Uh oh. Bennys' first tantrum! WAYHAAAY We're back in business! :) EDIT: 2000 mile update.

[mr wilks]

Have you checked the battery is the correct capacity ? That looks small to me

Will check it tomorrow wilksy. I did think to myself 'that's a bit titchy' when i saw it when i went looking for the hifi amp, located behind it in the battery well.
What should correct capacity be?

Not had to replace any batteries as yet on any Z but would have thought around 70 / 75Ah / 650 - 700 CCA ?

[enzed4]

Have you checked the battery is the correct capacity ? That looks small to me

Will check it tomorrow wilksy. I did think to myself 'that's a bit titchy' when i saw it when i went looking for the hifi amp, located behind it in the battery well.
What should correct capacity be?

This is mine - pic clearly shows capacity, but I believe there is a smaller one that's OEM as well. Anything around this should be fine.
A generic part number (I think you'd be mad to replace with a BMW battery) is DIN65ZLMF, but this may not translate to anything useful for where you are. A lot of UK members seem to spec Bosch S4 or S5 batteries, I think. Quick search of Z4-Forum should find plenty of hits for replacement batteries.

[Machine monkey]

O dear its never nice when our cars go wrong.
The p1633 code and the hunting for revs sounds like what i have had issues with previously. Also the fact that the car was re set and then once switched off did the same thing. Now i am not saying its the same thing but is 100% worth looking at. If its the same as mine its an easy fix but not cheap. Basically you will need to buy a new throttle body (i have had pattern and BMW ones and there is no difference)

I have had to put 3 of them on my car and the reason they all died (i think i am at the bottom of the problem) Was a dodgy earth. the throttle body is just a flap that opens and closes relative to pedal position. Its controlled by a voltage. lets say 1 volt fully open 0 volts fully closed. If there is fluctuating volts the flap could be fully closed or open. And then it may try opening of closing further. This then causes the little plastic gear that drives it to strip its teeth. When this happens the flap then cant fully close like needed on start up and the car dose not know its position and then runs rough.

If you have the time. Try taking the inlet pipe off manually close the throttle flap with a long screwdriver. Replace the pipe work and reset the codes. If it starts up and runs and drives. But then when switched off runs rough. I would 99% say swap the throttle body problem fixed.

This what i used last time.
http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/BMW_Z ... 065&000329

[Machine monkey]

I should add that you need to check you earth readings. There is one in the engine bay on the passengers side. And then one by the batter in the boot. My boot one had funny readings and just needed cleaning. I took me at least 3 body's and 2 years to figure that out

[Chris_D]

O dear its never nice when our cars go wrong.
The p1633 code and the hunting for revs sounds like what i have had issues with previously. Also the fact that the car was re set and then once switched off did the same thing. Now i am not saying its the same thing but is 100% worth looking at. If its the same as mine its an easy fix but not cheap. Basically you will need to buy a new throttle body (i have had pattern and BMW ones and there is no difference)

I have had to put 3 of them on my car and the reason they all died (i think i am at the bottom of the problem) Was a dodgy earth. the throttle body is just a flap that opens and closes relative to pedal position. Its controlled by a voltage. lets say 1 volt fully open 0 volts fully closed. If there is fluctuating volts the flap could be fully closed or open. And then it may try opening of closing further. This then causes the little plastic gear that drives it to strip its teeth. When this happens the flap then cant fully close like needed on start up and the car dose not know its position and then runs rough.

If you have the time. Try taking the inlet pipe off manually close the throttle flap with a long screwdriver. Replace the pipe work and reset the codes. If it starts up and runs and drives. But then when switched off runs rough. I would 99% say swap the throttle body problem fixed.

This what i used last time.
http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/BMW_Z ... 065&000329

Thanks for tips re battery guys. Will test for type and condition later today.

MachineMonkey: it sounds like the same problem u had. I take it the throttle body you refer to is the same as 'DISA valve' or 'DISA adjuster unit' as its often referred to?
If so, this was on my hitlist of things to inspect. The recovery guy yesterday showed me some of the codes he got on his reader/reset tool and there was a low voltage description for one of the codes.
Looking at the price on Eurocarparts from link u posted I would suspect its the same part. Would be great if you could confirm.
Saw a video of a guy repairing one with a kit on utube and tempted to give it a shot. I'm fairly handy with a spanner and usually do a lot of research/ risk analysis prior to tackling stuff (work in the nuclear industry so it's ingrained lol).
My intake elbow also recently gave up the secondary outlet port which could be causing vacuum issues so that's on order too.
Plus, there's an oil leak I spotted which will need to be addressed as I also had to top up with a litre during the recovery yesterday.
Trying not to let this sour my sunny outlook on 'new car optimism'...lol

[Machine monkey]

The throttle body and DISA valve are completly different parts. The DISA Valve is in you intake plenum and opens and closes to give maximum Torqe. The throttle body is what controls air in to the engine.

[Chris_D]

The throttle body and DISA valve are completly different parts. The DISA Valve is in you intake plenum and opens and closes to give maximum Torqe. The throttle body is what controls air in to the engine.

Thx MM, yes I just did a bit of further digging and realised they are totally different parts.
Will be checking that and other the things over the coming days. If I can't crack it will just get the local indie to take care of it.
Thx for sharing your experience - it does sound like it could actually be the same prob as you had if not exactly the same!

