2011.75 E92 M3..which almost killed me

[ki__]

Hi guys,

Here is my story:

Last tuesday morning (3/15/11) i picked up my 2011.75 Space Gray M3 Coupe, fox and black two tone seats, carbon trim, fully loaded with MDCT. So the days go by, i am enjoying my M3, can't wait to hit the 1200 mark. I wash my car Thursday afternoon, ready for the raining weekend. Yes, i am a little in love with this car.

Friday comes around. I go out with my friends in my M3, we take it to this new place in Encino. I first have to get gas at the closest Mobil, on Westwood and Santa Monica, and it must be my lucky day, i have to grab the nozzle the whole time because the little clamp to hold it is broken. Whatever, didn't think much about it. So we took the 405 to the 101 Ventura and headed for the exit. We get there, and it started to rain. The place is only outside so we waited to see if it would stop raining in 30 mins. It didn't, so we left. We decided to take Topanga Canyon on the way home. Driving in Topanga Canyon, with some mellow driving music, it was very nice. So i get to this straight away part like half way through, and i didn't push the car, i gently pushed the gas to come out of the corner. Got to about 4,000 rpm before shifting to 4th. A second later... The car shuts down. I hear no more engine noise. Its no longer in 4th, it is in Neutral. The Steering Wheel becomes stiff, to the point of not being able to steer. The brakes become less responsive. The gas pedal doesn't do anything. And there is a turn 10 seconds in front of me... So i had to pull the steering wheel extremely hard to turn over and press the brake pedal extremely hard so i can pull over to the shoulder. The car rolls to a stop. I freeze because of how scared i am. My friend's don't know what just happened. I didn't say anything for about 5 minutes. I then tried to press the start button.. I press it, i hear this Loud High Pitch Noise that continues for about 8 seconds, then stops and i get 4 warning signs on my iDrive. The car won't start. This is about 12:30 am by the way. I try it a couple of other times, it won't start. I look in the manual and i read every warning sign and none of them say that i can't drive the car or that the car won't start. So i continue to try this. And its pouring rain outside now. I finally decide to press the SOS button, i get this useless person that wastes my time for 2 hours. Then she finally decides to have me try someone else... So i do, and 2 hours with this person, he can finally find my location. Because i looked on my iphone to find the nearest address. He finds my location, but can't find a tow truck that is willing to come out to me. Its 4 am and its raining. Finally i am talking to the guy and he tells me that he might have someone..my car battery dies. So after 10 mins he calls my cell number and tells me the truck will be there around 4:45am.

The part that really scares me, is that if it happened 10 seconds later, i would of gone over that cliff. Thankfully that didn't happen. But i am not driving this car again. I do believe in bad luck sometimes, and i feel like it was one of those nights. And this car shouldn't be driven by anyone. BMW Beverly Hills just called me to tell me that they will have the car looked at later today since there were many cars that were towed to them over the weekend. So i am not waiting. But i called BMWNA, i am not driving this specific car again.

I am so bummed, because i loved this car. And now i am questioning getting another M3, i know this is happens like 1% of the time. But it just really scares me that something like that can happen. I am not sure what car i will get, and i really am not sure if i want a BMW again. Really sad this happened.. i was looking forward to modding this car and really driving it.

My love for the M3 really isn't the same now

I will post back up when i get updated by BMW.

Kian

[gblansten]

That's pretty bad. That would have shaken me as well. Glad you are okay.

[Poppin Fresh]

Wow, that's a scary story. I'm glad to know you came out okay. Keep us posted as this is a serious matter. Good luck.

[Reedomn]

Scary and glad you are ok.......but wondering what the gas station part of the story has to do with anything?....bad gas or something?...

[gblansten]

Originally Posted by Reedomn

Scary and glad you are ok.......but wondering what the gas station part of the story has to do with anything?....bad gas or something?...

Good point. He could have gotten some debris in the fuel line.

[M3Fool]

WOW... that is scary. Probably something really stupid too. But I feel you, it is easy to get gun shy after an event like that. Good luck.

[yusammyyu]

scare me too,that is so bad, let us know what is the problem on the car when you get further information .

[BenDiem]

Dude,

Pls keep us posted as to what happened/what the cause was?

Tks,

B

[Erhan]

First off all, @OP, glad you're ok. Hope they sort it out.

