Hesitation, any ideas?

[silverback mike]

When I press the accelerator in a blip type of way, the engine thinks about raising the revs, and then finally does it.

Just a small hesitation, but why is it doing it? It is really annoying me.

Any ideas gratefully recieved.

(325i Touring by the way)

Thanks,
Mike.

[sidekick]

Mike, I don't have any answers unfortunately but my 330 does exactly the same thing (as did another 330 I had previously). It appears to be a standard feature (at least I don't think I ticked the costed option box for "throttle hesitation"), but I'd certainly be interested in the reason why (electronic jiggery pokery no doubt!)

[silverback mike]

Bloody annoying isn't it.
Mind you, just under 200k and never missing a beat, I can't complain.
I think my old thing is of greater vintage than your 330.
Is the 330 as good as people say?
As my thing probably won't last forever.

[sidekick]

Yep, just a bit - still it stops me being tempted to do Max Power stylee throttle blips at the traffic lights as I feel a bit of a prat dabbing the loud pedal and then waiting what seems like an inordinately long time for the revs to rise!
If I get 200K out of it I'll be well chuffed (although it had 75K on the clock when I bought it and it feels as tight and new as when it rolled off the production line). Is the 330 as good as people say? Well I got rid of my company 330 wagon in 2001 as it was costing me too much tax, but having tried a variety of cars (and spent all my savings in the process ) I'm now back with one as I think for a combination of value, price and reliability they're bloody hard to beat.

[sohlman]

Unless i am not mistaken we are talking about two different types of throttle operation here with different characteristics. I am presuming the 325touring is an e30 or e36 car in which case it has a buterfly in the airflow meter and these can get dirty which can lead to hesitation, delay's, poor fuel consumption etc. The 330 operation is not connected by a cable in the usual fashion, but is fly by wire and the delay is down to the time it takes for the message to get to the ecu and then to the engine/wheels and is consistantly the same length of time.

[sidekick]

Er...yup. I should have spotted the "i" on the end of Mike's 325 but overlooked it in my youthful (!?) exuberance . As you say, two completely different mechanisms and the F-B-W control on the 330 does give exactly the same delay all the time. Not really a problem (altho I'm slightly surprised that German engineering permits this to happen) and the overall quality of the car makes it easy to ignore.

[silverback mike]

sohlman said:

Unless i am not mistaken we are talking about two different types of throttle operation here with different characteristics. I am presuming the 325touring is an e30 or e36 car in which case it has a buterfly in the airflow meter and these can get dirty which can lead to hesitation, delay's, poor fuel consumption etc. The 330 operation is not connected by a cable in the usual fashion, but is fly by wire and the delay is down to the time it takes for the message to get to the ecu and then to the engine/wheels and is consistantly the same length of time.

Good point, mine is an E30, and a high miler at that. Is the airflow meter easy to clean / sort out.
Would a K and N Conical filter help out at all??
Mike.

[sohlman]

I have a similar problem with my 635 which includes a dificulty to idle. I spoke with hartlake a month ago and have just booked it in for the 28th. They are going to take the airflow meter apart and powerpolish the air buterfly and idle control valve. They say they can get clogged up over time and this is the only way to completely fix other than buying a new airflow meter, which is exspensive. They recken the car will be like new and is a about two hours labour to fix. Give them a call. It might not be this, but from your descrption it sounds the same as what i am exsperiencing.

As for the 330 my father has a 99 528 and it suffers from this delay which makes heal and toeing difficult and it's the only thing i can critisize about the car. Have even complained to my local BMW garage, but they say there is no way of correcting or modifying this gremlin!
Ahhh

Cheers James
Hartlake 01474 326626

>> Edited by sohlman on Wednesday 20th August 19:11

>> Edited by sohlman on Wednesday 20th August 19:12

[silverback mike]

Thanks for the help

[Tabs]

Silverbackmike Try this: Follow the throttle cable to where it is secured onto the injection system. This is where the butterfly will be. Undo the large jubilee clip that surrounds the large rubber pipe where the air enters. Pull this to the side, and look up the inlet towards the butterfly (you may need a mirror). Move the butterfly by moving the cable with your fingers. The inside will most probably look like a smokers lungs! Using an aerosol of injection cleaner, give it a good soaking, and then carefully clean it all up with an old toothbrush. Do both sides of the butterfly, and especially the edges. Put the rubber pipe and jubilee back on, and it should be transformed!

[silverback mike]

Thank you tabs, I will do it tomorrow and let you know.
Mike.

[sohlman]

Tabs advice is good, however it will last about 3-5k before it starts to happen again, which is why I am getting the full monty done by Hartlake. I have been getting tabs's one done at every service for the past four years, but it is time to get it fixed on a more perminent bases

[moreymach]

Bit late on this one but I had the same problem on an e30 320i. It was the airflow meter, on top of it under a plastic cover was a rheostat type thing which had worn through in a few places, I actually used a soft pencil lead to cover up the gaps until I could get one from a breakers.. was about £40 if I remember right.

[The GMan]

Is the 330 as good as they say?
I love mine! I'm getting a new car soon, but I will be keeping my 330 Ci for Mrs GMan to use!

[cotty]

Bit late but I also have a 325i touring in silver, its an auto but never have hesitation either blipping the throttle or overtaking caravans.

[RobM77]

See my recent post on the 'engines' forum. I have a X plate 2000 model BMW 330ci - bought it last week.

This problem is aparently caused by EU emissions regulations.

Personally, I can't live with it - either the delay goes or my car goes :-(

There are several reasons why this winds me up:

1) coming out of a very slow corner where you've been off the throttle (say, a mini roundabout) - you get back on the throttle - you ready yourself for the acceleration (mild though it might be) and nothing - wait a bit.... there it is!

2) Balancing the car in a fast bend - if I want to drive a bit quickly, then balancing the car on the throttle - just the weight transfer, nothing lunatic - is impossible with a delay on one of the major controls.

3) On the limit - if I did find an empty bend in the wet I simply won't go anywhere near the limit now as I am not sure how I would cope with a delay like this.

4) general pulling away and driving in traffic - I simply can't adjust to the delay!

I'm a delicate driver that feels his way through balance and as such I am enjoying the actual 'driving' of my BMW as much as I would a Vectra or something!!! I've still got the old E36 325i I had before and enjoy that far more.

Superchips, AMD, etc all offer solutions, but they are expensive and also raise your insurance (more bhp is unavoidable apparently). I will be saving up for one of these I think - the first time I have ever tuned a road car!

BMW should be ashamed of themselves - they are supposed to build drivers cars!!

[cotty]

Good advice but a little late Silverback Mike sold his E30 a long time ago

[RobM77]

Sorry - I was actually after some advice for my car! lol

[silverback mike]

cotty said:

Good advice but a little late Silverback Mike sold his E30 a long time ago

Whoa, blast from the past this thread. Quite right cotty, the pink 325i has gone, good old bus that.

[RobM77]

:-) I'm very new to this forum - I was looking for threads mentioning 'BMW' and 'throttle delay!' lol

Curisouly, I'm sure the E30 is fine. I've got an old E36 as well as the newer 330ci and the E36 is great for throttle response and handling - nice to have some weight to the steering as well.