For zarnd,

[roadhouse1387]

Hi Zarnd,

Saw that you have a 530i and just wanted to ask you if your car seems a sort of 'flat' up to about 3500 rpm ?

I have a 2000 530I and I cant decide if there is something wrong with it or not, it seems to be quite flat at low revs.

For example, in 5th (Its a manual) at say 60mph, there is very little reaction when flooring  the throttle and it seems to take ages to get up to 70,80. Just not what I expected.

Hit around 3500 and it picks up dramatically.

Are they all like this or is it just mine ? what is yours like ?

Cheers
Shaun

[zarnd]

this is going to sound really bad mate - i don't know!

i haven't been in the car for three weeks as it is in kent and i am in wales finishing my degree! i have never noticed a flat spot to be honest in it, but to be honest as my every day car is a land rover defender, it is absolutely rapid all the time in comparison!

might be worth chucking some Redex through the engine as i did this on my e36 and it got rid of a flat spot in it!

just for you, when i get back i will go on the dual carriageway and find out for you!

i would say mine doesn't off hand, but as mine is an auto it might have the flat spot and i may not notice it cos of the auto gearbox if you see what i mean!

will get back to you at the weekend when i am at home mate if that is ok!?!

cheers

[draglih]

Shaun

Based on my 528 and driving my brothers 330 it does sound like you might have a problem. My impression of the 330 is that it has loads of torque, even low down. My 528 Auto pulls in a fairly consistent manner from 2000 rpm, there is no 'sudden' increase in torque.

However, there was a few months back when the inlet cam sensor failed.

I would be inclined to get down the dealer or an indy and see if there is a fault code logged. In the case of the inler cam sensor on my car there was no engine light up, just a loss of power and an obvious code. The loss of power might be down to something like this - when the engine management decides a sensor is duff it uses a substitute value so the engine can run, but it will not be perfect and output may be limited.

[Eltezz]

Hi Shaun,

Although my 530I is an auto like Zarnd's, it pulls hard from 2000rpm onwards regardless of what gear it's in. This engine really is impressive from tickover upwards so it sounds like there could be a problem. Time to get the codes read, I think.

Terry

[Gee]

I've got a manual 530i Sport and I don't think I've got a flat spot from 60 upwards in 5th.  Granted it's not lightning fast but it does still pick up rather well.

I'll do a bit of research next time I'm out.  In the meantime just drop a cog!

[gtrevor]

I've got a 2001 530i Sport Manual - don't have a flat spot, and generally feel the engine is responsive throughout the rev range...

might be worth getting the car checked.... may be worth putting some BP Ultimate or Shell Optimax to see whether it makes any difference....

[zarnd]

well i must now report back on my findings.

my engine doesn't have a flat spot atall, i tried this in drive, drive sport mode, and using the steptronic, regularly red lining it and getting up to 120 just to make sure that the flat spot was not going to be in the nbext ten mph or so!?!

don't really know what to suggest mate, but good luck with it though!

cheers