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Thread: e39 525i Misfire please help!

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2018
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    2001 e39 525i Touring

    e39 525i Misfire please help!

    Hi everyone I would like to start off by saying that I've already seen the e39 misfires thread and couldn't find anyone with a similar enough issue to mine to make a proper diagnosis. I purchased my car a few months ago and struggled with chasing down the Abs issues then o2 sensor issues and I've finally gotten my car through emissions recently and then registered yesterday and I went to pick up my friend from work all proud of my accomplishment of getting my car on the road but then it started to misfire randomly and it wasn't too bad so I figured it was just a strange bump that had me worried then I stopped at the light about 1000ft after that and it started constantly misfiring then when the light went green I drove and the misfires stopped and I parked the car and waited for my friend and it was constantly misfiring now and I used my Bluetooth scan tool to clear my lean codes and the misfire stopped only to come back seconds later so I shut the car off because I was just praying there was some weird error and hopefully it would go away after I restarted it. I restart the car and no misfires its fine for about 5 seconds then it starts again.... so I decide I should just try my best to get home so I start driving and it gets worse and now two cylinders are misfiring and I have no power so I limped it all the way home. I made one stop to let the car take a brake knowing of all the overheating issues even though the temp gauge was fine I just wanted to be safe but I made it home and it still misfired like crazy so I quickly went to work scowering forums looking for solutions but I haven't been able to find anyone with a constant misfire like this. I had codes p1343 p1345 p1348 along with lean in banks 1 and 2 but I've had the lean codes for some time already. The entire rest of the night the car would misfire constantly no matter what but on occasion it would idle fine for a few seconds after start up then miss again. I was extremely frustrated and I pulled all the intake tubes off and inspected everything for cracks and found nothing then I tried to pull the CCV hose off to blow into it to see if it was clogged and I snapped the end off and got very angry and left it for the night. today I decided I'd give it another try so I used electrical tape to reattach the end of the hose and started the car and no misfire. It was definitely not running right because of a vacuum leak from the CCV hose but it wasn't misfiring anymore so I let it sit until it got to temp and it was fine so I drove around my yard twice and nothing so I carefully take it down the road and it seemed fine for a minute or two then started to miss here and there but not enough to cut fuel or throw codes like before so I brought it back home and i rev'd it to about 2500 rpms and no misfire so now I'm here suspecting possible lack of fuel because it was under a load but I'm not sure so I decided to make a post before I start dumping parts into it or before I get angry and break more expensive BMW parts...

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Houston, TX
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    36 Cylinders
    This is all over the place.

    You definitely have vacuum leaks, and multiple for sure.

    Perform a smoke test and seal them all up. I wouldn't jump to other conclusions until all that is done.

    You cannot seal anything with electric tape because the heat makes it very soft and useless.
    Do it right to save time and frustrations. Keep away from ultra cheap Chinese replacement parts in this area of the car.
    Last edited by 328 Power 04; 10-20-2018 at 05:14 PM.
    -Abel

    - E36 328is ~210-220whp: Lots of Mods.
    - 2000 Z3: Many Mods.
    - 2003 VW Jetta TDI Manual 47-50mpg
    - 1999 S52 Estoril M Coupe
    - 2014 328d Wagon, self-tuned, 270hp/430ft-lbs
    - 2019 M2 Competition, self-tuned, 504whp
    - 2016 Mini Cooper S

  3. #3
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by Adagata View Post
    Hi everyone I would like to start off by saying that I've already seen the e39 misfires thread and couldn't find anyone with a similar enough issue to mine to make a proper diagnosis. I purchased my car a few months ago and struggled with chasing down the Abs issues then o2 sensor issues. I've finally gotten my car through emissions recently and then registered yesterday and I went to pick up my friend from work all proud of my accomplishment of getting my car on the road but then it started to misfire randomly and it wasn't too bad so I figured it was just a strange bump that had me worried then I stopped at the light about 1000ft after that and it started constantly misfiring. when the light went green I drove and the misfires stopped and I parked the car and waited for my friend and it was constantly misfiring now and I used my Bluetooth scan tool to clear my lean codes and the misfire stopped only to come back seconds later so I shut the car off because I was just praying there was some weird error and hopefully it would go away after I restarted it.

    I restart the car and no misfires its fine for about 5 seconds then it starts again.... so I decide I should just try my best to get home so I start driving and it gets worse and now two cylinders are misfiring and I have no power so I limped it all the way home. I made one stop to let the car take a break knowing of all the overheating issues even though the temp gauge was fine I just wanted to be safe but I made it home and it still misfired like crazy so I quickly went to work scouring forums looking for solutions but I haven't been able to find anyone with a constant misfire like this.

    I had codes p1343 p1345 p1348 along with lean in banks 1 and 2 but I've had the lean codes for some time already. The entire rest of the night the car would misfire constantly no matter what but on occasion it would idle fine for a few seconds after start up then miss again. I was extremely frustrated and I pulled all the intake tubes off and inspected everything for cracks and found nothing then I tried to pull the CCV hose off to blow into it to see if it was clogged and I snapped the end off and got very angry and left it for the night.

    today I decided I'd give it another try so I used electrical tape to reattach the end of the hose and started the car and no misfire. It was definitely not running right because of a vacuum leak from the CCV hose but it wasn't misfiring anymore so I let it sit until it got to temp and it was fine so I drove around my yard twice and nothing so I carefully take it down the road and it seemed fine for a minute or two then started to miss here and there but not enough to cut fuel or throw codes like before so I brought it back home and i rev'd it to about 2500 rpms and no misfire so now I'm here suspecting possible lack of fuel because it was under a load but I'm not sure so I decided to make a post before I start dumping parts into it or before I get angry and break more expensive BMW parts...
    whew....
    '95 325iS - auto to manual swap done!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2018
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    2001 e39 525i Touring
    Quote Originally Posted by 328 Power 04 View Post
    This is all over the place.