This is why I didn't bother with bmw assist. I had it in my z4 roadster. I got stuck on a mountain road, and they couldn't send a f**cking tow truck. Who cares if it works in the city, I can take care of it myself. It only counts when you're on mountain/canyon roads, and they failed.

I have my AAA now. I don't count on them either, but at least if anything happens in the city, they can help me.

Originally Posted by BlacknRedi

So i do, and 2 hours with this person, he can finally find my location. Because i looked on my iphone to find the nearest address. He finds my location, but can't find a tow truck that is willing to come out to me. Its 4 am and its raining. Finally i am talking to the guy and he tells me that he might have someone..my car battery dies. So after 10 mins he calls my cell number and tells me the truck will be there around 4:45am.

[Hollywood Hogan]

Wow I got chills just reading your story..glad you came out of this ok...hope everything works out for you

[Prince_of_Persia]

I am glad nothing happened to you. Lemon this car and get another M3. M3 is one of the safest cars on the market and I am sure you will love the next one more.

[Grail05]

WOW that is scary ... Update us on the results. im curious to this, i sure dont want that to happen to me specially my daughter sitting in the back most of the time.

Hey IM SURE GLAD YOUR OK...

[gblansten]

Originally Posted by Prince_of_Persia

I am glad nothing happened to you. Lemon this car and get another M3. M3 is one of the safest cars on the market and I am sure you will love the next one more.

He needs to find out what happened. If it isn't an intrinsic problem with his car then there is no reason to lemon it. If he got water or debris from bad gas then that can be fixed.

[sensi09]

Glad you're okay. As far as getting stuck on the mountain, it's more about the tow company than anything else. AAA, bmw assist or whoever will just deal with the local companies until they can get someone to come out.

On a good note, at least you didn't have the car towed to santa monica bmw. That dealer is the worst

[kaykay]

OP, glad you're ok.

Unfortunately, while I do understand your superstitions and discomfort with driving this car again, I can assure you that most likely they won't give you a new car. Even if there was something mechanically wrong with the vehicle, California lemon law states that it [the problem] must have occurred at least 3 times and have spent a good amount of time in a repair facility.

I'm sure at the end of the day, your car will be fine and any problems will be resolved.

I'm not sure if debris in the fuel could be the cause but it is possible.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[ahmed_fawzy]

Very sad to hear that, It sounds like something happened to your drive belt

[Seattle S65B40]

You got very lucky and you have every reason to be rattled by the car and this experience. Thankfully you are here to tell us about it!

Has anyone else had this happen?

Without turnnig this into a 6MT v. DCT thread, does anyone know if this is possible on 6MT? If the engine cuts out and the car is in gear, what happens?

I'm just trying to forecast what I would do if this ever happened to me (god forbid) and whether I can take any action to slow the vehicle in the event of loss of power and brakes.

[Lowest_Frequency]

Originally Posted by ahmed_fawzy

Very sad to hear that, It sounds like something happened to your drive belt

^
If not, I would simply pop the hood and visually inspect to see if anything jumps out at you at being wrong/broken.

[e1000]

Been on Topanga Canyon many times, I can't imagine a loss of power on that road. Glad to hear you're ok, I'd be shaken up too.

[Prince_of_Persia]

Originally Posted by gblansten

He needs to find out what happened. If it isn't an intrinsic problem with his car then there is no reason to lemon it. If he got water or debris from bad gas then that can be fixed.

Would you drive a car like that yourself?

[e1000]

Originally Posted by gblansten

He needs to find out what happened. If it isn't an intrinsic problem with his car then there is no reason to lemon it. If he got water or debris from bad gas then that can be fixed.

Agree he needs to find the root cause, however, if you drove down Topanga Canyon, even at a slow speed and knew someone somewhere could cut the engine at any time you'd be a little more than nervous.

[sensi09]

Originally Posted by Seattle S65B40

Without turnnig this into a 6MT v. DCT thread, does anyone know if this is possible on 6MT? If the engine cuts out and the car is in gear, what happens?

I'm just trying to forecast what I would do if this ever happened to me (god forbid) and whether I can take any action to slow the vehicle in the event of loss of power and brakes.

The car pretty much locks up. If you have another car available without a start/stop button, you can try turning off the car at really slow speeds, 5mph or something. You basically have no input. Or you could try rolling back in neutral in the drive way or something....the steering and brakes are quite unresponsive.