1995 540i won't start

Fuel regulator was checked and verified perfect alongside of a new one that I ordered during the orginal fiasco. Intake was pulled to 'check' for abnormalities during the fiasco as well and all is in perfect order.

Thank for your help though as you never know.

Originally Posted by cutter67

outside chance have you checked you fuel pressure regulator a bad one can give some of the systoms you are talking about here also a bad manifold gasket

I double checked and the valve is in perfect working order. The engine 'idle' changes everytime it's plugged in and unplugged as well.

Again,

Thanks,

Originally Posted by samsonnyc

Generally, you know that the icv is damaged when the engine has trouble holding idle or you get a code. I think you clean it by spraying carburetor cleaner into it and shaking it about, until all the black stuff has drained out. The valve inside should not be gummed up, if it can't move easily, it will not regulate the idle properly.

I don't think you're stupid you are clearly an expert, but everyone gets careless. Its a long shot. Very long shot

Best,

Rick in Ohio

I don't usually quote myself in the reply but:

I checked all of the plugs by ringing out the pins on both ends of each plug to the DMW with my multimeter. Used my Bentley and ALL wiring is perfect and rings out true in continuity.

I was 'hoping' that may have been an issue but alas another dead end.

Rick in Ohio

Originally Posted by rv6rick

Yes, this my 2nd NEW MAF sensor as I hoped the first NEW one was bad.

You make a good point about a connector hooked to the wrong device and this is something I will double check after work.

How do you clean and/or check the idle control valve?

Looking at all options so NOTHING is stupid but maybe me!

Car is at home and out of commission.

Thanks for the help it is greatly appreciated!

Rick in Ohio

If all your wiring is ok, and your maf and icv is ok,
And the car goes crazy when you plug in good wiring into a new maf,

I hesitate to say this but it must be your computer. Something in the motherboard might be melted or shorted or crossed. You want to open up the casing and check for burn marks?

Is there such a thing as a code for the computer, stored on the computer?

Op you are my bimmer hero. Ive learned much from this thread. And its an perfect example of how awesome this forum is. Hope it all works out.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Bimmer App

Thanks. The pic of your car is EXACTLY the same as mine!

UPDATE:

I tested all of my cooling sensors voltage coming in and resistance across the sensors per the Bentley manual and they ALL checked out perfect. I was hoping the one for the temp gauge was bad as the gauge had quit working during the fiasco. So, pulled the cover off the wire box by the right side valve cover and I started ringing out the wires...long story short is I found that the end of the connector to the sender only rang true on ONE WIRE. I stripped some insulation from the wire a few inches back and tested it again and it was GOOD. So I peeled back the rubber boot and found the wire had pulled out of the crimp. Fixed it and the gauge rings out so it will work fine now.

ON THE ENGINE ISSUES:

I had another DME from a '94 model 540i so I installed it in the car. I already told you how trashy the car was running so no need to repeat that. It wouldn't start with the number 66 pin connected and I didn't feel like tracking down that wire and cutting it so I simply broke the pin off of the DME ....took care of that . I started the car and WITH the MAF hooked up it seemed to idle a little 'different' than before....not good not bad but definately differant. But, I got the 'TRANS PROGRAM' light so the tranny was out. When I put it into reverse it responded with a HUGE....KLUNK....same in drive. Since I figured I'll be trashing the car I drove it anyway . I knew something was wrong as soon as I gave it some gas.....it was in LIMP MODE and stuck in 4th gear. I said 'who cares' and away I went. It seemed to run a little 'better' but still not right but the MPG was way up from my usual 7 or 8 MPG. So, I brought it home and stuck my old DME back in and it actually ran better...FAR from good and ANYTHING was an improvement. Again....I wasn't recommisioning the car...it just wasn't stalling at every corner. So, I accelerated and all the sudden I heard sounds like I ran over a great big pile of rocks . I looked in the rear view mirror and saw ALL KINDS of smoke coming out of the back so I knew it was over!!

I figured I blew a radiator hose or something but when I popped the hood the problem was evident. The fan came apart and lost a section off every blade. Then it took out the pulley as it was wobbling and throwing blades (no the pulley didn't break first) as well as the cooling shroud. A section of one of the blades when through the radiator. So, that explained the 'rocks' (parts flying off the car and me running over them) and the smoke.....antifreeze all over the exhaust !!

When it rains it pours eh !

Because of this I purchased another DME that is made FOR THIS CAR. I think this may take care of it but we've been wrong before....ha ha.....at least I still have my sense of humor.

As a side bar....I've now been working on this car for 5 weeks trying to get it all sorted out. Worked on it everyday but Sunday....I forget what I used to do in the evenings .

Also, I'll mention that the oil light has NOT come on since the 6th time I took the pan off. I'm guessing I got most of the carbon grit out there.....WHOOOHOOOO....SUCCESS BABY.....something went right !!

