Please help! 1990 525i loss of power.

[infurno]

I just received a E34 1990 525i manual bmw.

It has a bad loss of power, and requires full throttle to drive up a slope. It nearly chokes driving up my drive way, must be in first gear. I have done a lot of searching, and the only similar problems i have found start when the engine warms up or reaches a certain RPM but that's not the case here.

Some other things i have noticed:


a very slight engine vibration at 1300 rpm
2 seconds of white smoke at start
there was a lot of oil in the very large hose connecting the air filter to the engine


I checked the air filter, oil, and coolant. No warnings or lights on the dash.

What could the problem be? I would appreciate any help at all!

Thanks in advance

[Espen]

The oil in the induction tube doesnt do you any good. You need to find out how it got there. Do a stomp test, and check for error codes (search for "stomp test" on the forum) pull out your sparkplugs and check their condition. Replace them wont hurt anyhow.

If you fill out your profile, its more likely the guru`s here will answer you. Sometimes its a must to know location, and where the car was sold to get the right answers for some problems.

[wingman]

Are we talking M20 or M50? What market?

[infurno]

Are we talking M20 or M50? What market?

Im really not sure, how do i tell? I believe the car is american.

Im trying to do the "stomp test" but i have not yet been able to get any codes to come up. I put the key to power position, stomp 5 times and release the gas within 5 seconds but the engine check light only stays on.

The engine check light is off with the engine started.

Am i doing something wrong?

[infurno]

Its finally cool enough to go check the spark plugs, when i grabbed the first cable and gave it a gentle pull the wire came right out of the rubber hose that connects to the actual spark plug.

Its just a stripped wire! I'm hoping that this is it. I completely disconnected it and there was no difference in the or sound, or behaviour with 5 spark plugs connected. I have not had a chance to drive it on only 5 yet, but i should have minimal power right?

There is a tremble i can feel through the steering wheel, is this normal? Its not uniform, very random. Is that because only 5 spark plugs are connected or should i be looking somewhere else?

[BillionPa]

replace all 6 plugs with new copper or iridium electrode plugs, get new wires, new distributor rotor and cap, and clean as much of the oil in the intake out as you can. also make sure your air filter is clean, and if you havent changed the fuel filter in 30000 miles, do that too.

[Karl]

My car got oil in the intake due to a vacuum leak. Check all your hoses.