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semiretired
11-29-2006, 03:46 PM
Hey there. Noob to the forum.

Own a 91 525 (m50) with 242k miles. Been a great car. Bought it with 187k miles from my father who purchased it new. Completely stock--although I hate the bottlecap rims. Owned it for almost 6 years now.

Got the standard problems: headliner, LKM, door panels unglued, water pump, timing chain tensioner coming loose (and blowing out all my oil in a jiffy) etc all addressed here. All taken care of except the headliner and my most recent prob: at low speeds (<35mph and coasting toward a light, for instance), the RPM will wind down to about 1100 RPM then gently surge to 1400-1500 RPM, then back off to 1100, and back up and down etc until I put my foot on the brake which puts the idle right about 700.

Took it to an indi. He got me for some rotten hoses and a valve cover gasket. I had the plugs and on O2 sensor put in coz it was about time anyway. Said he couldn't find any vacuum leaks and would need more time to pull the head off and prowl around the guts of my beloved E34 to find the idle problem. I asked about the idle control valve and he said probably not coz the idle is smooth when stationary... it just gently surges when coasting to a stop.

I passed this up coz it was a pretty open-ended fishing expedition on my nickel.

I put a few bottles of Techron and started using Chevron Premium exclusively.

The car runs great. I ran the codes using my Peak tool--nothing.

I'm baffled. Anybody out there got a clue as to what's going on?

semiretired
12-01-2006, 03:07 PM
Anybody?

Any ideas?

colo525i
12-01-2006, 05:41 PM
Couple things to check that helped my m50's idle. Check the air mass meter boot (between air filter and the throttle body) It likes to crack with age. Also clean out the throttle body, carbon gunk builds up there and make the throttle not close 100% or slowly. Cannot hurt to clean out the ICV either!

semiretired
12-04-2006, 09:04 AM
Couple things to check that helped my m50's idle. Check the air mass meter boot (between air filter and the throttle body) It likes to crack with age. Also clean out the throttle body, carbon gunk builds up there and make the throttle not close 100% or slowly. Cannot hurt to clean out the ICV either!

Thanks. I checked the boot this weekend while changing the air filter. Looked OK.

Do you have to remove the throttle body to clean it? Is there any adjustments that have to be made if you remove the TB? Can I just disconnect the boot and spray some gunk in there?

pingu
12-04-2006, 09:33 AM
The surging idle sounds like a typical idle control valve (ICV) problem - if you haven't already cleaned the ICV then worth a go.

If putting your fot on the brake makes the idle steady at 700rpm then maybe there's an air leak in the brake booster which is somehow helping to steady the idle (but only when you're using the brake)?

BillionPa
12-04-2006, 03:22 PM
i believe its called the brake booster check valve or something.