my 92-318is is running slow

[92BMW318is]

my car is the finest mo-pad ever,

after my fiasco with the spark plug wires and the coils,
i think i might of messed something up (which is a good way to learn i guess)
now when i turn on the 318is, it idles good and back fires every once in a while but i put it into first and it kinda spudders a bit (all horse power i use to have seems to be gone), so when its in 2nd gear, it lacks power still, and spudders like 1st,... in 3rd,4th,and 5th...
it eats up more gas then it should like in 3rd my mpg on the MPG gauge(under the rpm gauge) says im getting 8mpg, in 4th it says 10-15, 5th it says 15 it doesnt go any higher then that unless i take my foot off the pedal, also in 5th 4th and 3rd gear i barly make it up hills, like i said all horse power and acceleration is gone. ( on the highway i was driving up this lil hill and my car was losing speed gas pedal pressed to the floor, i was going 65mph and when i got to the top i was at like 45mph, haha the car accelerates good when going down hills)

this is what im thinking its one of the fuel injectors or the muffler,
my muffler doesnt have a CAT converter on it, and there were holes in the muffler pipe by the exhaust manifold, i used some of that cream  exhaust sealant, the muffler sounds better but now the car lacks power.

what do you guys think?

[P. Kennedy]

I think you misspelled moped, assuming you are referring to a lightweight, two-wheel vehicle of notoriously slow speeds.

[92BMW318is]

oooops ooo well,

[92BMW318is]

man  dont mean to over post but i really need some help on this problem im having now, its eating at me

[DesktopDave]

My gauge does the same thing.  It's not that accurate, just an idea of what the mileage is.  I think you can even reprogram it.

Did you do the stomp test yet?

[92BMW318is]

My gauge does the same thing.  It's not that accurate, just an idea of what the mileage is.  I think you can even reprogram it.

Did you do the stomp test yet?

i can tell its being accurate, every 10 miles im losing 1 gallon, the car lacks soo much power right now, it can barly make it up hills, i dont understand why. i have done the stomp test i cant get it to read out anything,

i just bought new air filter and fuel filter, hoping that will help it.

i bought a multi meter to test the spark wires.
but if the spark wires are good,

the only thing i think it could be is the injectors

( off subject question) how do you get pictures under your name and sigitures with pics on every post?

what should i go about replacing first?

im not sure but i was also thinking that the o2 sensor could be it too

[nickmpower]

are you sure that your spark plug wires are correct? sounds like you are getting about half the MPG you should be getting

[92BMW318is]

are you sure that your spark plug wires are correct? sounds like you are getting about half the MPG you should be getting

yeah im sure they are hooked up right now,
the engine runs now, it just lacks sooooo much power.

theres vertically no acceleration, its hard to make it up even the smallest of hills
im thinking the fuel filter is dirty, or the injectors are over feeding it gas.

yeah im not really sure, i was also thinking it might be the o2 sensor

[92BMW318is]

alright sooooo  i took my car out today to test it note: still havent replaced air filter or fuel filter.. but i went on to the high way traffic was  dead so i stoped in the middle of the high way with a stop watch and floored it, it took me 2 and a half mins to get from 0-60. shifting properly and everything.
 tryed 2 time shifted in low rpms and high didnt make a diffrence

but the MPG gauge said i was geting 8 mpg the whole time

[nickmpower]

you should take your car to a mechanic. I'm betting something is wrong with your spark plug wires

[DesktopDave]

I'd fix the check engine light, or you'll be replacing stiff left & right.  Probably just a burned out bulb.  Then it'll tell you what it thinks the trouble is.

The second thing I'd check is the computer.  If the plenum flooded it might have shorted out.  The early e36 was famous for it...google "wet dme" or "my 318 is dead" if you don't believe me.  Here's a few links fer ya:
http://forums.roadfly.com/forums/bmw/bmw-3-series-e36/7159324-1.html
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showpost.php?p=5552421

You might be right about it running pig rich, but there is a lot of stuff that can cause that.  You have to cut down the possibilities and isolate the trouble.

The likely problems (from cheap to expensive) are a big vacuum leak, coolant sensor, TPS/CPS/MAF/O2, bad coil or plug wire, slipped timing chain, blown head gasket, cracked head.

[BimwadM42]

are you sure that your spark plug wires are correct?

That's what I'm thinking as well.

The "corrected" diagram in the other topic is wrong.

The cylinders are numbered #1-4 front-to-back.

Assuming the car is using the factory-style wiring and routing, unaltered, the coils are #4-1-2-3, front-to-back, and the coil connectors from the engine wiring harness expect them to be in that sequence.

The OE ignition wires are numbered, and the coils are mounted with a small metal plate with the proper sequence.  The only variable is if the wires to the coils have been rearranged; they are not labeled.

[DesktopDave]

That's what I'm thinking as well.

The "corrected" diagram in the other topic is wrong.

The cylinders are numbered #1-4 front-to-back.

Assuming the car is using the factory-style wiring and routing, unaltered, the coils are #4-1-2-3, front-to-back, and the coil connectors from the engine wiring harness expect them to be in that sequence.

The OE ignition wires are numbered, and the coils are mounted with a small metal plate with the proper sequence.  The only variable is if the wires to the coils have been rearranged; they are not labeled.

I hope it's something that cheap & simple too.  Try to avoid driving the car until you figure this out.

The engine is definitely 1-2-3-4 from the radiator.  Plug wires might have numbers on them...they have to go to the matching cylinder or your timing will be off...it'll make the engine run like a moped.  My coil harnesses had numbers on two plugs, I used paint marks to make sure I didn't get them mixed up...

Coil harnesses each have three wires.  All of them have a brown ground wire, a green ground wire, and a colored positive wire to fire the coil.  Each of those positive signal wires is a different color.  Look up the wiring diagram or download the electrical troubleshooting manual & make sure you have the right plugs in the right coil.  You can do a continuity test from the harness to the correct DME/ECU connector pins if required.

[92BMW318is]

i the stomp test got it to work the code is 1222

[DesktopDave]

i the stomp test got it to work the code is 1222

Good work...  The notorious O2 sensor error.  Could mean anything that I posted before though.  Try to unplug the sensor & run without it to see if the car runs better.  You can solder a Mustang 4-wire to save some $$$ if it's a bad sensor.