Cars Stalling

[shashi27]

Something going on with my 09 i30 with sport package. Car stalled once the day before yesterday and now twice yesterday. Had the AC on full blast in 95 heat. Wondering if the car doesn't handle the heat well under strain from the A/C. Taking to the dealer tomorrow. Thoughts? Thanks, Shashi

[AlanJ]

Should be able to cope. Let us know what the dealer says.

[DrNick]

Cars often have devices that disengage the A/C clutch when engine under strain to stop them stalling...maybe whatever does that is not working. let us know what they say!

[Breaker]

Manual or auto?

[shashi27]

Auto. I have her in sport mode while "manual shifting".

Dealer found nothing. I did a search on Yahoo and found something about stalling becoming a new issue as ambient temperatures rise. Not sure how accurate it is but the former tech said BMW was awre of this issue and was remapping or something in the near future. My dealer was not aware of anything.

I guess I will need to see again when the temps hit 95+ again. Maybe bad gas or something but I doubt it.

[mikeinaustin]

Cars often have devices that disengage the A/C clutch when engine under strain to stop them stalling...maybe whatever does that is not working. let us know what they say!

all, i have been the one doing a lot of the posting and investigation into this issue, random engine stall while slowing is a serious safety issue. i am the one that noticed that outside air temperature greatly increases the chances of this stall occurring. also, sport mode, for whatever reason, also increases this issue.

i too have taken the car to the dealer, as have many other owners, only to be told there are not faults to be found and bmw doesn't know why this issue is happening. i had the bmw shop foreman with me on a test drive and we duplicated this issue, still no answers. therefore i went and purchased one of those bavarian technic scanners. i cleared all current fault codes. i ran the car for 2 days and duplicated the engine stall in 90-100 degree weather. when i re-checked the computers there is one code present. the code is E704 and is present in the heater and a/c control unit. i believe this code means a short has been detected (it had been detected but was not currently present). this code apparently does not cause the check engine light to engage.

DrNick: your post got me thinking ... E704 error code in the a/c control unit ... perhaps something is happening based on this detected error that is preventing the clutch from disengaging. i don't know. i am taking in the car to the dealer on monday and will raise this exact code with the dealer. if you have any further thoughts, please post!

[mikeinaustin]

update: bmw just called. they said there was a software fix for the stalling issue. the dealer is updating all the modules in the car though, so it may not be done today. when i get the car, i will try and verify if it is really fixed or not. i will also try and get you version information.

[johnnyboy_10138]

The other week, I did a 16 hour drive, and it didnt drop below 100 until about the last 9 hours.

[shashi27]

BMW did a DME software upgrade. I have had no issues since with temps well above 95 and a/c on max. Now if they could just fix that radio......