E36 328i power issues

Xavier e36

New member
Good day gentleman.... small issue's I need help with....I bought an e36 cabriolet 328i and iv changed a hole lot of worn out pipes and the messed up ccv.....so now I wanted to know what can cause the car to feel very sluggish from around 4500rpm?well I never yet take it down to the limiter because I get scared coz it feels as if it's battling to get there..... thanks in advance for your help
 

ver328i

Well-known member
e36's and power issues usually come down to Vanos seals

contact Moranor, buy some seals.

It makes a world of difference...at least it did with my car. Even if this is not your issue, its good to know your vanos is operating correctly and the seals are cheap
 

Nikhil

Honorary ///Member
So I wouldn’t even start with vanos seals as yet I would take the following route.

1. Major service
2. Run diagnostics
3. Clean all sensors
4. Replace all the vacuum lines and any rubbers / gaskets on the intake side
5. Decat
6. Vanos seals
 

Xavier e36

New member
I did change most of the piping I saw that was damaged...I did oil...oil filter....plugs.....thermostat....knn flat panel filter....changed coolant....cleaned the maf...clean the icv....and the throttle....also changed the ccv....so now I purchased a new fuel filter as well.....and some injector cleaner to run through da fueling system....but I will put it on diagnostics and also I'll check the vanos.....cars on around 215k km....car has an exhaust system I will check if it's been decated or not


OK so I had a check....car is decated.... and vanos is connected
 

moranor@axis

///Member
Official Advertiser
from the sounds of things I dont think it is Vanos seals these affect low down torque

the engine should never struggle to rev out these like to rev
 

Nikhil

Honorary ///Member
Well It really sounds like either fuel starvation or a vacuum leak. It could be the cam position sensor Aswell which displays similar symptoms
 

Xavier e36

New member
Come to think of it I did hear like the cars pulling in air somewhere....I thought it might have been cz of da filter....I will have roo check it out....I will fit the filter as well today or tomorrow and if it still not correct I will put the car on a diagnosis machine
 

AudiDriver

Active member
Xavier e36 said:
Come to think of it I did hear like the cars pulling in air somewhere....I thought it might have been cz of da filter....I will have roo check it out....I will fit the filter as well today or tomorrow and if it still not correct I will put the car on a diagnosis machine

Has this been resolved yet? Did you check for that vacuum leak suspicion with some carb cleaner? It could also be a case of bad cam timing - you would never know where the previous owner took her for her services...replace the vanos seals for peace of mind (that isn't your issue though) and at the same time set the cam timing correctly.
 

Xavier e36

New member
I Checked there are 2small vacuum pipes just dangling under the intake....and also on the fuel regulator looks like one of those are suppose to go there? Well I wanna temove the intake too give it a clean as it's got some oil in it I will check what's going on
 
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