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Help : 1989 730i only running on 5 cylinders (archive)
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Posted by Adrian Williamson on December 28, 2000 at 09:49:09:

Hi,

I'm currently in southern Ireland and I need to get back home to Bristol in the United Kingdom.

However the car has started to run on only five cylinders.

I need to get back to Bristol, but I don't know if running the car the 250 miles will cause further damage or not.

The saga :

730iSEA - 135,000 miles

Car is running fine on the way to Dublin from Galway.
Reach a section of dual carriageway and I start to notice a vibration when on the gas. Start to get worried.
I stopped at a BMW garage and explain the symptoms.
The mechanics establish the cylinder 1 is not firing.
The plug from cylinder1 is wet.
It is producing a spark.
There is NO smoke comeing from the oil filler at tick over.
(Someone send that if smoke is comming from here then the piston ring may have failed)


There is a lot of white smoke comming from the exhaust. The car was also due to have a replacement cam in January as its current one is very wore. That might be a big clue...

Can I make it home without completely destroying the engine?

Thanks,

Adrian.
P.S. There are *no* BMW dealers open in southern Ireland at this time.

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