RE: E30 M20B25 cutting out

[Louie Rendek <ljr7@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Alan,

I second this observation by Alex.  The same thing happened in my 1987 325e
and it was the DME going bad.  One day, the car shut off for good and I had
to be towed back home, where I took 2 days going through the Bentley manual
ignition section to find that it was the DME.  I got lucky and picked a
used one up for around $130, but I repeat I got lucky.  Expect anywhere
from $200-300.  Very easy to replace.  Mabye 15 minutes, car started right up.

Louie Rendek
Case Western Reserve University
PhD candidate, chemistry dept.
email:  ljr7@domain.elided

Alex writes:

> Car: 89 325is
> 
> Situation:  Driving down the road and all of a sudden, complete
> loss of power and check engine light comes on.  I first fear the
> worst, Timing Belt.  As soon as Rpm's fall under 2,000 the engine
> kicks back on.

Alan,
	You are describing the exact scenario preceding the demise of DME on
my '89 325i. 
	The engine would stumble/cut-out/die and then restart on the
highway. I crawled all over the car with a voltmeter, replaced the
main/fuel/02 relays, etc all to get stranded on a cold and rainy November
night last year. The DME has finally given up the ghost - the fuel injectors
were firing randomly.
	A replacement DME will be around $200 from Roundel advertising junk
(used parts;) yards.
	

> When I got
> home I pulled out my DME fault code sheet and ran through the
> proper procedure to view the fault code from the car.  The car returns
> a fault code of  1-19-17-56  I repeat the process 3 times to make
> sure I am reading this right.  1-19-17-56 does not appear on my
> fault code sheet, and I have also never seen a fault code even
> remotely close to this. 

	That doesn't sound right since reading this code would mean watching
the light blink once - pause - 19 times - pause - 17 times - pause - 56
times - long pause. 
	Either way, if you choose not to replace the DME right away, I would
buy a spare and carry it in your glove box. Beats getting your car towed and
searching for a cab in a middle of nowhere. 

good luck,
alex

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