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Thread: E46 Rough Idle and stalling fixed.

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Laurel, MD
    Posts
    726
    My Cars
    1997 328i Sedan

    E46 Rough Idle and stalling fixed.

    Hey all,

    BLUF: 1 Bad coil made it seem like the car was falling apart.

    I thought that I'd post a quick fix for you all. My wife's car is a 2003 325ci (coupe, not convertible) with an automatic. The other day it started to run really rough at idle and would stall when shifting from Reverse to Drive and when starting from a stop. My first thoughts were Idle control valve, Vacuum leaks and Vanos. I was completely wrong on all counts. I tore apart the complete intake track looking for vacuum leaks, found none and put it all back together. Ran the same. Then I got smart and hooked up my INPA setup. There we about 20 codes. Cleared those out and got back about 5. There wasn't a single code that really tipped me off, most were O2 sensor codes and enrichment and catalytic converter codes. Then I looked into the "rough" display and noticed that cylinder 6 was running way rough. I swapped the coil from Cylinder 6 to cylinder 1 (these are paired cylinders in the I-6 orientation). The Rough running numbers followed the coil. Bingo Bad coil. Next morning I went to the LKQ, bought 6 used coils, swapped it out. Cleared the codes, cleared the adaptions and it ran beautifully.

    Total cost of parts.... $11. $9 for the one coil I needed and $2 entrance fee. I also picked up a bunch of stuff that I didn't strictly need, but wanted.

    Moral of the story: Always go for the most likely and cheapest solution first and troubleshoot to determine the problem before jumping to conclusions and throwing parts at it.

    This thread is useless without pics of dead coils.
    Last edited by mynameisBMW; 10-29-2018 at 09:57 PM. Reason: added bluf.
    - E36 328i black - Steel adjustable rear lower control arms, Bridgestone RE-11
    - E46 325ci white

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Location
    Huntington Beach
    Posts
    4
    My Cars
    02 325i

    Rough idle-lost power

    Ive been racking my brain, on this. I get P01351 & 1353 codes ONLY AT IDLE. Engine lacks power like running on 4 cyl. I swapped #5 & 6 coils out with the old originals, but no help. Man Im frustrated. Changed plugs, fuel pump also. no help
    Quote Originally Posted by mynameisBMW View Post
    Hey all,

    BLUF: 1 Bad coil made it seem like the car was falling apart.

    I thought that I'd post a quick fix for you all. My wife's car is a 2003 325ci (coupe, not convertible) with an automatic. The other day it started to run really rough at idle and would stall when shifting from Reverse to Drive and when starting from a stop. My first thoughts were Idle control valve, Vacuum leaks and Vanos. I was completely wrong on all counts. I tore apart the complete intake track looking for vacuum leaks, found none and put it all back together. Ran the same. Then I got smart and hooked up my INPA setup. There we about 20 codes. Cleared those out and got back about 5. There wasn't a single code that really tipped me off, most were O2 sensor codes and enrichment and catalytic converter codes. Then I looked into the "rough" display and noticed that cylinder 6 was running way rough. I swapped the coil from Cylinder 6 to cylinder 1 (these are paired cylinders in the I-6 orientation). The Rough running numbers followed the coil. Bingo Bad coil. Next morning I went to the LKQ, bought 6 used coils, swapped it out. Cleared the codes, cleared the adaptions and it ran beautifully.

    Total cost of parts.... $11. $9 for the one coil I needed and $2 entrance fee. I also picked up a bunch of stuff that I didn't strictly need, but wanted.

    Moral of the story: Always go for the most likely and cheapest solution first and troubleshoot to determine the problem before jumping to conclusions and throwing parts at it.

    This thread is useless without pics of dead coils.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Japan
    Posts
    54,613
    My Cars
    11/88 E32 750iL+98 E36M3
    moved to E46 forum
    Shogun tricks and tips for the E32 series are HERE!

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