BMW E36 Blog

Rough idle problems are really common on BMW E36 cars and there are a lot of problems that may cause this to appear. First I will show you a video of such a rough idle and then list the possible problems that may cause that.

Take a look:-

The possible reasons for such a problem are:

1. Oxygen Sensor is gone: You can run a diagnosis to see if this is the problem. If you find out that it’s the problem, you should replace it. Read Everything you need to know about Oxygen Sensor! for more information about oxygen sensors.

2. Idle Control Valve: Dirty idle control valve is a very common problem in BMW E36 cars that may cause rough idle. You can use this DIY (Do It Yourself) to learn about Cleaning E36 ICV (Idle Control Valve)

3. Plugs and Distributor: You may need to replace these to solve your problem. I however don’t have a way to check them before replacement.

4. The Throttle Position Sensor (TBS) and/or connections may be bad: You can simply disconnect it and see if your problem is solved or not.

BMW E36 Blog: The Ultimate E36 Information Source.

To be honest with you guys, I’ve never been a fan of cars books or service manuals as I think they will not help you much to understand how your car works or even help you fix a problem inside it. I always thought that it is simpler to find what I’m looking for on the web (mainly forums) and so on. However, I think I’ve just changed my idea about these books or at least about a specific book that I heard a lot about. The book is the Bentley BMW E36 Service Manual. I’ve been told that this book is very good and it’s a real gold mine for BMW E36 owners but I was suspecting that it’s being over estimated until I ordered that book from Amazon and started reading it. Well, I didn’t finish reading yet, but I decided to check how I can solve a problem that is happening to my car using this manual and see if it goes well.

My car started hesitating in the last week and the problem seems to be getting worse, so I tried to check it and I know that I have problems in both Oxygen Sensor and Knock Sensor because I’ve tried to clean my ICV (Idle Control Valve) already with no success in resolving this problem. I’ve started reading the section about fuel injection in the Bentley BMW E36 service manual and to my surprise, the book is really awesome. You won’t believe how precise it is when describing the procedure to check your whole fuel injection system starting with the main relay testing and ending with the ICV (Idle Control Valve) testing.

I’m really impressed with this one and I strongly recommend this book to every BMW E36 owner. So even if you’re not into the car do-it-yourself stuff. I think it will help you understand how your car works and even help you trace some of the problems in your car without the need to pay big $$$ for BMW mechanics.

I’m listing below the content of this book so, you can see what does it offer:

If you don’t have this book, just get one. It will definitely help you.

BMW E36 Blog: The ultimate BMW E36 information source.

The Oxygen Sensor is usually to blame for problems in the car performance and gas consumption. It’s stunning to discover that it’s hard to fail. I can count many of my friends who went to mechanics for car checkups and ended up changing the Oxygen Sensor. It seems that the mechanics knowing that the Oxygen Sensor is something mysterious to many people will make them believe that it’s broken and need to be changed, even with no obvious reason for that. In this article, you will find all what you need to know about Oxygen Sensor and even how to test it to determine if it’s working fine or not. So, enjoy it and please let me know what you think. Thanks Rick Kirchoff for the original post.

Enjoy…

These procedures are only for self powered conventional sensors.

 

Some very new cars are using a different style sensor that is powered. *Many* Oxygen sensors are replaced that are good to excellent. *Many* people don’t know how to test them. They routinely last 50,000 or more miles, and if the engine is in good shape, can last the life of the car.

 

What does the O2 sensor do?

 

It is the primary measurement device for the fuel control computer in your car to know if the engine is too rich or too lean. The O2 sensor is active anytime it is hot enough, but the computer only uses this information in the closed loop mode. Closed loop is the operating mode where all engine control sensors including the Oxygen sensor are used to get best fuel economy, lowest emissions, and good power

 

Should the O2 sensor be replaced when the sensor light comes on in your car?

Read the rest of this entry »