by "Matt Nichelson" (whoismatt)
Published 11/07/2017 at 19:00
by "Matt Nichelson" (whoismatt)
Published 11/07/2017 at 19:00
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STARS: 1
Update: So the car came out of limp mode and I was able to take it for a scan. Came back as error code 1056 - Control Motor Bank 1 Supply Voltage Input Too Low. Joy. Valvetronic motor I assume?
Original post: I go home for lunch and my car is working just fine. Get ready to leave and it goes into limp mode. It’s a 328i and it’s been rather difficult trying to find info since this seems to be more common for the 335i. I had to leave the car at home and catch a ride back to work. The other crappy part is I don’t have a scanner, so I am going to have to figure out a way to get it to Autozone. When it sits at idle the throttle fluctuates some and when I tried to move forward it won’t go above about 20 MPH. Any ideas what may could be the cause of this?
"GolfR Guy" (golfrguy)
11/07/2017 at 15:26, STARS: 0
Coils maybe? E90M3 just went through an issue with his 328i and that was the culprit
"farscythe - makin da cawfee!" (farscythe)
11/07/2017 at 15:30, STARS: 0
welp last time i had a car that idled wierd and wouldnt go faster than about 20 it was the crankshaft eating itself...
but as yours is a lot more modern.. its probably a sensor gone wibbly wobbly timeywimey or something....
"Matt Nichelson" (whoismatt)
11/07/2017 at 15:31, STARS: 0
I’ve had to replace the coils before so I know what happens for them. When I had a coil go bad I could still get it up to speed, it just idled rough. This time is definitely different.
"Tripper" (tripe46)
11/07/2017 at 15:33, STARS: 0
I’ve had a similar issue in both M3's both were throttle position actuators :(
EDIT: If idle is rough/misfiring it could be a coil had that too (E46)
"e36Jeff now drives a ZHP" (e36jeff)
11/07/2017 at 15:40, STARS: 1
is it misfiring at all?
Also get yourself one of these and the OBD app for your smartphone of your choice. I use OBD car doctor pro, but it’s really up to you. Total cost will be something in the $20-30 range and you’ll have yourself a fully functional scanner. just get the free versions of the software first and find the one that you like best, and get the paid version of that. The one I use cost $4.
"Matt Nichelson" (whoismatt)
11/07/2017 at 15:44, STARS: 0
No misfire. It’ll fluctuate between 500-700 rpm while idling. When you give it gas it’ll go up to about 2k, then will drop right back down.
"jimz" (jimz)
11/07/2017 at 15:48, STARS: 0
is it throttle-by-wire?
"e36Jeff now drives a ZHP" (e36jeff)
11/07/2017 at 15:53, STARS: 0
The lack of a misfire would point away from a physical issue with fuel air or spark delivery. Spark is unlikely to be an issue since that’s typically a “works or doesn’t work” issue, most likely you have a sensor gone bad.
See if you can find the wires to the MAF and unplug them. That should flip the ECU into a mode where it’s assuming the airflow based on throttle position and temps. If it keeps the same behavior, it’s probably not the MAF. If it starts acting normalish, it could be the MAF giving bad readings. It’s OK to drive the car around with the MAF unplugged, just take it easy and don’t floor it. There are a ton of things that could be giving bad readings, the MAF is just the easiest one to check.
"Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs" (yowen)
11/07/2017 at 16:09, STARS: 0
From just generally hearing about people with this problem, I’ve heard plugged up catalytic converters can cause cars to go into limp mode. But not at all sure if that’s a thing in this case.
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
11/07/2017 at 16:09, STARS: 0
"just-a-scratch" (just-a-scratch)
11/07/2017 at 16:12, STARS: 0
The oddly varying idle speed sounds like an air issue to me. MAF problem, vacuum leak, throttle position sensor?
I don’t really know, just putting ideas out there.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
11/07/2017 at 16:22, STARS: 0
Did it actually say it was in limp mode? I know when the M3 went into limp mode it had like no power, it would do 70 mph though, after like 2 minutes.
Doesn’t sound like a coil or anything like that, which recently happened to me. The car didn’t go into limp mode for that.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
11/07/2017 at 16:24, STARS: 0
The TPAs don’t affect idling though. Well at least it didn’t in my case.
Doubt it’s a coil, because my 328i didn’t change RPMs when idling like that. It was just running super rough, but didn’t go into limp mode.
"Matt Nichelson" (whoismatt)
11/07/2017 at 16:38, STARS: 0
Thanks! I will check it when I get home and see if that works.
"Matt Nichelson" (whoismatt)
11/07/2017 at 16:38, STARS: 0
Same for mine, hence why I figure it’s something different this time.
