Its unlikely its going to be in limp mode without codes.

On 8/14/2020 at 7:05 PM, F10er said:

That sounds very unusual. So there is no check engine light or fault codes at all when it goes into limp mode? 

Yeah they're basically ripping me off, unfortunately i don't think there's any in Christchurch. There's no check engine light. The car used to have fault code for the EGT, but it has been replaced and O2 sensors was replaced too as suggested by chch BMW. I was told there is no fault codes and the car is 'perfect'. 

 

 

[M3AN 4016]

You need to go elsewhere... a quick Google throws up lot's of independents in Christchurch such as https://www.kevinburtltd.co.nz/ (I have no experience with them, they were just first on the list).

Call one of them, explain that your M3 isn't performing as expected and you need a quote to have all of the codes read and a printout to take away with you.

Upload that printout here... it's all guesswork otherwise. If the it's not throwing any code, or making any crazy noises then it's going to be a mission I'm afraid.

Does @Aaron have an OBDII computer to plug it in to in ChCh? I don't know.

[BreakMyWindow 1878]

Yeah surely some fault messages would be there after it goes in to limp mode. Best to scan it as soon as it exhibits this behaviour though.

I had a similar issue in my old m5 after doing clutch, the o2 sensor connectors were plugged in front to back. You mention the o2’s were replaced but was the exhaust dropped before it started going in to limp for maintenance/repairs?

[lbo99 39]

46 minutes ago, M3AN said:

You need to go elsewhere... a quick Google throws up lot's of independents in Christchurch such as https://www.kevinburtltd.co.nz/ (I have no experience with them, they were just first on the list).

Call one of them, explain that your M3 isn't performing as expected and you need a quote to have all of the codes read and a printout to take away with you.

Upload that printout here... it's all guesswork otherwise. If the it's not throwing any code, or making any crazy noises then it's going to be a mission I'm afraid.

Does @Aaron have an OBDII computer to plug it in to in ChCh? I don't know.

The only reason I'm not going elsewhere is that I might not be able to dispute as the dealership might claim that the car has went through other people. Eurorec and DCH is pretty well known for BMW in chch but I think they're not too sure about M cars. Would be a good idea to check with them if I can't get this sorted with chch bmw. It just feel like I've basically thrown my money into the bin if someone else fix it but not them. 

[lbo99 39]

29 minutes ago, BreakMyWindow said:

Yeah surely some fault messages would be there after it goes in to limp mode. Best to scan it as soon as it exhibits this behaviour though.

I had a similar issue in my old m5 after doing clutch, the o2 sensor connectors were plugged in front to back. You mention the o2’s were replaced but was the exhaust dropped before it started going in to limp for maintenance/repairs?

Chch bmw might've dropped the exhaust before while they did my exhaust hanger bushings but i'm not too sure about that. I hope they're not that dumb to plug it the wrong way, i would need to check with them. 

[M3AN 4016]

On 9/28/2020 at 7:43 PM, lbo99 said:

The only reason I'm not going elsewhere is that I might not be able to dispute as the dealership might claim that the car has went through other people. Eurorec and DCH is pretty well known for BMW in chch but I think they're not too sure about M cars. Would be a good idea to check with them if I can't get this sorted with chch bmw. It just feel like I've basically thrown my money into the bin if someone else fix it but not them. 

I'm not suggesting you get work done elsewhere, just that you go somewhere that will read and print the codes for you.

BMW themselves aren't very good with M cars either. They often have 1 tech who's been certified and then they either leave or forget what they've learnt for older cars. In fact, a BMW dealership is probably the worst place to take an older M car tbh.

Edited September 30, 2020 by M3AN

[leichtbau 525]

DCH Motorsport still around? Give them a bell.

[F10er 65]

Just a random thought, but did they check the cats in the exhaust to see if they were blocked? If it won't rev over 3k that is one possibility. Could be completely wrong though.

Edited September 29, 2020 by F10er

[Arron 227]

Have a good scanner located in Christchurch.

