Engine stalling 1993 325i

[MDishaw]

I have a manual transmission 1993 325i with about 108K miles on it. I have had the vehicle for about 5 months and had it fully serviced by the dealer when I first bought it (that'll never happen again). I haven't really had any issues with the car since I bought it. Until now...

I was driving home after work this past Wednesday, on the expressway doing about 75 - 80, when the engine suddenly cut out. I immediately tried to restart the car, and when I turned the ignition, the engine turned over, but did not start. Also, the tach started going crazy - going well past the 6300 redline and almost straight down.

I immediately thought electrical problem, so I pulled to a stop and waited for about 10 minutes before I decided I had better call a tow truck. I decided to try to start the engine again and when I tried it started up just like normal. It idled perfectly fine, and I drove for another 10 minutes hoping this was just a fluke. The engine proceeded to cut out 5 times on my normally 25-30 minute drive home. Every time, I would wait 5-10 minutes and the car would fire up and run like normal until the engine died.

Out of necessity, I drove this car to work the next day and it ran perfectly fine, no stallings. On the way home, it stalled 7 times. This morning it stalled once on the way to work, and I will see how many times it stalls on the way home... I have another vehicle lined up to use after today, so I won't be driving it again until it's fixed.

When the engine cuts out, I sometimes get a Check Engine light briefly, but most times don't. When I restart it 5-10 minutes later it is never on. A couple times when I have restarted the engine after having it stall, it idled very high (1400 - 1500 RPM) and would not come down. Directly afterwards, after it stalled again and I restarted it, the idle was back to normal (650 - 700 RPM). The tach goes haywire when the engine cuts out, and any attempt ignition attempt (phyiscally turning the key to the start or run position) will produce the same haywire symptoms from the tach. Oh, I also let it idle for about 5 - 10 minutes and it stalled then too.

I am at somewhat of a loss on what could be causing this, and haven't found a good place to take my vehicle as of yet.

Any help would be very much appreciated.

-Michael

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[meharris]

My 97 318 had similar symptoms, except my tach would not go haywire. You may want to have the crankshaft position sensor, idle control valve, or knock sensor checked. I hear that the knock sensor can cause the engine to stall as well. My car would stall after warming up to about center temp. gauge and also while sitting idle at a light. I'm sorry that I can't be more of assistance to you.

MEH

P.S. Throttle position sensor is another to be checked.