20 Most Recent 1994 BMW 318 - Page 5 Questions & Answers

your car is safe to drive you just wont have abs braking system. you can get it checked by a shop chances are it will be needing a wheel sensor. not too expensive.

Hi Typical problems arrising from a faulty thermostat are, overheating, water pipes pressured up verry hard, warm water in the expansion tank and or radiator but engine hot, and it might even throw up an error code maybe P0604. Hope that helps

Replace it, there is thermal defect present on the main board or the display board. You have to remove the radio, disassemble and use a heat gun and freeze mist to find the part.

Check fuse in under hood fuse box.

there will be 2 bolts/screws just where the seat meets the floor , undo these and lift seat out , also a system that has been used are pull out location pegs , as you hav'nt given age of vehicle either may apply

You can change the bulb from under the bonnet there should be a black rubber cover on the back of the light were the wires connect to the light bulb unplug light pull rubber cover remove metal clip then change bulb.

There is no easy way to bypass the immobilizer on this car without switching to a red label ecu and cutting wires OR having your ecu reprogrammed without the immobilizer. A better question is why are you doing this? If you are switching ECUs, you can usually have a new EWS module programmed for $75-100. If you have had the dreaded spinning key and are planning on switching columns, you can usually drill and pin/screw the tumbler in less than 30 minutes and avoid the hassle all together. The other option is to swap key/module/immobilizer module all at once. If you have already swapped the column, keep your old key and decoder ring, tape them together, and stick them up under the plastic of your new column - problem solved. As you can see, the answer starts with a different question - what are you trying to accomplish. Good luck! -Scott www.europartsplus.com

Vane air flow (VAF) units are a common failure on these cars. It is the the sensor mounted inline on your intake tube that is aluminum and black plastic with a round twist plug. If you unplug it an it runs better that is most likely your culprit. The gentleman above is on the right track. Intake boot cracks/failures are quite common on these older cars too as are the EGR tubes/hoses - listen for air leaks/sucking noises. The idle air sensor (IAC), made by Bosch looks like a small coke can with two tubes and a plug going to it. Sometimes they are hard to find/hidden under intake. They do go bad, but can usually be cleaned with car/brake cleaner. The internals should rotate; they are just an oscillating valve that regulates extra air to the intake. You never said it it runs fine once it us up and going. If it does, it could also be a oxygen sensor. You should really consider having the codes read... it really shortens the list of parts to check! Good luck! -Scott www.europartsplus.com

I am not 100% positive on your engine, but most later BMWs put the engine serial number on the back side of the head and/or the ledge of the bell-housing on a decal/sticker. These are usually very hard to see, and will require a mirror at the least. It may be easier to just call the dealership with your VIN and ask for the serial number. Hope this helps, -Scott www.europartsplus.com

Without having the car to diagnose, there is no way of knowing for sure. If it ran hot until it quit, my guess would be that you cracked a head or blew a head gasket. If that happened, antifreeze has entered the cylinders fowling the plugs and keeping them from firing which in-turn keeps it from starting. Pull the plugs and look at them. There is a good chance they will be wet. Also, check the oil and antifreeze to see if either looks milky like a latte... if so, its done. If not, it is still possible that the leak is there, you just haven't been able to run it to tell. A compression and/or leak down test will verify the problem if the visual signs have not appeared. Aluminum engine parts used on most all recent cars are great for saving weight, but they cannot handle excessive heat. Most aluminum alloys will start to droop/melt in the upper 700 degrees and warpage can happen much lower than that. Combustion temps are in the thousands of degrees. It does not take long without coolant to toast an engine! At the first sign of overheating or a blown coolant hose, TURN THE CAR OFF. Its cheaper to call a tow than to replace an engine. Hope this isn't your case, but plan for the worst/hope for the best. Get it checked out. -Scott www.europartsplus.com

If you had all of this work done at the dealership they should have reset the light for you once the service was done. If not, they should reset it for you as a courtesy as you are their customer. It is possible that they did reset it and it is throwing new codes. I would return to the dealer and state your issue and ask them to check/reset the MIL. To do this yourself, you can jumper pins, but then you don't know what the codes were. I would strongly suggest any owner of an older BMW to purchase a Peak scanner either online or from a BMW parts supply store like Bavarian Auto, Turners, etc. (or find a friend with one!) For a $100 or less you can read your codes and reset oil, airbag, and check engine lights. Hope this helps, -Scott www.europartsplus.com

Check the bulb and check the fuse. If both good check the wiring

Usually to do a basic tune up you need, oil and filter, air filter,spark plugs and plug wires, fuel filter, that is the basic. You can go as far as you want like transmission filter and fluid change.

there should be a tire pressure decal on one of the doors that says what the pressures should be. if not look in the owners manual if you have one or you are safe at putting 32/35 lbs pressure in the tires.