Re: Who will be first ?

[VNE <vne@xxxxxxx>]

Sounds very familiar to me. I had (have, long story) the same symptoms
with my 86 535I. Here's what I can tell you. I went 'round and 'round
with this untill I finally replaced the "main relay". My symptoms were
as you described, with the tach going to zero. Once I changed that, the
problem compleatly disappeared...
for awhile...( during an episode, try putting the pedal to the floor
momentarily, just jabbing it floored, then idle, not to race the engine,
just to cycle the pedal. that would "fix" it for a time )
After awhile, my car began cutting out again. Compleatly random. Like
you just turned off the key. But now, the tach continues to work ! If I
floored it, sometimes once, sometimes many times, it would "fix" it
again. I went thru everything. Relays, throttle position switch, coil,
you name it. Posted on the web, and got suggestions. Lots. Tried them
all, nothing worked. Even opened the computer to check the solder in a
particular spot. 
Then by suggestion, I focused on the AFM. Found that the brass contact
inside had worn a groove in the board where it slides, and fixed it by
re-mounting the board in a slightly different location, so the contact
rides on fresh surface.
The problem compleatly dissapeared after that.
But....
Lately, it has reverted to the original thing again, with the tach
dropping out.
Really starting to bug me. Ok, so it has 230K miles, I wish it would
just fail, once and for all, even if on the side of the road, so I could
be DONE with it !
Runs good the rest of the time, although with some flat-spots on hard
acceleration.
Same thing with the speedo. It will just start jumping around after
working fine for a long time. Sometimes reads 90-100+ when Im doing 60.
Kicks off the cruise control too. But I digress...
Try a new main relay first, and good luck. Let me know if you figure it
out !
Dan M.
86 535I   230K
87 K100RS 107K

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