 

more than happy to pop over and give it a scan to see if we can help in anyway 

 

flick me a text 0221952364

arron 

[M3AN 4016]

2 hours ago, Arron said:

Have a good scanner located in Christchurch.

more than happy to pop over and give it a scan to see if we can help in anyway 

flick me a text 0221952364

arron 

@lbo99 - do this, if nothing else it will give you a baseline.

@Aaron - nice one bro.

[Arron 227]

So..... firstly, Lester now has his bmw back up and running after over a year and several  thousand dollars of “hunting the issue” style of bmw repair strategy (coils,plugs,fuel pumps,o2 sensors.... the list goes on) . I seriously wonder how some “head technicians” get their jobs within Bmw.

initial scan of the m3 came back with the following codes (in the picture). Did some googling, and found out that the cat code is Indeed the cause of the limp mode, but what was causing it? Cleared it all off, took the car for a drive and as expected, went onto limp mode along with the cat code and o2 codes coming back 

during this drive, love data on the scanner showed that the o2 sensor voltage values were NOT changing, which was totally odd 

 

as you can see, ALL 4  Sensors have the same heater error...... put everything nag together and was like, surely if all 4 sensors have the same error.... it must be a common something connected to all 4. 
 

First thing first, checked the o2 sensor fuse.... wouldn’t you know it.... it was blown ? as a result, the heaters were not working and the sensors were not reading as they should have been...... in turn triggering the cat protection codes because of the “lean readings” in relation to rpm 

 

some things are not hard to use half a brain and figure out.... and how Bmw have now been able to use 1/20th of a single brain cell to follow the dead obvious signs fails to amaze me 

I suspect that what has happened is one of the original O2 sensors has failed, shorted and taken the fuse with it creating the further errors when the new ones were installed 

 

but anyway, problem solved!

 

 

 

[Arron 227]

On 9/28/2020 at 7:54 PM, M3AN said:

I'm not suggesting you get work done elsewhere, just that you go somewhere that will read and print the codes for you.

BMW themselves aren't very good with M cars either. They often have 1 tech who's been certified and then they either leave to forget what they've learnt for older cars. In fact, a BMW dealership is probably the worst place to take an older M car tbh.

My faith in Bmw techs is Indeed very quickly vanishing ?

[kiwi535 538]

awesome result!

[lbo99 39]

Thank you for all the response! Special thanks to @Arron for reaching out and helped solving the issue with my car, so stocked that it's finally acting how it really should be. My faith with the dealership is dead, very disappointed on them with all the time and money I've wasted it's just ?. 

You're a legend @Arron, once again thank you so much. ?

[qube 3570]

legen.. wait for it, dary.

[F10er 65]

Wow!!! Good that it's fixed now but I'd be going back into BMW and demanding some of my money back. That is completely f#$%@d that they missed that!! 

[leichtbau 525]

8 hours ago, F10er said:

Wow!!! Good that it's fixed now but I'd be going back into BMW and demanding some of my money back. That is completely f#$%@d that they missed that!! 

Absolutely, and I'd also be getting your story spread as much as possible. The sheer incompetence shown by the dealership is jaw dropping.

[Eagle 1664]

Rather to sell you parts than diagnose the problems sums up most dealership experiences ive heard about.

[M3AN 4016]

On 9/28/2020 at 6:51 PM, M3AN said:

Does @Aaron have an OBDII computer to plug it in to in ChCh? I don't know.

BMW themselves aren't very good with M cars either. They often have 1 tech who's been certified and then they either leave or forget what they've learnt for older cars. In fact, a BMW dealership is probably the worst place to take an older M car tbh.

 

On 9/29/2020 at 6:58 PM, Arron said:

Have a good scanner located in Christchurch.

 

On 9/29/2020 at 10:29 PM, Arron said:

So ... firstly, Lester now has his bmw back up and running ... some things are not hard to use half a brain and figure out ... and how Bmw have now been able to use 1/20th of a single brain cell to follow the dead obvious signs fails to amaze me ... but anyway, problem solved!

 

17 hours ago, lbo99 said:

Thank you for all the response!

Bimmersport nails it. ?