328i "Traction Control"

[Brad328I]

Hey,

I own a '97 BMW 328I and love it, but lately I have been having some trouble. The traction control light was coming on and now stays on. I understand that that could be multiple things including the high possiblity of it being the wheel sensors.

The new problem that has occured now in relation to that, or atleast I believe in relation to the traction control seeing that the light is now on continuously. The car will not accelerate like normal. The car spins the wheels if slippery, which I expect because the traction control is not working, but if I hold the gas pedal to the floor it will take literally minutes to get up to 50-60 miles an hour. Kinda like the traction control is holding it back from accelerating...feels like I'm pulling a big anchor.

I haven't had it in yet to see what codes are being put out, that's my next step, but I saw this site and thought that I would ask. I did replace the throttle actuator with a used one, but it didn't seem to make a difference. When I first looked into this I was told that the throttle actuator was to read 1000 ohms of resistance and mine is reading "0". Is this a true test for it??

Please give me your thoughts...Thanks.

[jasonf860]

Sounds like your ASC throttlebody is stuck ina semi-closed position. remove the airbox, MAF, and the intake boot and see if the butterfly is able to move freely. It may also be a good idea to clean it with some throttlebody cleaner. This could also be why your ASC light is always on.

you "Could" buy a boot for a non-ASC equipped car, remove the ASC throttlebody (zip tie it out of the way for now) and replace it with the normal boot. If the hesitation goes away, there is your problem!

[Brad328I]

Thanks alot for the info. I will give that a try.

[Pirate_copy]

I agree

This may help. few differences, but the idea is the same - http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=210110

[Brad328I]

Thanks alot for the help!!! I'll give it a try tonight and let you know if that fixed it.

[surfwooder]

Hello, I had a simular problem with my 328IC. The traction control light would come on seldom, then more often, then all the time. The car did some strainge things as to traction, and transmission. The actual culpret was my stress bar. Seems the stress bar was not for my year of car, and rested on the plug on top of the throttle body. This caused the plug to become lopsided and finally failed. I changed the plug, and back to normal.

[jasonf860]

I agree

This may help. few differences, but the idea is the same - http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=210110

+1 Pirate's thread also has a great pic of the non-asc intake boot too!