BMW 3-Series Maintenance and Repair

gerry18 · February 2007

My '96 318ti frequetnly pops out of first gear with a bang as I let out the clutch from a stand still. It also is a little balkie going into 1st occasionally. No problems with 2nd gear (same syncronizer, I believe.) Anyone know what the problem is and cost to repair? Car has 100,000 miles and on the original clutch.

alcon · February 2007

You are describing exactly the problem I am having with my car - first gear popping out with a bang from stand still, a little 'balkie' going into first sometimes, no probs with other gears. Unhelpfully my car is an 03 Merc C270 CDi (just over 100,000 miles). My local Merc dealer has investigated, tried minor adjustment to the gear shift (sorry for vague terminology) but thinks it could well be an internal gearbox problem! In which case, if I can't live with it, it will apparently need a whole new gear box because tinkering about inside the Merc's 'sealed' unit would be expensive/impossible. I am currently looking into costs of doing this without taking out a second mortgage but if anyone has advice on your problem which might be applicable to my car I would love to hear it also.

gerry18 · February 2007

My dealer gave me the same speech. Sealed transmission, blah, blah, blah Hence my call for knowledgeable help. The we can't have the only two vehicles with this problem - and at the same mileage! Someone out there must have actually lived through before us.

djb7 · June 2007

Hi all - I own a '95 Club Sport with 140,xxx miles. I have had very few problems with it, but I'm starting to run into some issues. The most major is some serious clutch/transmission problems in start and stop traffic. It gets incredibly rough trying letting the clutch out and transferring torque to the rear wheels. It only happens from a stop or very low speed in first gear.

I can't tell if it is the clutch (orig. as far as I know) or the transmission. Any ideas?

roadburner · June 2007

I can't tell if it is the clutch (orig. as far as I know) or the transmission. Any ideas?

It's most likely either the clutch or its related parts- such as the master or slave cylinder. Has the brake fluid level dropped in the reservoir?

pdude1 · January 2008

Anyone have major problems with their 2007 or 2008 335i? I heard about the overheating/oil cooler issue that was resolved.

Any other issues from the owners?

roadburner · January 2008

Any other issues from the owners?

Some owners are reporting that the N54 motor's combination of direct injection and turbocharging drastically shortens the lifespan of the oil- in some cases the oil is shot at 3000 miles. This problem -along with the lack of an oil dipstick and a limited slip- has caused me to cross the 335i and 135i off my future Bimmer purchase list.

circlew · January 2008

I would hope someone influential are reading your posts at BMW.

I would assume they are working on the TT problem but the dipstick thing is the biggest annoyance. Did anyone ever get a reasonable explanation of the benefit of this decision? Is it the bean counters again??

Regards,
OW

pdude1 · January 2008

I never thought about checking that, but there's no oil dipstick? Right now the BMW 335i is on the top of my list, but that would be bad because the so-called BMW free maintenance wouldn't cover that since I believe it's around 9K or 15K (forget at the moment). I'll need to look into that limited slip.

roadburner · January 2008

I never thought about checking that, but there's no oil dipstick?

Right.

I'll need to look into that limited slip.

Look all you want, but you wont be getting one on your new BMW unless it's an ///M car. That said, you can pick up a Turner Motorsport LSD for just $3699.
$5799 if your diff has a welded-in R&P.
Plus installation.

red318ti · February 2008

just replaced head gasket and was a tooth off. i had some one help reset it and they moved it three teeth or four teeth over. it started before and now it sounds like no compression did it hit the valves.
please help red318ti

roadburner · February 2008

now it sounds like no compression did it hit the valves.

It's possible. The only way to confirm it is with a compression test.

red318ti · February 2008

i did that and ther is no compression in any cylinders

roadburner · February 2008

Time to pull the head and evaluate the damage...

leroy69 · June 2010

Hi. I have a 95 bmw 318ti which recently cracked a head, after a lot of discussion with the guy fixing it finally agreed to a 2nd hand replacement engine, which was supposed to cost NZD2500 to replace, but in the end cost around NZD3900. (And the guy had a lot of trouble getting it installed.) Anyway finally got the thing back, and now for some reason the radiator fan kicks in late, it used to kick in at 1/2 temperature mark, and now it kicks in at 3/4 temperature mark. Have also noticed that when the car starts the red air bag indicator light on the dash board lights, and then goes off after around 20 seconds, (which never used to happen.)

