# To all you ZHP rough-idlers, power-lossers, and stallers. A solution?



## hockeynut (Apr 14, 2002)

Had mine in (again) for the stalling problem. RPMs start to waffle then drop to 0 and it stalls. Happens normally at a light when the engine is warm. Of course, no fault codes and it is *very* intermittent (has happened about 8 times in 5000 miles)

BMWCCA tech rep suggested they change out the idle control valve, which is what the dealer did (they tested it and said it was notchy). Hopefully this will help/fix the problem.

Need a :fingersCrossed: smiley...


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## jrubens (Aug 14, 2002)

Dr. Phil said:


> Do you have the service bulletin information, number, etc :dunno: I want to have all of mine replaced.


I do not, but it has been mentioned in this thread, so I am sure that someone has it. Sorry.


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## drmwvr (Feb 21, 2003)

eluder said:


> Apparently for E53, E46, E85 (Z4?), there is a bulletin in effect poor ignition coils. He said BMW was made aware of the issue and the brand they used (started with a "B") was faulty.


Oh oh, "B" probably means Beru and Beru made faulty ignition coils for Audi.

Audi ended up having to replace coil on about half a million cars. See link:

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news03/vw_coils.html


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## raddray (Apr 23, 2003)

*Not the ignition coils.*

I have a 2004 330Cic May03 delivery. I've had this idle issue since new. I didn't actually bring the car in until last month for the climate control recall. They changed out all six ignition coils and less than a week later the car was back in for stalling. They gave me the car back and said that they could not find the problem. I've rescheduled again for this week so that I could get a loaner car while they keep it for an extended period of time to see it for themselves.

I have a question. Anybody notice that their gas cap doesn't really seal tight?


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## eluder (Mar 4, 2003)

drmwvr said:


> Oh oh, "B" probably means Beru and Beru made faulty ignition coils for Audi.
> 
> Audi ended up having to replace coil on about half a million cars. See link:
> 
> http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news03/vw_coils.html


That sounds like the one! Yikes! 500,000!

On a related note, I've some bad news. The stalling just occured today. It seems to be slightly less frequent. The severity seems to be increasing also. Which is good, hopefully it will trip the SES light.

I haven't noticed the power loss or fresh startup shaking yet however. I'm fairly certain that it did fix the startup problem though, as it did eventually trip a constant light.


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## dusterbuster (Jan 29, 2003)

i brought my car in for the recall service on the climate control unit today, and asked about the rough idle issue (has only happened to me maybe 4 or 5 times over 4000 miles, never actually stalling), and the service rep said they know about the problem but still don't have a fix. he expected that the fix would be via software at some point, but they're waiting on it. he also said they've received a large number of complaints regarding this exact issue. like others have said, bmw is well aware of the issue, but apparently still does not have a definitive resolution at this point.


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## Dr. Phil (Dec 19, 2001)

dusterbuster said:


> i brought my car in for the recall service on the climate control unit today, and asked about the rough idle issue (has only happened to me maybe 4 or 5 times over 4000 miles, never actually stalling), and the service rep said they know about the problem but still don't have a fix. he expected that the fix would be via software at some point, but they're waiting on it. he also said they've received a large number of complaints regarding this exact issue. like others have said, bmw is well aware of the issue, but apparently still does not have a definitive resolution at this point.


Yep, software fix is what they are focusing in on. They have not yet released all versions to the dealers, but when they do the plan is to reprogram the ECU. I was in today to swap wheels out (yea I'm being a bit lazy  ) but I spent a 1/2 hour chatting with one of the master techs about all types of things.....he told me they have reprogrammed some models but not the 3ers yet. The coil issue is still not an official "recall" for the 3 yet either.


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## pjvreede (Mar 12, 2004)

eluder said:


> I've been struggling with my April 03 prod. ZHP for some time now. Since I bought it, it's had rough idling, power loss under acceleration, and stalling issues. At lights, it would stall sometimes, and drop rpms like mad. Hard acceleration would yield a power-loss around 3500rpm. Occasionally on startup, it would have a horrid idling problem. No power whatsoever.
> 
> I finally caught the problem in the act. Thanks to the extended hours of our local BMW service center, I was in in a jiffy. I went back into the shop and chatted it up with the tech for about an hour. Since I caught it in the act, he caught the codes. FINALLY!
> 
> ...


