epilithic

Did you have a sprint booster installed by any chance?

crewzer

Interesting. The "throttle potentiometer" (pot) is part of the drive-by-wire (DBW) system. The accelerator pedal is connected to the pot, which in turn sends an electrical signal to the engine computer to increase/decrease throttle. In a way, it's somewhat analogous to the volume control on an audio system.

Glad to hear your car is fixed!
Jim / crewzer

jm545i

Yes I can't imagine that BMW or other manufacturers (most of which are going/have gone to drive-by-wire systems) would like to see many more of these problems - the way the OP described the failure it sounds like a pretty significant safety concern.

crewzer

I can see where a defective pot (dirty, deteriorating, etc.) could send very dynamic signals to the ECU. However, it would seem to me that a safety feature of the system would be to recognize that such behavior would not be "normal", and that some sort of "limp mode" would kick in.

I would also think that the auto manufacturers would have this sorted out by now. A friend of mine in the late-80's had a Pontiac Fiero with a DBW system, and my recollection is that he had to change the accelerator pot every six months or so...

Regards,
Jim / crewzer

ss109

No.

ss109

Indeed. I'm not the best driver in the world, but have attended driving schools and spent my fair share of laps around the 'Ring... I'm guessing a driver less astute would've ended up in some serious shit, especially when the rear brakes locked up.