Rick in Ohio

Originally Posted by gmnmsclM540i

Op you are my bimmer hero. Ive learned much from this thread. And its an perfect example of how awesome this forum is. Hope it all works out.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Bimmer App

Exploding fan seems to ring a bell

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Bimmer App

Post #23 from http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=672548

That lights went on after reading that. OP, I think I've got your marlin.

These seem to be happening to you. First, your car was driving normally with the old maf unplugged. Then you plugged in a new maf and it started idling rough. Then you unplugged the dme to reset adaptations and it fell apart. Then you disconnected the battery to reset adaptations and tried another new maf and it remained bad. Then you put in a spare dme and the idle actually improved, but you now had a trans program. Then you switched back the old dme and the idle was very much improved.

This clearly shows that the wires around your dme clamp are faulty somehow, the part that moves when you move the clamp. Or maybe the connectors in the clamp bottom which fix to your dme pins. Something over and around there is bad.

The spare dme should either work or not work. It cannot work and then create a transmission error. The idle also improved somehow. The old dme back again should not improve the idle even more. It should go back to the old bad running. The trans error also suddenly disappeared.

Your battery disconnect changed nothing because the problem was somewhere else and not dme adaptations.

If, when you fixed the new maf in, you had reset the adaptations by doing the battery disconnect, your engine would have been alright. This is not because the dme disconnect does not work, but because the dme wiring on your car is messed up. Dme disconnect is a very standard way to reset adaptations and more convenient and does not wipe out the tripmeter's memory.

Your other dme for your exact car is not going to help, except by pure accident. You now have 2 working dmes. What makes you think that a third will help ?

Did you buy a dme from the dealer, which is what you have to do to get it to run on your car. You have the immobiliser system. Your dme is trained to look for YOUR car's immobiliser. Another silver dme needs flashing before it will work for you.

Idea. Disconnect and reconnect your dme and start the engine. If you do this 20 times, you will probably randomly hit the right combination if the problem was the clamp wires. This won't work if the problem is the connectors in the clamp. Each time you disconnect, your old error codes are wiped so its a fast job.

Of course, with your expert knowledge, you can unscrew the black plastic part of the dme clamp, and inspect all the wiring above that for like about 1 foot out at least. And the connectors in the clamp.

Two good ecus basically rules out the ecu. You have rung out all the wires and checked pinouts, but you did that one by one. Did you do all the circuits at the same time ? If not, you might not be able to trace bad wiring interplay. Only one circuit is live at one time.

With respect, I think your observational skills are very bad. Even without the dme adaptation post, you should have seen this as you are standing infront of the car. Maybe by working till 1 am every day for 5 weeks, you are so stressed up that you are missing things. Then, the problem might not even be what I say here. It may be something else that you're missing by bad basic observation due to stress.

First....thanks for the reply....I continue to try and gain a little bit of knowledge and DO appreciate your comments as well as the others that have offered info to my klunker of a car.

I wish you were here as I'm sure you would have had this car up and running in an hour and I could have been spending time with my family. I wish I knew more about this stuff but I just don't. But I'm grateful for this resource of willing folks that offer their help and knowledge.

Funny you mention the wiring harness on the top of the DME as I wondered that myself. But, I did actually ring out every single pin and wire that I could on the DME and did this alongside of the Bentley manual to make sure they were connected. I do this often in troubleshooting things that I know (very little) about. I also rotated the clamp 180 degrees to rule out (partially) the possibilty of a 'intermittent' connection during the wiring checks.....I found none. But that doesn't mean I missed one or ten. But I was indeed hoping to stumble onto something.

Let me also communicate better because I have not done so.....my idle did NOT 'improve'.....I believe I said it was 'different'. 'IF' I said 'improved' I miss spoke and meant to say it was 'differant'. It did stop conking out every time though and only conked out a few times .

As far as the DME 'should' or 'should not' work and 'should not work' and have the trans program error. I can only tell you what the car did. The car started up and ran.....NOT GOOD but it ran. I realize that it's hard to put this into words and interperate them as I'm here and you guys are there. It 'ran' but I would not let my wife take it to the corner......does that help? The same thing when I switched the DME's back and forth....'it ran' but it ran differently.

Also, the trans error did not suddenly disappear. Every time the '94 DME is plugged into the car it has the trans program fault.....every time and this is 100% repeatable.

Maybe this will help. Some of this is 'me'....maybe all of it . It almost doesn't matter what I do......I can unplug one of the cooling temp sensors and it will run 'DIFFERANTLY' when it's plugged back in. Same with the DME or the MAF sensor or the windshield wiper fuse.....this car runs DIFFERENTLY every time it is started even if 'I' didn't do anything. I should have said that a long time ago and apologize for not doing so. This car seems to have a mind of it's own.......savvy???

My expert knowledge.....that's pretty funny.....again.....I barely know how to put on my seat belt and pointed that out in my first post (or should have) that I know absolutelty NOTHING about this car. Gee Wiz....that's why I came here....right .

