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Checking Throttle Position Sensor

Model: BMW Serie 5 E39 - Years: 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
Part: Throttle body

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Video tutorial

At the entrance of the intake manifold is the so-called throttle body: it is a valve equipped with a butterfly that regulates the airflow in the intake based on the position of the accelerator pedal; the pedal is indeed connected to the butterfly via a cable that controls the airflow entering the intake, and based on this, the engine control unit injects fuel into the cylinders: this is possible because the control unit receives information about the position of the pedal and thus the butterfly from the position sensor, which translates the position of the butterfly into a voltage value.

To check the functionality of this sensor, you need to know the wiring diagram to position the multimeter probes on the connector pins and measure the voltage variation based on the position of the butterfly.


Updated on 17 February 2026 by ScegliAuto


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