Engine stalls in cold...

[Royalratch]

...car starts fine, but if I let the revs drop to idle it stalls.

Only happens when started in extreme cold from a long standstill.
Sometimes the ECU catches the problem and revs for me to keep it going.

But until warmed up, the engine will die when I come to a stop at a light or something. This has actually happened to all my E30's, including non-M42's when in the coldest winters.

Feels like a fuel pressure thing or ECU thing.

Anyone had similar stuff? Any guesses?

[Royalratch]

Anyone? Thought this was a common fault on all E30's...

[haledj]

My idle is pretty unstable in the winter, when it gets real cold. I believe mine is the idle control valve, as I can keep it going by giving it air/throttle.

[hoevesruperd]

i have the same issue when its been sitting in the cold -10C/-20C dont know whats the problem but i'd say ICV as well..

[silent lucidity]

definitely sounds like the infamous ICV which is a very common problem of all E30's. When it's cold my car will start then suddenly stall if I don't give it some gas. The valve gets stuck because of wear, build up, or it could just be old, so when it's cold I assume that it's due to the sticky valve. I am planning on getting a new one because my car idles to high. :(

[hoevesruperd]

new ICV are somewhere around 200$ i believe. i've heard carb cleaner will do the job to restore the ICV from any carbon deposits. is that right?

[Royalratch]

This sounds like exactly what my problem is.

Is the ICV easy to replace if I get hold of one?

[n2motorsports]

it's pretty tucked away underneath the intake manifold and against the firewall.
also, it might not be the icv, but the hoses to the icv and that mess under the intake manifold. mine were all cracked and i had unsteady idle issues while cold as well. after redoing all the hoses and cleaning out the icv with some electronic cleaner, it idles perfectly.

[Royalratch]

Seems like something worth doing anyway.

Cheers guys.