'My obervational skills are very bad' .....what observational skills? I know nothing about cars including how to drive . I'm not sure how that comment is supposed to help fix my car but it was fun to read anyway....thanks for making me chuckle . Again.....the car runs (and I use that term loosely) DIFFERENT every time it is started......every time, maybe it's the key switch .

It's not in my dna to unplug and replug the DME 20 times to 'see' if it 'fixes' the problem. To me that is not a 'fix' and I would not want to drive a car that I have to jiggle wires with to drive it and 'hope' that the wires don't unjiggle (good word) driving down the road. But, again....I will NOT rule out that there is an issue here even though I rang out the wires as mentioned above. I think I know what you mean though.....see if I can find a spot where it might be 'ok' and if so realize that I've got a bad wire in there somewhere and then try to locate it.....right?

Hey samsonnyc.....give me a teeny weeny itsy bitsy little bit of encouragement for at least trying.....please....it would make me feela lot better . I know I don't know anything but at least I tried.....my dad would give me an 'A' for effort .

I need to also point out that you are not reading 'all' of the info. I have exchanged MANY emails off list with kind and generous folks from this site. They have offered much info that I know nothing about including simply changing out the DME. This goes all the way back to the initial 'no start' issue that started this thread. I have done my best to do the things that they recommened....same as I have done here.

That said....I'm understanding from your post that I've qouted here that a 'new' (used and known to be good) DME will NOT work in my car? Others have told me differently so I appreciate your comments on this. And please explain, 'Another silver dme needs flashing before it will work for you'.

I got the 'idea' of a second (and third) DME from others on this list.....I don't know enough to dream that up . Sounds like that was another bad idea huh?

So, samsonnyc.....where would YOU suggest that I go from here? I value your comments and will do my best to follow your advice and can report back line by line. Thanks in advance!

I do realize that this car served me well for many years and about 100k miles. It's done its job and I am thankful for that. I almost parked it outback in the woods a couple weeks ago. Before I do that if someone wants this car you can have it for FREE. ONLY because you KNOW that it has some issues. Yes....it will run down the road at 135 mph sometimes but other times it will barely make it up a hill.

Also, should have put this at the top but....anyone reading this....PLEASE don't take ANYTHING I type as negative. It's hard for me (and most folks) to put things down on a computer and come out the way I/we want them to. I mean only nice words here and again...appreciate all the help and advice. It is very hard though when I receive conflicting advice .

Now someone take me up on removing this car from my garage!

Think about it.

Guys and Gals....sorry for the long post but 'samsonnyc' made some good points (especially about my observational skills) and I wanted to do my best to communicate properly!

Rick in Ohio

Originally Posted by samsonnyc

Post #23 from http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=672548

That lights went on after reading that. OP, I think I've got your marlin.

These seem to be happening to you. First, your car was driving normally with the old maf unplugged. Then you plugged in a new maf and it started idling rough. Then you unplugged the dme to reset adaptations and it fell apart. Then you disconnected the battery to reset adaptations and tried another new maf and it remained bad. Then you put in a spare dme and the idle actually improved, but you now had a trans program. Then you switched back the old dme and the idle was very much improved.

This clearly shows that the wires around your dme clamp are faulty somehow, the part that moves when you move the clamp. Or maybe the connectors in the clamp bottom which fix to your dme pins.

The spare dme should either work or not work. It cannot work and then create a transmission error. The idle also improved somehow. The old dme back again should not improve the idle even more. It should go back to the old bad running. The trans error also suddenly disappeared.

Your battery disconnect changed nothing because the problem was somewhere else. You have a problem if not your engine would run normally.

If, when you fixed the new maf in, you had reset the adaptations by doing the battery disconnect, your engine would have been alright. This is not because the dme disconnect does not work, but because the dme wiring on your car is messed up. Dme disconnect is a very standard way to reset adaptations and more convenient and does not wipe out the tripmeter's memory.

Your new dme for your exact car is not going to help, except by pure accident. You now have 2 working dmes. What makes you think that a third will help ?

And I hope you did not buy a dme from the dealer, which is what you have to do to get it to run on your car. You have the immobiliser system. Your dme is trained to look for YOUR car's immobiliser. Another silver dme needs flashing before it will work for you.

Idea. Disconnect and reconnect your dme and start the engine. If you do this 20 times, you will probably randomly hit the right combination if the problem was the clamp wires. This won't work if the problem is the connectors in the clamp. Each time you disconnect, your old error codes are wiped so its a fast job.

Of course, with your expert knowledge, you can unscrew the black plastic part of the dme clamp, and inspect all the wiring above that for like about 1 foot out at least. And the connectors in the clamp.

Two good ecus basically rules out the ecu. You have rung out all the wires and checked pinouts, but you did that one by one. Did you do all the circuits at the same time ? If not, you might not be able to trace bad wiring interplay. Only one circuit is live at one time.

