1999 BMW 328IS Connector Came Loose and I can't Find where it needs to go. Help Plz

[rlfett]

Car is running really rough. I found this clip not connected dont know what it goes too and need some help.

https://imgur.com/a/JjBruQo

[bmwdirtracer]

Welcome to the forum.

The picture doesn't provide a ton of information. What color are the two individual wires that go to that plug? (There are only 2, right, not 3?) If you follow that set of wires, does it go into a larger wiring loom, or does it go to a sensor somewhere? Is the VANOS solenoid plugged in? (That's the round cylinder above the oil filter housing, in your picture)

This is likely NOT the reason your engine's "running rough"....that's likely to be an intake / crankcase vent system leak, for which you need a smoke test.

Tell me the color of the wires, including any stripes, and I'll look up where that plug goes for you.

(FWIW, that top radiator hose looks much too fat to be factory, the clamp is garbage, and overtightened, and the thermostat housing looks truly ancient

[rlfett]

Many thanks, White I suspect but could be grey they are pretty old. One with with an orange stripe and one solid with out a strip. 2 wires.

one of the photo shows them pretty good that I posted. I really appreciate the help!

[bmwdirtracer]

http://wedophones.com/Manuals/BMW/1998%20BMW%20318is-c%20-%20323i-c%20-%20328i-c%20-%20M3-c%20%20Electrical%20Troubleshooting%20Manual.pdf

Here's what I've got. I'm also going to try to show you how I got there, for your future needs.

The above is the factory wiring diagrams for your car. If you're looking for information on the engine wiring, you click on M52 engine control, 1210.17
This will take you to page 88 of the Adobe document, which is page 1210.17 of the BMW document
Then scroll down until you locate a plug which has wire colors that most resemble yours. In this case, the closest possible is a 2-wire plug with a grey, and a grey with brown stripe, which belongs to the intake air temp sensor (BMW page 1210.17-02, adobe page 94. See where it refers to this component as B6205 ?
THEN, you go back to the index, and click on "Component Location Charts", and scroll down until you see B6205, Intake air temp sensor. See where it says this is left hand side of engine, near dipstick? And then says 7100.0 - 36-3 ?

Then, back to index, click on "Component Location View", then scroll to BMW page 7100.0 -36. (Adobe page 364) Then look at view number 3, on that page....and VOILA, there's the item.

All the best!

Oh...EDIT: Since this is the IATS, it is quite possible that it IS the reason your engine is running rough: an unplugged IATS is telling the computer that it is negative 40 degrees, so it will be DUMPING excess fuel into the engine.

[rlfett]

http://wedophones.com/Manuals/BMW/1998%20BMW%20318is-c%20-%20323i-c%20-%20328i-c%20-%20M3-c%20%20Electrical%20Troubleshooting%20Manual.pdf

Here's what I've got. I'm also going to try to show you how I got there, for your future needs.

The above is the factory wiring diagrams for your car. If you're looking for information on the engine wiring, you click on M52 engine control, 1210.17
This will take you to page 88 of the Adobe document, which is page 1210.17 of the BMW document
Then scroll down until you locate a plug which has wire colors that most resemble yours. In this case, the closest possible is a 2-wire plug with a grey, and a grey with brown stripe, which belongs to the intake air temp sensor (BMW page 1210.17-02, adobe page 94. See where it refers to this component as B6205 ?
THEN, you go back to the index, and click on "Component Location Charts", and scroll down until you see B6205, Intake air temp sensor. See where it says this is left hand side of engine, near dipstick? And then says 7100.0 - 36-3 ?

Then, back to index, click on "Component Location View", then scroll to BMW page 7100.0 -36. (Adobe page 364) Then look at view number 3, on that page....and VOILA, there's the item.

All the best!

Oh...EDIT: Since this is the IATS, it is quite possible that it IS the reason your engine is running rough: an unplugged IATS is telling the computer that it is negative 40 degrees, so it will be DUMPING excess fuel into the engine.


Looked at the image 3 hard to tell the exact location but I don't see any thing in this area. The 1st pic is what I can best gather is the correct location from the pdf image 3. the 2nd 2 pics are of a connector in this area that already is connected. I did find a 2 wire clip that was already connected I removed it to check color one wire is white with red stripe the other appears to be a sold white. I sincerely appreciate the help as I am newer to fixing cars on my own but enjoy it etc. Thanks again for your help. Any thoughts?



https://thumb.ibb.co/jSDdiL/IMG-2576.jpg (https://ibb.co/jSDdiL) https://thumb.ibb.co/kWLr3L/IMG-2577.jpg (https://ibb.co/kWLr3L) https://thumb.ibb.co/iXjvV0/IMG-2579.jpg (https://ibb.co/iXjvV0)