Lack of power on my 525 TDS

[Tony777]

Hello Everybody
Can anybody please give me some advice.
I have a 1994 525 TDS touring Automatic but it has developed a problem.
The engine revs fine when she is either park or neutral.
When I put it into drive, reverse or one of the lower gears and
the engine is cold, she pulls away but a bit sluggish. Once she gets going,
she runs fine. When the engine is at operating temperature and I try to pull away,
the gearbox is in drive and I put my foot on the accelerator, nothing happens
It's like the throttle cable has been cut .
If i put it into neutral, the engine revs as it should.
I had to rev it up today, knock it into gear and after several attempts, got her rolling and then finally, she started to drive. I got her home but I had to make sure that I did not stop at all.
Has anybody got any ideas what may be wrong?
Thanks,
Tony

[Barney Paull-Edwards]

The first thing I`d check is your fuel filter followed by your Air filter. Put a brick on the throttle(engine off!) and check for full throttle on the pump and that the kick-down cable has not broken. Also check all the small pipes from under manifold,etc, have not come off or split.

[Tony777]

I have changed the fuel and air filters. When the car is finally moving, the kickdown works fine. Once I'm on the motorway, she drives like a dream. The problem is when I try to pull away, there is a normal amount of resistance on the throttle but the engine will not respond if it is in gear. If it is in neutral, the engine revs freely.
Could the fluid level on the autotrans affect it?

[Lordsneldon]

I would be checking the oil level in the auto box. A right ******* of a job becasue you have got to get underneath the car and get dirty!!! (i never understood why a prestige car manufacturer like BMW didnt bother putting a dipstick on the box so one could add oil if neccesary!!!)

[bimmo_2007]

I'd say check the fuel pump, once the same thing happened to me, I replaced the fuel pump & everything went fine.

[Barney Paull-Edwards]

No expert on torque convertors, somebody must be, is this a trait of 525A`s, if not watch clear line when you start car hot, any air? Pull head temp sensors and clean plugs just in case.

[Tony777]

Hi there,
the car starts fine when it's hot or cold and there are no air bubbles in the fuel pipe.
The engine revs freely when it's either in neutral or park, but as soon as I click it in gear, theres nothing. The car just about moves slower than a slug. If I keep on knocking it out of drive and into neutral, rev it up and click it back into gear, I can get it moving and once I reach about 5mph, it finally starts to go. Once it's moving, she drives like a dream.
I'm off work tommorrow so I am going to start by checking the oil level on the box and then go from there.
Tony