Replacing E36 mass air flow thingy

Rotty · 13 Sep 2007 at 20:10

last service on the missus's 318iS identified this as faulty ( cutting out at tickover )

dealer wanted loads to repair ( 350 for part and then labour )

got one off Ebay for 40 quid

anyone know if they are easy to change or instructions for doing this ?

ta

rare · 13 Sep 2007 at 20:12

Probably take all of two minutes. Just held in place between the air hoses by clips from what I can recall.

Rotty · 13 Sep 2007 at 20:13

looks like it , hose one end some sort of clamp to a gasket the other and a cable

is it that simple ?

if so I'm well pleased

rare · 13 Sep 2007 at 20:14

It really is!

Sone · 13 Sep 2007 at 20:15

i had to buy a new jubilee clip when changing on my mondeo

Epic Fail

NickXX · 13 Sep 2007 at 20:23

Really easy - on the e46 it's held in with 2 star screws.

paradigm · 13 Sep 2007 at 20:27

NickXX said:
Really easy - on the e46 it's held in with 2 star screws.

Yep, torx bolts. Same on the E36 318ti compact IIRC. So should be the same with the "full sized" 3-series

NickXX · 13 Sep 2007 at 20:52

paradigm said:
Yep, torx bolts. Same on the E36 318ti compact IIRC. So should be the same with the "full sized" 3-series

Nah, they're slightly different - they have 5 points (rather than the torx 6) and a cut-out circle in the middle. My torx keys don't work on them

paradigm · 13 Sep 2007 at 20:54

I've got a set of those too, although I could have sworn I haven't used them on my mates compact... probably wrong though

Rotty · 14 Sep 2007 at 10:10

done it , 10 min job as said

1 Jubilee clip, 1 cable and 4 10mm bolts in the airbox

let's hope it fixes the problem

thx folks

Phal · 14 Sep 2007 at 10:41

Find it hard to believe that they would try to charge £350 for a simple MAF change :|

Even my local Audi dealership only charge £80 for the part + labour :\

BigglesPiP · 14 Sep 2007 at 13:40

If the ECU compensates for a slowly drifting sensor it'll improve after a few journeys.

Dealers reset the ECU to factory tune on a job like that, on cars that correct for the sensor that is.

dalin80 · 14 Sep 2007 at 13:42

a maf for some nissan micra's is £400 on its own from nissan genuine.

yet in reality there are very very few different types of maf's the majority of cars have the same 2 types fitted, they bolt into place with a couple of torx's and its just the pipe piece they bolt into thats different from model to model.

a couple of years ago i went on a bosch electrics course they speaker stated quite happily that there are only 3 maf's fitted to 95% of cars yet there are something like 125 different prices for them depending on brand.

Rotty · 14 Sep 2007 at 19:30

Phal said:
Find it hard to believe that they would try to charge £350 for a simple MAF change :|

Even my local Audi dealership only charge £80 for the part + labour :\

that was for the part which was £299+vat , the labour was next to nothing