need help asap rough idle

[russ318]

so i just redid my whole engine bay on my 95 318ti. i have the m42 and i replaced all the gaskets (minus the head and exhaust mani gasket), new water pump, new vacume hoses by the throttle body and valve cover b.c the old ones were cracked and i cleaned my icv with a throttle body cleaner. ive checked all my wires and firing order and everything is fine. i cleaned my crank and cam sensor just because they had alot of grease on them. when i start the car i have a rough idle. motor shakes, muffler rattles and just plains runs like crap. ive double checked all of my connections and vacume hoses and i know everything is fine. now my question is is there something i overlooked? some sort of valve, sensor, or hose that should have been replaced? is this a common problem to where is something mechanical that needs to be replace that im unaware of? im more familliar with e30s for the fact that ive helped my son work on the many hes had. please help me because we both are here scratching our heads on why this car wont run right. thank you russ

[dave45056]

Usually a rough idle is caused by a vacuum leak. The problem is it sounds like you touched just about everything that vacuum goes through.
This is what I would do:
1. Check for angine codes. On your car this is done by stomping the gas pedal 5 times. The proceedure is in the knowledge base.
2. Verify no vacuum leaks by spraying brake cleaner in different areas on yor car. Youtube has a few videos to show you how it's done and what to look for.
3. Check for oil on your plugs.
4. Check that your cam position sensor is working correctly.

[russ318]

Originally Posted by dave45056

Usually a rough idle is caused by a vacuum leak. The problem is it sounds like you touched just about everything that vacuum goes through.
This is what I would do:
1. Check for angine codes. On your car this is done by stomping the gas pedal 5 times. The proceedure is in the knowledge base.
2. Verify no vacuum leaks by spraying brake cleaner in different areas on yor car. Youtube has a few videos to show you how it's done and what to look for.
3. Check for oil on your plugs.
4. Check that your cam position sensor is working correctly.

Thank you for the help. Deffinatlly narrowed it down with the stomp test. I didnt know that these cars had that. It was the dam upper intake not sealed correctly. steel gaskets haha. switched em out for regular gasket material gaskets and started right up to a perfect idle. me 1 bmw 0 lmao