Last week I replaced my intake camshaft position sensor, which finally resolved the random stalling issue my E39 was experiencing. It’s very common for these sensors to cause stalling at traffic lights or during slow speed driving when they are starting to fail. Since my car has 135,000 miles on the original sensors, it is recommended that both the intake and exhaust sensors are replaced together. If the intake side failed, logic says the exhaust side is probably not far behind it. 

The camshaft position sensors tell the engine computer the position of the camshaft on cylinder one. This information is used by the engine computer to set both the injection timing and the VANOS timing. When one of these sensors fails, the computer loses track of that camshaft timing information and defaults to a safe mode marked by poor performance and sluggish drivability.

The exhaust sensor and gasket have been sitting on my desk for the past week, and I finally had time to complete the installation yesterday while recording. I have just uploaded that new YouTube tutorial showing how to remove and replace the exhaust side sensor. Check that out below. To see how to replace the intake side sensor, click here.

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