2001 3.0 just dies unexpectedly

[zman0803]

Today my wife drove the 2001 X5 just to the store just after getting home. Just after going through an intersection, it just died. It started back up right away. This is the second time it's happened. The last time it happened, she drove it for 15 minutes to the daycare to pick up the lil one, shut it off, went inside, loaded up the kid, then began the trip back home. Just a few minutes away from the daycare, it died.

I have yet to call the dealer. I worked at a dealership before and sometimes they have to have the car not be running at all to find the problem. I just hope that's not the case with this. Does anyone might know what's going on or have a similar issue happen?

I also thought I might add that both times this happened, the temperature outside was higher than 85 degrees with high humidity. Sorry for the long read but this is really starting to worry me. We both love the car but it's also beginning to scare us because it happens without warning.

[UCrewX5]

Is the SES (service engine soon) light on? You may need to get the codes pulled from the OBD-II to see if there are any faults showing up. My '01 3.0i was having some stalling problems this past spring, and the issue was a bad cam shaft position sensor.

:xoutpost:

[zman0803]

Great question. That's one thing I should of mentioned. I wasn't driving it both times so I'm not sure what lights came on. I did asked her both times and she told me that a lot of lights came on.

What's really strange is, when it happened the first time, as she said, a lot of lights came on, one of them that stayed on for the rest of the drive home was the descent control light. When it was shut off, it then when off but the one light that did stay on was the break sensor light. I have yet to investigate if I have a faulty sensor because the pads are fine.

Btw, thanks for the reply and the welcome. It's really appreciated.

[UCrewX5]

Even if the lights went out, there should still be a recording of the fault codes. You can use an OBD-II code reader to retrieve them, or go to an AutoZone and they'll do it for you for free.

Definately sounds like a bad sensor. You need the codes to tell you which one

[zman0803]

My brother is a technician at a Toyota dealership and I believe he has an ex-BMW technican working there too...

Anyway, I know he has a OBD II so hopefully we can get this figured out. After it has now done it twice and tonight being the most recent one, I had to see if anyone knew what the deal was.

Thank You for your imput. It's put me at ease for tonight.

[vskchoi]

I HAD the same problem, it doesnt happen often, maybe 2 times in 2 weeks, it just dies suddenly, and the SES light was on, i brought it to the shop, they chekced it, the scanner said its the 2 oxygen sensors, but then i told them sometimes it just dies suddenly, and sometimes it starts, then it dies back, they checked it for me again, and they found out its the Vaccume Gasket is leaking air, so they replace it for me, its not a big issue, they said it took them long time to find out whats going on, but to actually replace the gasket, it only took them half hr.
hope this helps

[lo_jack]

I might have some insight for you on this.

Cliffsnotes: I might guess the ICV is involved. You need to scan the codes and see what it comes back with. The brake related lights may be coming on, but they reset and go off everytime you start the car. If you get a p1500, it may well be ICV. The harness may be faulty, which causes the other lights to illuminate.

****

I had this same deal start happening on my 2001 3.0l, except it would not shut off completely. I got EML though, along with check engine, ABS, DSC and Brake. Plus, when it would run, it idled horribly.

The ABS, DCS, EML and brake lights reset after the car is turned off. But my check engine was still on. This revealed p1500 and two bank 1 rich codes.

Totally confused, I asked my buddy who used to be a BMW tech what was up. He said ICV.

As it turns out, the p1500 (which can be a few other things) was the ICV code. The real problem is not with the valve per se, but with the harness. The pins in the harness for the ICV are suspect until 2004. The only cure is swapping the harness.

I replaced my ICV, but not the harness. I also redid my entire crankcase vent system as well. When I pulled the butterfly to get the ICV out, I saw a lot of blowby had built up in the intake.

So after I did that, I put it all back together. Fired it up. P1500 was gone, but I had a missfire on 1 2 and 3 cyls.

Clueless, I started thinking. What is the deal? First off, the idle valve was bad. Stuck open I believe. Next, the sperator had failed, and blowby was getting everywhere. Logically, that lead to a rich situation, as the computer would try to compensate by adding fuel and timing to avoid stalling. Over time, it adapted to this. Hence the rich codes.

I let it run for a while and watched the fuel trims. They started to lean out. The missfire left. The car leaned back out. No more problems.

My ICV may go out again, since the harness is crap (I am not in warranty, mind you) so I will just replace the valve again and see how long it goes.

Check the codes. If it is the ICV, my friend says the car will get to the point where it will not run at all. If you are getting fueling codes like running rich or lean, this is probably a symptom, not the cause, as the computer will try to adapt over time. Eventually that will not work anymore.

If you scan and don't get a p1500, it may not be this at all. But your story sounded familiar.

[zman0803]

lo_jack,

Well hopefully I can get to the problem. It has not died today. The strange thing about it is, it idles great. Very smooth with no misses. The only thing we have ever had to do was replace some Evap crap. My wife had hit something on the road. (at this time we had very bad weather that caused down trees & limbs obvisouly some moron didn't have the debris secure on the truck) When that happened, just a check engine light came on. (go figure. lol) The evap tank was damaged and the guard that covers it was also damaged. I think the wife musta hit it going at a good pace. It was on the highway btw.

I just wonder if that had anything to do with this reoccuring problem. Maybe the vacuum deal as vskchoi stated? I don't want to take it in just yet because my brother can read the fault codes with his OBD II. Just finding the time when he can do it is the thing. Thanks again for all the replies. I just want to know that I don't have to replace an expensive module.

[zman0803]

Last night it died again. So far, everytime it has stalled, it's always been off idle. These times has always been from a stop at a stop sign or stop light. Each time it has started right back up.

[noncom23]

? Bad cam sensor??