What did I do to my 316i :(

Reati

Was driving home from Tesco earlier and the car (BMW 316i 2007) suddenly started to chug then lost power. The following lights came on (see attached file - note the handbrake light was also yellow) and she started to ding at me. No symptoms up to this point and drove about 130KM this weekend before today.

Not very technical when it comes to cars so will be bringing to a garage tomorrow but would be great to hear the theories and where in Sandyford I can bring it for fixing.

Last service was Feb and everything was perfect.

Alanstrainor

You're going to have to go to a mechanic and get the engine codes read realistically. There's not enough info there for us to diagnose. That being said, I know nothing about these engines.

pyramuid man

Reati wrote: »

Was driving home from Tesco earlier and the car (BMW 316i 2007) suddenly started to chug then lost power. The following lights came on (see attached file - note the handbrake light was also yellow) and she started to ding at me. No symptoms up to this point and drove about 130KM this weekend before today.

Not very technical when it comes to cars so will be bringing to a garage tomorrow but would be great to hear the theories and where in Sandyford I can bring it for fixing.

Last service was Feb and everything was perfect.

That is the engine management light. Not really possible to say exactly what's wrong until the fault codes are taken.

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

Thats just the car letting you know that its still a BMW

but cant really say. Has to be plugged it... looks like a petrol could be coils or spark plugs. ...

punisher5112

As last poster said probably a coil gone 4th 1 on mine went last week.

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/VE520157-BMW-114i-F20-1-6-Petrol-11-Ignition-Coil-/400515982131?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item5d409ce333

Possibly along the lines of above link.

My car was going fine was pulling onot Motorway and power went and started chugging like a tractor and engine bouncing around.

dodderangler

If it's the coils A way to tell if it is the coils is take the cover off the engine so your looking at the coils.
Then as the engine is running take out each coil one by one. Each coil that you disconnect or take out the engine may knock off or chug really bad. Put the coil back in each time it does this.
But if you take a coil out and engine remains the same as it was then that is your broken coil.

Reati

punisher5112 wrote: »

As last poster said probably a coil gone 4th 1 on mine went last week.

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/VE520157-BMW-114i-F20-1-6-Petrol-11-Ignition-Coil-/400515982131?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item5d409ce333

Possibly along the lines of above link.

My car was going fine was pulling onot Motorway and power went and started chugging like a tractor and engine bouncing around.

Interesting, did you get the same set of warning lights?

punisher5112

Reati wrote: »

Interesting, did you get the same set of warning lights?

Yes light flashes then steady and if driving it may flash again and stay steady.

Do not pull out while engine is running this is ok on older cars but newer tech can cause the ecu to fail and costs a lot to replace.

The 4th one went I got 2 new units and will get another 2 soon just to have it running right.

I started by taking off engine cover/air box and went and took out 3rd unit then started still a problem then changed 4th and problem solved so still have a spare if the other 2 go in the next while it is the used one but still ok.

Also would be recommended to change plugs at the same time.

I have only changed all four recently to long live 60,000 mile life.

I had no choice but to drive car for nearly 2 days as couldn't get parts with work and by the time they got in coil units and engine light stayed on for another day and now its fine went out itself.

Reati

So on Tuesday, I started the car to get it down to the garage in Sandyford where I get the car serviced. Not a BMW dealer. Nopne of the check engine or warning lights were on at that point and everything was all dandy. Brought it down to them anyway and they did the full test, checked the parts the computer was complaining about, drove it etc, told me nothing was wrong. Said it was likely a bug and reset the computer.

So was leaving work today and boom, it's back all the same warning lights. Drove her home in limp mode and then turned the car off. Waited a few minutes then turned her on again - problem is gone again. Says to myself, let's go for a drive see what's wrong. Drove down towards bray and right before i get there on the m50 south, lights come on, power gets cut.

I pull into a petrol station, turn the car off. Wait and turn it back on. Problem goes away again. Drove it home from Bray and it was fine!!

WTF?

DublinDilbert

As others have said could be coils, but I'd also check to see if there us oil in the connector to the excentric cam sensor.

There should be faults logged, just need to be read with the correct tool.

Gumbo

When was the last oil change?

Toyotafanboi

i'd buy a cheap ebay code reader and drive around with it in the car so the next time it happens you can save the faults yourself and show them to a garage. you can get bluetooth readers for less than €20 these days.

ryan101

I'll give you 1200 for her on done deal, try the bangernomics thread.

dodzy

Reati wrote: »

So on Tuesday, I started the car to get it down to the garage in Sandyford where I get the car serviced. Not a BMW dealer.......Said it was likely a bug and reset the computer.
WTF?

Bring it somewhere else for servicing in future. There will be logged codes. Its not a bug. My money was on coilpack(s) also, initially:o

coolisin

Sounds like a coil pack, but it could be a loose connection on one of the cylinders causing a misfire.
But a bug on the system yeah right thanks mechanic mick your sh1t!!
If your in Dublin maybe worth a trip to motor confidence they'll sort you out.

R.O.R

OP - is it a late 07 with the stop/start system? If yes, I'm astounded it's made it this far without this happening.

nox sensor / coil / injector - very common issue on 3 Series petrol's with the efficient dynamics technology.

Reati

Last service: Feb w/ oil change and spark plugs done.

I'm going back Monday as they have already charged me for last week and I'm not happy that the "bug" is back already.

If it any of the above, would turning it off and back on again with a 5 - 10 second wait really fix it. It's been driving fine again since Thursday with no issues or warning lights coming on. The only thing I've done is turned it off / on again.

It's not one of the stop/start engines. I'm not a fan of that thing.

robertxxx

What's it like in general? Is it a nice car to drive, performance, mpg and reliability?

Looks ok value and very nice.

Reati

robertxxx wrote: »

What's it like in general? Is it a nice car to drive, performance, mpg and reliability?.

I've never had a problem with it - It's only got 70,000 KM on the clock, this is the first issue I've had since I got it.

robertxxx wrote: »

Looks ok value and very nice.

Huh?