E46 330i Hesitation on full throttle pull away

[SP33DYV]

When a coil pack is busted you will know trust me, the car misfires like crazy, it vibrates under acceleration and feels very very sluggish, like 50% down on power.

The easiest way to find the culprit is to disconnect a coilpack, start the car and see if the situation changes. If one of the coilpacks has no effect this should be the busted one.

And there is a distinct smell of unburnt fuel.:rollsmile:

 

[Baron]

I'm going to try this:

This testing procedure is valid for most automotive coils. Using an ohmmeter, check the resistance between the side terminals of the coil. Do this with all of the wires to the coil disconnected. You should see 0.75 to 0.81 ohm of resistance. Then check the resistance between either side terminal and the center high tension terminal. The reading should be 10,000 to 11,000 ohms. Any significant deviation from these numbers would indicate that the coil is defective.

 

[Flex]

Like Mr Legacy said, check the coil packs.

Usually if it's eletrical, the problem is more 'permanent' or constantly occuring. You can check them one by one while the car is idling.

Car being cold when it's happening makes you wonder, maybe something that works with oil pressure inside the engine?

Oil cold/cool = thick, flows not as easy into small orifices.
Oil warmed up = easy flowing.

Check the coil packs and post!

:=):

 

[Philip Foglar]

The problem with coil packs is that they don't necessarily just die (that would be easy to find and replace), but they sometimes start to drop off in their function and/or become intermittent. So testing that is really tricky, and in most cases it's not enough to throw a code. In the case of my Wife's car it did (I gather from what I said below), and the garage that I took the car to was able to find a missfire code showing cyl 5 iirc. So they simply swapped 4 and 5 around to see if the missfire follows that coil pack and it did!

When a coil pack is busted you will know trust me, the car misfires like crazy, it vibrates under acceleration and feels very very sluggish, like 50% down on power.

The easiest way to find the culprit is to disconnect a coilpack, start the car and see if the situation changes. If one of the coilpacks has no effect this should be the busted one.

And there is a distinct smell of unburnt fuel.:rollsmile:

Yep, when the one failed on my Wife's car I was able to aggravate it enough that I could smell unburnt fuel! :nonono:

:rollsmile:

 

[SP33DYV]

The problem with coil packs is that they don't necessarily just die (that would be easy to find and replace), but they sometimes start to drop off in their function and/or become intermittent. So testing that is really tricky, and in most cases it's not enough to throw a code. In the case of my Wife's car it did (I gather from what I said below), and the garage that I took the car to was able to find a missfire code showing cyl 5 iirc. So they simply swapped 4 and 5 around to see if the missfire follows that coil pack and it did!

When a coil pack is busted you will know trust me, the car misfires like crazy, it vibrates under acceleration and feels very very sluggish, like 50% down on power.

The easiest way to find the culprit is to disconnect a coilpack, start the car and see if the situation changes. If one of the coilpacks has no effect this should be the busted one.

And there is a distinct smell of unburnt fuel.:rollsmile:

Yep, when the one failed on my Wife's car I was able to aggravate it enough that I could smell unburnt fuel! :nonono:

:rollsmile:

Agree 100%, but they do eventually die completely. I had one on my e46 325i that only acted up during cold winter mornings and once the engine started warming up was working 100% again, until eventually it died completely. The car was idling unevenly and there was a distinct LOSS of power. Took forever to get to 100km/h on the freeway.

 

[Philip Foglar]

The problem with coil packs is that they don't necessarily just die (that would be easy to find and replace), but they sometimes start to drop off in their function and/or become intermittent. So testing that is really tricky, and in most cases it's not enough to throw a code. In the case of my Wife's car it did (I gather from what I said below), and the garage that I took the car to was able to find a missfire code showing cyl 5 iirc. So they simply swapped 4 and 5 around to see if the missfire follows that coil pack and it did!

When a coil pack is busted you will know trust me, the car misfires like crazy, it vibrates under acceleration and feels very very sluggish, like 50% down on power.

The easiest way to find the culprit is to disconnect a coilpack, start the car and see if the situation changes. If one of the coilpacks has no effect this should be the busted one.

And there is a distinct smell of unburnt fuel.:rollsmile:

Yep, when the one failed on my Wife's car I was able to aggravate it enough that I could smell unburnt fuel! :nonono:

:rollsmile:

Agree 100%, but they do eventually die completely. I had one on my e46 325i that only acted up during cold winter mornings and once the engine started warming up was working 100% again, until eventually it died completely. The car was idling unevenly and there was a distinct LOSS of power. Took forever to get to 100km/h on the freeway.

Of course for a dead coil this vid DIY is quite handy:

[video=youtube]

 

[Baron]

So I took my coils off and tested the resistance between the 1st and 3rd terminals:

1: 1.2 ohms
2: 1.2 ohms
3: 1.2 ohms
4: 1.2 ohms
5: 1.2 ohms
6: 1.2 ohms

Guess my problem isnt the coils! I also cleaned and crimped the terminal ends of wiring harness - just pushing them back together to ensure a good contact between them. Fired up the engine again and there was no change.

 

[Flex]

Eish! So whats next, cats??

