Rough Idle BMW 328xi E90 - Have Tried and Read EVERYTHING!! End of my Rope... Help!

[laptppps]

HELP! And thank you for reading!

I have tried everything to get my wife's beloved 2009 BMW 328xi (E90 with 96,000 miles) to run correctly and idle correctly (and not throw CEL codes). Have replaced both intake and exhaust VANOS solenoids (a couple of times EACH!), replaced both camshaft position sensors, replaced valve cover, and mass airflow sensor. All the parts I changed with were aftermarket parts from mostly NAPA auto parts. Still have a rough idle and have two codes 2A87 Exhaust VANOS mechanism and 2A82 VANOS intake. Just now checked and my most recent oil change was about 10,000 miles ago with Mobil 1 Synthetic 0W40 and a new Fram oil filter. Hmmmmm.... on the oil change 10,000 miles ago! When in drive or reverse you would not really see any idle problems, but when initially started the idle is very rough (but doesn't stall). When running at highway speeds, you would never know anything is wrong.

At idle my datastream is as follows:

VANOS position, inlet 102.4 'cr
VANOS position, exhaust -115 'cr
VANOS adaptation, inlet -1.9 'cr
VANOS adaptation, exhaust -1.5 'cr

I really am at my wit's end and would really need the help of people who know FAR MORE than I do about BMWs. I don't see any oil leaking from the valve cover having replaced it and had only one little hiccup. The first install had the gasket out of the cover's groove a little bit. Fixed that and all appears good (and the integrated PCV valve has stopped whistling!) Yea!

Might anyone have any ideas, issues that they can think of or clarifications that they need?? I should be changing the oil pretty soon... the culprit couldn't be that easy, could it?? I would hate to change the VANOS solenoid again, but I am open to anything.

Thanks SO MUCH for reading my post and I eagerly await responses!

Have a GREAT day and HAPPY NEW YEAR!~

[gusm325]

What exactly do you mean by "rough idle". RPM hunting?
'When starting" you mean cold engine?
I see you are describing it "good" when in gear...
Your also talking about 10k oil and change. What do you mean? Was your engine dirty with deposits when you removed the valve cover?

Be specific, is it temperature related? Engine cold- engine hot, etc
Did you have oil in the eccentric cam sensor? (the expensive one that goes thru the valve cover...)
Plugs ok? You're right at change time...

If you "stopped the whistling" by replacing the CCV in the valve cover, it also means that you were throwing all kinds of oil and crud into the intake, depending on how long you drove it like that also possibly gumming up valves, the throttle butterfly, and the disa valves...
Do you have another vacuum leak? Broken busted line to the intake

I'm no expert , but I know the "gurus" need better details and reference.

So if its running smooth at speed It may just need a good intake cleaning and a good old "Italian tune up".

PS. you can easily clean the Vanos solenoids and test them with a 9volt flashlight battery... Click open, click closed. Not very scientific but effective

[doclees]

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1506674

[relative4]

What are your LTFTs at idle, 2500, and 4000?

[FASN8N]

How are the spark plug coil packs? If one is out or on the way out it will seem rough at low speeds and smooth out at high speeds..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[doclees]

Be sure to check the link information. If by chance it is a sprocket issue and it is covered by the 10 yr warranty then you are running out of time for it to be free.

[laptppps]

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1506674

I read that entire post with much interest and I read the Service Information Bulletin. It does sound exactly what I have found. "A rattling noise can be heard from the engine...the engine loses power and SES lamp is illuminated." AND I have the 2A82 and 2A87 codes being thrown. Being the closest BMW dealer is about 200 miles round trip, I may take the car to the local guy I have used in the past (successfully!) and pay him to troubleshoot and agree with the cam gear sprocket direction. I REALLY appreciate that link!

The sad thing is that I had everything apart when changing the valve cover and I could have had it checked at that point. Yea! I took pictures in high quality, but I don't think that it was close enough to give any real information about the ledges or sprockets. Would the pictures help?? I could post them. Thanks again for the time!

[laptppps]

How are the spark plug coil packs? If one is out or on the way out it will seem rough at low speeds and smooth out at high speeds..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I would LOVE to be able to check those. They are relatively easy to get to... how would I go about checking them??

[laptppps]

Also, I have to eat a bit of crow here... and I KNOW I am an idiot for doing this, but I have always had lower quality cars and not a BMW. I had used regular conventional motor oil and not the synthetic that was recommended. I shouldn't have used that, but I did. There could be a lot of crud built up on the valves, intakes and exhaust. Wondering if gusm325's cleaning idea might be good. Thoughts in that?? And thanks again for looking!

[laptppps]

What are your LTFTs at idle, 2500, and 4000?

Would love to get you the information.... I am very mechanically inclined but don't know what LTFT's are. Assume long-term fuel trim. Going to see if my Creator C501 BMW specific code reader will allow me to see that information.

