[ShereKhan]

Right looks like the demons have returned on my car this evening.

I'm driving back home on the M4 in the outside lane doing 70mph in peak hour traffic. Then all of a sudden the dash display goes beserk.

It showed me (In this order)

Cruise control failure (yellow Speedo gauge with exclaimation)
Engine management (yellow tap)

Then the follwing led's light up
Handbrake (in steady yellow)
Traction control (usual steady yellow)
Engine Management tap (steady yellow)

The engine felt like it had regurgitated as I quickly swooped over to the had shoulder. I'd lost virtually all power. It's 1st time i've had to cross all three lanes so was a bit of a panic in the rush hour traffic.

Called up BMW Assist. Got told
If you can do more than 20mph its ok.
So I got back in the car and carried on for a bit. Found I could do 60mph then 40mph then 50mph, then 40mph.

Managed to get to the next services called BMW Assist again.
After explaining the above I got told you'll have to take it to garage tomorrow.
Basically I wasn't too impressed at being told I had to drive it at 40mph on the motorway or find an alternative route home (non motorway).

They didn't think it warranted someone to come out to look at it as the car was mobile. Luckily as my car is a lease car its covered by the RAC.

So when I called them they tried to fob me to BMW Assist, when I told them they said they would send a technician out to me.

Anyway the guy came and hooked up his diagosis PC. It reported a fault with the throttle pedal circuit.

Now most of you who know of my cars history (like all the other 320i's) its had some engine woes. To the point where BMW last year replaced the engine. The strange thing is that I have always thought I had a dodgy accelerator pedal as it used to rev on its own on startup.

The RAC guy just removed the electrical connection to the engine from the throttle and reset the error. It went away then I was on my way.

Luckily I have yet another service due on Friday (Spark Plugs and inspection and new wheel arch). So i'm going to get the stealer to look at the problem if its still there - Will it remember the fault code - or will the stealer just see nothing?

Has anyone else had a similar problem with their pedal?

Any thoughts or ideas?

[dxb335d]

its okay if it does 20mph... F**k me if that all it could manage it aint doing it no good doing 20mph.

Whats the score with your car mate, not all of us have watched the 320 problem thread, give us a heads up. Sorry to hear the car is still giving you grief.

[FieldingMellish]

Everybody should read the 320i problems thread, at least for a lesson in how BMW treat their customers. Their current 4 cylinder petrol engines suffer a problem, or range of problems, mainly limping and cutting out (sometimes at high speeds, leaving you to get to teh side of the road as described above), and these are common enough to constitute a very serious matter. But BMW at a corporate, dealership, and 'Customer Service' level, are in denial about it. Their attitude stinks.

[ShereKhan]

Originally Posted by dxb335d

its okay if it does 20mph... Fuck me if that all it could manage it aint doing it no good doing 20mph.

Whats the score with your car mate, not all of us have watched the 320 problem thread, give us a heads up. Sorry to hear the car is still giving you grief.

Mine's had a new engine - its been fine since May last year - and now the gremlins maybe back. Its managed fine for 18k miles till today.

[ShereKhan]

Originally Posted by FieldingMellish

Everybody should read the 320i problems thread, at least for a lesson in how BMW treat their customers. Their current 4 cylinder petrol engines suffer a problem, or range of problems, mainly limping and cutting out (sometimes at high speeds, leaving you to get to teh side of the road as described above), and these are common enough to constitute a very serious matter. But BMW at a corporate, dealership, and 'Customer Service' level, are in denial about it. Their attitude stinks.

I thought that too - until they replaced my engine - Thumbs up for Wellsway in doing the job. Dick Lovett found no fault......

It is really crap for BMW its as if they have got some staff from VW to do their customer service.

[FieldingMellish]

Well, I think you were 'lucky' in getting a replacement engine, although it sounds as though that didn't fix it? In my experience, for any given fault BMW hava a list of potential 'fixes' which they work through in ascending ordr of cost, starting with replacing a sensor or seomething, and ending in replacing the ECU (or even the engine itself). The further up that scale you go, the more likely they are to try cutting you off with 'maybe this is a driver issue', i.e. maybe it's your fault that our 4 cylinder petrol engines are sh1te...

