Stiff Throttle

[Smudgemanuk]

I own a 98 2.8 TU z3

The throttle feels a lot stiffer than my dads e46, it is both stiff to push down and lags slightly behind when you take your foot off fast

However having the TU engine means my throttle is drive by wire

Any ideas on what may be causing this, and possible fixes, would be much appreciated

Thanks Chris

 

[AntStark]

2.8 TU are cable operated not electrical (drive by wire)..or is that what you mean. The cables age and corrode internally over time making them sticky. There is a grommet on the pedal end that also disintegrates. You could also clean the throttle body and spring too

 

[t-tony]

What happens with a throttle cable us that over the years the wire inner cable wears slot in the inner plastic liner. This then "grabs" the inner wire as it slides in the slot. Lubrication may help but eventually you will need to replace the complete cable.

Tony.

 

[Smudgemanuk]

2.8 TU are cable operated not electrical (drive by wire)..or is that what you mean. The cables age and corrode internally over time making them sticky. There is a grommet on the pedal end that also disintegrated. You could also clean the throttle body and spring too

Damn that is news to me!

Thanks for correcting me and I will try that later this week

Much appreciated

 

[Smudgemanuk]

How tricky is it to replace the full throttle cable?

 

[hard top]

This Youtube vid might be of some help :-

View: https://youtu.be/fJ4xHddcElE?si=Vi9T9eZPB6VEFykA
​

 

[Smudgemanuk]

Thank you

 

[t-tony]

How tricky is it to replace the full throttle cable?

How I would do it is this. Disconnect the engine end of the cable. T.ie a length of string to the end of the cable. Disconnect the pedal end of the cable and carefully withdraw the cable into the car. When it's all in the car remove the string from the engine end of the cable. Compare the new and old cables to make sure they are the same. Attach the string to the engine end of the new cable and carefully draw it through the bulkhead into the engine bay.
Attach the cable at the pedal and then (after removing the string) at the engine end. Adjust the slack adjuster to remove almost all the free play.

Tony.

 

[AntStark]

How tricky is it to replace the full throttle cable?

Not too difficult..it’s a bit fiddly that’s all. Having a spare set of hands to pull the plastic clip through the bulk head really helps when removing the old cable.
Finding a replacement cable at the moment is the difficult bit..they are on back order at BMW. Some cables have a barrel like in the vid, some have a ball end.

 

[Smudgemanuk]

Thank you for your help all, I have just ordered a throttle cable

 

[Stevo7682]

The 2.8 tu is a bit of a hybrid engine.

The 2.8 non tu has a throttle cable
The 2.8 tu also has one
The 2.2 and 3.0 are electronic.

The non tu and 2.2 and 3.0 can all have cruise control retrofitted to them
You cannot fit cruise control to a 2.8 tu.

The 2.8 tu was built at a time when Euro 2 was the requirements but the 2.8 tu has a Euro 3 set up with twin cats ( instead of 1) and 4 Lamba sensors pre and post cat instead of 1 the non tu 2.8 has.

But a great engine ( in my opinion best in a pre face-lift bar the m model) i still think my tu drives sharper and sounds better than my non tu which has less than half the mileage .
Stephen.

 

[rmoconnor41]

BMW weren't able to provide a date when they could supply a new cable 35411164834.

I thought a RHD cable for a 3 series E36 might fit but unfortunately my old Bowden cable attaches to the throttle body with a ball whereas the 3 series cable has a bar at the end.

Seems to be a lot of LHD cables for sale on E BAY.

AntStark and I did get the cable out and it was fiddly but not that difficult. You can see the bar at the end in these photos.

 

[Smudgemanuk]

BMW weren't able to provide a date when they could supply a new cable 35411164834.

I thought a RHD cable for a 3 series E36 might fit but unfortunately my old Bowden cable attaches to the throttle body with a ball whereas the 3 series cable has a bar at the end.

Seems to be a lot of LHD cables for sale on E BAY.

AntStark and I did get the cable out and it was fiddly but not that difficult. You can see the bar at the end in these photos.

I found the same thing. I ordered a cable from BMW last night, only for them to say they won't have any for at least 18 months!!

Where did you source your cable from?

Thanks Chris

 

[rmoconnor41]

I found the same thing. I ordered a cable from BMW last night, only for them to say they won't have any for at least 18 months!!

Where did you source your cable from?

Thanks Chris
[/QUOTEBMW did some investigating when my X3 was in with them and mentioned redesign. But they thought that meant possibly no more cables.

 

[Smudgemanuk]

Where did you get your cable from in the end?

 

[AntStark]

Where did you get your cable from in the end?

Still waiting for stock ..but that E36 cable, which may work if you have the bar end was from the BMW dealer

 

[Smudgemanuk]

Ok good to know, thank you

 

[colb]

You could see if these can make you a cable, they will of course need yours as a pattern.

Custom Cables

www.venhill.co.uk

 

[Smudgemanuk]

You could see if these can make you a cable, they will of course need yours as a pattern.

Custom Cables

www.venhill.co.uk

Thank you, I will give them a look

 

[rmoconnor41]

Where did you get your cable from in the end?

BMW