[PortaPocketGal]

have a 2001 325i model w ~80K miles. recently car's been stalling while driving down the street with no apparent rhyme or reason. no new gas; no extreme outside temps. seems more likely when turning...
check engine light on periodically -- last time garage said indicator light was tripped from mass air sensor (couple weeks ago), but can't say for certain. has anyone else experienced this and what did you do? did you get it fixed and what was the problem? any idea of how much $ we're talking if mass air sensor is the culprit? Any other thoughts if it's NOT that mass air sensor?

 

[witeshark]

A good start would be a look at the fuel system, filter and pump.

 

[adame90]

I have an 2006 325i E90, I have owned it for 3 days. First day driving it home, after 5 min it would idle very low when I stop. The exhaust emissions light (yellow) stayed on too. The petrol tank was almost empty. I filled up to 3/4 full and it seemed to fix the problem the light went off and no more low idle.
Next day I drive for 15min and the yellow light came on again but no low engine idle, so I have ignored this light. After 5 hours I restart the car to drive 15min home. 5min into the journey I stop at a red light and revs fall under 1000 rpm and the car is starting to shake, i quickly put into neutral and rev up. I make it ok through these lights and have to stop 2km for another red light ( traffic light). On this stop the car stalled, it was hard to start after 2 attemps then on 3rd i had to rev it for about 1min to try and get the car to idle normally. I just made it home. I have the SHITS NOW. anyone had this happen.
Fuel system filter / pump looks like the prob? I will see mechanic and let you know.
I have 69,000 km on the speedo.

 

[PortaPocketGal]

thx for that!

Hi -- here's what ended up w/mine...
got it over to dealer and turned out to be intake cam sensor that was bad. got replaced.
this was apparently a different (?!) sensor than the exhaust cam sensor that ALSO got replaced (by them) not that long ago. now I'm starting to wonder abit...
cost for EACH time was in the $450 range. (alhough this last time I added in an oil change for ~$80 factored in...) SIGH

 

[adame90]

Hi -- here's what ended up w/mine...
got it over to dealer and turned out to be intake cam sensor that was bad. got replaced.
this was apparently a different (?!) sensor than the exhaust cam sensor that ALSO got replaced (by them) not that long ago. now I'm starting to wonder abit...
cost for EACH time was in the $450 range. (alhough this last time I added in an oil change for ~$80 factored in...) SIGH

interesting. I spoke to the mechanic today and explained my story. He said i might of picked up some dirt from bottom of fuel tank, since the car was low on fuel and not driven for 2 weeks. I went for a test drive and open up the sucker and no problem, I stopped many times without the car stalling. I also put in 100ml of petrol treatment into the tank before this test drive. It's a cleaner and improves performance and saves on fuel consumption, I use it in my wifes Honda and can notice the difference after about 20 min of driving after adding the mixture.
I have upload a photo of my ride in my profile if your interested.
cheers,
Adam

 

[adame90]

i added 25ml of a petrol additive and put in 40 litres of fuel. treatment works to 55 ltr of fuel. After driving over a few days to burn off the fuel I then added 55-60 ltrs and went for a 1 hour cruise. My problem is gone.

 

[PortaPocketGal]

thanks

glad that worked for you... my $450 US fix seemed to do the trick too, albeit w/a bit more $$ spent!

 

[adame90]

have a 2001 325i model w ~80K miles. recently car's been stalling while driving down the street with no apparent rhyme or reason. no new gas; no extreme outside temps. seems more likely when turning...
check engine light on periodically -- last time garage said indicator light was tripped from mass air sensor (couple weeks ago), but can't say for certain. has anyone else experienced this and what did you do? did you get it fixed and what was the problem? any idea of how much $ we're talking if mass air sensor is the culprit? Any other thoughts if it's NOT that mass air sensor?

I had a stalling problem which would happen once per month. normally happens when car is cold and check engine comes on. I had the mechanic clear all errors from the computer and test drive over 30min period. cost $135.00. 1 week later stalled 1.2km into drive and engine light came on. i took it straight to the same mechanic. Problem error was with the cam shaft sensor, I needed a new one. Cost $340.00 fitted. It's been 5 days now with no probs, I hope this has fixed it. Mechanic said this sensor can shit it self every 20,000 kms. problems are because stupid BMW specifies long service intervals. Non mechanics of BMW think you should stick to 10,000 service for basics.
regards,
Adam

 

[adame90]

new error

After 1000kms of driving and 4 times it stalled on different occasions. I had all errors from computer removed then narrowed it down to the new error which was cam shaft sensor. Cost $340.00 au fitted.

I have an 2006 325i E90, I have owned it for 3 days. First day driving it home, after 5 min it would idle very low when I stop. The exhaust emissions light (yellow) stayed on too. The petrol tank was almost empty. I filled up to 3/4 full and it seemed to fix the problem the light went off and no more low idle.
Next day I drive for 15min and the yellow light came on again but no low engine idle, so I have ignored this light. After 5 hours I restart the car to drive 15min home. 5min into the journey I stop at a red light and revs fall under 1000 rpm and the car is starting to shake, i quickly put into neutral and rev up. I make it ok through these lights and have to stop 2km for another red light ( traffic light). On this stop the car stalled, it was hard to start after 2 attemps then on 3rd i had to rev it for about 1min to try and get the car to idle normally. I just made it home. I have the SHITS NOW. anyone had this happen.
Fuel system filter / pump looks like the prob? I will see mechanic and let you know.
I have 69,000 km on the speedo.

 

[Monty69]

Also stalling whilst driving...

I have had my BMW since 2003, it's a late 2002 model, and had 9k on the clock when I bought it.
Now has 56k miles on it.
It started to randomly stall and had no idea what caused it.
Took to recommended garage who specialise in German cars.
Looked at errors, suggested, among others, Camshaft Sensor, which was replaced, cost £70 inc labour, parts and VAT (ssems cheaper than some of our American friends paying on this site!).
Problem however is still there. This possibility had been discussed with the garage, and so I was not exactly ripped off. We tried replacing the cheapest of the parts 1st, thinking process of elimination.
Anyway, he ran a series of tests and said he thinks it may actually be the ECU needing to be 'cleared of errors' (something along those lines), or replaced.
He could replace, but if that wasn't actually what was wrong, I was going to be stuck with HUGE bill and still broken car.
He recommended taking to BMW and tell them what we have come up with.
Now of course, BMW don't like being told what is wrong, and want me to pay £99 (+VAT of course) to tell me what is wrong.
1st phone call they have told me already what I know, and what I told them, so I said that they need to look further - I await the 2nd call!

If anyone knows anything about the ECU, please do enlighten me!

Thanks,
Sarah.

 

[adame90]

I had all my errors cleared, then when the stalling happened it was the only error showing, this is what took them to the cam shaft sensor which was replaced.