Will keep this thread updated re progress if it helps others....

[Chris_D]

O dear its never nice when our cars go wrong.
The p1633 code and the hunting for revs sounds like what i have had issues with previously. Also the fact that the car was re set and then once switched off did the same thing. Now i am not saying its the same thing but is 100% worth looking at. If its the same as mine its an easy fix but not cheap. Basically you will need to buy a new throttle body (i have had pattern and BMW ones and there is no difference)

I have had to put 3 of them on my car and the reason they all died (i think i am at the bottom of the problem) Was a dodgy earth. the throttle body is just a flap that opens and closes relative to pedal position. Its controlled by a voltage. lets say 1 volt fully open 0 volts fully closed. If there is fluctuating volts the flap could be fully closed or open. And then it may try opening of closing further. This then causes the little plastic gear that drives it to strip its teeth. When this happens the flap then cant fully close like needed on start up and the car dose not know its position and then runs rough.

If you have the time. Try taking the inlet pipe off manually close the throttle flap with a long screwdriver. Replace the pipe work and reset the codes. If it starts up and runs and drives. But then when switched off runs rough. I would 99% say swap the throttle body problem fixed.

This what i used last time.
http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/BMW_Z ... 065&000329

Just spoke to my local indie MM, he thinks this is a good idea to just give ur suggestion a try out. Will let u know how it goes.
Sun's crackin the flags over here in holland today and i dont have a nice col shady garage. Gonna get sweaty!

[Chris_D]

Might have found the culprit. The holiest of all holy lower intake boots!
It's in a frankly unbelievable state and would explain the chirruping noises I've been hearing.
Obviously the loss or insufficient vacuum has given rise to other problems.
Biking down to stealer for replacement once I find the part number. I've seen a fair few Z4's parked up in their service area so banking on them having this part.
Will give the DISA a clean as it's covered in dust. It's in really good nick - plenty of suspension in the valve actuator when I place my finger over the air inlet hole, no play in flap and seal seems ok albeit a bit flat obviously. Might order a new seal in any case and fit later...

Anyone know the part number for the lower intake boot section as I can't seem to find it on realOEM?

Holiest of all holy lower intake boots!

Photo 30-08-2016 14 49 31.jpg (74.39 KiB) Viewed 1344 times

DISA seems OK. Needs a spit and polish, then back in..

Photo 30-08-2016 14 50 19.jpg (73.16 KiB) Viewed 1344 times

Nice amount of space to work in for a change

Photo 30-08-2016 14 34 22.jpg (67.17 KiB) Viewed 1344 times

[Machine monkey]

If after that has been replaced you still have the problem.
In the last picture you should be able to gain accesses to the throttle body flap through the big hole. Then re set and try starting if it runs fine but then not i would be thinking you still have a throttle body problem.

[ben g]

I had some rough running issues. It was almost as of someone had stuck a potato up the exhaust. Massive vibrations through the car on idle, it felt like I had a 7.0 v8 under the hood.

Replaced that lower intake hose, replaced the disa and then finally I removed and cleaned my ICV. This completely stopped the rough running. My ICV was so caked up in soot and grease that it was stuck in position and the valve was unable to move. I cleaned it with brake cleaner and it has been fine for almost a year now.

[Chris_D]

If after that has been replaced you still have the problem.
In the last picture you should be able to gain accesses to the throttle body flap through the big hole. Then re set and try starting if it runs fine but then not i would be thinking you still have a throttle body problem.

I tried to move it with my finger MM bit it wouldnt budge. Didnt want to force it in case i broke or offcentred it.
Should it move freely about its centre axis? Or does it need a bit of a shove?
Is there a particular reset procedure that i should follow?

[Grumpyowl]

[quote="Chris_D"]Might have found the culprit. The holiest of all holy lower intake boots!
It's in a frankly unbelievable state and would explain the chirruping noises I've been hearing.
Obviously the loss or insufficient vacuum has given rise to other problems.
Biking down to stealer for replacement once I find the part number. I've seen a fair few Z4's parked up in their service area so banking on them having this part.
Will give the DISA a clean as it's covered in dust. It's in really good nick - plenty of suspension in the valve actuator when I place my finger over the air inlet hole, no play in flap and seal seems ok albeit a bit flat obviously. Might order a new seal in any case and fit later...

Anyone know the part number for the lower intake boot section as I can't seem to find it on realOEM?

Photo 30-08-2016 14 49 31.jpg


I have recently just done (as a precaution) the Disa valve upgrade.
my boot looked just like yours, had to wait 24 hrs for delivery from dealer. While it was just as bad as yours the car through upno fault codes,
if yors is the same as mine this may not solve yor problems.

[Chris_D]

I'm hoping to get lucky with this one Grumpy.
I managed to drive all the way home 30m without issue once the recovery guy reset the fault. So hoping this relateonly to the leaky boot and lack of vacuum.
Part comes Thursday but in the meantime i'll have a crack at cleaning throttle valve and icv...

[Mike6]

Hope all is well but going back to that 'battery could be on way out' suggestion I do understand that car can throw all sort of error codes if battery is of incorrect spec. If all is not fixed with new intake hoses I would therefore check that honda battery against the BMW spec.