E30 318i: Replaced AFM (Air-Flow Meter)

I’d been messing with my AFM in order to get the car running ok when cold and when I finally fixed the massive air leak on the inlet manifold I then struggled to reset the AFM back to standard. 

In order to get the M40 to idle ok while the engine was cold I adjusted the mixture setting to run richer. Obviously this was providing enough fuel to stop the engine cutting out while the plenum was filling with as much air as the cylinders could gulp through the gap in the manifold gasket. It runs and drives ok in this setting, but idles quite high (about 1100rpm) and you can smell the stink of neat petrol out of the exhaust. Ok for short trips shunting the project car around but will need addressing to enjoy it before summer ends!

The real problem began when I had repaired the gasket, got the engine running smoothly and then tried to reset the AFM back to a stock, or near stock value. To begin with I had been putting marks and taking photos to recall where the settings were before I started messing, but you know how it is, once you get immersed into a several day long tweaking session (take that as you will!) the tendency is to get lost along the way.

I gave up trying in the end and decided the only way to dial this engine in and be sure I was not fighting with a dodgy AFM was to buy one that had not been messed with. This is in my interests anyway, as I got one from a car with far lower miles on it so the carbon-track is less worn and I know the air-temp sensor is OK too, which was a doubt with the original one.

E30 318i M40b18: High / erratic idle issues NOW FIXED, stable at 800rpm + good throttle-response finally

After my cutting out when cold problem and no low-end throttle response from a busted lower inlet-manifold gasket (THIS POST) and high / pulsing idle issue from a poorly set throttle-stop screw (THIS POST), I have finally got the old E30 ticking over properly. It now sits at about 800rpm on idle and throttle response is smooth across the range. Pleasant.

E30 318i M40: GUIDE - Replacing lower inlet-manifold gasket - rough idle and stalling fixed!

After all the diagnosis and testing from THIS POST, I found the cause of my rough idle and stalling out when cold was a damaged paper gasket on the lower inlet-manifold allowing unmetered air to be drawn in to the plenum at will and confusing the AFM and DME over how much fuel to deliver. 

The engine just about ticked over when warm, albeit with a slight misfire. On cold startups however, the misfire was a lot more severe and at low revs the engine just couldn’t hold on, stalling out due to a way over-lean mixture. It would drive though, but there was no throttle response until about halfway up the rev range and power would arrive with a bang. It is amazing how sensitive these older engines with analog electronics are to unmetered air leaks!

IF YOU HAVE THESE SYMPTOMS, CHECK HERE!

I ordered a new gasket from eBay, it was a snip at £6.88. Be careful when ordering, older M10 engine gaskets are far more plentiful, so ensure yours is the right one for the M40... they have a funny shape which is quite distinctive. Choice was limited, in fact I could find one more gasket for sale of the right type and that came with a full £30 set including a head gasket, so be sure to check out carpartsinmotion, they have rare-fit stuff.

GUIDE:

1. Undo the jubilee-clip and disconnect the large rubber duct from the throttle-body using a flat screwdriver or 7mm socket.

2. Unclip the throttle-cable from the throttle-linkage and remove the two 10mm screws holding the metal plate to the throttle-body so the cable assembly can be moved clear.

3. Remove the wiring connectors from the throttle position sensor [TPS] and idle control valve [ICV].

4. Remove the rubber hose from the bottom of the ICV.

5. Remove the vacuum air hose from the front side of the throttle-body by undoing the jubilee-clip and teasing it off carefully with a flat screwdriver.

6. Remove the two coolant hoses from either side of the throttle-body by undoing the jubilee clips and teasing them off with a flat screwdriver. 

7. Remove the six nuts from the upper inlet-manifold using an 11mm wrench [9 in diagram] and two locating studs in the centre with a 10mm wrench [13 in diagram]. 

8. The upper inlet-manifold can now be lifted out of the engine bay.

9. Remove the wiring connector from the fuel-rail / injectors. 

10. Remove the metal fuel send and return pipes from each end of the fuel-rail by undoing the jubilee clips. (This is where it gets messy, you may wish to plug or clamp the ends of these hoses). The send pipe is attached to the fuel pressure regulator [FPR] at the front of the fuel-rail and the return pipe is at the back of the rail.

11. Remove the five nuts holding the ports of the lower inlet-manifold to the head using an 11mm socket [4 in diagram].

12. Remove the two bracing bolts from the lower inlet-manifold using a 13mm socket. (They point towards the right side of the car) [11 in diagram].

13. The lower inlet manifold is now free to be removed. This can be a bit tricky as the rigid fuel pipes are routed through one of the gaps in the manifold ports. Also make a note of how the hoses to the throttle-body are routed through around the lower manifold, as it can be confusing once the upper manifold is bolted back in.