    You definitely have vacuum leaks, and multiple for sure.

    Perform a smoke test and seal them all up. I wouldn't jump to other conclusions until all that is done.

    You cannot seal anything with electric tape because the heat makes it very soft and useless.
    Do it right to save time and frustrations. Keep away from ultra cheap Chinese replacement parts in this area of the car.
    oh don't worry I know the electrical tape wasn't gonna seal it lol it was just to cut down on the leak so the tube isn't completely detached and ill look into a smoke test

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by 328 Power 04 View Post
    This is all over the place.

    You definitely have vacuum leaks, and multiple for sure.

    Perform a smoke test and seal them all up. I wouldn't jump to other conclusions until all that is done.

    You cannot seal anything with electric tape because the heat makes it very soft and useless.
    Do it right to save time and frustrations. Keep away from ultra cheap Chinese replacement parts in this area of the car.
    and also you really think its vacuum leaks? the only reason I didn't think that was it was because it all developed over the course of 15 minutes

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
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    Aberdeen, NC (yes, again)
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    23,672
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    E39M5, E500 4WD
    Quote Originally Posted by shadowpuck View Post
    whew....
    Whew indeed.

    Adagata, welcome to the forum.

    It's important that you try to make your posts readable. You've got a huge block of text with almost zero punctuation, no separation of paragraphs, and no separation of various symptoms and events.

    After struggling through all that, I'm left with little beyond the fact that you're angry and your car runs like crap.

    Have the intake / ccv system smoke tested for leaks, and fix every leakpoint by using new parts. Then replace the spark plugs and coils with OEM parts, and clear the codes. Then drive it fifteen minutes, and let us know what codes you have then, and how the car drives.

    The car is neglected, and needs to have the leaks fixed, and an overdue ignition "tune up".

    How old are your pre-cat O2 sensors? They are maintenance replacement items at 90-100k miles, and are responsible for tuning fuel mixture....IF the intake/ccv system has no leaks, and fuel pressure is correct.

    A couple of tests, a few maintenance and failure parts, and the car will run forever. By the way, when's the last time you replaced your cooling system, flushed the coolant and brake fluid, and changed trans fluid and filter?

    Chris Powell
    Racer and Instructor since, well. decades, ok?
    Master Auto Tech, owner of German Motors of Aberdeen
    BMWCCA 274412
    German Motors is hiring ! https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...1#post30831471

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2018
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    well I don't know much about the history of the cars maintenance. The car was definitely owned by someone who didn't pay much attention to the service of all of that but since ive bought it ive done

    1.oil change with mobile one synthetic
    ran some sea foam in the oil just before changing it because it had a tick coming from the valve train and i wanted to clear any gunk out
    2.replaced a wheel speed sensor
    3. got the abs module rebuilt
    4. replaced bank one post cat o2 sensor
    5. tried to repair an exhaust leak but it came back because of the cheap gasket i used

    I planned on doing all the other important ones like the coolant and trans fluid but I wanted to get it at least on the road first.

    my main issue is that I go to college in Vermont and can only come home for some weekends. my daily driver is also a diesel pickup so it cost a lot to drive and its hard to save for all the parts and such at the moment. so its gonna be a long process...

    once I get over this hump and can daily drive the car I will have more money and will be able to do more preventative maintainence.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2013
    Location
    Casablanca, Morocco
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    2001 e46 323i
    Quote Originally Posted by Adagata View Post
    well I don't know much about the history of the cars maintenance. The car was definitely owned by someone who didn't pay much attention to the service of all of that but since ive bought it ive done

    1.oil change with mobile one synthetic
    ran some sea foam in the oil just before changing it because it had a tick coming from the valve train and i wanted to clear any gunk out
    2.replaced a wheel speed sensor
    3. got the abs module rebuilt
    4. replaced bank one post cat o2 sensor
    5. tried to repair an exhaust leak but it came back because of the cheap gasket i used

    I planned on doing all the other important ones like the coolant and trans fluid but I wanted to get it at least on the road first.

    my main issue is that I go to college in Vermont and can only come home for some weekends. my daily driver is also a diesel pickup so it cost a lot to drive and its hard to save for all the parts and such at the moment. so its gonna be a long process...

    once I get over this hump and can daily drive the car I will have more money and will be able to do more preventative maintainence.
    Welcome to the forum. Is the exhaust leak positioned before or somewhere in the vicinity of the pre-cats o2 sensors? If the answer is yes it could very well be triggering the misfire by messing up the sensors' readings. Also, I suppose that when changing the oil you replaced the filter as well? It's important to do so especially if the previous owner did not maintain it properly.
    "If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity, nothing else matters." Alan K. Simpson.
    5spd E46 "3XX": 328i engine, 330i Intake and exhaust, CAI, 323i diff.

  8. #8
    Join Date
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    2001 e39 525i Touring
    Sorry for such a late reply but I found the issue. I figured I’d post what I found just in case other people are making the same mistake I made.

    So what ended up being the culprit was coil packs, I feel stupid now realizing that, but my thought process was that the likelihood of multiple coils failing at once was very unlikely and I figured that it wasn’t the issue.

    Low and behold new cp’s fixed it, the reason I didn’t discover this initially was because when scanning the codes I didn’t clear the initial misfire codes so when I swapped coil packs around all I saw was misfiring in more cylinders rather than staying with the coil packs that I moved because the old codes hadn’t cleared.

    This was a real stupid mistake in my part but I’m just glad my car has been running good and has been reliable for a while now.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  9. #9
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    Exactly, shadowpuck.

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