Cylinder 6 not firing correctly, drive it home?

austinjz · 09-13-2019, 01:56 PM

I am 26 miles or so from home. My cylinder 6 coil just died according to the scan tool. Can I safely drive home or do I need to tear this thing apart in the parking lot? I plan to drive easy. Seems worse at idle than when driving.

e90 330i.

Richwm · 09-13-2019, 02:03 PM

When my coil died I did drive it home but it was only about five miles. The only issue I had was trying to get up the hill to my house. I just downshifted into second gear and limped up the hill.

austinjz · 09-13-2019, 02:13 PM

Its all flat road. I just did not want to kill my cat. converter or something else. Its too hard to get in there and take the cover off in the parking lot to remove the wire from the coil. It is not backfiring or anything and seems to run "ok" at 45mph. It idles rough and shakes but no noise.

P0306 code was thrown for cylinder 6 only.

RayLivingston · 09-13-2019, 02:13 PM

Driving with a dead coil will do no harm. The computer knows it's not working, and will shut off fuel to that cylinder. It will run "lumpy" and be down on power. Last year, I drove my 335i more than 100 miles home with a completely dead coil.

Regards,
Ray L.

austinjz · 09-13-2019, 02:17 PM

Thats good news. I am going to baby it home until I can get into fixing it this weekend. Probably on the original coils. 143k miles

King Rudi · 09-13-2019, 03:44 PM

I drove mine home roughly 45 miles without cylinder 6, then drove it to my indy who said he wouldn't touch it. (There were lots of other issues aside from the coil being dead.)

After all the other headache's that I had with it, along with spending pretty much all my free time, which I don't much of, I then drove it to Atlanta and traded it.

Tambohamilton · 09-13-2019, 04:27 PM

Drive it, it'll be fine. I've driven about 400mi on 5 cyl before (on a vw engine), with no noticeable damage...

Kamz119 · 09-14-2019, 12:05 AM

wish I knew you could do this. NRMA recommended I tow my car 150Km rather than drive on a dead coil

09-13-2019, 01:56 PM	#1
austinjz New Member 1 Rep 15 Posts Drives: 2006 330I Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: Not Provided iTrader: (0)	Cylinder 6 not firing correctly, drive it home? I am 26 miles or so from home. My cylinder 6 coil just died according to the scan tool. Can I safely drive home or do I need to tear this thing apart in the parking lot? I plan to drive easy. Seems worse at idle than when driving. e90 330i.
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09-13-2019, 02:03 PM	#2
Richwm Captain 65 Rep 920 Posts Drives: 06 E90 330i 6MT, 01 E46 330i Join Date: May 2006 Location: Canyon Country, CA. iTrader: (0) Garage List 2020 Jeep JLU Wrangler [0.00] 2006 (Mar 05 build ... [8.00] 2001 330i [9.00]	When my coil died I did drive it home but it was only about five miles. The only issue I had was trying to get up the hill to my house. I just downshifted into second gear and limped up the hill. __________________ Mar 05 Build date,2006 E90 330i, Sport Package, Premium Package, TR MT-1's . V-1 Hard-wired power with custom V-1 Concealment Display . Rear fogs, Rear power outlet's, M short shifter knob, BlackLines, BMW Strut tower bar, CDV Delete, Front M3 wishbones + tension struts, BMW Performance shocks and springs, BMW Performance Brake kit F&R, OEM short shift kit. Rear M3 Guide rods and Wishbones. 2006 E-90 330i with 302,000 miles.
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09-13-2019, 02:13 PM	#3
austinjz New Member 1 Rep 15 Posts Drives: 2006 330I Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: Not Provided iTrader: (0)	Its all flat road. I just did not want to kill my cat. converter or something else. Its too hard to get in there and take the cover off in the parking lot to remove the wire from the coil. It is not backfiring or anything and seems to run "ok" at 45mph. It idles rough and shakes but no noise. P0306 code was thrown for cylinder 6 only.
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09-13-2019, 02:13 PM	#4
RayLivingston Lieutenant 140 Rep 445 Posts Drives: '07 335i Sedan Join Date: Aug 2018 Location: California iTrader: (0)	Driving with a dead coil will do no harm. The computer knows it's not working, and will shut off fuel to that cylinder. It will run "lumpy" and be down on power. Last year, I drove my 335i more than 100 miles home with a completely dead coil. Regards, Ray L.
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09-13-2019, 02:17 PM	#5
austinjz New Member 1 Rep 15 Posts Drives: 2006 330I Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: Not Provided iTrader: (0)	Thats good news. I am going to baby it home until I can get into fixing it this weekend. Probably on the original coils. 143k miles
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09-13-2019, 03:44 PM	#6
King Rudi Lieutenant Colonel 13154 Rep 1,965 Posts Drives: Meat Suit Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: Planet Earth iTrader: (0)	I drove mine home roughly 45 miles without cylinder 6, then drove it to my indy who said he wouldn't touch it. (There were lots of other issues aside from the coil being dead.) After all the other headache's that I had with it, along with spending pretty much all my free time, which I don't much of, I then drove it to Atlanta and traded it.
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09-13-2019, 04:27 PM	#7
Tambohamilton Brigadier General 3058 Rep 3,910 Posts Drives: E91 330d Join Date: Apr 2019 Location: Herefordshire iTrader: (0)	Drive it, it'll be fine. I've driven about 400mi on 5 cyl before (on a vw engine), with no noticeable damage...
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09-14-2019, 12:05 AM	#8
Kamz119 New Member 4 Rep 10 Posts Drives: BMW 335I Join Date: Sep 2019 Location: Sydney iTrader: (0)	wish I knew you could do this. NRMA recommended I tow my car 150Km rather than drive on a dead coil
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