HUGE engine problem!
 

Hey guys pls read the story and give your input..

2001
4.4L
120,000KM

I took a trip down to Seattle this weekend.
on the way there, on the I-5 doing about 80km(getting on a on-ramp), The X stalled for a quck sec., yellow ! light, abs, trac control, and ENGINE FAILSAFE PROG appeared.
I shut off the car and restarted it was normal...until another 5 min and same thing happend when STOPPING.
the lgihts went off and i continued to drive, and I went to pass a car and when i floored it, my check engine light flashed and stayed on.

I got to the hotel, and took on and off the connections to the battery and it was all fine, until on the way back home same situation; I depressed the accel to the floor and check engine light was blinking and then shut off...

MONDAY- i took it to Brian Jessel BMW
I got a call saying my bill is at $880 for diag(said that cyl 1 and 2 were misfiring the DIS sheet said that check engine kicks in at 5100rpm), new plugs, and checked to see if its the injectors...BUT THEY STILL DONT KNOW THE CAUSE PROBLEM!
The service advisor told me this" I think its best to trade in your car, if you want us to keep going it could be $5000min" What kind of advice was that!?
So I took my car and paid the bill but you can still hear the car misfiring if i rev it up just a bit through the exhaust.
Any idea on what it is?
Anyone else have something similar?

i would go to a good independent BMW mechanic if you could find one.

But doesnt BMW train their techs?
like i was suprised that you cant even find out whats wrong with the truck from the dealership...

Sounds serious hope it works out. But an indepandent might be a good choice.

yeah thats i guess waht i have to do on Monday

if theyll give another X5 to you at no cost since its their fault, go for it. if tey give you a bicuycle, dont take it, go to a BMW Independant mechanic

Yes, they train their mechanics, but like learning the piano, there are people who know how to play and there are Van Clyburn, Ray Charles, Billy Joel,etc

apparently the guy was a 18 year vet that was working on mine...

sounds like a classic VANOS or Cam Angle Sensor failure... and these guys are veterans??? of what? smoking crack? BTW.. if your CE light goes on.. Please STOP the car and call roadside assistance. if it is something more serious like overheating etc.. you could have done your motor in...

Get the vehicle to an intelligent mechanic. The on-board diagonistics are sophisticated and should be able to tell an intelligent mechanic where the problem is.

A compression check should be done to rule out a piston/valve problem (most compression problems occur gradually, not suddenly as in your case); absent a compression problem any fix should be non-major.

If you've had no serious mechanical problems to this point you've got a mechanically good engine and the dealer would just LOVE to talk/scare you into trading it in; don't do it; it's fix-able.