Stalling?
 

Has anybody experiemced stalling on their diesels? It has happened 3 times now. On a cold start when reversing out of our garage, the engine will cut out and the transmission will shift to neutral. It will restart fine. iDrive shows nothing and Morristown found no codes last time. It just happened to us for the third time and it is getting annoying if it can't be fixed.

that sucks to hear... you guys are really having bad luck with BMWs!

hope it ends up okay, the color of yours is really nice.

is it not the same symptoms as the fuel pump issues?

There is no engine malfunction light, there is no tough starting like the fuel pump issue. We're just backing out slowly, <5MPH and the engine will just quit. No messages pop up, it just becomes silent. iDrive is still up, and it will restart perfectly fine, as if nothing ever happened. We haven't been able to purposely duplicate the issue, but it will just happen out of the blue. It won't stall in a parking lot, when warmed up or when driving regularly. It will just happen around the same place of our driveway, without any prior notification of something wrong. It has happened twice to my mom by herself, and it just happened with me in the car today at 11AM.

Is odd part is that it leaves no messages. It is basically untraceable, since it is hard to purposely duplicate. Maybe we will have to film every time we reverse out, and hopefully it once on camera to prove to our SA.

Very good idea, sadly.

If you do so, make sure the work order has IN WRITING the phrase 'confirmed stall'...and not 'customer states'.

GL

A

I've never had that happen with my diesel and I've had it for a year...

Craig

Well, it has been in at Morristown since Monday, 1/4. We haven't been able to reproduce the stalling on camera, nor has Morristown. They even have a technician from BMWNA working on it, and no luck so far.

My X5d has stalled thrice when cold and backing out. All times were the same mistake by myself though, by being in a big rush and not even waiting for the dash lights to "cycle" if that makes any sense. It has never happened when I waited about three seconds or more after pushing the start button. I am not infering that minz is rushing.

Wow! Just got to reading this and at least there is somebody with the same issue. I don't think we are rushing, as my mom who drives and has gotten it to stall lets it idle for a good 15-25 seconds before driving. The time I was with her when it stalled, she started the car while I was still putting on my shoes. Still, I will forward this on to see if they can finally reproduce it.

maybe dealer can't reproduce it cuz they start the car in a heated facility?

I'm not sure where Morristown BMW is storing our car, so I don't know if the heat matters or not. Even with us in our garage, we cannot get a stall every time we try.

Still XXX555, why do you think the stalling is because of a "mistake"? Surely it isn't normal for a car to stall if the dash lights are still "cycling".

I have had this twice.. some months back stopped in traffic and today again .. car in Drive, foot on brake, engine dies goes to N. Press Start button it fires up ok .. no errors. And temperature around 24 celsius... to be reported when I take it in for service to look at the transmission issue.

Well, we got it back. Still, "could not duplicate problem."

could it be a combination of fuel and temperature? diesel starts solidifying at a much higher temperature than gasoline.... perhaps you should look into changing your fuel source?

If it is fuel and temperature, then it should happen to jamesboags in Australia. At first, I thought it was a cold start issue, but now that James has had the same problem while driving, I'm more confused.

The only variable I have that on exception I've filled up at a Shell outlet instead of my normal BP which has a good turnover of diesel as it services a lot of buses and container trucks... The car definitely had a majority of this Shell diesel in it when it stalled. Car goes in on Wednesday.

I'm not saying Diesel is the problem.. I'm saying your filling station might not be providing a good source of fuel due to
a) winter diesel
b) contaminants within their storage tanks
c) low quality diesel. I'm just suggesting that if you're filling up at the same place regularly, perhaps you should try a different place and see if thats the cause.

-john

YES, oh wow I'm glad there is someone else with the same problem. Its happened twice to me about 10 seconds from backing out of my driveway. We've had our X5 for just over 2 months and I've been waiting to replicate the problem again before bringing it in.