car stalling and very sluggish

[troyounces]

Ok, so I went to the mechanic today to have the sensor replaced.

He ran it through his scanner and it told him that the intake sensor was broken (which is what I told him). He also told me that the oxygen sensors needed replacement. I told him not to touch them until he changed the camshaft sensor first and then run the diag again. So he changed the sensor, ran it again and everything was clear - including the O2 sensors. Charged me $65 for labour which I thought was fair and nothing to run the scan.

Thanks again for all your help.

[Weasel]

Good to hear it is all done with. And I do take some satisfaction from guessing it right on.

[bimmerboy12]

My 01 3.0 started doing this exact same thing. Sometimes it is great tons of power, then it is a dog, and sometimes it will randomly stall like when Im slowing to turn. I will keep all updated on progress but from my research it sounds like a camshaft position sensor.

[Werewolf]

Bosch makes crappy CPSs

[johnnytime21]

did the cps fix the problem.(how is it running?)

[bimmerboy12]

Originally Posted by johnnytime21

did the cps fix the problem.(how is it running?)

I don't know yet, I posted my previous message last night. next step is to clear all codes and see what pops up then order the sensors. I plan on replacing both the exhaust and intake CPS's if the codes say so.

[nigeyboy]

i'd check the MAF sensor first. give it a quick clean - 10 min job & see how you go.

[bimmerboy12]

OK I cleared the codes and it did it again last night, cranked over 3 times longer than normal to start, then was DOG SLOW. Couple hours later ran an errand and was back to normal. The SES light did not trip back on through this ordeal. Any ideas?

[Weasel]

Sounds like the intake cam sensor for sure... the DME uses it's signal for the cam timing/ignition timing etc. so if it doesn't see the signal it kinda makes up default signals from the crank sensor and defaults the VANOS system to not advance the cam timing so it will be slooow... It kinda does the same thing if it loses crank sensor signal by defaulting off the cam sensors, but the cam sensors fail 20 times more often than the crank sensor. I'm actually surprised it didn't throw a code with the long crank/slow drive really.

If you pull the cam sensor out and look at it the old style sensor that has the failure problem is stepped down in diameter just after the o-ring while the new updated BMW cam sensors are thick all the way through.

[bimmerboy12]

OK I cleaned the MAF and it didn't do anything. Problem continues. On the good side, I lost the P0171 and P0174 codes after replacing my CCV and hoses. P0344 popped up which confirms Weasel's suspicion about camshaft position sensors... I will go ahead and replace both of them. Interestingly enough, I got another code- P0505- which is related to idle. When I changed my CCV I also thoroughly soaked the ICV and it rotates great. Idle is perfect. Could the random crappy running from the camshaft sensor have triggered the P0505 code??