Need help!!

[UWISHU1]

29664

I was blessed to be initiated into BMW owndership with my first car trouble in 18 years. I was 100 miles from home, got in my car to drive back, go to start it and it starts and dies. Try a variety of ways to start it with a little or more gas here and there. Always starts, tries to idle roughly for a second or two or maybe three, then dies. I've got good oil, I've used half of a tank of gas I got a week ago with no problem (so pretty sure I've got good fuel), and I know I've got a good charge on the battery. SEEMS like a fuel issue. Maybe the pump, not likely to be vapor lock, maybe the MAF is dirty?

My question is: is there something fairly common on E46 330 that causes this? Car has 63k, so I'm not thrilled to be here.

Had to be towed long distance to get home, and had it towed to the dealer, but I plan to try some things today before turning it over to the stealership.

Never had any signs of any issue until now. Cars always started strong, idled smooth, and ran great.

Thx in advance (any input helps),
Alan

[Hornung418]

Remove rear seat and put key in on position. Listen for fuel pump.

You cannot clean these MAFs. They are hot film and any solvent will destroy the coating. A new one from dealer is $300+. OEM can be found online for ~$250.

I would inspect the usual suspects. Spark plugs, fuel injectors and fuel filter. Best of luck.

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[Johnmadd]

The low mileage makes it hard to diagnose, but I would guess fuel pump. At the end of the fuel rail there is a Schrader valve, see if there is pressure there.

[KTS317]

Unplug the MAF and try starting it again. Otherwise I would assume fuel pump


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[Scott ZHP]

Check the intake boot; especially the little elbow that feeds the idle control valve.

[Adi]

My gut says fuel pump.

[UWISHU1]

It feels exactly like the fuel pump took a crap. Thx for the reminder to listen for it, and good to know it's under the back seat for sure. Thx for the ideas so far fellas.

[L0veZHP]

I tend to follow this for general service I find it simple and effective. http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=595553 Seems like a couple of things on our cars need to be changed at the 60k mark.

[Dave1027]

You cannot clean these MAFs. They are hot film and any solvent will destroy the coating. A new one from dealer is $300+. OEM can be found online for ~$250.

Really? I have cleaned my maf several times with crc maf cleaner and compressed air with no issues at all.

BTW, I'm thinking fuel pump too.

[UWISHU1]

Good info. Thx again.

[PdZHP]

I've been in a similar position and was reminded that sometimes banging the top area of the fuel pump can get you going until you get home to fix it.

[roadbiker_2]

I would like to throw another vote in for Fuel Pump!


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[fredo]

+1. I replaced my FP as preventive svc at 142,300 miles

[az3579]

Fuel pump is my guess too. I'm surprised it started normally though. If you can't hear the fuel pump prime when you have the door open and the ignition on, then the pump took a poop.

Really? I have cleaned my maf several times with crc maf cleaner and compressed air with no issues at all.

BTW, I'm thinking fuel pump too.
Not being able to clean it is the official answer from engineers. Anecdotal evidence returns mixed results. I cleaned mine a couple of thousand miles ago because it was throwing codes and it happened to resolve the codes... for now. But, not everyone is so lucky; Charlie had to replace his despite having the same issue.

I'd say if it's throwing codes, clean first, then replace is still not resolved. "What have you got to lose?"

If you do buy a new one, make sure to get one from FCP Euro - lifetime warranty! These things aren't cheap.

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[danewilson77]

Easy fix if it's the fuel pump as the pros say. DIY....

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[Ron///Man]

I vote for fuel pump too. Funny story about how mine went. One Sunday evening, I drove the car about 60 miles and parked it in my friends under ground parking garage, 3 levels down. Came back to the car about an hour later, and it would not start. No firing going on at all. Not knowing anything about the M54B30 engine, I thought I'd have it towed. No dice! No larger trucks can clear the ceilings in this parking garage! Plan "B" came together pretty quickly. My friend drove me home and I grabbed my truck, trailer and tow rope. I grab another friend and head back to the car. Left the trailer above ground, drove the truck into the garage to rope tow my 330. One friend had to keep a very close eye that my truck roof was clearing the ceiling. It was less that 1" in some spots. We towed the car out watching the roof for clearance. Came above ground to a torrential downpour, and got completely soaked loading the car. Changed the pump the next day and it fired right up! Talk about my kind of crummy luck! Moral of the story, change your fuel pump at 60K miles! At the time, mine had about 75K on it.

[az3579]

60k is quite premature for a fuel pump; it isn't necessary to replace it that soon.
Unless you want peace of mind, of course. Most of these last well north of 120k though.

[ELCID86]

And the verdict? Did you get it sorted out?