With respect, I think your observational skills are very bad. Even without the dme adaptation post, you should have seen this as you are standing infront of the car. Maybe by working till 1 am every day for 5 weeks, you are so stressed up that you are missing things. Then, the problem might not even be what I say here. It may be something else that you're missing by bad basic observation due to stress.

.

I'm now totally confused .

I have folks telling me that changing out the DME 'will' make a difference and repair a car that has a 'bad' DME. Folks are also firmly suggesting that this is what is wrong and I need to do this. This is where I 'got the idea' to purchase another DME. To be clear....one was sent to me to use as a 'test' but it was for another year 540i. It was suggested to 'try' this and then purchase one for my year.

I understood that to mean simply unplug the old DME and plug in the new one. I was understanding that these CAN and DO go bad just like a crank sensor or any other electronic device.

After reading the reply from samsonnyc I'm understanding that the above is not true. I'm also understanding that the change out is not as simple as unplugging one and plugging in another.

Looking for the right answer here. Simple terms for a simple man is always best for me .

Thanks in advance!

Best,

Rick in Ohio

One of many plus many off line.

Best,

Rick in Ohio

Originally Posted by samsonnyc

If all your wiring is ok, and your maf and icv is ok,
And the car goes crazy when you plug in good wiring into a new maf,

I hesitate to say this but it must be your computer. Something in the motherboard might be melted or shorted or crossed. You want to open up the casing and check for burn marks?

Is there such a thing as a code for the computer, stored on the computer?

I feel for you man. At this point, if it was my car, id be going to drastic measures. Replace the wiring harness? Switches and relays? Im at a total loss for ideas im sorry man. Wish it was closer, id take it.

Sent from Joe's Galaxy Tab 2 via BimmerApp

Originally Posted by rv6rick

I'm now totally confused .

I have folks telling me that changing out the DME 'will' make a difference and repair a car that has a 'bad' DME. Folks are also firmly suggesting that this is what is wrong and I need to do this. This is where I 'got the idea' to purchase another DME. To be clear....one was sent to me to use as a 'test' but it was for another year 540i. It was suggested to 'try' this and then purchase one for my year.

I understood that to mean simply unplug the old DME and plug in the new one. I was understanding that these CAN and DO go bad just like a crank sensor or any other electronic device.

After reading the reply from samsonnyc I'm understanding that the above is not true. I'm also understanding that the change out is not as simple as unplugging one and plugging in another.

Looking for the right answer here. Simple terms for a simple man is always best for me .

Thanks in advance!

Best,

Rick in Ohio

Hello Rick,

I will reply to this first. Before I continue, I am sorry if I stepped on your toes.

DMEs are engine specific. They are not model specific. A dme that works on your car will work on any car that has the m60 engine. In fact, from what I've just read, the same dme works on both 3.0 and 4.0 m60, and I just checked the part numbers are the same too. Obviously, the dme must have some way of figuring its on a 3.0 or 4.0, or maybe it just uses the maf and o2 sensor inputs to regulate the ideal mixture which always works out to be the same whatever the capacity.

I have an M50. I'm using a dme that came from a 325. That car had the same engine that I've got. That's why it works. It started up perfectly straightaway. I bought it as a spare. Never bothered to switch back to my old one.

There is one exception to this, which applies to the 1995 cars.

Your car came with a new drive-away protection system called EWS2. There is an extra box in your car that activates only when your exact chipped key is used. This box then talks to the dme. Your particular dme also has an extra function built in...it will look for this exact black box. Only then will it start.

The 94 dme that you used came from a car without this box built in. As such, the dme did not have this extra function of looking for this box before a start. It is the same as an EWS delete chip. It will run once it hits the right engine, period.

Your dme needs to have the right engine and the right box going on together.

IOW, the only difference between your stock dme and the 94 one you used is this EWS function. Nothing else. By killing pin #66, you deactivated that with the spare dme somehow. The car is supposed to work normally after that. It started right up right ? That means all is well, with the dme at least.

I believe the 94 dme is the red dme and your dme is the silver dme. These are label colours alone.

A replacement stock dme can be matched up with your black box but only a dealer can do that and they charge big bucks for the 5 minute job. Thats why I wondered if you are buying your 3rd dme from the dealer. They will charge you even bigger bucks for the dme. It is not going to solve your issue.

You can buy an EWS delete chip for your engine and put that into your silver ecu, and cut pin #66. It will work as well.

I don't know why your the trans prog error appeared with the spare dme. I've never heard that before. Perhaps the trans ecu is having a problem with it. Could you put that back in and disconnect the battery clamps. That will reset everything for all the ecus. Then when you reconnect, they will get to know each other better from scratch. Oh btw, you don't need to do this for hours. Just 10 minutes will be enough.

I am surprised by the trans program thingy never heard that happen before when you sub in a spare dme.

