HELP MY 316i, PLEASE!!!!!

[alankeith]

I have recently bought myself a 316i compact (UK spec). This is my first BMW and my first RWD car. I am really pleased with the car and it looks great.

I have noticed that when driven on the motorway with the foot down a little, the car has a tendency to deliver the power as if it is "missing a beat". The power comes and goes, but this happens in a smooth and sequential sort of way, the car doesn't shudder or stall. If the car is driven around town, I don't notice it.

I was going to replace the plugs and leads, as I thought it might be a corroded plug lead, or old plugs, but i found that the plugs were brand new. The leads did seem a little dirty, but no cracking etc was evident, so I cleaned up the contacts.

As the new plug leads are £50, I think it might be best to have a diagnostic tune-up carried out, in case I am wasting money which would be better spent elsewhere.

Anyone else had this problem?

UPDATE - - - - - - -

I have had the car checked twice now, once at a Bosch service centre, who checked for error codes. And once (today) on a rolling road centre (dyno testing).

Both people could not find anything wrong... AAAARRRRGGGHHHHH!

I know the problem is there, I am not making it up!!!

The rolling road indicates that my little 316 is actually up on the power curve when compared to the manufacturers curve. The guy at the centre did indicate that BMW's were bad for air flow sensors and lambda sensors, but I assume that he has checked thes and in any case these would have shown up during one or both of the tests.

I can still feel the power is fading in and out when driving. (imagine a continuous sine wave ~). I am not hammering the car, just driving it normally.

I would REALLY appreciate any feedback.