325e questions

First off Hello Everyone. My first time here first time owning a BMW. I had a friend give me a 325e runs great. I'm not new to working on cars at all. $7 years old I have worked on a few in my days. Any way I have a few questions. I did a little work on it and need to clear any codes to see how if anything new comes up. Can I just disconnect the battery and clear the codes or ? Also the spark plugs had crusty gray on them #1 and 2# were the worst they had a bunch. does that mean it's running hot? or? also it feels a little sluggish like a car that's out of timing. the book shows no need to set the timing.? Any way to check and or adjust if not what should I look at that could cause it to be sluggish. PS the car had a head job and new valves in 07. Sorry one last thing the speedometer is not working. I swapped out the censer on the dif. is that the speedometer censor? Is there a other reason the speedometer would not work.. Thank you all for your help. I look forward to learning more about the BMW Vincent S

1. check the gap on your sparkplugs
2. you cant adjust the timing, try a new fuel filter, air filter, and check for vacuum leaks
3. yes the speedometer sensor is the one on the rear diff, check your fuses, and the ground nut on the back of the cluster

Car is just sluggish. 100whp or so, even with ~2700lbs won't be fast lol. Mini-vans out-run the 325e.

On the good side, you have a reliable car that gets great gas mileage.

No codes for the eta (the meaning behind the "e") as there's not even a check engine light.

Welcome to the community!

EDIT: free cars are the best!

^ no we have a check light.. it just doesnt do anything lol

Thank you for the replies. noexceptions325 I just put new plugs in and checked the gap. I changed the air filer and checked for vacuum leaks. But it is running a little ruff after the new air filter i guess I need to check the air hose closer to make sure it is not cracked. I will check the fuses. Everything else works so I don't think it's a fuse I will check the ground and other connections. Thanks for the input. ForcedFirebird thanks for the input as well

These cars are extremely sensitive to vacuum leaks. Check with some carb cleaner as 25 yr old hoses tend to breach.

Originally Posted by ForcedFirebird

Car is just sluggish. 100whp or so, even with ~2700lbs won't be fast lol. Mini-vans out-run the 325e.

these cars didnt have the hp, but they did have the torque. what gets you off the line, thats right torque.

and if the filter caused it to run rougher, i would clean the icv, and change the fuel filter. about the only other thing that cause my car to run sluggish was the intank pump went out.

Thank you Downhiller. Now it's running very rough when cold. It starts great idles good then it starts idling rough when I try to drive it boggs down and stumbles real bad. I pulled over and try to get it to rev but it stumbled and idles rough, then revved and drives normal. The only time it does this is when it's cold. Any idea? Also it seems to shift to soon. I adjusted the TV cable. is there a way to adjust the time between it shifting from first to second and second to third?

5spd conversion. as of short shifting in an auto, the tps could be mis aligned or youre not heavy enough on the throttle. clean the icv like no other and adjust the idle by the screw on the icv. that could help the rough idle

What is the icv?

the Idle Control Valve.

325es pull hard for only having 121bhp. the torque gets that car moving well. i own a 325is and a 24v e30 .. i still miss the pull of an eta.

Thank you

Originally Posted by downhiller

these cars didnt have the hp, but they did have the torque. what gets you off the line, thats right torque.

and if the filter caused it to run rougher, i would clean the icv, and change the fuel filter. about the only other thing that cause my car to run sluggish was the intank pump went out.

I know all to well, my car has been on the track and dyno a few times.

Originally Posted by fcsteve

the Idle Control Valve.

325es pull hard for only having 121bhp. the torque gets that car moving well. i own a 325is and a 24v e30 .. i still miss the pull of an eta.

I didn't know you had an eta! Yeah they pull great at the beginning of the gear, but then run out of steam awfully fast. 121bhp/160btq, my car showed 100whp/140wtq stock (134/145 current)

Originally Posted by Vincent S

Thank you

You can diagnose the ICV by disconnecting it while throttling it up when the issue arises. The ICV opens along with the throttle, disconnecting it freezes it's position. Then letting the throttle back to the normal position the problem will either still be there or absent.

Sounds like you need to give the car a good cleaning and tune up if you haven't already. Use MAF cleaner and clean out the air flow meter (AFM) as well as the ICV. Spray carb cleaner at your vac hoses and intake boot while the car is running to find any leaks. Check the resistance on your wires, they should be less than 7k ohms, if more, replace them. Take your distributor cap off and check the back for pits in the contacts, and take a good look at the rotor. Check your throttle position sensor (TPS), when fully closed it should read 0ohms in the closed position, if it doesn't it needs to be adjusted. anything above zero throttle should be infinite ohms.

These cars, even though fuel injected, yet are rather simple.