OXYGEN SENSOR(S)

[billytiger]

hi,
Sorry to be a pest , my problem is my cars not been running well, my mate hooked it up to diagnosis machine, it said i needed 4 parts, idle control valve, oxygen sensor front of cat, oxygen sensor back of cat, and front left wheel sensor, well ive ordered those parts online but the company has only sent me one oxygen sensor, they say i only have 1 on the car, well ive paid for 2 so ive demanded my cash back for the other? do i have 2 sensors like the diagnosis machine said? then so i can get back to the people about it? thank you billy

[spidertri]

Go to this site, http://www.realoem.com/bmw/select.do

Plug in your vehicle's information, go to exhaust system, then catalytic converter. It should show you how many O2 sensors you car has.

[billytiger]

hi thanks for getting back to me, ive followed your link it shows 2, one is number 7 and in the chart it says nuber 7= 02 sensor, it shows another as part 8, but in the chart it jump from number 7 to 12 to sort of show there isnt, this is what the diagnosis told me, oxygen sensor front of cat heater circuit too weak,, oxygen sensor behind cat heater circuit electrical fault, any help would be appreciated billy

[spidertri]

Which engine do you have? What year is the car?

[billytiger]

1998ti sport, m44 engine, europe , and the diagram is the top one for the exhaust/cat, i think it said silencer beside it,

[spidertri]

Hmm, that is interesting. If you look at the USA 98 M44, it lists #8 as another O2 sensor and gives the part number. Maybe the Euro cars only have one O2 sensor that year. You might want to get under your car and look, they are pretty easy to spot.

[dgroebl]

Hey has anyone ever had any luck cleaning there O2 by soaking it in baking soda? I've heard that the problem with 02's is that they just get dirty, but that they don't really ever wear out. So by soaking them in a solution of baking soda water your supposed to be able to make them good as new again.

[Will'sBimmer]

If you go to Pelicanparts.com you will find that there is two for the car. One behind and one in front of the CAT. Every website I have been on says there is two and they both cost different. One is like 90 on pelicanparts and the other is 140. That would be cool if you could just clean them and keep using them. I heard the only reason the mess up is because too much build-up of dirt on the sensor and it can't read the oxygen levels. So maybe cleaning it off would solve the problem and save you some money. Someone should try this and see if it works. I may give it a shot.

[dgroebl]

I'm going to pull my 02's out this weekend and soak them all week when I'm gone on a trip. I'll report back in two weeks when they're back in.

[Marv17]

some guy is selling a set of oxygen sensors but its off a 328, i think. does it matter at all if they're brand new? would it still work for the 318?

[spidertri]

Check the realoem part numbers for the 328 o2 sensors vs the 318 sensors. If they are the same then you are good.

[lpcapital]

Start with the pre-cat oxygen sensor: that's the only one that affect the fuel trim. The after cat (I'm not sure when they introduced it in the EU, but I'm sure was later than the US) is only to check the health of the catalytic converter.

If the ICV needs to be replaced is because the idle moves around. But before replacing it I would clean the ICV and the passage in the throttle body with a toothbrush and some carburetor cleaner

For the wheel sensor, you could remove it and try to clean it with some electric contact cleaner. Make sure the o-ring is not ruined. On the Z3 it has the abbit co collect dirt and oxydation and trigger the ASC & ABS light