Bad idling E46

[Racebred]

this m43 engine is inherently rough. even though it has a balancer shaft. but your problem is with idling. Hoses and ICV will definitely wear with age, and your car must be about 5 yr old now. engine hunting can be solved but will take some time to solve as you must go through the usual suspects involved in the idling process. but if you dont want to spend the time, then the rest of the car will still run well. it's just that during idling, just feed in a little bit of gas to raise the rev a little.

 

[peterlaw]

had this problem with my e36 318IS. replaced a valve and a set of vacuum hoses for under $200, and the problem went away.

to confirm that it is a problem with vacuum, start the engine, open the bonnet of your car and listen for hissing sound coming from vacuum hoses and valves. check the hoses and valves near the intake manifold and throttle.

it is not an inherent problem but, like coolant hoses, just wear and tear.

 

[piggyboyz]

GC,

Ur mech is right to say that it's inherent but the culprit is usually the Idle valve which can be resolved easily....

Just remove the IV and clean it and it's usually solved.....

Peterlaw....
The E36 has got a lot of vacuum problem due to the hoses but BMW solved it and the E46 rough idling usually is not due to vacuum problem...

 

[e46sg]

HI,

had a problem like that 6 months back.

Replaced the Idle control valve for about 280 and solved the problem.

Regards