Sounds like we are dealing with more than one problem. One of the other forum topics on "fest" deals with a bad crank sensor. After reading your forum, and the responses, I took my 3/03 ZHP to the dealer, and they also replaced the ignition coils. I still get engine idle speed variation, but now no more that 200 rpm (prior to replacement, had issues of stalling at stoplights). What I have noticed is a maked improvement in the engine performance, particularly in the lower rpms (<3500) with the coil replacements.


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## raddray (Apr 23, 2003)

Well, I dropped my car off today for the third time. This time they gave me a loaner car and said they would keep the car until they figure it out. I wonder how long I have to drive this 325i.

:dunno:


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## rand777 (Apr 13, 2003)

pjvreede said:


> Sounds like we are dealing with more than one problem. One of the other forum topics on "fest" deals with a bad crank sensor. After reading your forum, and the responses, I took my 3/03 ZHP to the dealer, and they also replaced the ignition coils. I still get engine idle speed variation, but now no more that 200 rpm (prior to replacement, had issues of stalling at stoplights). What I have noticed is a maked improvement in the engine performance, particularly in the lower rpms (<3500) with the coil replacements.


I took my 3/03 ZHP to the dealer today too as I've had the rough idle since purchase as well, with an occasional stall at a stoplight. I mentioned the fact that others online were reporting ignition coil replacements and that there was a known issue with their production, but the dealer refused to replace without a fault code from the computer. Did your car register any fault codes that they replaced the coils. If not, any advice/info on how to get the dealer to do the replacement would be very much appreciated 

Sincerely,
Rand


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## Dr. Phil (Dec 19, 2001)

rand777 said:


> I took my 3/03 ZHP to the dealer today too as I've had the rough idle since purchase as well, with an occasional stall at a stoplight. I mentioned the fact that others online were reporting ignition coil replacements and that there was a known issue with their production, but the dealer refused to replace without a fault code from the computer. Did your car register any fault codes that they replaced the coils. If not, any advice/info on how to get the dealer to do the replacement would be very much appreciated
> 
> Sincerely,
> Rand


The only fault code I got is when #2 coil died. The coils are definitely an issue but as noted, the final fix seems to likely be a ECU reprogramming.


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## Artslinger (Sep 2, 2002)

raddray said:


> I wonder how long I have to drive this 325i. :dunno:


Huh?, I feel so sorry for you... :bawling:


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## mbr129 (Aug 23, 2002)

My car had had the shudder at idle very rarely. Ona day when it was -13F, one cylinder wasn'f firing. They replaced all the ignition coils. 

However, I still get the seldom shudder at idle (rpm's drop to about 500 and then back up to 700 or so).

I am at 12K miles, so soon enough it will go in and I'll ask if they have a fix for it.


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## rand777 (Apr 13, 2003)

Dr. Phil said:


> The only fault code I got is when #2 coil died. The coils are definitely an issue but as noted, the final fix seems to likely be a ECU reprogramming.


Thanks for the info, no fault code as yet on mine. I suppose they won't be proactively
replacing ignition coils then until a significant enough volume of them fails to be determined as at a higher than normal rate (much like what recently happened to Audi).

Sincerely,
Rand


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## raddray (Apr 23, 2003)

Artslinger said:


> Huh?, I feel so sorry for you... :bawling:


No need to feel sorry. It's just that it was 60 degrees today for the first time this spring and I would have been driving with the top down!!!!

The 2004 325i is actually pretty nice.. Don't think I would pay the 38k+ this thing retails for with the options that it has on it.


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## SteveM (Aug 6, 2002)

I have the same problem occasionally with my 03 330i (non-ZHP). Went to dealer for climate control recall and mentioned rough idle issue. They wouldn't do anything without fault codes or the problem happening for them.

I 'got' to drive a 50K mile 323i loaner that was a smokers' car; it made my eyes water when driving. Additionally, they scratched my hood significantly as part of their 'wash' process.


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