Originally Posted by X5Dude

I ran into a similar issue with my X5. It was raining here in sunny Southern California and I was driving along with no issues. I exited the freeway and within 4 miles of slow moving traffic in pouring rail, the car displays "Engine Failsafe Prog". I had previously had the "Trans Failsafe Prog" error (to the tune of $3000) so I was concerned about this error. I parked the car for a couple of hours and when I restarted, the error message had clear. I drove home and checked for errors with my obd ii scanner. It showed 0 codes.

The following day I drove about half a block down the street and then the failsafe message reappeared. I tried to turn around and go home, but when I stepped on the accelerator, I got nothing. I waited a few minutes and was able to drive home in reverse. This time with the failsafe message showing, I scanned for codes once again. Still I got 0 codes. I scoured the forums for like problems and found all kinds, most without resolution.

At that point, I decided to visit the local BMW repair shop (non-dealer). He used a much more sophisticated scanner which displayed a code related to the pedal position sensor. He told me that the code was clear, and that there was really nothing to fix at that time. He cleared the code, and I drove 3 miles before the failsafe message reappeared.

I returned to the shop and the owner scanned again to find same pedal related code. He ordered and will install the part ($180 + 2 hrs labor) on Monday of next week. I hope it solves the mystery.