Sudden Loss of Power

[NOVAX5]

Went to my daughters school to pick her up. THe outside temperature is 90 F. After the couple of turns in the parking lot. THe X suddenly lost all power, power steering wheel lost power too, check engine light went on. the X came to halt. I stop and restart the X. Everything was FINE after that, no SES light, power all good again. THis is strange. I remembered last year during the COLD weather in Dec. I had one of this happened. This is the second time in a long time after the first. Any idea?

[noncom23]

Bad Cam Sensor or Valvetronic motor?

[Aimster]

Happened to me once. I was leaving the gas station after filling her up and boom. Turned her back on and it was fine

[NOVAX5]

So, is there a fix or something? Or this is just a once in a while kinda thing?

[noncom23]

Don't know what year you have, but I would take this in for a diagnostic at least...

[DPX5]

Let me guess.... fairly tight turn, very low speed (maybe even just momentum) ??

Do some searches here and on the net in general. Happens on multiple BMW's. One guys stalled on him in a left turn at an intersection.

Happened to me 3 times total last summer (got my 2003 last summer) - all three times the exact same scenario. Others have that as well. I did a lot of research at the time and most people that had it corrected was one of two things but I cannot remember what those were. If I can find my research and links I'll post.

[Aimster]

I was taking a turn at the gas station at very very low speeds when it happened.

[DPX5]

Yep... that sounds like it.

AH...I remember one... Mass air flow ! I think the other was something to do with gas. I'll keep looking

[DPX5]

OK... first... let me apologize for the config of this info. I was basically collecting like a madman and just grabbing things I saw on forums with people with like issues.


I’m with BMW of North America, LLC. I’m sorry to read about this issue with your X5 stalling. If you want our assistance, please phone us at (800) 831-1117 or email us at CustomerRelationsbmwusa.com, and mention Reference #200533300361 so that we can help you more efficiently.

the problem might be your ignition coils...one or more may be leaking or malfunctioning ...its a sick with all the X5s...have your mechanic check it out!
I’m with BMW of North America, LLC. I’m sorry to read that your X5 is stalling. If you want our assistance, please phone us at (800) 831-1117, and mention Reference # 200412100275 so that we can help you more efficiently.


mass air flow
ignition coils
fuel pump
DME update/re-program

I had this happen once with my X about a year ago. I had switched the high beam bulbs out, turned the car on and made sure they worked then I left it running and went in the garage, next thing I know it stalled. Never happened again.
well talk about semantics but cars don't stall for NO reason. There's obviously a reason, just one you do not know.. wonder what your power draw was at idle... We need more details. If you bring it in, you will probably see a event in the DCS.

My X had this as a recurring problem. It would stall every time it came to a stop.. Then it would run fine for a few weeks, then it would start happening again. I took it to the dealer and the fixed it. I think it was the mass air flow sensor or something like that.
Originally Posted by Roc3b
It might be a crank or cam sensor...the system did not read the need for a spark or fuel to be sent from the sender and conked out. It used to happen all time on a z24 I had in the ARMY...I KNOW it is not a Bimmer but the same basic fuel injection system principles apply. Check it out if you have not replaced your two cam sensors already.
this happend to a 2002 325i I had...it would die during a turn at an intersection and I wouldnt know it..my wheel would lock up..very scary..happened a few times...Dealer said it was a fuel/air sensor..they replaced it and no problems since...
I too have experienced this twice. The dealer could not find the problem. A few weeks after my dealer visit, I was poking around under the hood (checkinf fluid levels) and noticed that a canister on the passenger side (under the headlight) had a hose that was disconnected. I popped it back on and I haven't experienced a problem since. I dont know if it was related or not but I just wanted to share my experience.
One more note: I have no mods on my car. It is completely factory.

