BMW 330d E46. Cutting out. Silly money spent.

I have a 2003 E46 330d 184bhp with M57 enigine.
Had an ongoing issue of randomly cutting out at idle, startups then taking long cranking to fire back up but then cuts out, I do this over and over, sometimes leave for 10 mins, come back and all is fine.
Once running I can keep revs at 1500ish, wait approx 60 seconds and then revs pick up higher, then I know I can take foot off pedal and engine idles normally.

The car operates with zero issues when driven at speed, still pulls as it should, never cut out on me at speed.

I can go as long as a week with daily use and never have a problem, then one day it can happen several times.

Been to two garages.
One ran diagnosistics, found no faults that related to any fuel, electrics or sensor issues.

I began replacing parts based on info gained from forums like this.
So far I have replaced:
Fuel filter
Fuel pump relay
In tank fuel pump
Pre supply fuel pump
Crankshaft sensor
Camshaft sensor
Vacuum lines
Fuel rail pressure sensor

After all this still no joy.

Took it to a Bosch diesel specialist.
They too found no faults under diagnostics.
Ran tests on all 6 injectors, no faults but were cleaned.

After this work car ran fine for 5 days, again thought it had been fixed but then cut out again on driveway.

I removed the intake manifold, cleaned the MAP sensor, checked wiring and cleaned all and any electrical contacts I could see while the manifold was off.

So here I am, baffled and so are the so called experts.

Out of desperation I have ordered a new MAP sensor and Fuel pressure regulator that sits on the high pressure fuel pump.
Waiting for them to arrive but I'm not expecting them to sort the fault.

Has anyone got any ideas...I'll take any suggestions.

Cheers

Brad

 

Hello. Wish I could give you a definitive answer to this one. Sounds like you have been through the entire system to find this intermittent fault.
Could this be an electrical issue? Possible temp short on one of the pump/injector relays that causes this? If cold there is a limited connection, once warm the expansion gives full conductivity. A guess at best.
Had a similar issue with a 2008 N53 engined E92, erratic idle from cold, fluctuating for 20 mins or so. Had two sets of diagnostics, one said coils the other said no faults. I replaced all six coils (how much...!) and it still happened. Never did get to the bottom of that one.

 

I couldn’t be further from an expert
However, would be beneficial to check your earth points
In particular the strap from chassis to engine beside the starter motor, thereafter checking all earth points, strut tower and rear at boot
It’s worth having a battery health check carried out, I believe the starter motors can go open circuit and cause similar traits
It may also be worth checking Altenator wiring
A couple of pointers suggesting I think your issue is electrical not fuelling or sensor

 

Do you have any diagnostic software?

Where do you live? Perhaps someone local with diagnostic software could take a look.

Usually there is a clue in the fault codes but you do need BMW specific software like ISTA, or DIS. Carly might do it or a C310 scanner.

I have to say you have covered all the bases. One thing I would check is the DDE connections, they can corrode and cause odd problems.

Another thing to check would be the alternator charge voltage, should be pretty steady, around 14V when idling or reving the engine. If it bounces around more than +/- 0.2V then the alternator brushes are gone and voltage spikes or drops could cause the DDE to shut the engine down.

 

I'm in Essex SS7 in between Southend and Basildon.
This is video of cranking to start once it cuts out.

 

Damn, Essex is a bit too far from Bristol, hopefully someone nearer can step in.

Surely there must be some fault codes logged.

That is odd how well it revs but struggles to start or stay running at idle, do check the voltage it's easy to do either with the hidden menu or a multimeter on the jump start terminals.

 

Based on that video I think I'd look at the Fuel Pressure Regulator - there's an O-ring that can fail.

I suspect your car hasn't got a DPF but if it has it might be worth checking the back pressure.

 

Changed the regulator today...bit of a mare getting to it but all done now.
Several runs and no issues...but then it does like to trick me into thinking it's fixed

No DPF, just a shiny Ecotune pipe

 

That is a great result, hopefully it remains reliable

 

Has the car behaved so far?

 

Quick update on my issue.

So as you know I changed the Fuel Pressure Regulator on the back of the high pressure fuel pump.
Intake manifold off again to do it and not the easiest place to get to.
Done last Thursday, since then used daily and fingers crossed no more stalling.

Interesting that no fault codes could be found relating to the regulator.

Total spent trying to fix close to £1500 for what looks like a £100 part.

Had the car 10 years, bought off my Managing Director who had from new so just couldn't give up on the car.

Coming off the road soon for 6 months to restore underneath and give it a full respray.
Hopefully do me another 10 years.

Thanks to anyone who made suggestions.

Brad

 

Great stuff. Fingers crossed.

 

Hi, hopefully your issue is sorted. If it crops up again have you though about checking your immobiliser?


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