And that's BMW, individual BMW dealers can be even worse...

[ShereKhan]

I don't think I was lucky - it was a case of me annoying averyone possible in the chain for the supply and maintenance of my car.

Lease Company
BMW UK & Germany
My Employer
My lease manager - Internal

Then my local stealer.

I think they got sick of me rattling everyone's cages.
BMW financial services got involved - And I don't have a financial contract with them!

I know what you mean about the fluff build quality of 4 pots. I expected the build on mine to be better because its a limited run. I think they must have got some trainee's in when they built mine.

[freon warrior]

Mines still not quite right!

[COLSEN]

Bad to hear that all this time on there are still issues with the 320 cars. My new one thanks to BMW has been fine so far (touching wood) over 9k so far but I'm still not convinced 100%, I don't have much faith! I feel verrry sorry for the poor sod that bought my old one that was constantly having problems from the dealer that bought it back from me!

[dxb335d]

so you have the one you crashed colsen or a new one?

[Mowgli]

ShereKant, Only another 6 months to go then you can have an Astra Diesel. Your problems will be gone then........

[dxb335d]

you what? are you his boss?

[Mowgli]

No no no, but we do have a mutual friend, Carmello Orlando....

I wish ShereKhann luck with getting his car fixed.

[Captain Chaos]

I guess I must be just lucky then... My Si has 24k on the clock and apart from the odd cold morning when it's sulked for a while before starting, it's been regular as a hippy eating bran flakes for every meal.

I thought the Si's should be better, what with more detail given to the engine and stronger components. BMW's response sounds fairly typical, mind. I think I'd have been tempted to tell them it had gone completely - by the time they got there it could have changed again, they'd never have known, especially as they'd probably have sent you a spotty 18 year old with an NVQ in Meccano....

Have you heard back from the garage yet, or not had chance?

[ShereKhan]

Well the garage said they found no fault - (suprise, suprise)
They told me the RAC tech had cleared the memory for the fault.

The Si had been quite - just the starting problem which was intermittent then it went regular then the engine was changed and it stopped. So nine months later and around 18k out of nowhere the engine power loss came along....

I will miss the Si when its due to go in Spet. As I doubt I will be getting another BMW, i'll probably driving some crappy hot hatch (Civic Type R) on the co scheme which will be cheap as chips.

Or may even opt out for a Subaru Legacy Spec B......who knows the scheme may get better with all the glut of cars stocked away on fields and no one producing cars......

[Captain Chaos]

Similarly worrying, I spoke to one of the techs at my local dealer (mainly cos they're a fraction less dumb than the guys in Service Dept) and he told me he'd never heard of a starting issue with the Si so not to worry about booking it in before the next service - but they'd do me a 'winter check' for 40 quid which he thoroughly recommended. Uh, really, surprising. Seems like I'm starting to see what you've already seen though, so much for me being lucky - I do hope it's not time to move it on already cos this is gonna be a farkin' expensive year as it is.. :/

Do drop an update if anything else comes back though. FWIW, I've had the diag laptop on the car since the start issues and nothing's flagged up for that, but warning lights and safety mode would most definitely have dropped stuff in the logs - especially that many!

[COLSEN]

Originally Posted by dxb335d

so you have the one you crashed colsen or a new one?

I got me a new one, exactly the same, but 2008 & this one works properly! The dealer bought mine back from me as it still kept b*ggering up & got me a newy! There was something seriously wrong with that engine, and 1 week before the old one went back, the aircon started pumping out dandruff - another thread on here about oxidisation on the ac unit? I don't think any part of that car is original, I think almost everything must have been swapped either due to the bump or the engine screwing up lol. But about 2 weeks later my old car was in the approved used section

[ShereKhan]

Originally Posted by Captain Chaos

Similarly worrying, I spoke to one of the techs at my local dealer (mainly cos they're a fraction less dumb than the guys in Service Dept) and he told me he'd never heard of a starting issue with the Si so not to worry about booking it in before the next service - but they'd do me a 'winter check' for 40 quid which he thoroughly recommended. Uh, really, surprising. Seems like I'm starting to see what you've already seen though, so much for me being lucky - I do hope it's not time to move it on already cos this is gonna be a farkin' expensive year as it is.. :/

Do drop an update if anything else comes back though. FWIW, I've had the diag laptop on the car since the start issues and nothing's flagged up for that, but warning lights and safety mode would most definitely have dropped stuff in the logs - especially that many!

