Camshaft sensor issues.

[Graham Adamson]

hello........ Looking for some sound advice regarding my '98 Z3 M44. It's been driving fine for the two short months I've had her. Very occasional hesitation on acceleration, almost like a 'flat spot' then drives fine. Sometimes stalls as well. It's been so infrequent it's annoying. Initially suspected throttle sensor before running diagnostics. Fault codes for camshaft sensor and throttle sensor showing. Been out and bought an aftermarket (Intermotor) sensor, fitted and found she won't even start now. I had been given some warning by one retailer that some brands have been returned to him as they caused nothing but problems. My questions are...1.Who produced these sensors for the production line?...2..can one faulty component throw up a fault on another component e.g can a fault on the camshaft sensor cause the throttle sensor to produce a fault or vice versa....or are they both shot. OEM sensors are ridiculously priced so any recommended suppliers would be helpful(UK). Thanks folks Reg

 

[Low Rider]

Welcome Reg.
I'm sure someone will be able to help you on here

 

[mwpe]

With camshaft sensors, I prefer to go OEM. Phone Sopers and you will get a good deal.

 

[t-tony]

Try Euro Car Parts but stress that you want OEM quality. I got one for my Z3 from them and it was a Genuine Bosch part with their company logo ground off. The part no. was still there and when I Googled it, it came back to a Bosch part.

Tony.

 

[Graham Adamson]

With camshaft sensors, I prefer to go OEM. Phone Sopers and you will get a good deal.

It's an expensive pill to swallow £132

 

[Graham Adamson]

Try Euro Car Parts but stress that you want OEM quality. I got one for my Z3 from them and it was a Genuine Bosch part with their company logo ground off. The part no. was still there and when I Googled it, it came back to a Bosch part.

Tony.

Thanks Tony, will pop in store tomorrow and have a chat.

 

[t-tony]

Thanks Tony, will pop in store tomorrow and have a chat.

Hi Graham , where are you located mate (East Midlands?)

This is the one I purchased with the Bosch Logo removed but still has the part number on it 7 539 165 - 02 and made in Germany. Try Googling the number.

This the non-descript item I originally got from them (cheap crap) which lasted only a few weeks.

Tony.

 

[Graham Adamson]

Hi Graham , where are you located mate (East Midlands?)
View attachment 66391
This is the one I purchased with the Bosch Logo removed but still has the part number on it 7 539 165 - 02 and made in Germany. Try Googling the number.
View attachment 66392

This the non-descript item I originally got from them (cheap crap) which lasted only a few weeks.

Tony.

I'm in Mansfield Tony. I take it the Bosch one is the Eurocarparts product. I've been checking on line tonight. They are showing two choices one at £50 and one at £130 both of which claim to be Intermotor, same as the one I've fitted this evening, the car failing to start.

 

[t-tony]

Only thing I can suggest Graham is to go in and look at both of these and see if they have had the Bosch logo removed. Take some pictures and post on here if you can.

Tony.

 

[Graham Adamson]

Only thing I can suggest Graham is to go in and look at both of these and see if they have had the Bosch logo removed. Take some pictures and post on here if you can.

Tony.

'Roger that' thanks Tony

 

[mrscalex]

That's a great heads up from Tony. This is a part that commonly fails, 3rd party sensors are generally useless and OEM are indeed hugely expensive.

The part number 7539165 is the BMW part number. OE part suppliers will sell their own branded versions of BMW parts (well it's their product anyway at the end of the day) but not usually with the BMW part number on it. So I believe this is a BMW part with the BMW legend scrubbed out. This is the BMW part.

So it looks like Bosch has dumped some overrun stock on the market - possibly as a one-off. Of slightly more concern would be if they had failed BMW QC but passed a lower Bosch QC. I doubt it but I know this happens in the world of PC components.

If it was half the price of the BMW part I would happily buy it without giving it a second thought.

But one last thing before you rush out. Tony's part is specifically for a 6 cylinder M54. You have a 4 cylinder M44 which requires a different sensor. I believe the part number for that is likely to be 1743072.

You can get the 4 cylinder as a Meyle part for £30 on eBay. Meyle have a great reputation for eg suspension components but whether that extends to sensors I don't know.

Personally I'd prioritise a secondhand BMW part over a cheap copy part. But I would be tempted to try the Meyle part at £30.

 

[Ianmc]

For sensors, OEM is the only way to go. IMO you generally get what you pay for.

 

[Graham Adamson]

That's a great heads up from Tony. This is a part that commonly fails, 3rd party sensors are generally useless and OEM are indeed hugely expensive.

The part number 7539165 is the BMW part number. OE part suppliers will sell their own branded versions of BMW parts (well it's their product anyway at the end of the day) but not usually with the BMW part number on it. So I believe this is a BMW part with the BMW legend scrubbed out. This is the BMW part.

View attachment 66400

So it looks like Bosch has dumped some overrun stock on the market - possibly as a one-off. Of slightly more concern would be if they had failed BMW QC but passed a lower Bosch QC. I doubt it but I know this happens in the world of PC components.

If it was half the price of the BMW part I would happily buy it without giving it a second thought.

But one last thing before you rush out. Tony's part is specifically for a 6 cylinder M54. You have a 4 cylinder M44 which requires a different sensor. I believe the part number for that is likely to be 1743072.