When the DME goes bad the car usually plays dead. It does not produce weird behaviour as is happening on your car. This is why I suspect wiring, component fault, clamp connector fault, or maybe even the dme's pins. The motherboard itself sounds like its perfectly fine.

Originally Posted by rv6rick

Also, the trans error did not suddenly disappear. Every time the '94 DME is plugged into the car it has the trans program fault.....every time and this is 100% repeatable.


.

Can you put in the spare dme and do a battery disconnect, before you start up the car. Lets try that. It may not cure the engine. But it should stop the trans program.

Hi OP,

Originally Posted by rv6rick

Funny you mention the wiring harness on the top of the DME as I wondered that myself. But, I did actually ring out every single pin and wire that I could on the DME and did this alongside of the Bentley manual to make sure they were connected. I do this often in troubleshooting things that I know (very little) about. I also rotated the clamp 180 degrees to rule out (partially) the possibilty of a 'intermittent' connection during the wiring checks.....I found none. But that doesn't mean I missed one or ten. But I was indeed hoping to stumble onto something.

.

You need to ring them all out simultaneously. That's the only way you might pick up an intermittedn connection. Or unwrap the wiring bundle on top of the dme, out to one foot at least and inspect each wire individually.

Originally Posted by rv6rick

Let me also communicate better because I have not done so.....my idle did NOT 'improve'.....I believe I said it was 'different'. 'IF' I said 'improved' I miss spoke and meant to say it was 'differant'. It did stop conking out every time though and only conked out a few times .

.

Ok my bad. Idle was still bad, but conked out less. My point is that the engine started. Which means, the dme is good.

Originally Posted by rv6rick

As far as the DME 'should' or 'should not' work and 'should not work' and have the trans program error. I can only tell you what the car did. The car started up and ran.....NOT GOOD but it ran. I realize that it's hard to put this into words and interperate them as I'm here and you guys are there. It 'ran' but I would not let my wife take it to the corner......does that help? The same thing when I switched the DME's back and forth....'it ran' but it ran differently.

Also, the trans error did not suddenly disappear. Every time the '94 DME is plugged into the car it has the trans program fault.....every time and this is 100% repeatable.

.

Have dealt with this in another post.

Originally Posted by rv6rick

Maybe this will help. Some of this is 'me'....maybe all of it . It almost doesn't matter what I do......I can unplug one of the cooling temp sensors and it will run 'DIFFERANTLY' when it's plugged back in. Same with the DME or the MAF sensor or the windshield wiper fuse.....this car runs DIFFERENTLY every time it is started even if 'I' didn't do anything. I should have said that a long time ago and apologize for not doing so. This car seems to have a mind of it's own.......savvy???

.

Wiring, OP.

Originally Posted by rv6rick

My expert knowledge.....that's pretty funny.....again.....I barely know how to put on my seat belt and pointed that out in my first post (or should have) that I know absolutelty NOTHING about this car. Gee Wiz....that's why I came here....right .

.

Didn't you say that you build jet engines ? I will happily help you put on your seat belt. Just show me one of them beauties.

Originally Posted by rv6rick

'My obervational skills are very bad' .....what observational skills? I know nothing about cars including how to drive . I'm not sure how that comment is supposed to help fix my car but it was fun to read anyway....thanks for making me chuckle . Again.....the car runs (and I use that term loosely) DIFFERENT every time it is started......every time, maybe it's the key switch .

.

That's what I feel, but it was not meant to offend. You can't build jet engines with bad observational skills. Even a sniper will miss if he wears bad shades pefore taking the shot. You are wearing bad shades in your head. It is stress and frustration.

Originally Posted by rv6rick

It's not in my dna to unplug and replug the DME 20 times to 'see' if it 'fixes' the problem. To me that is not a 'fix' and I would not want to drive a car that I have to jiggle wires with to drive it and 'hope' that the wires don't unjiggle (good word) driving down the road.

.

That was not suggested as a permanent fix, more as a shortcut that might work for a demo.

Originally Posted by rv6rick

But, again....I will NOT rule out that there is an issue here even though I rang out the wires as mentioned above. I think I know what you mean though.....see if I can find a spot where it might be 'ok' and if so realize that I've got a bad wire in there somewhere and then try to locate it.....right?

.

You got to unwrap and unbundle the wires coming out of the clamp. I can't think of anything else.

When you do so, you will probably see the problem within 60 seconds.

And also check the connectors at the end of each wire.

Originally Posted by rv6rick

Hey samsonnyc.....give me a teeny weeny itsy bitsy little bit of encouragement for at least trying.....please....it would make me feela lot better . I know I don't know anything but at least I tried.....my dad would give me an 'A' for effort .

I am unable to encourage you due to my envy over your 540i. Forgive me I know what I do.


.

Just kidding. You are the Bimmer Hero. I think all your fans without EWS2 on their cars should go out and break off pin #66 on their dme to prove their love for you.

