Intermittent Idle Bounce

[ClassicSkril]

Im having a similar problem with my 95 318is although its not intermitent and havent solved it yet, however these are the things ive looked at so far
check your airflow meter ( AFM) you can take that off and make sure the flaps opening freely but if its an electrical fault youll need to replace it. The other thing is the throttle position sensor, located on the throttle body this tells your ecu how much fuel to dump and may be sending the wrong signal? 1 more option is the Lambda sensor located on the exhaust under the car, this is another fuel/air regulator and that too could be worth checking.
Hope that helps

those are some possibilities. The thing that leads me to the icv possibly being faulty is when I cleaned it, it ran great for like a week or so. Now it's back which leads me to think it is getting stuck. I will try cleaning it again but I'm thinking I will need a new one. I plan on doing the mess under the intake mod but this issue seems to revolve around the icv

[MrAlan]

It could be the icv then, one thing ive learnt is the car is more intelligent than you think and when you change or disconnect something it normaly componsates elsewhere to keep it going.. Ie, disconect the electric wire on icv it will hunt slightly but wont surge, do the same with airflow meter and itll do the same thing.. I found it strange that when i opened the oil filler cap that made my m42 idle perfect, thats the engine trying to compensate for air change, weird! Lol..
Anyway i fixed mine last night, it turned out to be the lambda/02 sensor.. Good luck mate

[ClassicSkril]

It could be the icv then, one thing ive learnt is the car is more intelligent than you think and when you change or disconnect something it normaly componsates elsewhere to keep it going.. Ie, disconect the electric wire on icv it will hunt slightly but wont surge, do the same with airflow meter and itll do the same thing.. I found it strange that when i opened the oil filler cap that made my m42 idle perfect, thats the engine trying to compensate for air change, weird! Lol..
Anyway i fixed mine last night, it turned out to be the lambda/02 sensor.. Good luck mate

cheers! Glad you got yours fixed. My battle is not over yet, everyone keeps telling me "vacuum leak vacuum leak" but if that was the case it would do this all the time? So I have a feeling the icv is going out. When I cleaned it (the first time it's ever been cleaned I'm sure) it ran great and when the idle tried to drop it corrected itself like it should. After a week or so the problem returned. I think the mechanism inside is getting stuck

[MrAlan]

thanks bud, well a new icv isnt too expensive and also if you hold the icv while plugged in and turn the ignition on it should vibrate if its working.
Everyone everywhere told me it was a vacuum leak but id checked everything, the only reason i decided on the lambda sensor is because apparently they're meant to be changed every 30,000-50,000 miles and my car had done 84,000! plus it was in a sh*t state to look at lol.

[ClassicSkril]

thanks bud, well a new icv isnt too expensive and also if you hold the icv while plugged in and turn the ignition on it should vibrate if its working.
Everyone everywhere told me it was a vacuum leak but id checked everything, the only reason i decided on the lambda sensor is because apparently they're meant to be changed every 30,000-50,000 miles and my car had done 84,000! plus it was in a sh*t state to look at lol.

haha well im glad you found the culprit! I am gonna do the mess under the intake mod soon  and try another ICV hopefully and replace my temp sensor and if it persists.....i will try the o2 sensor.