Throttle body

Common faults with throttle bodies in BMWs include carbon buildup, which can cause the throttle to stick or not open properly, and electrical issues, such as a faulty throttle position sensor.

Symptoms of throttle body problems can include erratic idling, engine stalling and reduced engine performance.

The throttle body controls the amount of air flowing into the engine—based on the driver’s input through the accelerator pedal.

Modern BMWs use drive-by-wire systems—meaning the accelerator pedal is electronically controlling the throttle, rather than mechanically. This allows for the ECU to adapt commands coming from the accelerator pedal, based on various factors including engine temperature and current speed.

There are usually multiple, non-exchangeable types of throttle body within any given model generation—which is usually to account for different engine types.

The best way to determine fitment compatibility of a throttle body is to match the BMW part numbers from the catalogue. This can be done by decoding your vehicle’s VIN in a BMW EPC (electronic part catalogue.)

If you don’t have access to an EPC, provide our team with your vehicle’s 17-digit VIN—and we’ll check our stock for a compatible match.

Throttle bodies are highly-interchangeable between models with alike/similar engines. They are also highly-interchangeable between different engine types.