"Matt Nichelson" (whoismatt)
11/07/2017 at 16:40, STARS: 0
I don’t have a screen, so all I get is the yellow engine light. I would assume that’s what it is, but I could be wrong.
"Matt Nichelson" (whoismatt)
11/07/2017 at 16:41, STARS: 0
I’m gonna get it scanned this evening and see what codes it’s throwing. Until then I am trying to just think through what all it could be.
"Matt Nichelson" (whoismatt)
11/07/2017 at 16:42, STARS: 0
Ideas are always appreciated! Once I can get it scanned I may know more.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
11/07/2017 at 16:42, STARS: 0
If it looks like this, then yes it’s limp mode. I was going to say maybe it’s a VANOS issue, but my dad’s 135is has a VANOS issue and it didn’t put the car in limp mode. Also that shouldn’t affect the idle that much. Hopefully it’s something simple.
"Matt Nichelson" (whoismatt)
11/07/2017 at 16:57, STARS: 1
Yep, that’s it. I am hoping for something simple as well. Hopefully I will know more this evening when I have time to go over it.
"xsnowpig" (xsnowpig)
11/07/2017 at 17:09, STARS: 0
my 07 335xi had the same limp mode icon 3 times in the first month of me being the second owner. the limp mode would let me get home at moderate speed and clear the next am at startup. picked up a scanner from Bavauto and it was the vanos code. quick swap and no vanos codes since. good luck.
"merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc" (merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc)
11/07/2017 at 19:15, STARS: 0
Low battery and possibly bad alternator?
"Matt Nichelson" (whoismatt)
11/07/2017 at 20:33, STARS: 0
Just replaced the battery about a month ago. I don’t think the alternator has ever been replaced.
"Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs" (yowen)
11/08/2017 at 15:09, STARS: 0
Any luck after a scan? I’m very curious what it turns out to be!
"Matt Nichelson" (whoismatt)
11/08/2017 at 15:21, STARS: 0
The code goes back to the valvetronic motor. Could have just been a short. I need to change the head gasket as it has been leaking oil. There’s a chance it could have just seeped in and caused a short or something to that effect. The car runs like normal now so I don’t thing it’s the motor itself.
"Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs" (yowen)
11/08/2017 at 15:34, STARS: 0
ah good to hear! You have a head gasket job looming, but at least you knew that. And at least you are running normally again.
Last time my car went into a limp mode of sorts it was my turbo that had blown its impeller to bits and lodged it into the catalytic converter. This caused a bunch of white smoke to pour out of the exhaust due to coolant getting past some seal in the turbo.
All that to say, I had feared I had catastrophic engine failure due to the white smoke and was similarly thankful as you were that it was something external to the engine.
Planning on doing the headgasket job yourself?
"Matt Nichelson" (whoismatt)
11/08/2017 at 21:19, STARS: 0
That sounds bad. At least it was external as you said. Indeed. My wife and I both enjoy wrenching together (how awesome is that?), so we’ll be doing it once we get the new gasket set in. I already know it’s a pain to get the cover off, but the rest really isn’t that difficult.
"merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc" (merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc)
11/09/2017 at 06:54, STARS: 0
If the old battery was too low a voltage and you jumped it to get it going and tried t use the alternator to bring it the charge level up, that might have cooked the alternator. What I mean is, say the battery was at some crazy low voltage like 8v, then you jumped the car and drove it for an hour to try and recharge the battery... that’s hard on an alternator and can kill those as well. So you replace a battery, only to find it low voltage in a short time because the alternator is no longer charging.
Long shot, but it’d be good to check the alternator voltage.
"Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs" (yowen)
11/09/2017 at 09:09, STARS: 1
Wow, that’s awesome. Good luck to the both of you!
"Matt Nichelson" (whoismatt)
11/09/2017 at 09:44, STARS: 0
Indeed. Checked the voltage and it’s fine. I replaced the battery about a month ago. I took the old battery out and took my wife’s car to get a replacement as well. Didn’t wanna take any chances.
"Matt Nichelson" (whoismatt)
11/09/2017 at 09:45, STARS: 0
Ikr?! I couldn’t have asked for better. Thanks!
"merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc" (merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc)
11/09/2017 at 12:00, STARS: 0
Does BMW have a specific scan tool you can use? My Audi uses vag-com, and I have purchased a rosstech version of it to check each module to get all the error codes that aren’t normally accessible via an obd2 scanner. It’s been well worth the cost of the initial scan tool purchase. It could possibly help you here, as there may be specific errors recorded in the module that could help you pinpoint the bad part.