I have a 1993 Left hand drive BMW 316i (I think is a E35 engine??). It has about 130.000 kilometers and manual transmission. I have this problem for as long as I owned this car since 2006: Sometimes (very randomly) the air flow meter is not working properly and the car starts to buck and kick until it dies out!. This could happen in the sun, the rain or the snow, as I start the car or if I am in traffic fast or slow. This may be a very crazy idea, but I noticed that the rate of this event increases when I leave the car in gear when I park (you can ignore this comment unless you think it may have some significance). I heard that the air flow meter is frequently faulty in this model engine, so I got a new (used) one. The problem is the same. I can solve temporarily the problem by unplugging and plugging the air flow connector once or twice. My trusted mechanic does have no idea what the heck is going on and I refuse to take it to the dealer (I live in London and here it would take about a month to get an appointment and I would have to sell my first born child to pay for what ever they do, even if they don’t fix the problem). Any suggestions?
Thank you!
Is this the kind with a flapper and potentiometer (variable resistor)?
Get some electrical contact cleaner from Radio Shack and spray in the electrical section.
Otherwise buy a new (new) one online.
Thank you Circuitsmith,
I’ll give the contact cleaner a try. a new (new) air meter is about ?500!
Cheers!