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      03-08-2011, 04:20 PM   #1
zer0xity
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weird...

So, last weekend I was driving home from work the other night going about 35, maybe 40 when suddenly the service engine light and other lights in the dash lit up. The steering became real stiff and that's when I realized the engine was off. Really threw me for a loop as that's never happened before. Fortunately I was able to reach a safe stop and restart the engine just before hitting the highway and safely getting home. Hasn't happened since but WTF? Has anyone else had this experience?

Side note: I've got close to 34K miles on my '08 Z4MC. Anyone have any reliability issues with more miles? A good friend of mine suggested I should sell the car when it hits about 80K just to avoid frequent and costly services as he predicts the car WILL need to be frequently serviced at higher mileage (which would make sense with any car), BUT to the point of where it wouldn't be fun any more as the cost would outweigh the pleasure of driving. He says this after having tracked and put over 140K miles on a Mini S. I didn't, and still don't, want to believe him. I haven't tracked mine yet but haven't ruled it out for the future. By the way, he told me this before the aforementioned incident happened.

Anyone...?
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      03-08-2011, 04:33 PM   #2
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Never heard of an engine just stopping like that and then working right away... ??
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      03-08-2011, 04:54 PM   #3
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Head to the dealer and see if they find any error codes. At 35k miles the engine should be just fine. And no, if properly maintained the car will exceed 80k.

Also if your engine stalls with a manual transmission you don't have to come to a complete stop in order to turn the ignition off and restart. You can just push the clutch in and put it in gear (the correct gear for your given speed) and let the clutch out slowly. The momentum of the car will turn the car over and get the engine going again.

Don't try turning the ignition off while you're moving since taking the key out will lock your steering wheel.
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      03-08-2011, 04:55 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zer0xity View Post
So, last weekend I was driving home from work the other night going about 35, maybe 40 when suddenly the service engine light and other lights in the dash lit up. The steering became real stiff and that's when I realized the engine was off. Really threw me for a loop as that's never happened before. Fortunately I was able to reach a safe stop and restart the engine just before hitting the highway and safely getting home. Hasn't happened since but WTF? Has anyone else had this experience?

Side note: I've got close to 34K miles on my '08 Z4MC. Anyone have any reliability issues with more miles? A good friend of mine suggested I should sell the car when it hits about 80K just to avoid frequent and costly services as he predicts the car WILL need to be frequently serviced at higher mileage (which would make sense with any car), BUT to the point of where it wouldn't be fun any more as the cost would outweigh the pleasure of driving. He says this after having tracked and put over 140K miles on a Mini S. I didn't, and still don't, want to believe him. I haven't tracked mine yet but haven't ruled it out for the future. By the way, he told me this before the aforementioned incident happened.

Anyone...?
Happened to me the other night on an off ramp at about 40mph after exiting the freeway. Started right back up and ran fine. Been ok since. Dunno. Mine's an 08 too
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      03-08-2011, 04:59 PM   #5
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Check your battery cables... I had this happen to me in my old M3.. One of my battery cables was loose from the battery.

Seems like when it loses battery power, then gains it again it sends the computer for a loop, hence killing the car...
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      03-08-2011, 05:05 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rated M View Post
Check your battery cables... I had this happen to me in my old M3.. One of my battery cables was loose from the battery.

Seems like when it loses battery power, then gains it again it sends the computer for a loop, hence killing the car...
This is the most plausible explanation.
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      03-08-2011, 05:20 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by santov View Post
Head to the dealer and see if they find any error codes. At 35k miles the engine should be just fine. And no, if properly maintained the car will exceed 80k.

Also if your engine stalls with a manual transmission you don't have to come to a complete stop in order to turn the ignition off and restart. You can just push the clutch in and put it in gear (the correct gear for your given speed) and let the clutch out slowly. The momentum of the car will turn the car over and get the engine going again.

Don't try turning the ignition off while you're moving since taking the key out will lock your steering wheel.
i was approaching a red light right as it happened.
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      03-08-2011, 05:29 PM   #8
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Still, could have just been bad timing. Check the battery--if it's loose you've got your probable culprit, if not and your dealer is decent take it in.

As for selling it at 80K miles...why? Lots of E46 M3s out there with a lot of miles and that and the Z4 platform are pretty solid. I saw a Z3M at the track Sat with well over 80k miles and it was blowing by 90% of the cars in its run group!

Sure wear and tear items (alternator, water pump, thermostat, bushings, shocks, and so on) wear out, but a well maintained car that's had oil, gear oil, diff, coolant, brake fluid) swapped out at maintenance intervals or better should last a long long time. If you still love the car at 80K it's a lot cheaper to repair/replace those things than to buy something "new"--besides, new cars aren't w/o their issues. Ask anyone someone with a newer 335 how well "new" worked out for them!
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      03-08-2011, 05:38 PM   #9
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this happened to me before quite a few times, not in a bmw though. I was driving my beater bug 1.8t and apparently my cam positioning sensor went bad. Got it replaced and now it's all good! Hope you get your car fixed asap, because I know how scary it feels and I've almost crashed and flipped the car, since my car decided to stall during a curve
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      03-09-2011, 04:13 AM   #10
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I've had the same problem twice. Both times on the highway. Engine kept running, but stuttered. As soon as I pulled over and the speed was less than 50 kmh (about 30 mph) the engine died. Turned out to be a "trottle pot sensor" (if that is the correct English translation?) p/n 1363554.

Edit: mine is an '06

Edit 2: looks like the partnumber isn't correct...
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      03-09-2011, 08:10 AM   #11
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This is really concerning. Get it checked out.
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      03-09-2011, 09:16 AM   #12
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This sounds a lot like a camshaft position sensor (CPS) that is going bad. At first, it's an occasional "miss" and if the car is a manual transmission and the clutch is in, the car will likely die. When you turn it off and start it back up, it's like it resets and goes along fine. Eventually, it will fail more often and needs to be replaced. If this is the problem, the error codes should confirm it.
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      03-09-2011, 09:19 AM   #13
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I'm taking it in next week to get checked out. Very concerning indeed.
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      03-09-2011, 09:41 AM   #14
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Good luck, seems like a gammut of things that could possibley be wrong, but nothing huge, which is nice
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      03-09-2011, 10:59 PM   #15
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definitley taking it in this saturday as this happened again today.
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      03-10-2011, 12:34 AM   #16
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Does it happen when you are clutching in?
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      03-10-2011, 05:03 AM   #17
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80K? should last much longer. i plan on really taking care of this car, holding onto it for a while and breaking the 100k mark at the very least.

also i had that issue before on a seperate car, and it was a problem with a ground wire. my guess is that it is power related as well
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