RE: bmw-digest V9 #2390

["Dan Hagrman" <dan@xxxxxxxx>]

Gary,

I would suspect your fuel pump / air meter combo with intermittent / 3 sec runs, since it comes on for a second (pressurizing the injectors) but may not come on when the car starts (it uses the flap position to tell when the engine's running), giving you enough fuel for 3 second idles.  The problem could be intermittent fuel pump, bad AFM, or bad wiring.  

pull the rear seat cushion up and turn the ignition on.  You should hear your fuel pump come on for a second.  If so, take off the air cleaner assembly and with the ignition on again push the AFM meter flap in with a screwdriver or something (open it).  The fuel pump, after running for a second when ignition is turned on, should come on and run constantly when the flap is open.  

If you have a voltmeter, you can see if the leads to the pump have 12 volts when the flap is open... if it does and the pump isn't running then it's the pump, else it's the flap or wiring.  

This is a start (bad pun) anyway.  good luck.

dan in kc, e30s.

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