A method for detecting a cylinder-specific combustion profile parameter value for an internal combustion engine is described. The method includes the following: (a) detecting a toothed encoder signal, (b) determining a cylinder-specific tooth time interval on the basis of the toothed encoder signal, (c) determining a cylinder-specific phase value on the basis of a Fourier transformation of a part of the toothed encoder signal corresponding to the cylinder-specific tooth time interval, (d) determining the combustion profile parameter value on the basis of the cylinder-specific phase value and a stored transfer function which represents a relationship between the combustion profile parameter and the phase value.