my car had a stroke :(
 

well everyone, i think it may have finally happened:

my car just had a "stroke" tonight and i fear that the transmission has gone out at last :(

i was in a parking lot near the Pier 1 near Mission Valley looking for parking to find my gf some candles ... all of a sudden that dreaded warning chime sounded and i looked at the info screen on the dash and saw, to my shock, the following 3 things:

"TRANS. FAILSAFE MODE" (or however it's spelled out)

CHECK ENGINE

and the DSC light illuminated as well.

At that point, the car suddenly felt like it was stuck in 3rd gear, very hard to get it moving ... in fact, harder than it usually feels when starting out in 3rd gear.

Also, the RPM was occasionally fluctuating, frequently dropping all the way to 0 and back up again.

Additionally, the speedometer was totally nonfunctional.

And the RPM itself, on occasion, sounded very rough, as though the engine was about to die.

I tried turning the car off and letting it sit for a while, but nothing made any difference. I have just less than 1/2 a tank of gas in the car so obviously that wasn't it either lol.

Anyway ... AAA towed my car (AGAIN!) to BMW San Diego and tomorrow morning I'm just hoping I can get a loaner car -- X3 or X5? -- so I can still drive to LA and pick up my girl to take her to Vegas.

If NOT ... I'm going to have to ask her to drive down HERE and then i'll have to drive us there in her car.

But i just dont' have the heart to tell her yet ... i want to "gamble" and win that i'll get an X3 or X5 loaner car tomorrow. But one thing's for certain -- i'm not ABOUT to do the drive in a freaking Camry lol.

I'm so sad ... my poor X5 ... my big little tank ... my suburban assault vehicle ... this could be the end of her...!! :(

How many miles on the X are you at?

nearly 115,000 miles :(

awww...i hope your x will be okay...how much is the dealership quoting you to replace it? i hope you're plans won't be too unfortunate...

what bad luck...the day before valentine's day...:rolleyes:

i don't know, it happened tonight after they closed ..... so i'm setting my alarm for 6 AM so i can be at the dealer when they open at 7 so i can get a loaner car.

i still haven't told my girl yet ....... i just don't want her to have to drive all the way down here, i'm confident i'll get lucky and i'll be able to get a loaner.

and EVEN if i get a crap loaner, at LEAST i can drive to LA at which point she'll offer -- INSIST?! -- that we take her car if only for the comfort and nothing else.

however... if i CAN'T get a loaner tomorrow ...... i'm screwed ..... there goes a precious 2.5 hrs or so wasted as i'll have to wait for her to get down here. lame.

it'll be better in a loaner...you can do things to it which you wouldn't normally do to your regular car (no pun intended). you don't have to worry about scratches or anything...

Thanks, just wondering since my 01 is at 87k now. Wonder if there is anything that can be done, since this seems to be a common issue, and my CPO is about to expire in June or 100k?

hope it fails now...when you still have the warranty...i know i am...:D:D:D

I know, but I am cuious if BMWNA would do anything about it before it expires??:dunno:

it should be covered by the warranty...new car and extended/cpo...