BMW E36 Forum

Hi,

I've recently bought a E36 and I think it has an idle problem. Starting from cold it sometimes drops to about 200 rpm but does not cut out, then jumps back up to around 1000 rpm. When I reverse and dip the clutch it does it more and more. If I try and floor it the car jumps like its about to stall.

A friend told me on saturday night I might have a crack in one of the pipes. I was drunk at the time so can't remember what he called it! I've taken a photo of what I think he was on about (the previous owener has obvisouly used some tape instead of fixing it:

[img]http://i455.photobucket.com/albums/qq277/AET1982/DSCF2508.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i455.photobucket.com/albums/qq277/AET1982/DSCF2509.jpg[/img]


Can anyone tell me if this is what the problem is, and if so what part do I need to replace and how much are they? Really don't want to use a garage if its easily done. Thanks in advance guys.

Can't fault the car otherwise!

Yes thats your air intake pipe and taping it up never works.
They are hard parts to come across as im currently trying to find one for my 323. Go to your local scrap yard as they should have a few e36's.
If you cant find one, what i done to temporarily fix mine is melted the rubber back together and then a good bit of strong gaffa tape over it for reinforcement. Just take off the pipe before you go about using a soldering iron to melt it back.

i had the same problem. i had an even harder job trying to find one as my e36 is an import.

best bet is to go to bmw and buy one, this pipe is a common problep on this engine as that pipe is continiously flexing( hence the ribs)

its going to cost you a good £30 inc VAT well worth it.

most online OE stores have them for any were between $15 to $20 dollars i got mine last year for about $12 it worked fine the crack was on the bottom so you could not see it till i did some cleaning and replaced the starter by taking out the manifold ,

i had same problem, couldn't find sec hand intake pipe and new one was 37 quid !!! wasn't paying that for four inches of rubber ! take it off, give it a good clean in fairy liquid you will find holes all over it between the bellows get some rubber solution from a bike puncture kit (pound shop) fill the cracks work it well in ant let it dry then tape it from stem to sturn use the whole roll go back and forward and put it back, idle will be ok you might even hear an induction roar ! but since your engine is now using the air filter instead of all the crap out your engine compartment buy a k and n

Another temp solution (and FREE) would be to carefully cut off from the left, after the rip and strech it as it's on the first "rib" - it will reach....

Or buy an aftermarket silicon elbow with a 65mm bore(iirc) and ditch the black rubber cuz if it has split once and you "stretch" it, it will very quickly split again. The reason it split in the first place is due to the rubber a) being old and b) being repeatedly being heated and allowed to cool so the whole length is likely to split with ease.

Another bonus is you can use this as the perfect start to dressing up the rest of the engine bay

hi there everyone ..im a newbie so be gentle lol
i have a proplem with idle aswell...when i turn the old girl on she used to sit at 600rpm and was going to change the vacumm pipes this weekend but now since i took the car to a car wash,she stails if i take my foot off the gas when in neutral ...any help would be helpful.

BMW E36 2.0i m reg