Fuel Filter

[Flash-Gordon]

Good Luck Bud!! :thumbs:

I'm sure there will be a major difference!!

Anxiously awaiting your feedback :excited:

 

[Jerry_112]

Okay so the spark plugs were clean, recently changed, probably @ 220k, the fuel filter showed clean when the fuel was emptied, and there were no air restrictions, so a possible cause was the regulator on the filter...will have to wait an see if it acts up again...no difference to power...as a last thought, what about a reprogramming of the software, i.e. resetting it on a computer? Any advantages/benefits from that?

 

[S1NGH 001]

If its power you're after an ecu remap will give you that :fencelook:

 

[Jerry_112]

No not power, but I was concerned about the initial problem I had, suspecting that it was the fuel filter...I won't know until the car acts up on take-off again, because its an intermittent problem...

 

[Flash-Gordon]

have you checked you coils? :fencelook:

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On my E39 I had a jitter when taking off, went it to get the errors read, misfire cylinder no 2. Replaced the coil and it was sorted

 

[Jerry_112]

have you checked you coils? :fencelook:

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On my E39 I had a jitter when taking off, went it to get the errors read, misfire cylinder no 2. Replaced the coil and it was sorted

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Checked the coils, all still new...and when the car was on the computer no errors were picked up, that's why we suspected something on the fuel line...air intake pipe is also still in excellent condition, so it can't be a flat spot, which was unlikely, but we checked anyway...will just have to wait and see, it seems...no problem so far, but like I said, it's an intermittent problem, could happen anytime, soon, or not too soon... because I haven't seen/felt a noticicable change in general perfomance with the filter change, I don't know if it was that causing the intermittent hesitation etc...time will tell :thumbdo:

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Was just browsing online through some symptoms due to the VANOS...there's so many things that can cause the same problem :argh:

 

[Pho3niX90]

Jerry, remove your disa and inspect, I have followed the same troubleshooting. After replacing spark plugs, fuel filter, vanos seals, and fuel pump it turned out to be disa valve that was shot. Takes 10min to remove and check

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[Jerry_112]

Jerry, remove your disa and inspect, I have followed the same troubleshooting. After replacing spark plugs, fuel filter, vanos seals, and fuel pump it turned out to be disa valve that was shot. Takes 10min to remove and check

Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Where do I find that? And whats a 'disa', what does it do?

 

[Pho3niX90]

Jerry, remove your disa and inspect, I have followed the same troubleshooting. After replacing spark plugs, fuel filter, vanos seals, and fuel pump it turned out to be disa valve that was shot. Takes 10min to remove and check

Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Where do I find that? And whats a 'disa', what does it do?

The disa valve sits on your intake manifold, when standing in front of the car it will be on the right hand side, its a blqck squareish box.

It regulates the air as far as I know, when idiling it closes a flap within the intake, and when moving it opens again.

Mine didnt close properly and caused hesitation and eventually cased the engine to misfire randome pistons.

This is for an e46 right?

Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

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Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

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Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[Jerry_112]

Yeah for the car/description in my signature...I'll have a look at it, is it easy to remove?

 

[Pho3niX90]

Yeah for the car/description in my signature...I'll have a look at it, is it easy to remove?

Yeah sorry, was on the phone an couldn't see your sig.

It is super easy to remove, its hold by 2 or 3 TORX bolts (couldn't remember exact amount), remove them and just pull it out (remove the wire as well).

When removed you will immediately see the condition of the flap.
These go for around 3000 NEW, so I would suggest get a repair kit if broken or try a secondhand one (thats also around 1500 at bemows).

This is what mine looked like, note the flap shouldn't been loose, but the bell crank lever broke.

 

[Chucky]

Also check your breather pipes in the engine bay, there is one under the intake manifold engine cover, that perishes over time and @ over 200k k's yours should be due for a replacement, there is also another one that runs out from air filter housing just under your MAF check those as they might have tears cracks or are perished.

PS I havn't changed my fuel filter in over 120 000 k's still going like a boeing :fencelook:

 

[Pho3niX90]

Also check your breather pipes in the engine bay, there is one under the intake manifold engine cover, that perishes over time and @ over 200k k's yours should be due for a replacement, there is also another one that runs out from air filter housing just under your MAF check those as they might have tears cracks or are perished.