... fuel pump, happened to moi; the car will only continue to stall. Have the dealer change it. It's covered under the warranty
cheers

I took my X in for the dash pixel fix and they performed another recall which was replacing the Ignition coils. They said that this will cause the car to shudder or stall out. I have experienced the stall out twice and they could find nothing before on previous dealer visits. With the recall complete, the car responds quicker from a stop but no major difference. Hope this helps.
http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=304961 RECALL INFO
Here are the vehicles involved in the recall:
E46 with M54/M56 from 09/02 up to 12/04.
E39 with M54 from 09/02 up to 07/03.
E53 (X5) with M54 from 09/02 up to 12/04.
E65/E66 with N62/N73 from 09/01 up to 12/04.
E85 (Z4) with M54 from 09/02 up to 12/04.
E83 (X3) with M54 from 09/03 up to 12/04.

However the most common cause for lost engine power are often either loose fuel injectors (if you had any work done on the engine before it happend) or a fail(ing/ed) MAF (or somehow oil got into the MAF) .
Cam Position sensors would be another possibilty.
My 2005 4.8is stalled last week without warning as though it was running out of gas, however there was plenty of fuel in the tank. I could not re-start the engine - sounded like it was fuel starved. After 20 minutes, I managed to start the engine and drove it home where it stalled again close to the house. Same deal - it started up again after cooling off a little. I had BMW run engine diagnostics, everything perfect, no fault codes. Diagnosed as faulty fuel pump, which would overheat and give low discharge pressure. Full warranty repair - no charges. So far, everything seems fine - runs great and no indication of a further problem. Any other fuel pump problems out there?

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I had a problem with my '02 3.0 X5 stalling a while back. It stuttered and grumbled upon restarting. The check engine light came on afterwards. It turned out to be a ban ignition coil. That was replaced and the problem stopped.
Well, twice in as many weeks, my X5 stalled during tight, slow speed left turns. Once was a u-turn and the other was to park in a spot. No check engine light afterwards. I know that this has been a topic much discussed in the past, particularly with the 3.0 versions of the X5. Time to go back to the dealer. Luckily I'm still under warranty.
From my research and recollection of past discussions on this issue, it could be one of the following things:
MAF (mass air flow meter)
Cam shaft position sensor
DME (digital motor electronics) needs to be reprogrammed
Loose vacuum hose
Bad throttle body (remote chance of this)
Bad Gas
Software (DME?)
I wanted to mention this problem and the possible causes because it has not been discussused that much here at X5world.
Let's see what is causing my stalling this time.
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Did they replace all the ignition coils the first time or just the bad one? Id start there. Then move to vaccum hoses. Dont have to spend money to check those two. After that, Id go to Cam Shaft Position Sensor. Very common on the 3.0i. Our exhaust one failed few months ago too. Air Flow mass sensor typically fails only when people use K&N filters. The oil thats used in them clogs it up. Hope this helps. GL.
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Mine has always been a serious hesitation since I got it. After reading the archives I saw where the 05's were easily fixed with the flash. It seems like the 3.0's have a bigger problem with overall stalling by my reading. I hope the new flash helps. You might try the Chevron gas also as I read where people get some improvement with that.

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could be the fuel filter, sometimes can get clogged ....should be changed every 10,000 miles anyway...i have good faith in a bmw fuel pump...that sounds a little awkward.

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My wife has a 20002 3.0 (automatic transmission) which we've owned since new. She had been telling me for months now that it has been stalling intermittently during slow turns, but I had never been in the vehicle when it happened. We've already had it into the dealer, the last time about a year or so ago, who said that there is nothing they can do. This past weekend, turning onto my street, it happened to me. It stalled and as a result I lost the power steering and the power brakes. I almost hit a parked car as I was in mid turn and the wheel just went dead from no power steering and I had to stomp on the brakes to stop the vehicle. I am not a small guy and I worry about my wife driving this as this is a real safety issue as far as I am concerned. I shudder to think what would have happened if there would have been a kid riding their bike or something like that when I was turning. I searched the forums and nothing comes up as to a fix. Does anyone have any ideas?
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I had a stalling problem in my '02 4.4i. It happened when I was stopping and sometimes in slow turns. It took three trips to the dealer, but they found it to be a broke mass air flow sensor.
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in the case of the 3.0, the siemens ignition coils are notorious for failing. had it happen on mine too. similar situation.
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[vinuneuro]

Search 'stall' and you'll get plenty of hits. IIRC, it's the ignition coils that go bad.