1999 E46 328i auto 198k kms

[Solo Man]

My son's car does this sort of "axle tramp" when pulling away just above normal, if you get my drift (no pun intended). It has now become worse in that it does it about every time one normally pulls away. We have replaced the gearbox mountings (they were still in very good condition), have checked the shocks and springs, the guibo is fine. Checked the rear diff mounting which seemed as if it might be torn but when lying on the side of the car and gearbox in drive with the handbrake on, the car does it but the diff is completely still. What concerns me is that the engine misses slightly when this happens. The feeling one gets inside the car when this happens is that the car sort of wriggles, feels as if it comes from the back. Any help/advice will be much appreciated. Thanks

 

[AdiS]

Are you certain the rear axle carrier panel is not cracked? (think E46 M3 subframe issue).

 

[Fordkoppie]

Sort out the misfire first, and reassess.

Can be the transmittal of that irregular running through the drive train

 

[Solo Man]

Thanks for the response guys!. So had the whole of last night to think about a possible solution to the problem and early this morning drove over to my son's house and replaced the spark plugs! Remembering the misfire made me think it was time to look at the plugs and upon checking the service history i could not find that we replaced the plugs since we/he had the car, roughly about 70k kms. Not sure when last they were replaced as the service book makes no mention of plugs being replaced. Anyway, the main problem i think was the fact that plugs 5 and 6 had a slight bit of oil around the plug which i assume shorted out when under load ie pulling away. Anyway, cleaned out the plug hole, replaced the plugs and i am very thankful to say that the car is running beautifully now!. Have already bought a tappet cover gasket set from Goldwagen this afternoon so will be replacing the old one asap. Glad it is not the rear axle carrier problem! Fordkoppie, you were on the right track! Thanks again!

 

[Solo Man]

So, problem has surfaced again on the third day! Have not had a chance to replace tappet cover gasket but son has reported that car has same symptoms again. I am sure it is electrical, so will be checking out the coils as well as cam and crank sensors. Do the sensors need coding and if so, can i do it with Inpa? Any advice? Symptom is that car is jerking when accelerating and feels down on power. Disabling the DSC makes no difference.

 

[Loom]

Have you read the codes, yet?
Sensors do not need coding.

 

[individj]

have you checked the plugs again?

 

[Solo Man]

Car is not with me at the moment. Will be changing cars over the weekend so i can work on it. Will first check the plugs as i have to first change the tappet cover gasket. I will also put my diagnostics on and see if i can find anything wrong. What should the fuel pressure be?

 

[Solo Man]

Found the problem. No 6 coil is dead. Hope to replace it today with new one.