Good luck with all the diagnostics, makes you more experienced on the end of the day!

:thumbs:

 

[Pho3niX90]

So finally got my new fuel pump, from midas in centurion for R550.00 (This includes the housing)..

Will fit it tonight and check what difference it makes.

 

[Pho3niX90]

So I replaced the pump last night after work, was super easy to do.

For anyone that wants to do this, go ahead, took me maybe 10min, just before you do, remove the fuel pump fuse and let the car burn the fuel and pressure in the fuel lines :fencelook:

So I found these wires broken from somewhere and exposed touching each other :argh: I mean, wtf? How hard is it to isolate them?? the previous owner is a ick..

BTW, if you know what those wires are for, please tell me (I think might be IBUS wires).

Here are some pics of the old pump

 

[Executer]

So I replaced the pump last night after work, was super easy to do.

For anyone that wants to do this, go ahead, took me maybe 10min, just before you do, remove the fuel pump fuse and let the car burn the fuel and pressure in the fuel lines :fencelook:

So I found these wires broken from somewhere and exposed touching each other :argh: I mean, wtf? How hard is it to isolate them?? the previous owner is a ick..

BTW, if you know what those wires are for, please tell me (I think might be IBUS wires).

Here are some pics of the old pump

Biggest question is your problem solved now?

 

[Pho3niX90]

I am not sure yet. I don't feel any diff in performance wise, but will have to drive it this week to see if the problem pops up. Lets just hope not

 

[AcidBurn]

So I replaced the pump last night after work, was super easy to do.

For anyone that wants to do this, go ahead, took me maybe 10min, just before you do, remove the fuel pump fuse and let the car burn the fuel and pressure in the fuel lines :fencelook:

it really took you 10mins????

then i must be slow as f*ck, cause it definitely took me alot longer then that

but anyways thats not important, at least you now got a new pump:thumbs:

 

[Baron]

So Decatting had little effect on my problem - I'm going to try fuel pump and fuel filter next like Phoenix did.

Another thing you can try in the mean time which I've done already - didnt really feel any difference on my car - was to replace the Cam Position Sensors.

They around R1500 each from the dealer (I think), and they changed part numbers around 2004 some time so there was perhaps something wrong with the old ones. The hardest part of the whole job was getting the intake solenoid off to get at them - ended up luckily finding a 32mm ring spanner at the local midas to do it but be prepared to mash the metal a bit - the contact surface is really tiny and mine were TIGHT.

 

[Pho3niX90]

So I replaced the pump last night after work, was super easy to do.

For anyone that wants to do this, go ahead, took me maybe 10min, just before you do, remove the fuel pump fuse and let the car burn the fuel and pressure in the fuel lines :fencelook:

it really took you 10mins????

then i must be slow as f*ck, cause it definitely took me alot longer then that

but anyways thats not important, at least you now got a new pump:thumbs:

Yip, took out the back seat. Took a big ass screw driver (Flat) and hammer, knocked the collar counter clockwise off the pump, removed the top pipe and connector, and switched the 2 pumps, and then fastened everything up again.

Oh and then i took it out again and fitted the gasket/seal I forgot to insert :fencelook: <- excludes from the time

So Decatting had little effect on my problem - I'm going to try fuel pump and fuel filter next like Phoenix did.

Another thing you can try in the mean time which I've done already - didnt really feel any difference on my car - was to replace the Cam Position Sensors.

They around R1500 each from the dealer (I think), and they changed part numbers around 2004 some time so there was perhaps something wrong with the old ones. The hardest part of the whole job was getting the intake solenoid off to get at them - ended up luckily finding a 32mm ring spanner at the local midas to do it but be prepared to mash the metal a bit - the contact surface is really tiny and mine were TIGHT.

Yeah def change the 2, it does make a difference, my filter has never been replaced, ever, and looked like mud falling from it.

I will just check if the problem pops up again, but thus far it's been very smooth :thumbs:

 

[AcidBurn]

wehn you guys are done trouble shooting here i would love to see the bill, easily in the 10k region:roflol:

 

[Pho3niX90]

wehn you guys are done trouble shooting here i would love to see the bill, easily in the 10k region:roflol:

Haha, R1500 for the pump + filter, can't remember what the vanos seals cost. But at the end I know it's running perfect in all those regions :thumbs:

 

[moranor@axis]

Vanos seals were R 690 :rollsmile:

 

[Pho3niX90]

Vanos seals were R 690 :rollsmile:

Haha, thanks man.


Anyways, for whoever also has these problem, just take your DISA out first and check it's health, found my problem and was the DISA..

http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=42706&pid=618646#pid618646

 

[Beemer Fever]

Vanos seals were R 690 :rollsmile:

Hi Moranor

what is the price of the vanos seals now?
I seems to be having a similar issue. i have a 2002 E46 325i Auto. When accelerating gently i have no issues, but when putting my foot down the car hesitates quite badly. In some instances the bad will eventually misfire like with a bad coil. At that point i need to switch off the car and start again and the misfire is gone and car is back to normal. The car is due for a service and i do need to replace the fuel filter as well but cant help but wonder whether the vanos seals could be the issue. not sure where to start :-(