hey Davidch,
Expert! how can you tell what exhaust it was? clearly it wasnt branded and there were no label / logo etc on it. I am impressed.
Yes it has a private plate on it.
Just called up and they will have to keep it over the weekend as the car is still being worked on. It is a sticky problem... I have posted a related topic here a while ago but no one seems to be able to give me any suggestions on what is going on.
The problem in short - the car randomly stalls as it is slowing down to a halt:
There are no pattern as to when the car will stall. It sometimes occurs when I do the following -
Car running at low speed (10 mph or less)- apply brake - car slows down to near stop - step on the clutch - rev indicator drops to zero - engine stalls & power steering off.
1. Usually what the car would've done is when the car slows down to a near stop and when you step on the clutch - the rev indicator, instead of dropping to zero, will bounce back up abit before stabilising at a constant that will keep the engine running (not sure if it is normal how the rev surges so much.. at one point the rev indicator went down to as long as 500rpm before surges up to 1,400rpm to save the engine from stalling).
2. In addition, when accelerate normally from halt, step on the clutch at about 2,500rpm first gear. You will hear a noise coming from somewhere under the bonnet. Sounded like something is loose?
The car was in the workshop for the exact problem for the 3rd time now. First time was with BMW Wimbledon (used to be Cooper Wimbledon). They were hopeless. ONe of the guy even took my car home on a 60mi drive and still said the car was fine. Took it to Battersea and they the Lambda sensors (o2 sensors) were knackered so replaced them and reprogramemd the car. I took the car back and for 2 weeks it drove better than brand new without any problems. However last weekend the car started to stall randomly again. Took it back in and they are struggling to find what else is wrong with it and are currently replacing the ICV as it could be the source of the problem.
LONG STORY I know but i have been having so much trouble with it. A little dangerous when your car suddenly stalls as you are in the middle of a busy junction! Or when you are doing a 3 point turn on a busy road!
Sorry for the long message... just thought i will whine a bit since you asked me what was wrong with the car...
PS: DONT EVER GET THE DEALERS TO WASH YOUR CAR. After previous 2 visits they have washed the car for me and now my car are full of swirl marks! No good at all.