What could the issues with the fan be, (which is most concerning), is this the sensor in the radiator, intermediate componentry or the engine management system?

I am guessing the driver side air bag alert light is most likely a sensor disturbed while replacing the engine. Is this likely to be the case, or is this a symptom of faulty engine management system?

roadburner · June 2010

(And the guy had a lot of trouble getting it installed.)

That is NOT a good sign; the ti and M42 motor are simple and dead easy to work on- there's nothing at all exotic or complex about swapping engines on a ti.

What could the issues with the fan be, (which is most concerning), is this the sensor in the radiator, intermediate componentry or the engine management system?

Check the sensor first- and also make certain the cooling system was bled properly.

I am guessing the driver side air bag alert light is most likely a sensor disturbed while replacing the engine. Is this likely to be the case, or is this a symptom of faulty engine management system?

A component in the SRS system was/is disconnected or has failed. Find a shop with a code scanner that handles BMW airbag codes. If the guy that performed the work is as incompetent as he sounds it is all too likely that he screwed something up during the "troubled" installation.

leroy69 · June 2010

Thanks roadburner.

I suspect after the fact the guy was a bit of a cowboy. Where abouts is the SRS impact sensor located on the 318ti?

roadburner · June 2010

Have you had the airbag fault codes read? If not, do that before you attempt to correct the problem. You may find this article to be helpful.

leroy69 · June 2010

Thanks roadburner, the article about the srs system reset makes sense.

The guy for some reason had to mess with the wiring, something about it being in the wrong position or something, the replacement enjine, apparently was a slightly different edition (his words), and so more than likely the srs just needs reseting, as he most likely disconnected a component while the ignition was on or something as per the referenced article, and this requires someone to actually plug into the srs system and tell it to reset itself, even though all the components are plugged in again.

Have taken the car back and told him to put it on a bmw scanner (which apparently a friend of his has), to sort the srs, and also check the temperature readings coming from the sensers in the radiator etc.

He claims he replaced all the sensors and the water pump and the thermostat, as well as sending the radiator away to get it cleaned and pressure tested.

Was wondering if there is an intervening capacitor or something he might have got wrong that calibrates the temperature gauge correctly, as he is now trying to tell me the temperature gauge in the dash board is faulty (and wasnt prior to the engine overheating). this is to do with the fans now activating at the 3/4 mark and not the 1/2 temperature mark as previously.

I also checked some other posts about bleeding the system correctly, and found one about making sure the car is on an incline to remove air bubbles etc, and he claims he has done all that as well.

roadburner · June 2010

The guy for some reason had to mess with the wiring, something about it being in the wrong position or something, the replacement engine, apparently was a slightly different edition (his words)

Here's what almost certainly happened: You original engine was an M42, and your "mechanic" has installed an M44 motor, which is used in later tis(@10/95-on). The M42 has an OBD I engine management system while the M42 uses the more complex OBD II system. You can install an OBD II engine in an OBD II car(or vice-versa), but you really need to know what you are doing- and your guy hasn't got a whiff of a clue. Less likely -but equally problematic- is that your guy found an early M42 engine out of a 1990-1991 E30 318is. Once again, there are pitfalls if you don't know BMWs. Even less likely is that your car had an M44 engine and the guy installed an M42...

He claims he replaced all the sensors and the water pump and the thermostat, as well as sending the radiator away to get it cleaned and pressure tested.

Why did he replace all the sensors? Were they bad? How did he know? Did he test them? If so, how? It is a good idea to replace the water pump and thermostat, but if the motor has a plastic thermostat housing that also should have been replaced. And the radiator? If it's the original 15 year old aluminum/plastic unit it is way past due for replacement.

Was wondering if there is an intervening capacitor or something he might have got wrong that calibrates the temperature gauge correctly, as he is now trying to tell me the temperature gauge in the dash board is faulty (and wasnt prior to the engine overheating). this is to do with the fans now activating at the 3/4 mark and not the 1/2 temperature mark as previously.

