# I just got a software update for the dreaded stall!



## Salvator (Oct 14, 2003)

doeboy said:


> But doing that procedure essentially makes the throttle more linear or "twitchy". Why would doing that help? I think the only thing is to wait for it to relearn and adapt to the driver.
> 
> Personally I like it in the freshly reset state. Makes it more responsive.


I had hoped that by resetting it, the throttle would respond in a more linear manner... Unfortunately, my present problem is that when I depress the pedal, I watch the RPMs rise, and when they hit about 1500, even though I continue to depress the accelerator, the RPMs DROP for a split-second and then bounce back and continue to rise fine after that... Also, it does not do this when cold, only when warmed up... Thoughts? :dunno:


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## doeboy (Sep 20, 2002)

Salvator said:


> I had hoped that by resetting it, the throttle would respond in a more linear manner... Unfortunately, my present problem is that when I depress the pedal, I watch the RPMs rise, and when they hit about 1500, even though I continue to depress the accelerator, the RPMs DROP for a split-second and then bounce back and continue to rise fine after that... Also, it does not do this when cold, only when warmed up... Thoughts? :dunno:


It's one of the DBW quirks that the E46 seems to have. It bugs me too. Doesn't seem to be much we can do about it though.  However, once I sharked mine, it doesn't seem to be as pronounced as before... :dunno:


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## Salvator (Oct 14, 2003)

Update: Went to my dealer yesterday to try and get the shop foreman to ride with me and expereince the stumble... explained the situation, the upgrade to 37.1... he stopped me right there and said "we are up to v39 now... we need to install that"... Ok...  I asked if that upgrade was meant for the 325 and he indicated that it was... So, I have an appointment for V39... will report back as to the status...


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## bmw325 (Dec 19, 2001)

Salvator said:


> Update: Went to my dealer yesterday to try and get the shop foreman to ride with me and expereince the stumble... explained the situation, the upgrade to 37.1... he stopped me right there and said "we are up to v39 now... we need to install that"... Ok...  I asked if that upgrade was meant for the 325 and he indicated that it was... So, I have an appointment for V39... will report back as to the status...


I'm kind of skeptical of DME software upgrades for older 3 series to fix rough idle or stalling problems. Older 3 series (2002 and earlier) didn't have many stalling or rough idle problems, and those that do probably have a bad piece of hardware somewhere. I think some dealers don't really understand software-- they think it can "break" on a specific car just like a piece of metal can. Sure, it can become corrupted, but in that case the car probably wouldn't run at all. If a 2001 3 series needs a software update to idle smoothly, then everyone should be having the same problem.


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## admstng (Nov 11, 2004)

This is making me a little nervous buying a 325CI now. And i'm not just talking about this thread, I wouldn't expect all these threads about things going wrong with the car, maybe it's just that this site is so big, and this is just the samll percentage of ppl with problems posting about it. I hope so anyway. I wanted to switch from a 14 year old mustang to a 2-3 year bimmer so I wouldn't have any headaches... 

-Adam


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## Artslinger (Sep 2, 2002)

admstng said:


> This is making me a little nervous buying a 325CI now. And i'm not just talking about this thread, I wouldn't expect all these threads about things going wrong with the car, maybe it's just that this site is so big, and this is just the samll percentage of ppl with problems posting about it. I hope so anyway. I wanted to switch from a 14 year old mustang to a 2-3 year bimmer so I wouldn't have any headaches...
> 
> -Adam


Half the people who post in the BMW Model forums are either here to ask for advice on a problem or complain, this is in no way a good measure on how reliable a BMW 3 Series is.

IMO, a 3 Series will be more likely to have a problem than a Ford Mustang, not only that the repair costs will be higher than your run of the mill Ford. BMW's are about average for luxury cars as far as reliability goes.

If you buy a used out of warranty BMW look for a good independant BMW repair shop in your area to have work done. And before buying look at the service history of the car and have the car inspected by a tech.


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## Salvator (Oct 14, 2003)

admstng said:


> This is making me a little nervous buying a 325CI now. And i'm not just talking about this thread, I wouldn't expect all these threads about things going wrong with the car, maybe it's just that this site is so big, and this is just the samll percentage of ppl with problems posting about it. I hope so anyway. I wanted to switch from a 14 year old mustang to a 2-3 year bimmer so I wouldn't have any headaches...
> 
> -Adam


Most of the problems I have had have been annoyances... In fact, on a cheaper car, you might even just deal with them; I choose to try take care of them, by scouring the internet, checking TSBs, etc. I want to keep the car in peak performance... Not to make excuses for the car, but the overall driving experience is so much better than anything else (IMO) you deal with the annoyances... On the other hand, I used to drive a Chevy S10 pickup, and rarely had any problems with it at all (of course it was low-tech, with crank windows, manually controlled everything, etc. It did it's job well, but it was not something that you looked forward to driving every day...)

IMO, you need to prioritize what you need... If absolute reliability is most important, and you are willing to give up some driving pleasure and style (these are my opinions), Japanese vehicles are the way to go... They have their problems as well, but not as many as the European vehicles... If you still intend to look at BMWs, I'd heartily recommend looking at CPO vehicles at the dealer... although the CPO doesn't cover everything, it's better than nothing, and depending on the vehicle you want, you can still get a fair deal... My vehicle was a "brass hat" (BMW Executive car), only had 9K miles on it when I got it, and I saved over 6k off the MSRP. Check out the CPO portion of www.bmwusa.com to see what is available in your area... :thumbup:


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