BMW M3 stalling problems

Filed Jan 27, 2017 · Engine · 52,500 miles · IL

Throttle actuator problem: is caused by an engineering defect in the actuator gears which deteriorate under 60,000 miles and cause the engine to go to "limp" mode. Once in limp mode the engine may stall and won't accelerate as normal; which was my case when it occurred on the highway causing a great danger to myself and society.

Filed Jan 21, 2016 · Engine · 3,100 miles · MA

Vehicle has 3,100 miles on it. I stopped to get fuel and on the way back home the engine started to misfire heavily, then stall out in heavy traffic almost causing me to get rear ended. Luckily the car started but felt like it had only 10% of the power, bmw told me to drive it to the nearest service center to have it looked at. They called me the next day to tell my my engine has failed. Im not sure how in 3,100 well cared for miles the engine would fail, almost causing me to get rear-ended in traffic. I am disappointed that bmw could release a car that costs $77,000 dollars that has total engine failure in such little time and miles. Bmw customer care has been the worst experience as well. They never return phone calls, and basically tells me every time there is no need to worry about the engine failing again in 3,100 miles.

Filed Aug 13, 2015 · Engine · 96,000 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 bmw m3. While driving approximately 50 MPH, there was an abnormal noise coming from the front of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the rod bearing and the engine needed to be repaired. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was then taken to an independent mechanic where the rod bearings were replaced. The contact mentioned that while driving approximately 30 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was taken back to the independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 96,000.

Filed Jun 25, 2015 · Engine, Steering · KY

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 bmw m3. While driving at 60 MPH, the contact heard a sudden knocking sound and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle restarted, but the noise recurred. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed with rod bearing failure and the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the issue. The VIN and failure mileage were unavailable.

Filed Nov 27, 2014 · Electrical, Engine · 44,000 miles · NV

2011 bmw dct m3 engine turns off by it self while driving through intersection. Transmission goes into neutral. "n" pops up on the center cockpit. Steering wheel lock. Brakes work. Had to maintain foot on brakes. Have to push "engine start" button. Car starts up again. Engine stalling and shutting off is a safety hazard, especially if the car is in motion. Could cause death to end users or other people. Can cause property damages as well. This has happen twice within a 8 week period. Most recently on nov 26,2014 approximately 430pm bmw "auto start stop function" ruled out because the LED light above the button is lit, function is disable.

Filed Aug 20, 2014 · Engine · 36,000 miles · VA

I was driving in queens mid town tunnel, suddenly my engine stalled and the car would not start again. It was a two lane tunnel, my car was blocking one lane of traffic. Called nypd to have the car towed to a safe location. According to the dealer of park ave bmw. They think its a engine failure.

Filed Oct 8, 2012 · Acceleration, Transmission · 8,200 miles · NJ

The problem occurs when you slow down- like for a turn, but do not come to a complete stop. The dct transmission seems to have trouble figuring out what gear to select because when you step on the gas to accelerate, there is a very significant delay in the onset of power- up to 2-3 seconds. By this time, the driver is usually really digging into the throttle. The transmission finally picks a gear, which results in the car suddenly lurching forward, sometimes invoking the anti-skip control. The danger in this behavior occurs when making a turn into on-coming traffic after slowing down to around 10-15 MPH. After the turn, the car is positioned in the traffic lane, but you have no power to accelerate into the flow of traffic. The oncoming cars are now closing in on your car at a fast rate, and you're basically stuck. This situation is most pronounced in the "auto" mode of the dct transmission, but also occurs to a lesser degree while in the manual mode when you select second gear in preparation for the turn. It is also very repeatable in both modes. These problems started occurring after a previous recall on this transmission where the engine would stall under hard braking or not shift under hard braking. The recall fixed that problem, but introduced this problem, which occurs almost every day whereas the previous problem only occurred during a specific situation.

Filed Aug 20, 2012 · Acceleration, Engine · 93,000 miles · CA

While driving on a relatively hot day (92 degrees f), my vehicle's smg (sequential manual gearbox) malfunction indicator light turned on and I began having problems with the vehicle randomly dropping out of gear into neutral or "0" for 6-15 seconds at a time. When out of gear, there was a complete loss of power. On one instance of dropping out of gear, I was turning right at around 10-15 MPH when I found I could not accelerate and an oncoming vehicle almost ran into me. Since the first occurrence of this, this type of "stalling" has happened much more frequently when the ambient temperature reaches above 90 degrees, and now I cannot drive longer than 30 minutes without the smg mil turning on and gears start dropping. I'm concerned that this may happen at higher speeds and leave me stranded on a highway or even in stop-and-go traffic, where it seems to occur very frequently. I've researched many forums for this and have found this to be a common issue with other m3 smg owners. There is some indication from other owners that the issue might be linked to a hydraulic temperature sensor located on the main smg hydraulic pump but I have not found any information from bmw detailing a repair for this type of issue. The only option seems to be a full replacement of the hydraulic pump, which has already been done on my vehicle once before for a similar issue. This type of replacement costs almost $4000 as quoted by the dealer. I think bmw should get serious about this issue and conduct an investigation on potential campaign remedies.

Filed Oct 6, 2011 · Acceleration, Electrical · 36,300 miles · AZ · crash

Shortly after purchasing my bmw 2009 m3, I noticed a rare but very disturbing pattern on take off. I had car checked in dealer and I was told it was likely secondary to my driving style! This uncontrolled take off is like hi rev and rapid acceleration periodically alternating with deceleration for few seconds. I had this happen prob a dozen time so far(36k on car). On day of my accident, in stop and go traffic with speed less than 5 miles per hour, car literally went off on me. It accelerated to hit the car in front and then managed to push the car into another 3 cars in front, before it came to a stall. I am not sure if it was exactly like my previous episodes because the distance between my car and next car was short. What I am sure is that I had no control on car.

Filed Aug 20, 2010 · Transmission · 2,500 miles · GA

To whom it may concern, I am very happy to see your organization taking an interest in this issue. It is a very dangerous problem with this vehicle that bmwna is well aware of, but insists that it is "normal behavior" for my car/transmission. I brought the car into the dealer, and they were able to reproduce it, but they were told by bmw that this was "normal behavior." the problem occurs when you slow down- like for a turn, but do not come to a complete stop. The dct transmission seems to have trouble figuring out what gear to select because when you step on the gas to accelerate, there is a very significant delay in the onset of power- up to 2-3 seconds. By this time, the driver is usually really digging into the throttle. The transmission finally picks a gear, which results in the car suddenly lurching forward, sometimes invoking the anti-skip control. The danger in this behavior occurs when making a turn into on-coming traffic after slowing down to around 10-15 MPH. After the turn, the car is positioned in the traffic lane, but you have no power to accelerate into the flow of traffic. The oncoming cars are now closing in on your car at a fast rate, and you're basically stuck. This situation is most pronounced in the "auto" mode of the dct transmission, but also occurs to a lesser degree while in the manual mode when you select second gear in preparation for the turn. It is also very repeatable in both modes. These problems started occurring after a previous recall on this transmission where the engine would stall under hard braking or not shift under hard braking. The recall fixed that problem, but introduced this problem, which occurs almost every day whereas the previous problem only occurred during a specific situation. Thank you for looking into this dangerous matter.