new bmw automatic stalling when idle.....

[mikeinaustin]

The car is 2010 3.0 (e89) z4 automatic with approx 6000 miles on it.

It has stalled 3 times. The first time was within 3 days of taking the vehicle. The other two occurred within 5 minutes of each other. All 3 times i was at a stop light, the car was in "sport mode", and simply stalled. when i push the start button it starts right back up again and when i accelerate it smoothly drives on. the second time it happened the car was idling for around 30 seconds before it shutoff, the third time it shut off almost immediately once the car was fully stopped at the light.

the check engine light is not on. the car is fully stock. the rpm when in drive at a stop is around 650 rpm, constant. 93 octane gas.

funny thing is, it has never had a problem in "normal mode", only when i put it in sport mode and at a stoplight.

i will be taking it to dealer, but i fear they will give the old "there are no error codes" and "cannot reproduce" line......


so, any ideas?

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: mikeinaustin
i will be taking it to dealer, but i fear they will give the old "there are no error codes" and "cannot reproduce" line......

Hopefullly there are some fault codes stored for this, even if they're not severe enough to trip the check engine light, so the dealer has something to go by.

If you haven't already, check on some dedicated BMW forums - maybe others have experienced something similar and can share their solutions.

 

[ps49556n]

Interesting...I would guess it has a faulty torque converter or it is a computer issue...My family has owned a lot of the new BMWs and they ALL had some computer-related issue at some point.

Your car is still essentially new and I would suspect that BMW will help you out....whatever you do, this is NOT the time to try and diagnos the problem yourself, bring it to a dealer.

 

[nthach]

All newer ZF transmissions have an automatic neutral at stop system - and I'm thinking there's something going on when the system is switching from a drive gear to N...

 

[mikeinaustin]

i suspect a software issue when in sport mode. hopefully they have fixed this. car going in on friday.

 

[mechtech2]

Torque converter locking up?
But by all means, take it back to the dealer.
At a minimum, get something is writing.
Dig into internet boards for similar problems, first, so you are conversant in the problem.

 

[mikeinaustin]

mechtech2, any type of code stored for tc lockup?

 

[mikeinaustin]

update: dealer found no codes present. they did notice that on occasion the rpm would drop a little low so they increased idle rpm from 650 to 675. net effect, engine still stalls (again, only in sport mode, only when stopped).

they asked me about the fuel level at the time the engine dies. at that time, i did not have a clear answer, but now i do. the engine will stall even if you have a completely full fuel tank (again 93 octane).

there is one other owner in australia with the exact same sport mode stall when stopped issue.

couple more data points: the car dies instantly, no sputtering. the car re-starts instantly, no cranking. the car then accelerates quickly and smoothly.

i have almost 8000 miles on the car and it only happens in sport mode when idling.

anyone have an idea?

 

[Quest]

well, force them (dealer) to take this car back!

My 2c's worth..

Q.

 

[cchase]

Why don't you bring it down there and demonstrate for them in the parking lot instead of forcing them to "look for codes" and raise the idle point.

I would be very leery of letting them screw with the idle point. I had a family member with a Jetta complain because the car idled extremely rough when cold. VW's response was the raise the idle point... to about 2500 rpm.

 

[Eddie]

What the dealer needs to do IF BMW has the equipment is to mount a microprocessor in the vehicle and when it stalls they will have a check on the various engine parameters. I had a mysterious Jeep stalling problem and they installed a scanning unit in the vehicle. Next stall gave them the information- it was the engine control Modula and drove it the next 160,000 + miles trouble free. Good luck and put the pressure on as it is a safety issue. Reseting the idle is no fix but, a bandage-on a new vehicle- THINK NOT on my new car.

 

[Vizzy]

Originally Posted By: Quest
well, force them (dealer) to take this car back!

My 2c's worth..

Q.


Same feeling here...this IS a SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE and you paid a LOT of money for that car...They need to take it back and at least give you another vehicle of equivalent value!!

 

[The Critic]

If the problem is easily reproducible, have the dealer drive your car for a week so that the problem will happen to them.