Originally Posted by rv6rick

That said....I'm understanding from your post that I've qouted here that a 'new' (used and known to be good) DME will NOT work in my car? Others have told me differently so I appreciate your comments on this. And please explain, 'Another silver dme needs flashing before it will work for you'.

I got the 'idea' of a second (and third) DME from others on this list.....I don't know enough to dream that up . Sounds like that was another bad idea huh?

.

I have replied to this in earlier posts. And yes sad but I don't think the next dme will work either.

So, samsonnyc.....where would YOU suggest that I go from here? I value your comments and will do my best to follow your advice and can report back line by line. Thanks in advance!

.[/QUOTE]

BH, please unwrap the wiring bundle coming out of your dme clamp out to 1 foot, and inspect it and its terminating connectors carefully.

And please do this when you are well rested and have had a nice meal.

Originally Posted by rv6rick

I do realize that this car served me well for many years and about 100k miles. It's done its job and I am thankful for that. I almost parked it outback in the woods a couple weeks ago. Before I do that if someone wants this car you can have it for FREE. ONLY because you KNOW that it has some issues. Yes....it will run down the road at 135 mph sometimes but other times it will barely make it up a hill.

.

I now see you're not kidding here.

Originally Posted by rv6rick

Also, should have put this at the top but....anyone reading this....PLEASE don't take ANYTHING I type as negative. It's hard for me (and most folks) to put things down on a computer and come out the way I/we want them to. I mean only nice words here and again...appreciate all the help and advice. It is very hard though when I receive conflicting advice .

.

Again, I did not plan on you getting upset. Please don't take me in a negative way. I want you to fix your car. Then I'd like to see you give it away for free. TO ME.

I have another idea. Much more tough than a new dme but probably the same price or less. Get a another wiring harness from a 540 or 740, and replace yours lock stock and barrel. It will be very long work but you know your way around wires and your engine. Spare harness can be had for between $50-$100.

This is what I would try next if unbundling the wires on the top of the dme clamp does fix it. Who knows, maybe it is the clamp itself that is the problem.

The new dme will not work, period. Cancel the order if you can.

Thank you samsonnyc for your loong and complete explanation. It saved me and the OP a search on google, where I might have to read through a few articles to get the exact information the OP wanted. I never understood the EWS2 system properly until now myself.
And thank you for your long explanation to the OP for his car. He needed you to spell things out for him because smart as he was, he couldn't see the subtleties. Being pissed off does that to you. A short explanation would not have helped there. Some people are not mature enough to understand this and think that's BS. They stir up trouble when the OP can handle your slap. Their posts have now been deleted yet again. And at least you were were still thinking about his car and gave him a proper diagnosis, to try and help him fix him on the spot. Its easy to throw possibilities out without diagnosis. That's the same as throwing parts at the problem.

Rick, I agree that your wiring is the problem, and if you buy a complete wiring harness you will solve your problem. Before that of course, please check your wiring as samsonnyc pointed out. Maybe you can find something that you can fix.
I want to share what happened with my E34. I went to Germany to pick her up and drove her home back to Denmark. There was at least 15 litres left in the gas tank. The car died right outside my house thank god. The problem was a lack of fuel. The gauge said 15 litres.
After many months of efforts and troubleshooting circus gymnastics, I found the problem was the wiring bundle coming out of the fuel pump in the boot and going underneath through to the back seat where the battery was located. The plastic had chafed off and there was a short, just enough to give a false reading of 15 litres no matter how low the fuel was. All the way from full to 15 litres, the reading would be correct, but then it would stick at 15 litres.

If the fuel level sender's wiring was actually involved in my engine's running function, I think my car could have gone nuts too. So it can happen. I've been on the forums for the past few years and read regularly. I don't know of anyone else who had a similar problem. In fact when I posted here and on other forums, people could not help me, they did not know what was the problem. You have an equally rare problem.

Your dme is proven to be working fine, your maf is new, your icv is working, your temperature sensors are working. In fact, your car was working fine until you moved the dme wires and fixed the new maf. You only had the maf code, which means everything was working ok and probably did not suddenly fail all across the board. So it is clear as day what the problem is. Wiring. I can bet $500 on it.

I just remembered something. The fuel level sender issue above. When the float moves, the resistance it puts out changes, the output current changes, and the dashboard gauge changes. That's how fuel is recorded.

I connected a dismantled sender to the pump connection in the trunk, moved the float to various points by hand, took the resistance at the float's connector pins. Then, I went to the plug that connects to the dashboard cluster. Found the two pins that are from the sender, I used the colour coding from the pump's connector in the trunk. Checked the final resistance there. I ran back and forth moving the float and checking the resistance at the float and at the dashboard plug. The resistances were perfect. This is the same as your good pinouts.
Yet the problem was not fixed. I fixed it purely by accident. I was going to cut and splice in new wires between the fuel tank and the backseat battery. In the process, I moved the wire group about. The group running under the trunk to the backseat must have moved too. Suddenly, the gauge was working ! It showed 15, 10, 5 and zero litres as I moved the float about. Months of chasing this problem disappeared just like that. I couldn't believe it.