It just gets worse; he expects you to believe that the gauge just happened to go bad at the exact time the engine was replaced? At this point the guy is doing what I call "flailing"- he's simply throwing parts at the problem -using your money, sad to say- in hopes that something might work. Look, gauges almost never go bad. If the gauge is giving an incorrect reading the problem is almost certainly due to this guy's incompetent hacking of the wiring harnesses; your original engine had two temp senders- one for the engine management and one for the gauge itself. The M44 uses one sender for both systems. My guess is that the problems can be traced to how he "adapted" the harness. Or he may have replaced the sensor with an incorrect part. In any event, it would help to know what the true water temperature is when the gauge is at the 3/4 mark- has he even done that?
If I were you I'd cut my losses and take the car to an experienced BMW tech; that's the only way to make sure the car is fixed properly.

leroy69 · June 2010

Ok, thanks roadburner for your patience.

Yes you are correct - the bmw tech would be the best place at this stage, and that is what will happen after I next get the car back if it is still stuffed.

Now since the last post, the car was sent back to the guy pointing out the 3/4 temp fan cut in problem and the srs alarm issue, and a suggestion he take it up the road to a place with a bmw diagnostic system to plug it into, which he did.

It turned out the srs alarm was due to disconnection of componentry while the key was turned on, so they reset it with the diagnostic computer, and then found there was another diagnostic error - the knock sensor.

The story is that if the knock sensor is not working then the engine management system retards the spark and causes the engine to run a little hot. (Not entirely sure if this would cause the fans to kick in late, but there you go.)

The car definitely has an M44 engine as the replacement engine, and not surprisingly the knock sensor is bad on that one as well. Apparently the latest story is that you cant undo them without breaking them.

A replacement knock sensor is around $200NZD.

so the plan is currently, dish out $200 for another knock sensor, then take the car back, and if is still stuffed, take it to BMW guy up the road, be prepared for lots of laughter, pay more money to fix it if it has the correct engine, if it has the wrong engine, then I guess we have a very expensive paper weight, as to correct that problem is another $4000 or more. :-)

roadburner · June 2010

Ok, thanks roadburner for your patience.

You're welcome. I don't mind helping at all.

so the plan is currently, dish out $200 for another knock sensor, then take the car back, and if is still stuffed, take it to BMW guy up the road, be prepared for lots of laughter, pay more money to fix it if it has the correct engine, if it has the wrong engine, then I guess we have a very expensive paper weight, as to correct that problem is another $4000 or more.

I don't think it's quite as bad as all that; I think that he M44 can be made to work quite well- you just may need to have someone who knows BMWs complete the transplant. And if you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

leroy69 · June 2010

Hi.

Well, been ringing around the bmw parts specialists today, and talking to their service departments, and surprise surprise, a BMW knock sensor for the 95 bmw 318ti does not cost NZD200, but actually NZD140, which probably adds up to NZD200 when you include the cost of the initiall cheaper incorrect model knock sensor that he thought would do the job.

Also 2 independent BMW service places have confirmed that they believe that the root problem of the fans kicking in at 3/4 temperature cannot be due to the knock sensor. The last guy I talked to tended to believe it was more likely to be a damaged fan switch whcih is in the top of the radiator, which was no doubt damaged when the thing overheated. He also pointed out it was not a good idea to put a non bmw thermistat in the thing, which I suspect has also happened when I went through and looked at the cost of the individual parts on the parts list.

So will be going down and retrieving it from the guy down the road and considering next steps...

My wife is soooo not amused....

leroy69 · July 2010

Ok - final update on this drama.

Took the 318ti to the service area at a bmw dealership and this is what transpired:
- the car has the correct engine - being an m42.
- the fan was defective, 1st stage was not kicking in (which should kick in at 1/2 temperature point) 2nd stage was working which kicks in at 3/4 point. replaced with a 2nd hand unit. (replacement fan promptly failed, however got another one under warranty.)
- the radiator had cool spots in it indicating blocked cores - replaced with a new aftermarket model radiator
- there are two heat sensors on this model, one on the engine and one that measures coolant temperature on the radiator. Turns out the sensors were plugged in around the wrong way. The coolant sensor plug was plugged into the engine sensor and the engine sensor plug was plugged into the coolant sensor. Which of course was confusing the engine management system no end.
- also the knock sensors were replaced which had nothign to do with the heating issues.

Now the car is going fine again, although cost an incredible amount to get to that point.

roadburner · August 2010

I'm glad you finally resolved all the issues. It's too bad you can't get a refund from the so-called "mechanic" who screwed everything up to begin with.

nikkiw · October 2013

removing raditor on 325I 2000

BMW 3-Series Maintenance and Repair

Comments

Helpful Tools

Most popular vehicles