Top 20 2000 BMW 3 Series - Page 6 Questions & Answers

would need to see it but i suspect that either the wires are damaged in the rubber boot from door pillar to door or the locks themselves are dry and need lubricating ,inside the door are the solonoids that operate the locks and these often need a drop of oil down the operating shaft mechanism

If your battery is good and all of your other electrical systems work fine then chances are it is your starter that is bad. However if the engine turns over but just won't start then you most likely have an electrical problem such as a bad ignition switch or ECM. I hope this helps you out.

if this is on the right side of your dash it is related to your breaks. there is a sensor that wares out just before your break pads do. The sensor is there to prevent you from wareing your break pads into the metal of your rotor. You will need new breaks soon (very soon) and a new sensor. Most of the auto stores carry the break pads but the sensor you may have to get from the dealer. (about $17 dollors)

There is always the possibility it is a fluid issue. In my experience this is a bad solenoid, linkage or band in the transmission itself. In most cases this is not something you can fix on your own however unless you have a pretty extensive home shop with some special tools. I hate to waste people time explaining a bunch of test to look for that in most cases won't do them any good anyway, I will not do that now. You can of course pull the pan and most likely you will find some shaving on the magnet and maybe some debris in the filter but the worst thing you can find is a piece of metal about a 1/2 in size that appears in the bottom of the pan. In any case it indicates a complete rebuild, not a replacement, is needed. The difference is about $1200 in price. A replacement is about $2700 where as a rebuild will usually run you about $1200 to $1500. I highly recommend you take it to the transmission shop to be checked because this could be something as wimple as a bad or clogged valve which is a relatively cheap and easy fix for them.

Im going throught this problem also P1477 code on my E46/99 bmw 328i, also dont forget to check all the vacume lines, it is very common on this car that the hoses they use go rotten very quick, along with the intake tubes or elbows, i found massive holes on my mine also many vacume lines damaged, i still have the 1477 code, but ive seen various post were people swapped the fuel breather valve, i checked all the canister tours the rear of the vehicle, they all seemed fine , no broken lines, everything is tight but the fuel breather valve its only between 80 to 100$, compare to the 350$ canister... go figure, and its fixed quite a few cars, so ill give it try, wipe the codes, and hope it doesnt come back, good luck....

First thing i will say , is that, this problem is very common with bmw 320xi models.There are many many other users too facing same exact problem.--------- In this case there are 2 fuses that are to be checked first.------The problem is most likely caused by failing door lock actuator(s) that cause the fuse to blow.The root cause of the blown fuse is a higher than normal current draw to actuate the door locks. ------- Click this link below for more details, regarding this problem:-- http://technoanswers.blogspot.com/2011/07/door-unlock-and-lock-problem-on-bmw.html ---------- This will help.Thanks.Helpmech.

The air bag warning light indicates there is a problem with the air bag system. Unless you have the proper test equipment and are trained in air bag reapair you should have a trained mechanic check and/or repair the sytem. The problem could be one of the sensors or a number of other causes. Tinkering with the air bag system is dangerous because you can inadvertently discarge the air bag. That is dangerous and will more than likely cost much more to repair the system if it needs a new bag. Unfortunately this is not a do-it-yourself system.

Thanks for using FIxYa.

Gaker

may be your car has instored the trouble code, check it out, this tool may be help.

Sounds like it is probably serious, and the fact that you are asking the question tells me that this is not a job that you will want to attempt yourself.
I suggest that you shop around for a rebuilder with a good reputation who will put at least a 90 day warranty on the engine. 30 years ago, you could drop off your old engine and pick up a rebuilt with a warranty and have it back in the car the same day. Rebuilding engines is kind of a lost art now. You will almost certainly have to wait while yours is rebuilt, and you may have to ship it somewhere to get it done by someone who is experienced with this engine.

First, is the BMW a U.S. model or European model? I would recommend trying to find out what type of programming your mechanic actually did and you might have to go to BMW dealer and look at their wiring diagrams. BMW is very particular about their cars being worked on. You may need the actual BMW computers to help you out. Good luck.

Lazy? be more specific please.

the brass tumblers inside the ignition cylinder are bent causing this delimma.. Have a new lock cylinder installed to correct this problem. A trained locksmith can perform this task most likely cheaper than a dealer would charge

This code can be generated by putting gas in vehicle while engine running,loose fuel cap, bad hoses on the evaporator system.to clear codes tighten gas cap see if it returns. when tightening fuel cap turn it three clicks minimum.If that is not the case then you will have to perform a smoke test on the fuel system to determine where your evaporator leak is at, any competent repair shop will have the special equipment to perform this test..Good Luck Tim

On a '99, your expansion tank is 12 years old and has gotten brittle, so it was likely due to fail any time. However, they generally don't explode.
The best possible scenario is that the car got extra hot for some reason and your cap failed and would not release pressure as the system heated.
The fear is that you have a blown head gasket or a cracked head, and pressure from the combustion chambers is forcing its way into the cooling system.
The way a shop checks for this is a compression test, or better yet, holding their exhaust probe by the opening from the radiator and seeing if any carbon monoxide is coming out of the radiator. A possible clue you can check is to pull the spark plugs and look at them. If one of them looks steam cleaned, you definitely have a problem

try bmw.com .........dheers

rumbling can mean a whole bunch of things,, my guess would be that your hearing a throw out bearing going out , thats the part that allows the clutch plate and disc to come together to let the car engage, if it goes out completely ,, the clutch could be in gear and not able to release,

The loud sound is probably the throttle body just sucking in air. Your problem is probably the fuel filter is clogging up. Plenty of fuel pressure , just not enough volume of fuel.

Timing chain guides prone for breakig. Usually due to a weak hydraulic tensioner.

Steptronic is a option and not all BMW has it. If this manual gate fails,the steptronic shift will not occur.If the switch up switch fails then there will be no up shift response. If the switch down switch fails there will be no down shift response. This device is located to the center left side of shifter. I dont think you have a transmission problem why would I say that because it stall and you had to rev it up till it clears okay there is something that failed and resemble a transmission failure. Okay I found it here is the definate problem cars used to have EGR when they failed it stall and rough Idle the vehicles your is classic you have a EXHAUST CAM CNTRL SOL(VANOS) failure. why is it failing across the land Motor oil type is of wrong use. once the vanos plugs you get a rough stalling idle the fix well a engine oil flush chemical prior to oil change may work. Or it has to come out and clean the screens itself . This device relies on oil temerature sensor if temperature of oil goes above 212 F ecm deactivates solenoid control. by the way you have 2 vanos one for intake and the other for exhaust.

maybe it needs gas