Car Stalling Out

[MRHowell]

I've only had my car 3 weeks, and this is the 3rd time this has happened to me now. First time starting the car for the day, and I pull it out of the driveway and after about 10 seconds my RPMs drop to 0, engine cuts off, and car goes into neutral. I then get a warning on idrive saying something along the lines of don't leave the car in neutral as it can roll which is a hazard. Once I turn the engine back on everything is fine and no more issues occur.

I've searched all bmw forums and only found 1 thread with this issue before. I messaged OP and they said they never found a solution and eventually just got rid of the car. https://f10.5post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1279083

Anyone ever had this happen or heard of this being an issue before? I'm in a 2017 w/ only 33k miles. I live in los angeles so the weather isn't cold enough to blame it on a true "cold start" either.

[JBF650]

I've no idea if this is helpful to you but this did happen to my car once, it surprised me however its never happened again. The car was stone cold, it was after a sudden change in ambient temperature. I took the car out of the garage and washed it. While putting it back in the garage it was still on fast idle it was a bit fluffy re the revs and suddenly the revs dropped and the car stalled. I was a bit surprised, no warnings at all and the car went into park or neutral I think? I hit the button and it started right up again and was fine. Its never done it again so didn't think anything more of it. Mines the V8 I've no idea if yours is the 6 or the V8 or if it makes any difference.
I had a Range Rover once that sometimes was a bit fluffy on idle with sudden ambient temp changes, like my single time in the 6 series was always smooth but sometimes if we had a sudden drop in temp would take the ECU a day or so to get used to it then was fine.
If this is continually happening to you then id suggest its more than just an anomaly. Perhaps get your dealer to diagnose this and perform a cold start check.

[MRHowell]

Originally Posted by JBF650

I've no idea if this is helpful to you but this did happen to my car once, it surprised me however its never happened again. The car was stone cold, it was after a sudden change in ambient temperature. I took the car out of the garage and washed it. While putting it back in the garage it was still on fast idle it was a bit fluffy re the revs and suddenly the revs dropped and the car stalled. I was a bit surprised, no warnings at all and the car went into park or neutral I think? I hit the button and it started right up again and was fine. Its never done it again so didn't think anything more of it. Mines the V8 I've no idea if yours is the 6 or the V8 or if it makes any difference.
I had a Range Rover once that sometimes was a bit fluffy on idle with sudden ambient temp changes, like my single time in the 6 series was always smooth but sometimes if we had a sudden drop in temp would take the ECU a day or so to get used to it then was fine.
If this is continually happening to you then id suggest its more than just an anomaly. Perhaps get your dealer to diagnose this and perform a cold start check.

I'm in a V8 also, 650i gc with N63tu engine. It would make more sense to me if I was dealing with extreme temperature changes, but that isn't the case for me. It seems random so I'm not sure the dealer will be able to replicate it, but I'm going to call a few SAs today and see if any have thoughts about this over the phone.

[Luftpost]

Originally Posted by MRHowell

I'm in a V8 also, 650i gc with N63tu engine. It would make more sense to me if I was dealing with extreme temperature changes, but that isn't the case for me. It seems random so I'm not sure the dealer will be able to replicate it, but I'm going to call a few SAs today and see if any have thoughts about this over the phone.

They will tell you to bring it in. Hopefully there is a code that they can read. Is it under warranty still?

L

[MRHowell]

Originally Posted by Luftpost

They will tell you to bring it in. Hopefully there is a code that they can read. Is it under warranty still?

L

Yea you're right. I just skipped the pointless phone call and dropped it off this morning. I am under warranty so if they do find anything I'm covered. The thread I linked to earlier doesn't have me too optimistic right now.

[Luftpost]

Originally Posted by MRHowell

Yea you're right. I just skipped the pointless phone call and dropped it off this morning. I am under warranty so if they do find anything I'm covered. The thread I linked to earlier doesn't have me too optimistic right now.

Consider this.....now that you have had it to the dealer for this reason, even if they find nothing wrong with it, you have a documented history with this issue. Later on in your ownership, if the problem persists again, even out of warranty, they may offer you the BMW Goodwill plan to have it repaired at a much lesser cost to you.

This happened to me. I brought my car in twice for same problem (while under factory warranty). Dealer could not duplicate. Then, once out of factory warranty by 3000 miles (but still CPO'd, yet not covered under CPO), I brought it in again, for same problem. Naturally, they were able to duplicate the problem. They came to me with a $6,000 quote to fix. I called BS, and ended up paying $700.

L

[cdajuan]

Originally Posted by MRHowell

I've only had my car 3 weeks, and this is the 3rd time this has happened to me now. First time starting the car for the day, and I pull it out of the driveway and after about 10 seconds my RPMs drop to 0, engine cuts off, and car goes into neutral. I then get a warning on idrive saying something along the lines of don't leave the car in neutral as it can roll which is a hazard. Once I turn the engine back on everything is fine and no more issues occur.

I've searched all bmw forums and only found 1 thread with this issue before. I messaged OP and they said they never found a solution and eventually just got rid of the car. https://f10.5post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1279083

Anyone ever had this happen or heard of this being an issue before? I'm in a 2017 w/ only 33k miles. I live in los angeles so the weather isn't cold enough to blame it on a true "cold start" either.

I'm not sure but you know how the n63 motors are very finnicky mine did something similar last week and it ended up being the fuel pump and needed to be replaced.

[MRHowell]

Originally Posted by Luftpost

Consider this.....now that you have had it to the dealer for this reason, even if they find nothing wrong with it, you have a documented history with this issue. Later on in your ownership, if the problem persists again, even out of warranty, they may offer you the BMW Goodwill plan to have it repaired at a much lesser cost to you.

