Not a 318, but my 329 idles at 600 RPM. (That's 600 SAE or metric).

 

Ed, you have a 329? SWEET!

But anyway, did you just buy the car?

I'm not sure about superchargers, but with turbo E36s like mine, the idle is raised. I idle at 850 or so rpm.

 

1100rpm is definitely high. I wasn't able to locate an actual number in the Bentley manual, but most cars idle around 600rpm, including my 328.

 

Most stock cars idle under 1000 so that does seem pretty high. Also what does "DASC" stand for? Don't know the full term so don't have any info on that... I went through my Chilton manual, heehee, and found that, depending on the year it should be between 850 and 950.

 

Downing Atlanta Super Charger

 

Spank you, well I'm not too sure what your idle speed should be with a supercharger but why not try calling the company and seeing if they can give you any info on that?

 

So... I'm thinking about ordering an Idle Control Valve

 

Why?


Just go clean it.

 

Try turnin the idle down a bit

 

Um.......

Sure, just as soon as he finds the carburetor.

 

oops. realized what I said

takebacks

 

I dont know if you do, but if you have access to a legit scantool, try overriding it and see if it works correctly when you do.. and/or, this might not be the the right test since your getting a code that say's mechanical BUT try doing a dwell or resistance test too

 

Dealership wants $364 for an ICV. Um... NOT!

 

You can clean it for free, or close to free.

 

I don't know if this method would work under any circumstance, however. The idle is programmed into the computer and cannot be changed without reprogramming it.

 

yea you can change it. thats where the problem is, the computer can think something is wrong and throw a code. but trust me you can make it 1500 or 200 if you wanted to, and it would stay there because the pin is a mechanical thing, what it does is opens the throttle a certain bit when its "shut" thats why i wouldnt mess with it though, its very sensitive and tricky.

 

Yeah, I figured the computer wouldn't be very happy if you messed with it, and would probably start throwing codes left and right.

 

The idle air control valve can be tested with a scantool, it automatically overrides the computer and sends a signal to the IAC, if your idle doesn't change while you alter the IAC then chances are your gona need an IAC valve... Also try looking other places besides the dealer for the IAC, if you dont mind used then go to a junkyard, or surf the web and try different places, i googled this site ( http://www.bimmerspecialist.com/usa/parts/parts_search_page/ ) within a minute and found some cheaper ones