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If I can't fix this I am going to sell my car (archive)
[ Follow Ups ] [ E30 M3 Message Board ] [ Msg. Board FAQ ]
Posted by anthony on January 19, 2002 at 09:17:20:

To recap, a few months back I drove from Vancouver to Calgary. (For those in the US think about driving from Seattle to Montana). Most of the way my car was fine except when I got up into the Rockies. I seem to lose all power and even with the pedal floored it would not go past 5000rpm. I figured this had to do with the air pressure and thought my sensor must be shot.

When I got back to Vancouver I started to notice that I was getting really bad gas mileage. I would average around 200 kilometers (125 miles) per tank of gas, where as before I would get closer to 400 kilometers (250 miles). I also notice that sometimes my car would not start on the first turn of the key, I would have to turn it twice for the engine to catch.

I took it to BMW and they said all the sensors were working fine but I had an intake gasket leak. So I had them fix that but still had the same problems. I took it to an independent BMW specialist and he suggested that my 02 sensors might be dead. So I had him replace that and I did notice that on the highway I can get over 400 kilometers (averaging 9L/100K) per tank. However once into the city the fuel consumption skyrockets to 25L-28L/100K and I am back down to getting 200 kilometers per tank. I am still having the starting problem as well.

So does anyone have any suggestions? I realize these cars do not get great gas mileage but why the huge difference between city and highway. I thought that in the city I should be getting closer to 15L-17L/100K. And on the highway keeping it steady at 100KPH (60MPH) I barely get 400 kilometers per tank. When I first bought the car I could get 400 kilometers in the city!

I should mention that I have the TMS chip, Euro air box and a free flow exhaust. I put all these mods on after I thought I had this problem fixed. Now I realize I should have waited to make sure but I don’t think these mods should be affecting gas mileage that badly.

This has been an ongoing problem and I am getting extremely frustrated that no one can seem to solve this. I have taken it to the dealer and 2 other independents and every time the actual problem does not get fixed. I hate to say it but I am almost tempted to sell the car and buy an E36 M3. Boring car but infinitely more reliable than my E30 M3


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