You can get the 4 cylinder as a Meyle part for £30 on eBay. Meyle have a great reputation for eg suspension components but whether that extends to sensors I don't know.

Personally I'd prioritise a secondhand BMW part over a cheap copy part. But I would be tempted to try the Meyle part at £30.

I've seen a second hand one on 'Flea-bay' OEM and also the Merle one for that price. I'm just a bit disappointed as I run a 98 M44 318is with 157k on the clock and have never had any sensor issues in the 11 years of ownership. The Z3 is also a 98 and is sat at 76k. I'm going to Sytners and Eurocarparts today to try and find either a Bosch or try to speak to a master tech see what their take on it is. I find it remarkable that aftermarket sensors are out there causing such dramas. Wish me luck mate. Reg

 

[mrscalex]

I've seen a second hand one on 'Flea-bay' OEM and also the Merle one for that price. I'm just a bit disappointed as I run a 98 M44 318is with 157k on the clock and have never had any sensor issues in the 11 years of ownership. The Z3 is also a 98 and is sat at 76k. I'm going to Sytners and Eurocarparts today to try and find either a Bosch or try to speak to a master tech see what their take on it is. I find it remarkable that aftermarket sensors are out there causing such dramas. Wish me luck mate. Reg

These sensors are high on the list of known failures. 100k miles or 15+ years is reasonable going. So I'd say you've done okay with the Z3 and even better with the 3 Series.

If any 'expert' tells you brand X is okay without having long term personal experience with the car it's intended for then walk away as their advice is useless.

Sytners will only sell you OEM (which may be Bosch or another high quality make - it can change over the lifetime). Personally I'd never trust ECP to spell BMW let alone give me advice. If you have a branch with a trusted staff member great - but back to above point re: actual experience.

I needed a pair recently. I just sat and waited until BMW parts came up cheap on ebay. I paid half price for the inlet and more like quarter price on the exhaust. That's for an M54 engine.

There aren't really any shortcuts on this one I'm afraid. If you find a good solution let us all know as we'll be queing up!

I'm going through the same thing with a viscous fan. I'd love to pay £30 for an anonymous brand. The reality is they are every bit as bad as the camshaft sensor 3rd party parts. So I'm trying to get a Behr/Hella (OEM) for £50-£60 when the retail is a fair bit higher than that.

 

[Graham Adamson]

I wouldn't really trust non OEM parts to be fair. I did visit ECP today to ask them about the two sensors they sold only to find they didn't stock them, they order as and when. They also didn't have a clue what the difference was between the two they sold, other than about £85. About as much help as pedals on a donkey.
Sytners couldn't really do anything for me regarding the manufacturer of the original sensor, which I thought was odd. To be fair he was a young lad and appeared a little inexperienced. He did slip me a piece of paper with the details of a company in my local town of Mansfield. BMW BARN, went to see a nice bloke called Aidy who provided me with an OEM sensor, although second hand. He rebuilds and dismantles E36's. If only for the purpose of testing I thought £10 was an absolute steal. Not yet fitted but that'll this evening. Fingers crossed.

 

[Mint]

Hi @Graham Adamson, to the forum from me too in Staffordshire. Hope you can get it fixed for a tenner - bargain if you can

 

[mrscalex]

I wouldn't really trust non OEM parts to be fair. I did visit ECP today to ask them about the two sensors they sold only to find they didn't stock them, they order as and when. They also didn't have a clue what the difference was between the two they sold, other than about £85. About as much help as pedals on a donkey.
Sytners couldn't really do anything for me regarding the manufacturer of the original sensor, which I thought was odd. To be fair he was a young lad and appeared a little inexperienced. He did slip me a piece of paper with the details of a company in my local town of Mansfield. BMW BARN, went to see a nice bloke called Aidy who provided me with an OEM sensor, although second hand. He rebuilds and dismantles E36's. If only for the purpose of testing I thought £10 was an absolute steal. Not yet fitted but that'll this evening. Fingers crossed.

£10 is a bargain if it works. Just don't expect that one to last 15+ years as it's had most of its life already. But even another year would be a good result.

 

[Graham Adamson]

Well folks, good news. After the inevitable issue with Euro Car Parts and my fortunate discovery of an E36 dismantlers in my home town, I am pleased to report that the second hand OEM cam sensor is working absolutely fine. I haven't as yet cleared the two fault codes so cannot confirm, as yet, the issue of the throttle sensor.
As it stands and the driving I have done thus far has not produced any issues. I do feel that the throttle sensor may have shown up as a result of the camshaft sensor playing up. If this is the case, I can't definitively say this until the fault codes are cleared and the car driven for a decent period. For anyone following this thread it may be worth considering swapping out sensors one at a time, retesting the system after each new sensor, potentially saving time and money.
Thanks for everyone's input on this. I'm very happy with my £10 fix. Now just looking for some new sills.

 

[t-tony]

Good news Graham, hope that's it fixed now mate. Definitely the best way, to do them one at once and then re read the codes, clear them and see which ones come back. Had similar issues this week with our daughter's "new" Beetle she bought last weekend.

Tony.

 

[Graham Adamson]

Good news Graham, hope that's it fixed now mate. Definitely the best way, to do them one at once and then re read the codes, clear them and see which ones come back. Had similar issues this week with our daughter's "new" Beetle she bought last weekend.

Tony.

No rest for the wicked eh! Good luck and thanks