The bundle must have moved over the years as the car bumped over roads, chafing against the boot and the backseat. It destroyed the insulation in the sender wires and created a small short equal to 15 litres current at a minimum. When I moved it, it must have moved to cut off the short.
In your case, you moved the DME clamp's wires, and it moved in such a way as to CREAT a problem instead. This may be happening to your MAF connector wires as well, you might have the same problem in two places. Your ringing out might be giving you good readings, but when the engine is started, the problem appears. Same like mine.

This is a long post sorry if anyone is too much of an expert to read it. As a noob in many car things, I find such a posts to be exactly what I need to understand fully. The Bentley manual is not enough.

Hi Guys,

Sorry, if you think I forgot about you folks and the car....I can only wish I did. Just have been super busy at Church and was waiting for the broken fans and associated parts to come in.

- New fan and pulley installed (old fan shredded some blades)

- repaired the hole in the radiator that was caused by shrapnel from the fan .

- repaired the fan shroud by fiberglassing the thing back together....I made it about 10 times stronger while I had it on the bench.

- I plugged in the new DME that was made for my car (1995 540i) and the car would NOT start. Some said it would fix my problems and AFTER I bought it some said it wouldn't. It will crank over but will not fire.

- So, I went back and forth and back and forth with 'my' DME and the 1994 DME that had the transmission program error the made it go into limp mode. The error cleared itself after it went back in the car and the codes were cleared and engine restarted....don't know why but it did.

-So here's where I am now:

- from all the testing I topped of the fuel tank and I got a whopping 6.6mpg (just more data for you)

1-'my' DME plugged in......car runs real nice for about 1 mile.....then the CEL comes on the car goes downhill REAL FAST to where it will only go about 25mph. When I clear all the codes (5 or 6 of them) the car runs good again for another mile then repeats the same scenario

2-'94 DME plugged in.......car runs real nice for about 2 miles ....then the CEL comes on and the car goes downhill real fast but can still do 'normal' speeds for another mile or so before it deteriorates. i can pull over and clear the codes and get the same scenario over and over. The same 2 codes come up: 1213 O2 sensor and 1222 O2 sensor. Bmanual says to look for a vacuum leak but there are none (positive). Plus why would it run real good for a mile or two then go downhill....to me if it had a leak it wouldn't run good then go bad.

I can swap out the DME's over and over and over and get the same results every time. When I first take off it runs super great but then just goes downhill when the DEL comes on.

I guess the good news is I NEVER get a MAF sensor code anymore .

I HATE this car and am so tired of it that it's not even funny .

Any more ideas before it leaves?

Rick in Ohio

Well the title says it all

The car is fixed and it's running like a top. Drove it about 15 miles with NO ISSUES. Idles OK and it takes off like it used to in the old days. Will run right up to about 135mph with no trouble . The on board computer now says it's getting right at 24mpg on flat ground at 60mph . That was an average on a 3 mile stretch and I'm being very conservative.

So, I'm actually going to DRIVE the car to the shop tomorrow....first time back on the road since all the problems started on January the 1st .

One little issue is that last night I verified that the air intake sensor is bad, has 5 volts but the resistance is nil across the sensor. Not effecting how it runs in an obvious way but I'll replace it just the same.

Car will still be leaving as I'll have the replacement in a couple/three weeks but at least the new owner won't have to pay for a tow truck . Oh yea...someone asked a while back and I forgot to say that the replacement is a little 2010 Ford Focus with only 50 miles on it. It was damaged during a test drive and I purchased it and am having it repaired. Still has the window stickers on it, hopefully that will serve me well .

Sending an email now to try to return the new DME.

Thanks for all the help, I do appreciate it. You guys are wonderful !

As someone said about 5 pages ago....this was the epic thread of all time. Hopefully many will learn from my highs and lows and trials and errors .

Rick in Ohio

I am absolutely thrilled for you Rick, but ....... please tell us what the problem turned out to be. The suspense is killing me.

Originally Posted by rv6rick

Well the title says it all

The car is fixed and it's running like a top. Drove it about 15 miles with NO ISSUES. Idles OK and it takes off like it used to in the old days. Will run right up to about 135mph with no trouble . The on board computer now says it's getting right at 24mpg on flat ground at 60mph . That was an average on a 3 mile stretch and I'm being very conservative.

So, I'm actually going to DRIVE the car to the shop tomorrow....first time back on the road since all the problems started on January the 1st .

One little issue is that last night I verified that the air intake sensor is bad, has 5 volts but the resistance is nil across the sensor. Not effecting how it runs in an obvious way but I'll replace it just the same.

Car will still be leaving as I'll have the replacement in a couple/three weeks but at least the new owner won't have to pay for a tow truck . Oh yea...someone asked a while back and I forgot to say that the replacement is a little 2010 Ford Focus with only 50 miles on it. It was damaged during a test drive and I purchased it and am having it repaired. Still has the window stickers on it, hopefully that will serve me well .

