Cold Start Stalling

[Masskrug]

A question...

I have 12000 flawless miles on my current car, in contrast to my first 323i.

Unfortunately for the past month, every morning cold start ends up in a very rough idle for no more than half a second and a subsequent stall. The engine fires up again with no problem and no rough idle, and seems to perform normally for the rest of the day. All starts after the morning seem to be fine. No changes in gas, coolant, or oil level. Did oil and filter changes at 1200 and 7500 miles. Haven't checked the air filter yet. No warning lights staying lit.

If you had a thought about this, I'd love to hear it. I am close to my Inspection 1, so am reluctant to bring it in for an early visit.

[Artslinger]

I would definitely take the car in if its stalling every morning, you never know if the problem will get worse or eventually leave you stranded. Should be very easy for the tech to diagnose since the problem happens every morning. You'll probably have to leave it over night so they can start the car in the morning though.

[dduk]

Mine does that sporadically. Was so bad in the winter that I couldn't get it started (plus the battery was dead for some reason :dunno: ). They replaced 2 spark plugs (18k miles) and it helped for a while. It's also a little fussy when it rains outside. Guess I'll be changing plugs every 20k miles or so.:thumbdwn:

[mark1]

Sounds a lot like a MAF Sensor problem to me.

[328ci312a]

same thing happened to me they said it was a bad camshaft sensor, it made it better but did not solve the problem....but this a common problem on bmws.....do a thread search on e46fanatics.com

[Masskrug]

Originally posted by 328ci312a
same thing happened to me they said it was a bad camshaft sensor, it made it better but did not solve the problem....but this a common problem on bmws.....do a thread search on e46fanatics.com

Admittedly the last engine I had was a M52TU as opposed to the M54, but I NEVER had this problem on 35000 miles on my old 323.

[flintdragon]

Had this happen to me for about a week a few months after buying it ('02 325i). Took it to the shop, they couldn't duplicate it (surprise surprise) and no fault codes. It hasn't happened since.

[NewBmwGuy]

Nothing really to add to this, but to say that there is good info here and it sounds like you should go ahead and take it in. I have never had a problem with cold starts in the a.m. In fact, there were a few days where I started the car up when the temp was as low as 37 outside, but no problem. My car is garaged though where it is a bit warmer. Good luck. :thumbup:

[vatkens]

I’m with BMW of North America, LLC. I’m so sorry to read you are experiencing a problem starting your 323i in the mornings. If you or your BMW center need our help resolving this, you can phone us at (800) 831-1117 or email us through the Owners’ Circle at www.bmwusa.com.