14. Clean off the mating surfaces of the cylinder head and the inlet manifold.

15. Carefully fit the new gasket to the studs on the head. It only fits one way round.

16. To refit reverse the above steps.

E30 318i [M40]: Massive air leak SOLVED - lower inlet-manifold gasket

I had checked and re-checked the idle control valve [ICV], the air-flow meter [AFM], ignition system, tested for the fuel pressure, performed tests on the DME [ECU] to make sure that was working and even laboriously tested the wiring loom for continuity, but still the engine idles terribly when cold. It ticks over lumpy, shakes the engine side to side and cuts out at will, even when power is applied. 

I checked the timing and all was good, under the rocker-cover showed no defective valves and the cam-shaft doesn't look all that worn. I guess the only thing left to check is the injectors... right?? Now hold on a minute I hear the E30 and M40 engine gurus cry, the symptoms you've described point towards an obvious massive air leak in the induction system! 

This is true and is also the very first thing I looked for and tested. Initially I performed the 'spray' test using a can of brake-cleaner (though 'Easy-start', carb-cleaner or electrical-cleaner work too, anything with alcohol content). This involves running the engine and spraying brake-cleaner around the intake-manifold, ICV, vacuum hoses, throttle-body etc. If unwanted air is being sucked in, say through a split hose, the brake-cleaner will be sucked in and combusted by the engine causing it to rev higher. If you are spraying in one particular place and the engine revs increase accordingly then you have found your air-leak. Thing is, I did this test over and over again and it showed nothing. 

I’ve heard that air can be sucked in past the injector bodies when the rubber sealing rings have degraded over time and that the lower intake-manifold is also a main culprit, but spraying round this area made no difference to the engine revs or affected the poor idle. I did a compression test and the readings were a bit low, but not enough to cause any issues.

At this point I decided it to bite the bullet and begin stripping things down. The removal of the lower intake-manifold is quite complicated because it involves removing the fuel-lines from the rail, which is why I put it off, but clearly if you want to fix something then you need to get your hands dirty so off came the fuel lines and away came the lower manifold to reveal.... well, as you can see from the photo, a virtually non existent gasket. Sigh. 

Cylinder 1 has a massive gap where the gasket is no longer there, so whenever there is a vacuum in the plenum it’s just filling up with fresh air even with the throttle-body shut and this explains why the ICV appears to be doing nothing and leads people to look there first. Whoever was refitting the manifold was obviously in a rush because the broken gasket has folded over on itself, causing the air gap to be even bigger. I guess they just tightened it hoping to make a seal, but alas no. Cylinder 2 is not much better with a noticeable gap and the rest of the gasket squashed flat. Cylinders 3 and 4 are better, but still paper thin. It looks like this may be the original gasket and the past 35 years have not been kind to it (or to me for that matter).

So... looks like I have found the culprit of the rough idle. Finally! New gasket is ordered, a snip at £6.88! Amazing how such a simple thing can cause such a severe problem and goes to show how sensitive these ‘analog’ ‘80s cars are to air metering issues!

E30 318i M40: Misfire and self-revving - symptoms of major induction air-leak

This video shows the symptoms of an air-leak in the induction system, where unmetered are drawn in after the throttle-body causes a terribly poor idle, a permanent misfire and the engine to rev itself gently. The tendency is to look at the ICV (idle control-valve), ignition coil, AFM (air-flow meter) etc., but chances are it will be an air-leak on the induction. In this case it turned out to be a damaged and disintegrated gasket where the lower inlet-manifold mates to the cylinder-head. 

E36 Compact: M43 Oil Change + Filter Removal.

Got round to changing the oil and filter on the Compact, as I've been running it for a month with the mayonnaise filled concoction left from the dodgy head-gasket / cooling issue.

Removing Oil-Filter:

The filter-housing on the later M43 316i / 318i is right down in the bowels of the engine and impossible to get to easily, as they are on almost all other BMWs. The lid has no nut either to undo it from above, so the only way is to use an old-skool oil-filter removal tool from the side, only most of the engine prevents this.

The simplest way to get it off is to remove the fan-cowl and fan. This way there is just about enough room at the front of the engine to get a turn on the filter with the removal tool. I found a chain based removal tool works well, but a steel-belt one would probably be just as good. It isn't essential, but I removed the top inlet-manifold too, just to see what I was doing more clearly.

1. Remove the fan-cowl by undoing the two top screws with a 10mm socket and lifting it off, popping it out from the air-inlet ducts at either side.

2. Remove the two 8mm screws holding either side of the rear edge of the fan-housing at the top and lift the fan vertically up, sliding it out of the two bottom lugs.

3. Slide the removal-tool in from the front and there should now be room enough to get a turn on the filter-housing lid, even if it's as tight on as mine was.