Sending an email now to try to return the new DME.

Thanks for all the help, I do appreciate it. You guys are wonderful !

As someone said about 5 pages ago....this was the epic thread of all time. Hopefully many will learn from my highs and lows and trials and errors .

Rick in Ohio

Congratulations, I am so happy for you Rick
If you please would be so kind to tell everyone what the problem was, this has really been a tough one.

Wow going from an e34 to a Ford Focus I hope it serves you well too. I couldn't imagine going from my rocket to a focus, just picked me up an e60 545i. So are you going to share what the problem was. The suspense is killing me

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Bimmer App

Hey guys,

I've got a lot going on and wasn't able to get back till now.

So, the 'WOW' going to a Ford Focus ....had to laugh. What's the 'big deal' about an old BMW.....unless you like working on cars that is . I just need a GOOD RELIABLE car to drive that's all. The Focus will get almost double the gas mileage of what the BMW gets and it will run all day long all year long . Plus I've done the bimmer thing for many years and just need a 'car'.

So, I drove the car to the shop 2 days in a row and it is running super duper doodle great (lovin' the banana guy )!

I still have one little issue that I'll get to but here's the bottom line:

As you know, I did a LOT of troubleshooting and I even took a little bit of heat from samsonnyc who told me that my "observational skills were very bad." , and said the problem was my wiring and or the clamp on my DME. This really through me for a loop and had me chasing my tail for a week on the car......needlessly. Like I said...the car 'had a mind of it's own'.

I replaced a bunch of parts on the car from cooling sensors to vibration dampeners to fans to spark plugs to crank sensors to you name it. As it turned out there were 2 parts on the car that were bad and they are still bad as we speak yet the car runs great. They are the air temp sensor and the MAF sensor.

All it took to get the car running smoothly again after all the DME, DME clamp, and ringing out a TON of wires was to simply unplug the MAF sensor and clear the codes again. This put the car back to where it was BEFORE all the trouble started (discounting the original loss of compression fuel wash no start issue).

With the MAF sensor plugged in I'd get every code under the sun EXCEPT the MAF sensor code. Very repeatable with either DME plugged in. It would run only a mile or two and then the CEL light would come and bring the car to it's knees....literally. With the MAF sensor unplugged I get ONE code and it runs great.

Oh yea, the place that sold me the 'new' DMW is letting me send it back for a refund .

So, I'm driving it again and it's running really good. Fuel economy is right at 16.5 to 17.5 around town and 24+ on the highway. Starts right up and purrs like a kitten. Will break the tires loose if I tromp on it and will run right up to 135mph. LOVES to cruise at 85 to 90.....just feels right at home there ! It's smoother on a cold start up than it was before. I attribute that to me pulling the plug off of the 'bad' air temp sensor and plugging it into a 'good' old coolant temp sensor that has the same resistance as called out for on the air temp sensor....just different threads or I would have screwed it into the air temp hole. 'Tricking it' until a new air temp sensor arrives.

The MAF sensor wires are good to pins 14 and 41 and 12V and ground. So, I'm pretty sure that the MAF sensors that were sent to me just don't work on my car. I didn't purchase the expensive Bosch units so that may be what I need. That in combo with the bad air temp sensor, I have a new one coming, should be here tomorrow. Yup, the CEL is on but all I get is the 1215 code for the MAF sensor and NO other codes now. I drove it this way for years and could have cared less so that's what I'm doing until the car is gone.

I just put new front brake pads on it tonight so it's really in pretty good shape right now. Vacuumed it out and even put in a new air freshener . Someone is getting a car that has just been given the royal up and down once over treatment and is really good to go ....'cept for the MAF thingy that 'might' be fixed with a 'good' unit and the new air temp sensor in the intake manifold.

But, since it's running so good I would like to fix it the rest of the way for the new owner. So, can anyone tell me the CORRECT part number for the CORRECT MAF sensor for my 1995 540i M60 engine. The place I purchased the MAF sensor from will let me send it back and will send me another one but they are asking me for the CORRECT factory MAF sensor number for my car so they can match it this time and I don't have it. Thanks in advance.

Anyway.....wanted to give you guys an update on the car. After 6 weeks of blowing my brains out it's running like a top and I feel totally confident to drive it across the country. But I won't miss it when it drives down the road .

You guys are great...couldn't have done it without you!

Rick in Ohio

Originally Posted by gmnmsclM540i

Wow going from an e34 to a Ford Focus I hope it serves you well too. I couldn't imagine going from my rocket to a focus, just picked me up an e60 545i. So are you going to share what the problem was. The suspense is killing me

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Bimmer App

You should be able to plug in your vin information into realoem.com and find the exact part number for your car. Once you find the diagram, make sure that you get the year of manufacture right on the table.

Hope that takes care of everything for you. Congrats again.