This happened to me. I brought my car in twice for same problem (while under factory warranty). Dealer could not duplicate. Then, once out of factory warranty by 3000 miles (but still CPO'd, yet not covered under CPO), I brought it in again, for same problem. Naturally, they were able to duplicate the problem. They came to me with a $6,000 quote to fix. I called BS, and ended up paying $700.

L

Yea very good point. Hoping it never gets that far but at least now I have a paper trail.

[MRHowell]

Originally Posted by cdajuan

I'm not sure but you know how the n63 motors are very finnicky mine did something similar last week and it ended up being the fuel pump and needed to be replaced.

Oh really? Did you have any error codes for this?

[MRHowell]

Got the car back today, and as expected bmw said they couldn't duplicate the issue and found no codes. When I asked for details on how they tried to replicate the issue they couldn't provide them so I don't believe they actually tried.

I also had a few sensors trip right before I brought it in, and the codes read the cabin exceeded temp limits. I've never heard of such a thing. Anyone else had this happen before? Car is in a driveway, but I'm in la not the Arizona desert.

[MRHowell]

Well it just happened again. I was able to get a video of it this time.

More background info: last drove Tuesday evening so it's been a full 48 hours since the engine has been on. This was the first time pulling it out of the driveway today. I'm in Los Angeles so it's a nice 66 degrees F tonight so weather is not a factor here.

[MRHowell]

Originally Posted by MRHowell

Well it just happened again. I was able to get a video of it this time.

More background info: last drove Tuesday evening so it's been a full 48 hours since the engine has been on. This was the first time pulling it out of the driveway today. I'm in Los Angeles so it's a nice 66 degrees F tonight so weather is not a factor here.

BMW said they have no idea what's going on, and are working with BMWNA to try to determine the cause. No codes being thrown at all for it apparently. Do I have to start looking into lemon laws? That's going to fucking suck

[MRHowell]

10 days later, and I have the car back. The dealership couldn't reproduce the issue so contacted BMWNA who told them to reprogram the car. We'll see if that remedies the situation, but I don't have my hopes up.

[DRock3d]

Originally Posted by MRHowell

10 days later, and I have the car back. The dealership couldn't reproduce the issue so contacted BMWNA who told them to reprogram the car. We'll see if that remedies the situation, but I don't have my hopes up.

Is your driveway sloped?

[Opie55]

Originally Posted by MRHowell

Got the car back today, and as expected bmw said they couldn't duplicate the issue and found no codes. When I asked for details on how they tried to replicate the issue they couldn't provide them so I don't believe they actually tried.

I also had a few sensors trip right before I brought it in, and the codes read the cabin exceeded temp limits. I've never heard of such a thing. Anyone else had this happen before? Car is in a driveway, but I'm in la not the Arizona desert.

The front camera malfunction in hot weather is a known issue. There is no fix. It will resume normal operation within 5 minutes of driving with the AC on. It's in that black housing at the top of the windshield and probably gets up to 200 degrees.

[mjposner]

Well its either lack of air, spark or fuel. I suspect a fuel issue. Possibly weak fuel pump? Do you use quality gas? I know Cali doesn't have 93 octane, get some octane booster and see if that helps? Run a fuel system cleaner every 4 tanks.

[MRHowell]

Originally Posted by DRock3d

Is your driveway sloped?

Nope, driveway is flat.

[MRHowell]

Originally Posted by Opie55

The front camera malfunction in hot weather is a known issue. There is no fix. It will resume normal operation within 5 minutes of driving with the AC on. It's in that black housing at the top of the windshield and probably gets up to 200 degrees.

Interesting. You'd think they'd use components rated for much higher temperatures than what they'd see from sitting in the sun for a few hours.

[MRHowell]

Originally Posted by mjposner

Well its either lack of air, spark or fuel. I suspect a fuel issue. Possibly weak fuel pump? Do you use quality gas? I know Cali doesn't have 93 octane, get some octane booster and see if that helps? Run a fuel system cleaner every 4 tanks.

I only use 91. Can't speak for the previous owner unfortunately. If it continues I'll push for BMW to take a look at the fuel pump, or other parts that could be contributing factors.

[MRHowell]

Bringing this thread back to life in case any other owners experience the same issue.

This has been ongoing since this post. I've been back and forth to the dealership many times. They would either brush it off as the car was throwing no codes, or flash a software update and send me on my way. Since it continued to occur I finally called BMW NA and mentioned lemon law and a lawyer. They finally began to do more starting with replacing my spark plus (at my cost). After that along with a software update didn't work they replaced my fuel pump (no cost to me). While this seemed to have helped it didn't completely solve the issue. The car hasn't stalled since, but it still has a rough idle on start and a sharp drop in RPMs from 2k to 0 before catching itself and getting back up to around 1200.

With all of the failed repairs I pushed bmw into an investigation for purchasing the vehicle from me. After a month long investigation and review of my service history and complaints they finally agreed to do so. At this time I'm waiting on the final terms, but have been told they'll be refunding me my down payment, monthly payments to date, registration fees, and any other costs I can prove were related to this issue. Email from BMW attached.

[Luftpost]

Well, it looks like your diligence and persistence paid off. Hope you will be happy with the results once the transaction is complete. So the big question now.......would you buy another?

What does BMW do with such a car afterwards?

L

[MRHowell]

Originally Posted by Luftpost

Well, it looks like your diligence and persistence paid off. Hope you will be happy with the results once the transaction is complete. So the big question now.......would you buy another?

What does BMW do with such a car afterwards?

L

Likely no. I still have an F10 I'll keep until around, but this experience and other reasons have made me look elsewhere for my next car. We'll see how strong my conviction is once I start test driving, and miss the feel of bmw lol

As far as what they'll do with it I have no clue. I'm curious as well.