Extremely Rough Running

[Misfire]

thanks for the info i will do that tomorrow and let you guys know the results

[Exilion]

Since you mentioned backfiring and that it has been sitting (which I assume means it wasnt taken care of beforehand), I would do a valve adjustment. It's pretty damn simple on these cars. I haven't had any experience on your particular car but on mine all you have to do is pop off the valve cover, and jack up the rear end so only one wheel is in the air and the other is on the ground. By doing that you can turn the wheel that's off the ground to turn the camshaft. The only thing you'd have to buy is a valve gasket which is like $10. Only thing is dont overtighten it (which is pretty hard to do with a feeler gauge). The only tools you need are a few wrenches and a feeler gauge, and it will help alot. This probably will only make it run smoother but chances are your problem includes everything. Usually everything wears down at the same time so don't be surprised if you have to fix more than one thing.

[Misfire]

relays didnt do anything
iv pretty much lost hope with the car at this point and I am going to give another try and figuring out whats wrong with my jetta

[StiffCookie]

Sorry for your probs with your cars man! Not sounding good bro

It's hard to find out whats wrong when the cars not in front of ya, but I'll try and throw in some suggestions.

Similarly to Exilion, that sounds to me like the engine timing isnt right. Rough idle together with cut-outs and your spark plugs not burning all the fuel are all signs of this. If the idle revs settled when you had it running roughly, do you recall the speed of the idle, is it higher or lower than normal?

You may need to retime the engine. If you are not too good at mehanics I would suggest you take it into a garage for a diagnosis of the problem and maybe a quote (this will be higher than you want it to be).

(I don't know what quotes cost in the US but in the UK they are cheap and sometimes free. If they're cheap in the US too, get several quotes from different places [less chance of them faking what the fault/cost is] )

Also, do you remember the engine ever overheating? A result of bad timing can cause an engine to overheat which in turn could have caused the head gasket to go aswell, causing the white smoke (like numark said).

As I said these are just suggestions that maybe you should check out so don't panic, I am by no means a pro but I've had my fair share of disasters, and I never like to part with my cash when I can fix it myself for 20x cheaper.

Yeah, and be careful checking those plugs, most spark plugs produce like 50,000 volts! (You need to remove the plug from the engine, connect it to the wire, then press the thread on the plug against a metal part of the engine block. obviously, keep your hands well away from anything metal on the plug or car).

Anyways I hope this helps and good luck, I wanna hear that the bimmer is back on the road where it belongs

Keep us updated.

Stiff.

[Exilion]

Just to encourage you, I did my valve job with no previous experience or help. Even though it may scare the shit out of you (I know the thought of breaking something did to me) it's actually pretty easy to work on these cars. And guess what after you do it you'll feel so much better. Even if it doesnt completely fix the problem it will make things better.

Like on my car I started with the fuel filter. Car ran a little better.
Then I did the oxygen sensor. Car ran even better.
Then I did the spark plugs. The car had a little more power.
Then I did the valve adjustment. Car felt like a new car.
Then I finally got around to the air filter, and the car felt like a BMW again (and now I speed alot)

So even though there was a few things to fix in the end I am glad I worked on it. Plus after you do a few jobs you can post on here helping other people. So don't worry about it to much. It probably isn't anything major but several minor things, and once you fix them, the car will run great.

[Exilion]

Also the Bentley manual kicks ass and even helps with diagnostics.

Oh and has anyone taught you the stomp diagnostic? You press the pedal 5 times and the check engine light will blink out a code. You then reference this to narrow down what system has the problem. Here's a better explanation http://www.pelicanparts.com/BMW/tech...nostics%20.htm

Pelican and this site http://www.bimmerdiy.com/e30 are pretty good when you don't have a book. They're not perfect but they will get you moving.

[Misfire]

i had no idea about that thanks for the info

[Misfire]

havnt been able to get it to work unfortunately

[Misfire]

my dad called a guy that works on bmws and he said it is most likely 1 of 2 things
a part that regulates the spark that is under the rotor or another part attached to the firewall
i guess they are pretty expensive new though

[Misfire]

alright just thought id do a little update, i fixed the problem.
turns out there was a hose connected to the intake manifold that had a huge crack in it, but now the car idles at 2500 and wont go down

[jasonp313]

first time posting. i have an 86 325 and i got it with a bent valve had it replaced . put a new head gasket on, new fuel filter, adjusted the valves, new timing belt , new water pump and it seems to be running rich any ideas what i might be doing wrong?