[dgfr]

The engine of my slate 2009 e90 318i (petrol) has begun losing power on hills or at low speeds (where it didn’t in the past) — to begin with in 3rd gear, then 1st and second, and now in 4th. This is sometimes accompanied by a white flashing warning light which apparently means “Engine fault under high loads. High engine load will result in damage to the catalytic converter.” This light goes off when I switch off the ignition and doesn’t come on again when I restart.

The car is also increasingly reluctant to start unless I give it a good blast on the gas pedal.

Does anyone have any idea about what the cause of this might be? (It reminds me slightly of the previous model 318i I had a couple of years before this one which needed all its injectors replacing over the course of about 18 months.)

Any thoughts would be gratefully received.

[xenon]

Coil packs.

[SkyJawa]

Might get more luck if you go to e90post and not f30post

[NISFAN]

Oh I love these competitions.....Guess what's wrong with my car

My guess is a family of Ferrets have taken residence in the air box, blocking airflow. Am I close? Whats the prize?

[CraigUK]

Could be many things. Way back in the day I had an E36 318is Sport Coupe and due to a faulty sensor the catalytic converter choked from over fuelling. Symptoms where a gradual loss of power to the point where I could barely drive at walking pace. When it eventually died it wouldn't start because of excessive back pressure in the exhaust system. End result was new sensor and catalytic converter.

Get it looked at by someone who knows what they are doing, could save you some money.

[Sullym6]

You need to check if any error codes are logged otherwise we would be guessing