[UWISHU1]

Big thanks to everyone for chiming in. The verdict? I learned something VERY important about BMW, and apparently I've also got an admission to make. I let the car sit overnight, kinda hoping and praying it was something stupid like vapor lock, tried it again yesterday, and it fired right up! Ran smooth, and idles perfectly. Here's where it gets more interesting though. I've had a "Service Engine Soon" light on my dash for a few weeks. I thought that the word "soon" meant I had some time to bring it in, and I basically assumed this was a maintenance-minder since I was about due for an oil change. Now, I know what you're thinking as your reading this.

I haven't yet bought my pump, etc. to start doing my own changes, so I decided yesterday was to be my second oil change at the dealer. Without mentioning any of this to them (purposefully), I strolled into the dealer as if to simply be there for my regularly scheduled maintenance. I mentioned to the tech that the light had been on for a few weeks, and that's when I learned that the light really should say, "Service Engine NOW". I'm actually a bit irritated that it says "soon" when this is a full on check engine light. Anyhoo, I digress. $180 "diagnostic" later, I'm told the secondary air pump for smog (that apparently helps the car burn off more fuel when cold) is malfunctioning and threw the code.

So here's my theory: the problem happened after I'd been in a diner for about an hour and it was kinda cold and windy outside that night. Because this pump is designed to activate under a cold condition, and it didn't, it caused the car to have a breathing problem. When I got in it yesterday, it had been sitting in the warm sun, and because it was warm to start, this secondary pump wasn't called on to do it's thing, so that function was essentially bypassed and it ran great.

Dealer wants $890 P/L to replace it. Now I've gotta decide how I want to proceed.

Thoughts?

[UWISHU1]

Correction: $987 for pump replacement.

[az3579]

The pump is a less-than $200 part and can be done yourself with relative ease. I'd say buy the pump yourself and save hundreds of dollars.

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[UWISHU1]

Is this a common problem? Know of any threads with some pics on it?

[Sreten]

Like az3579 said, do it yourself. It's pretty easy.

DIY:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/BMW/techarticles/BMW-3-Series-E46/27-FUEL-Replacing_Your_Secondary_Air_Components/27-FUEL-Replacing_Your_Secondary_Air_Components.htm

Can't believe they charged you $180 for diagnostics. Except for recalls, I would never take my car to the dealership.
If you don't want mess with it yourself, at least find a good indy shop.

[ZacharyMikel]

Woah wait, so the SAP pump is bad - and this would cause your car to not run? I had no idea that the SAP was that important. I would have totally guessed that it was the fuel pump.

[bimmerteknik]

I don't believe your sai is to blame for your no start. My guess is you'll be stranded again in the near future.


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[KTS317]

I don't believe your sai is to blame for your no start. My guess is you'll be stranded again in the near future.


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+1


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[danewilson77]

The pump is a less-than $200 part and can be done yourself with relative ease. I'd say buy the pump yourself and save hundreds of dollars.

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http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4521

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[cakM3]

Let the dealer replace the pump and have a two year warranty on the work. If part fails within the two year period the dealer will replace the part under warranty. As much as people hate using the dealer, there are advantages in that you have a two year warranty on the work they do.

In the past I have had rear wheel bearings replaced by the dealer only to find out one of the bearings was defective and the dealer got another set and replaced both sides under warranty. That's why on some work, I use the dealer :thumbsup

[Sreten]

I agree, that is a benefit, but any reputable indy shop will warranty their work as well and it will cost much less.

Almost all parts store online give 2 year warranty (in most cases) on their products, with FCP you get lifetime warranty. You should be covered in any case. :thumbup

That pump is $256 at FCP compered to $987 with replacement from stealership, DIY seems pretty straight forward.
All comes down to personal choice, but I know which route I would go.

[roadbiker_2]

Seems to me that I have seen more than a few ZHP's that are being parted out . . . problem solved


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[UWISHU1]

So I just got the car back, and here's it worked out...

I found a reputable indy shop locally and drove the car to them. They were able to reproduce the problem and confirm it was the pump malfunctioning that threw the code. All said and done, instead of $987 for just the pump at the dealer, I paid $820 for a new pump installed, some valve that's downstream that can cause the pump to fail (so they generally replace both at the same time), new pair of wiper blades with factory spoiler on driver side blade arm (been looking for one), and two light bulbs replaced with OEM (and an education on why bulbs from the parts store aren't a good idea).

I'm not in the clear, though, because we did discuss the likelihood that the fuel pump is what actually left me stranded and what may subsequently cause another incident. Shop owner is an enthusiast and a super cool guy, so we had a great talk about things I need to know about going euro. Where we left off with the fuel pump is that we could throw the money into it for peace of mind, but it's possible that'd be unnecessarily throwing it away. So for now, the car starts and runs great with zero issues and no more CEL.

Big thx for everyone's input.