PS I havn't changed my fuel filter in over 120 000 k's still going like a boeing :fencelook:

This might be a good thing to check while removing the disa, they are located at the same place, so just have a look / feel at all the bends for cracks, mine was cracked when I bought the car an it had 130K on the clock

 

[Jerry_112]

Also check your breather pipes in the engine bay, there is one under the intake manifold engine cover, that perishes over time and @ over 200k k's yours should be due for a replacement, there is also another one that runs out from air filter housing just under your MAF check those as they might have tears cracks or are perished.

PS I havn't changed my fuel filter in over 120 000 k's still going like a boeing :fencelook:

Checked that already, seems that it was replaced by BMW just before I got the car, because its still firm and the cover is clean.

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Also check your breather pipes in the engine bay, there is one under the intake manifold engine cover, that perishes over time and @ over 200k k's yours should be due for a replacement, there is also another one that runs out from air filter housing just under your MAF check those as they might have tears cracks or are perished.

PS I havn't changed my fuel filter in over 120 000 k's still going like a boeing :fencelook:

This might be a good thing to check while removing the disa, they are located at the same place, so just have a look / feel at all the bends for cracks, mine was cracked when I bought the car an it had 130K on the clock

Checked that already, seems that it was replaced by BMW just before I got the car, because its still firm and the cover is clean.

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Yeah for the car/description in my signature...I'll have a look at it, is it easy to remove?

Yeah sorry, was on the phone an couldn't see your sig.

It is super easy to remove, its hold by 2 or 3 TORX bolts (couldn't remember exact amount), remove them and just pull it out (remove the wire as well).

When removed you will immediately see the condition of the flap.
These go for around 3000 NEW, so I would suggest get a repair kit if broken or try a secondhand one (thats also around 1500 at bemows).

This is what mine looked like, note the flap shouldn't been loose, but the bell crank lever broke.

Okay I'm going to take a look a little later and I'll let you know how it goes. PS if it's dirty should I clean it, and how much is the repair kit?

 

[Pho3niX90]

Also check your breather pipes in the engine bay, there is one under the intake manifold engine cover, that perishes over time and @ over 200k k's yours should be due for a replacement, there is also another one that runs out from air filter housing just under your MAF check those as they might have tears cracks or are perished.

PS I havn't changed my fuel filter in over 120 000 k's still going like a boeing :fencelook:

Checked that already, seems that it was replaced by BMW just before I got the car, because its still firm and the cover is clean.

---

Also check your breather pipes in the engine bay, there is one under the intake manifold engine cover, that perishes over time and @ over 200k k's yours should be due for a replacement, there is also another one that runs out from air filter housing just under your MAF check those as they might have tears cracks or are perished.

PS I havn't changed my fuel filter in over 120 000 k's still going like a boeing :fencelook:

This might be a good thing to check while removing the disa, they are located at the same place, so just have a look / feel at all the bends for cracks, mine was cracked when I bought the car an it had 130K on the clock

Checked that already, seems that it was replaced by BMW just before I got the car, because its still firm and the cover is clean.

---

Yeah for the car/description in my signature...I'll have a look at it, is it easy to remove?

Yeah sorry, was on the phone an couldn't see your sig.

It is super easy to remove, its hold by 2 or 3 TORX bolts (couldn't remember exact amount), remove them and just pull it out (remove the wire as well).

When removed you will immediately see the condition of the flap.
These go for around 3000 NEW, so I would suggest get a repair kit if broken or try a secondhand one (thats also around 1500 at bemows).

This is what mine looked like, note the flap shouldn't been loose, but the bell crank lever broke.

Okay I'm going to take a look a little later and I'll let you know how it goes. PS if it's dirty should I clean it, and how much is the repair kit?

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Yes definitely clean it, the repair cost me around R1000. But I imported it? Ask moranor@axis if he sourced some.

The upside for the repair kit is that everything is made from aluminium, and a better design than the old disa. Check my thread about the weird noise.

Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[Baron]

I have the same intermittant issues - rough idle when cold and slight hesitation on pulloff sometimes. I can tell you what DIDN'T fix it in my case:

- Disa Valve (swapped with full metal flap and mechanism)
- Intake pipes and hoses (no vacuum leaks)
- ECU Reflash (fixed laggy throttle issues though)
- Cam shaft pos. sensors (Car felt a lot better)
- O2 Sensors
- Crimp and clean the ends of all the electrical connectors
- Coils (I think - I just bought one new one and moved it around - no change)
- Vanos seals
- Vanos solenoids

Hesitations and rough idle seems to be an EXTREMELY common E46i issue, there are a hundred different threads on it with a hundred different causes and fixes.

In my case, sometime between doing all of the above, the car did get much better and hardly ever hesitates anymore.

Interestingly I havent done my fuel pump or fuel filter yet. Apparently the fuel pump was the most likely culprit when I last researched it. Even if the pressure tested at idle is fine, as soon as you accelerate, the pump cant provide enough pressure for the injectors - well thats the theory anyway.

 

[Jerry_112]

I have the same intermittant issues - rough idle when cold and slight hesitation on pulloff sometimes. I can tell you what DIDN'T fix it in my case:

- Disa Valve (swapped with full metal flap and mechanism)
- Intake pipes and hoses (no vacuum leaks)
- ECU Reflash (fixed laggy throttle issues though)
- Cam shaft pos. sensors (Car felt a lot better)
- O2 Sensors
- Crimp and clean the ends of all the electrical connectors
- Coils (I think - I just bought one new one and moved it around - no change)
- Vanos seals
- Vanos solenoids

Hesitations and rough idle seems to be an EXTREMELY common E46i issue, there are a hundred different threads on it with a hundred different causes and fixes.

In my case, sometime between doing all of the above, the car did get much better and hardly ever hesitates anymore.

Interestingly I havent done my fuel pump or fuel filter yet. Apparently the fuel pump was the most likely culprit when I last researched it. Even if the pressure tested at idle is fine, as soon as you accelerate, the pump cant provide enough pressure for the injectors - well thats the theory anyway.

The theory you mention, is exactly how it feels...spoke to my mechanic, he says its very common and guys still haven't found the fault, not even BMW dealers pick it up on their systems/by their staff...my brand new pump is def. not the prob though. Hope we get some light thrown on the matter, it would make a lot of people incl. me very happy.

I'm going to consider cleaning the injectors...if the pump is fine and the problem feels like 'pressure shortage', the other end of that pressure is the actual injectors, am I right? Maybe it's not feeding through properly. I'm no expert though, just taking a long shot...

 

[Baron]

The theory you mention, is exactly how it feels...spoke to my mechanic, he says its very common and guys still haven't found the fault, not even BMW dealers pick it up on their systems/by their staff...my brand new pump is def. not the prob though. Hope we get some light thrown on the matter, it would make a lot of people incl. me very happy.

Ah man, so you say you've tried a new fuel pump and filter now and wasnt either of those...

Let's see if we can catalogue a list of E46 hesitation fixes:

1. http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=432663 - New fuel pump fixed it

2. http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=856781 - Crimped the Vanos exhaust solenoid connector which wasnt making proper contact.

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3. http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1861059 - New fuel pump AND new fuel pump relay

 

[Jerry_112]

2. http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=856781 - Crimped the Vanos exhaust solenoid connector which wasnt making proper contact.

Baron how easy is it to access this component? I'd like to have it checked out...and where about can it be found?

 

[Baron]

2. http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=856781 - Crimped the Vanos exhaust solenoid connector which wasnt making proper contact.

Baron how easy is it to access this component? I'd like to have it checked out...and where about can it be found?

Dead simple:

The part boxed in the blue rectangle is your exhaust solenoid - assuming you have an M52/4 engine (non-M3 E46 323i and above).

The plug for it is directly on the bottom left corner of the blue rectangle. Press in the metal clip on the side and gently prise it off. Clean it and get a tiny screwdriver and push the metal connectors closer together and then plug back in. You can also do the intake solenoid plug as well - it's also on the front of the engine but the solenoid is angled parallel with the engine not horizontally like the exhaust and the plug faces away from you.