Hello Veeky Forums, I'm having a misfiring problem with my 325i e36 and would really appreciate some theories on it. My engine has around 36,6 thousand original miles atm
My second cylinder is failing intermittently. What I mean by that isn't that the problem comes and goes as I'm driving (when it shows up it never goes away while riding along), but rather that it'll show up on a day, disappear when I start the car the next day and such.
So far I've ruled out spark plugs and coils by switching those around with those of a working cylinder. I meant to try and hear if the injector is working today, but as I said, intermittent.
No leaks on the valve cover (actually there is one in another cylinder but that one never misfires), no oil smoke on the exhaust during the misfires and no oil or dirt on the piston. I checked for those by cranking the engine with the spark plug out and a rag covering the hole.
So far my guesses are: failing injector or faulty wiring, either to the injector or the coil. My mechanic intends to check for valve problems, but since the problem goes away I'm not so sure if it could be valve related.
Any other suggestions? I'm taking the car to the mechanic on Saturday, but with the possibility that it doesn't misfire for that whole day I'm trying to narrow down the problem as much as I can beforehand. Also my car IS NOT A M3, despite pic related.
I should also add I've had a similar problem around 3 thousand miles ago, but can't for the life of me remember if it was the same cylinder.
Cleaning the injectors solved it, but back then it only went away for a very brief moment while driving and then kept misfiring until fixed.
I've also had a few misfiring problems in the past months when turning on the car, but those went away after a few revs/a very short warm up time
Ryder Lee
I would say it's an injector.
Get a multimeter and test each injector's resistance (Black to one pin, red to the other, to complete the circuit), either look for an odd one out reading or find out what the specs are supposed to be.
Or you could listen to each injector, see which ones not firing, bit hard with it being intermittent.
I wouldn't rely on switching the parts around and hoping the trouble code moves with the part, often the code won't move until it's been driven for a while.
How old are you Leads, coil pack and plugs?
Check your HT leads, make sure there is no signs of arcing or damage in general.
Brody Martin
I'm seeing no trouble code at all, weirdly enough. I switched things around because if the problem was the part the misfiring should move with it.
Everything else is original (meaning over 20 years old), but since money is short I'd rather replace them gradually instead of doing it all at once to try and solve this.
I tried inspecting the leads, but honestly I'm not big on wiring. As long as a cable doesn't have visible marks of violent bending or squashing it looks fine to me
Luis Martin
post your problem on the E36 world FB page, they know their shit and are glad to help.
I own an E36, its a POS.
Juan Scott
get rid of it and buy a Japanese car.
Liam Taylor
Worst advice ever.
Christopher Jones
...
Jose Garcia
>2003 325i that's no E36 user
Justin Robinson
>I don't like Japanese cars >I don't like reliability >I don't like cheap parts >I don't like simple designs >I don't like Japanese cars
Nicholas Long
>cheap parts everything about the e36 is cheap you can buy a full engine+tranny+ecu swap for $500 >simple designs the e36 has a simple design, pic related >reliability early 90's jap sports cars are not reliable t. ex Nisssan 180sx owner
Jacob Sanchez
...
Luke Wood
?
Isaac Anderson
Nissans are on par with bmw for reliability. Just complete shit. And before you argue. >36k miles >bmw is broken
Brandon Kelly
>BMW simplicity >oh no one of the 50 hoses has sprung a leak
Eli Evans
>36k miles >on a 25 year old car You retard, even with 0 miles a car that old can NOT be problem free, no matter the brand.
Jose Lewis
Also, yeah nissan has shit tier reliabiliy but there are not many 90's vehicles equivalent to the 180sx or E36. FWD trash need not apply.
Cooper Walker
>recommends Japanese cars because of ''reliability'' >admints they actually have shit tier reliability Nip fanboys are fucking idiots
Adrian Phillips
Not the same guy. Nissan has always been shit. Pic related is how you fix bmws reliability problem
Juan Howard
Not sure if you're on that forum, but that sounds like an idle control valve issue
Samuel Ramirez
this is how you make a Jap car actually perform well.
They got tired of being btfo by corollas. So they have to sabotage them by making them unreliable
Angel Cook
E36's always had engine problems. got hauled up for overheating because of water pump and fan issues. most owners didnt know so it ended up taking the head gasket with it. more than the car is worth to repair... 2 choices sell it or engine swap.
Parker Sullivan
replacing a head gasket costed $180 for my old e36 323i, nothing major. E36's dont have many engine issues but rather cooling system issues, had a failed thermostat on my 323i.
Ryder Evans
its an injector. car probably sat for a long time with those miles. check impedance and ground. and then do a pressure check with an injector tester.
m50/2 is one of the most reliable engines ever made lol you literally cannot kill them. head gasket takes 2 hours dont be such a pussy
The water pump is a common problem on these cars, mine bit the dust as well (OP here). That's thanks to the Germans thinking plastic propellers are a good idea.
How someone could fail to diagnose the failure to the point of burning a gasket is beyond me though. My pump died while pushing the car hard, I saw the temperature suddenly rise to the red band, stopped it on a gas station, let it cool down and took it to the mechanic the next day. No damaged gaskets