Chaos feel free to PM me - as the stealers sometimes forget that the Si is different to the "i"

Mine started the fault around March 07 at nearly 18k miles.
When the sparks were changed at 32k miles it made a massive difference.
If I were you I would change them early as I think the interval is wrong for the Si.

Beware of the 2nd oil service - its not a while you wait job as the valve timing has to adjusted and the car is needed for full day. I think this should also be done earlier but its a lot of money to spend for this service. My stealer quoted £300 on top of oil service.

I'd be interested in what sort of mileage you have managed on your tyres as i've got 33k on my last rears and i'm on the original fronts at 63k miles (yes you did read that right )

[Captain Chaos]

Yeah I've already had to 'educate' a few people at dealers about the extra 'S'.... I suspect that the service intervals may be the same as the i models too, which may be why you saw what you did. Frustrating as hell, and honestly it's one of the reasons I've had enough of the car. I got the service package, and it's in warranty, so I'm clear for expense which is a big reason for hanging on to her, but as you say people don't realise/pay attention, so you're constantly pointing it out.

I almost sold the car last August but bottled it at the last cos we couldn't quite agree on the price and I decided it was too good a drive to let go cheaply. Looking like a mistake then.. Ho hum.

Tyres...well....that's always a weak spot of mine. I drive the car how it was built to be driven - and that's never good for economy. I did the rears last month after 23k, most of which was either flat out through corners or sideways around roundabouts, so the 10k difference is entirely my fault, I can't help but enjoy the handling. Fronts may last a while yet, the outside edges are probably down as low as I'd like but the rest of the tyre is OK and given my financial restrictions for the next few months I'm driving like a good boy now so they should last to 30k I hope. There's no doubt that it's my fault though, the car is set up amazingly by BMW, outstanding position and ride, it's no wonder that you've got that out of your tyres if you're careful with it.

[ShereKhan]

Originally Posted by Captain Chaos

I got the service package, and it's in warranty, so I'm clear for expense which is a big reason for hanging on to her, but as you say people don't realise/pay attention, so you're constantly pointing it out.

Tyres...well....that's always a weak spot of mine. I drive the car how it was built to be driven - and that's never good for economy. I did the rears last month after 23k, most of which was either flat out through corners or sideways around roundabouts, so the 10k difference is entirely my fault, I can't help but enjoy the handling. it's no wonder that you've got that out of your tyres if you're careful with it.

If you've got the service pack stick with it as i'm sure the service pack was priced wrongly for this car - I'm sure that my lease company and BMW assume its a normal i so i'm trying to screw my lease company for all expenses. Ha! Ha!

I get 27.7mpg thats the combined mileage since I have owned it. Its quite hard to get the 31mpg combined but it can be done (when my dad drives it!)

I wouldn't say my driving is that careful.....I'm the nut behind the wheel or so my colleague tells me

[Captain Chaos]

Yeah I can usually get mid 20s if I'm not being silly. You have to drive it fairly hard to get it down to 20 but if it's a bad week at work and I'm doing late nights then it's time for an expensive tankful . I've had 30s too though, on a long run keeping it nice and steady with the family onboard. As long as that needle doesn't go past the 4k mark then it stays sensible.

I agree on the service pack, it was proper cheap for such a specialist engine. That said, it doesn't seem to help on the service stuff we spoke about above, cos the dealers don't seem to register half the time anyway. Ho hum!

I'm down Bristol way now and again at one of our offices, may be kinda cool to get the two cars together and maybe do some pics before Sept, I'm only in Reading so not too far up the M4 and you don't see too many of them these days.

[ShereKhan]

Captain PM me - I'm usually going up and down the M4 corridor (and most country lanes! ) in the south that I can find.

I've only ever spotted two Si's on the road one in Carbon black (Bristol) and Alpine white (Brum).