# Bad exhaust camshaft sensor seems to be common



## Kaz (Dec 21, 2001)

I had been having an intermittent high idle + MIL the last month or so I had the dealer check it out during my Inspection I today. Turns out it was a bad exhaust cam sensor. Looking through the archives, it seems a number of us have had this problem.

The ETK doesn't show it as ever being superceded (it's the same part as on M52TU, M54, S62, M43, M44) but it doesn't seem like a part that should regularly fail.


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## doeboy (Sep 20, 2002)

Kaz said:


> I had been having an intermittent high idle + MIL the last month or so I had the dealer check it out during my Inspection I today. Turns out it was a bad exhaust cam sensor. Looking through the archives, it seems a number of us have had this problem.
> 
> The ETK doesn't show it as ever being superceded (it's the same part as on M52TU, M54, S62, M43, M44) but it doesn't seem like a part that should regularly fail.


Any idea how much time and money it'd cost to fix if it weren't under warranty?


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## Toast (Jan 9, 2002)

I had the same problem during the time between the first oil service and Inspection I.  Fixed under warranty.


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## Guest (Jul 24, 2003)

I had it fail too on my S52US.


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## ff (Dec 19, 2001)

doeboy said:


> Any idea how much time and money it'd cost to fix if it weren't under warranty?


For the E46, the part is about $100. I can't imagine labor is very expensive, unless it's underneath the valve cover.

The only reason I know the price, is because I considered replacing those sensors to get rid of the near-stall issue that I have with mine. A few people felt pretty strongly that it was one of the cam position sensors.


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## hbmike (Apr 16, 2002)

i thought i'd post this since it somewhat relates, and hopefully keep people aware of this potential problem... of course, i don't think this is something that should fail like this....

i just got the news that BOTH of my cam sensors are bad... having them replaced as i type this... the bad news is that my car is out of warranty, and replacing both of these is going to cost a little over $400 for parts and labor  my shop called BMW seeing if they'll still cover this, since my car is only 7k miles out of the warranty... 

i'm hoping this fixes the rpm's that drop down to like 2-300 before bouncing back up when coming to a stop, which seems to be a recurring problem....


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## Nick325xiT 5spd (Dec 24, 2001)

For a BMW repair, $400 is not bad at all. The scary thing is that I find that kind of reassuring.


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## tommyd (Jul 8, 2003)

Someone mentioned this as a solution to my turn over problem... but didn't want to say anything until i could test it as a viable solution.
The problem is very common, hope this serves as a good solution to it...
:thumbup:


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## elbert (Mar 28, 2002)

Is one of the symptoms the car stalling as if you didn't depress the clutch soon enough?


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## Kaz (Dec 21, 2001)

elbert said:


> Is one of the symptoms the car stalling as if you didn't depress the clutch soon enough?


Um, isn't that a symptom of... stalling the car?


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## elbert (Mar 28, 2002)

Kaz said:


> Um, isn't that a symptom of... stalling the car?


:slap: Well, this is what happened the other day: I'm backing up and still letting the clutch slip, and the engine cut out. I was kinda surprised because I was still accelerating. Right before that happened, the idle was varying from about 500 to 750rpm as if the engine was trying to find the right idle speed. :dunno:


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## hbmike (Apr 16, 2002)

driving home today after picking up my car, i noticed my car was a LOT smoother, and the revs no longer dropped down to 2-300 rpms and then bounce back up to 1000 and then settle around 700 or so rpms

it looks like the cam sensors did affect the engine management system, as it seems it couldn't get the idle quite right with the bad sensors... now, my engine feels a lot smoother, and definitely has a little more pickup as well... 

not sure if you have the same symptoms as i did, but you may want to have it checked


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## Artslinger (Sep 2, 2002)

elbert said:


> Is one of the symptoms the car stalling as if you didn't depress the clutch soon enough?


This has happened to me many times. It is a combination of the engine and clutch willing to be run at low RPMs... well for awhile anyways, the car will just stall and coast. In my past cars the clutch would buck reminding you the RPMS are to low and to push in the clutch. Another strange thing about the BMW clutch, the car will usally not restart if you drop the clutch while you are coasting, unlike other cars I've owned.


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