[laptppps]

Also, I had responded to each of the posts but it stated that my replies wouldn't be visible until a mod approved them. If they don't show back up in 4-6 hours, I will try to repost all of them again.

[FASN8N]

I would LOVE to be able to check those. They are relatively easy to get to... how would I go about checking them??

https://youtu.be/JLDo7Jk78ac


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[laptppps]

Would love to get you the information.... I am very mechanically inclined but don't know what LTFT's are. Assume long-term fuel trim. Going to see if my Creator C501 BMW specific code reader will allow me to see that information.

Unfortunately, my BMW specific scanner does not do STFT and LTFT. Seems like I need a bi-directional scanner. I will be looking into one.

[Mikeyyo]

Here’s a video of my engine on my 2009 328xi anyone have an idea of what it could be ? Car has a rough idle
https://youtu.be/vKO9YSG1K78

[doclees]

Video unavailable

[jclausen]

At this point might I recommend you take it to a good bmw independent shop for diagnosis.

[laptppps]

Well, I have had it into my indy BMW mechanic and it is down to one of two things. I have changed everything that needs to be replaced and it is either the cam caps have grooves in them (not the fun GrOOvy kind... HA!) or the cam gear unit has problem with the tamper-proof torx bolts in them (and per BMW N.A. not covered by the 10 year extended warranty) What is REALLY hard for me is that I already replaced the valve cover myself and everything went fairly well. Only a couple of minor things but worked around them. I was RIGHT THERE to inspect the cam gears and the cam caps but didn't know to do it at that point. I was just replacing the valve cover to eliminate the vacuum leak and the PCV valve whistle in the cover. To re-inspect the probable parts (cam gear and for the grooves), a tear down back to removing the valve cover would be in order. I took pictures at the tear down point (which I am going to post here) but they are not really able to give any information. Hence, you see me frustrated and really not wanting to take the valve cover back off. Tear down and 50% chance it's going to be a replacement head that is needed (which is above my mechanic skills).

Sell the car as-is running?? What to do?! Thanks for reading and would appreciate any input or other thoughts!

Have a great day!

[laptppps]

At this point might I recommend you take it to a good bmw independent shop for diagnosis.

Thanks Mr. jclausen! Best idea and done. Be open to any other thoughts you might have.

[doclees]

It is a shame that companies can't be held to their catch phrases. One would think the ultimate driving machine would hold up at least as long as the ultimate middle class Toyota.

[relative4]

It is a shame that companies can't be held to their catch phrases. One would think the ultimate driving machine would hold up at least as long as the ultimate middle class Toyota.

Not sure how you confused "driving" with "cheap maintenance".

[doclees]

Because you can't drive crap if it isn't running reliably.

[relative4]

The ultimate whining machine

[Turbohugh]

If you have a WiFi or Bluetooth ODB ii reader there are many apps that can read StFT and LTFT . You won’t be able to reset adaptations but you can log data .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[laptppps]

Well, I have had it into my indy BMW mechanic and it is down to one of two things. I have changed everything that needs to be replaced and it is either the cam caps have grooves in them (not the fun GrOOvy kind... HA!) or the cam gear unit has problem with the tamper-proof torx bolts in them (and per BMW N.A. not covered by the 10 year extended warranty) What is REALLY hard for me is that I already replaced the valve cover myself and everything went fairly well. Only a couple of minor things but worked around them. I was RIGHT THERE to inspect the cam gears and the cam caps but didn't know to do it at that point. I was just replacing the valve cover to eliminate the vacuum leak and the PCV valve whistle in the cover. To re-inspect the probable parts (cam gear and for the grooves), a tear down back to removing the valve cover would be in order. I took pictures at the tear down point (which I am going to post here) but they are not really able to give any information. Hence, you see me frustrated and really not wanting to take the valve cover back off. Tear down and 50% chance it's going to be a replacement head that is needed (which is above my mechanic skills).

Sell the car as-is running?? What to do?! Thanks for reading and would appreciate any input or other thoughts!

Have a great day!

Well, after a lot of contemplating, I decided to sell the BMW. Didn't have the time to be able to re-tear it down myself and it was going to cost two arms and one leg to be able to have a mechanic fix it for me. Unfortunately, don't have the final answer as to what the problem was. It should have either been the cam caps with grooves or the cam gears themselves. Thank you VERY much for the time and helping me make the best decision as to what to do with my wife's BMW.

~Peace out~

[Turbohugh]

So it was running on then developed a vacuum leak?
And replacing the valve cover ( you did it ); the car runs worse and you’re guessing it’s the cams ?

I know i don’t know the whole story but it’s not difficult to get a valve cover wrong . They can be tricky and if you have disa as well that just makes it tougher to get right.
In any case good luck selling it .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk