misfire cylinders 1 through 4...help

[gsxy]

my wife was driving on the freeway around 65-ish in 5th gear. car hesitated for a second, then the ce light came on, car started to shudder, then it just died. she pulled off to the side of the freeway, and car was towed home.

just read the codes, misfire cylinders 1, 2, 3 and 4.
plugs are about 5k old, car has 59995miles.

anyone have any ideas???
i was gonna go check the resistancy of the coils, check the plugs, etc. to start. car has little less than 1/4 tank of gas, so i don't think that it would've run out of gas. i can hear the fuel pump when the key is in the on position (when i was reading the codes).

any help would be appreciated

[hal9000]

I kinda doubt that you would have 4 cylinders misfire because of coils. I think it's more likely that you've got a fuel or timing issue. Less than a 1/4 tank could cause fuel pressure issues depending on what kind of shape your pump's in. I'd add more fuel and see if she idles properly. It sounds like the car went into limp mode.

[rab986]

Hopefully it is something as simple as bad gas.....It's easy to overlook. Fill it full of 93 and a bottle of heet and maybe put the old plugs back in, if they were still running fine when you pulled them, just to check it out.

Good luck and let us know what you find.

[gsxy]

the update.......gas. i was sitting there thinking to myself, cylinders 1 - 4 are the farthest away from the pump/furthest down the rail, so maybe those 4 cylinders just didn't have enough gas to keep'em going. so i grabbed a gallon of gas and dumped it in. it stumbed for a few seconds then started to get back to normal.
so good call hal9000.
it was still registering 1/4 tank. maybe i should get some new senders? i think that i will also try and check the fuel pressure this weekend just to make sure it's okay. i'll clear the codes and take her (yes, the car) for a spin tomorrow night.

thanks guys.

[hal9000]

Change your fuel filter first. It may be as simple as a clogged up fuel filter that's preventing full pressure. If you've got a gauge you can measure fuel pressure afterwards and see if you've still got a fuel pump issue. Besides filter's quick, pump's a PITA to do.

[bigmansM]

the update.......gas. i was sitting there thinking to myself, cylinders 1 - 4 are the farthest away from the pump/furthest down the rail, so maybe those 4 cylinders just didn't have enough gas to keep'em going. so i grabbed a gallon of gas and dumped it in. it stumbed for a few seconds then started to get back to normal.
so good call hal9000.
it was still registering 1/4 tank. maybe i should get some new senders? i think that i will also try and check the fuel pressure this weekend just to make sure it's okay. i'll clear the codes and take her (yes, the car) for a spin tomorrow night.

thanks guys.

A bad bmw fuel pump is a pretty common thing, Depending on the symptoms i would say fuel pump or your senders are crap. My buds e30 had a similar issue and it was jsut the gas. I hope so for your sake.

Its sucks when the car does wanna do it things.

[rab986]

Mine acted almost identical, accept I was at 1/8 of a tank........I guess it was just bad gas? I put 5 gallons of 100 octane leaded race fuel in it and it cleared right up.....barely even stumbled when starting it back up. I have been running it low lately just to see if it would do it again but it seems to be fine.

[shifterkart33]

Anymore info on the misfire problem? I've got a similar problem. I'm getting faults codes for a misfire on all 6 cylinders. It only happens when the A/C is on. I saw someone on another forum had a similar problem and the dealer replaced the A/C compressor to fix the problem.